Part 2 – Living Beings vs. Life

I AM Come

I’m glad today for the reality of Christ. We began in our last lesson with regard to Life – Life as it is truly defined by The Spirit of God. And as truly defined by The Spirit of God, Life is not something we live, but rather, that which Christ lives in us. Here is where the natural mind departs from the Spiritual mind. We read in John 10:10, " …I am come…" Jesus there, according to the Hebrew meaning of those scriptures is not presenting to those folks something that He has done; but rather Who He is. He is The I AM Come. There aren’t a handful of believers who comprehend that He is The I AM come.

The Hebraic Mindset

Now you can search these things out for yourself. I am not declaring my beliefs as a Pentecostal preacher, but I am seeking to share with you things that are well searched out and confirmed, and want to encourage others to search these things also. You have to understand, particularly the Gospels – all of the New Covenant, from what is called a "Hebraic mindset". That is, the mindset of the Hebrew. You see, Israel in the flesh, the Hebrews, was not looking for a coming event; they were looking for a coming One. They were looking for a Messiah. Christians have totally lost that. I’ve heard Christians say of The Old Testament – we don’t need that; we’re just living in the New Bible. What ignorance, what stupidity! I would remind you that it is the ‘Old Bible’ that Jesus said testifies of Me – the scripture. " Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39) The New Covenant, the scriptures that come out from The New Covenant; because The New Covenant isn’t written on pages by anyone. It is written in your heart. But the books and letters of The New Covenant were written with what is called among Bible scholars "the Hebraic mindset". They are not occupied with things or events. No, that does not satisfy the Hebraic mindset. Unfortunately it does satisfy the mindset of most modern day Christians!

Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Matthew 11:3 – And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

John 1:41 – He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

John 4:25 – The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

One to Come

They were looking for One – One to come. And in Him all things God had promised; In Him all things – types and shadows had prophesied; In Him all that the prophets had spoken. That’s why the writer of the Hebrew letter certainly writes from the standpoint of the Hebraic expectation, the Hebraic mindset when he said, ‘This same God, who at one time did indeed speak through the prophets unto the fathers, hath now spoken in Son.’ This fulfilled everything, sets it all forth in The Son. He doesn’t repeat it in The Son: He fulfills it in The Son. We must understand The Son did NOT come repeating prophecy: He came fulfilling prophecy. He didn’t come repeating scripture: He came fulfilling scripture. He didn’t come repeating types and shadows: He came fulfilling types and shadows. And here in John 10:10 all of this is gathered into this short little phrase. In the Hebraic mindset all of this is gathered in. When He says, "… I am come…" He is declaring not what He has done, but Who He is. COME is something I AM! I AM COME! That’s part of this "I AM Factor" – I am Door, I am Way, I am Truth, I am Come. He brings all that the Hebraic mindset looked for into a PERSON – I AM COME.

Isaiah 9:6,7 – For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Hebrews 1:1,2 – God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

2 Corinthians 1:20 – For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Luke 4:20,21 – And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

2 Peter 1:19 – We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.

Reality in Him

My, my, how did Christians lose that? How did Christians lose that reality of Christ? And you won’t find that reality in anything BUT HIM! You aren’t going to find it in something He did, or does, or something you think He’s going to do. You are going to find it in HIM – period! You are going to find it in the reality of Him, or you are not going to find it. Now you may look for it until the day you die, but you are not going to find it in reality, in joy, in purpose, in fulness except it be revealed IN HIM; except you come to accept Him as He presents Himself in the scriptures. We have a big habit: "the habit of Christianity" I call it, of accepting things about Him, and accepting things He said as though the things He said are not fulfilled in Himself. No, we must come to accept all things in Him, because He is the expectation of the scripture – NOW COME. He is the fulfillment of all the expectation of hope; the hope of Israel – now come. Who is it that is in you? Paul says, " …Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) The hope of glory is IN YOU! He is not giving you a hope of glory; Israel’s hope of glory is in you! HE IS COME – He is IN YOU! To understand that verse you have to understand the Hebraic mindset, which simply sees all things as they were written originally. They were declared in the realization of that Person! God was showing all things to be summed up in that Person, and that Person dwelling in you and in me.

John 5:40 – And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

2 Peter 1:3 – According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.

A New Definition of Life

"I am come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly." We need a new definition of Life: that’s what we need. We need a renewing of our mind. Paul speaks of that, and we need to continue with that. Romans 12:1,2, " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." It is by the renewing of our mind. When I say we need a new definition of Life, I’m talking about a renewing of our mind. We need to come from the carnal, natural definition to the definition that is presented in The Person of Jesus Christ. I don’t really care how Webster defines Life. I am interested in how God defines Life, and God defines Life in The Person of His Son. And if that definition hasn’t come into our hearts yet, that’s the reason we are having such a hard time. That’s the reason our Spiritual Life is up one day, and it is in the pits the next! It’s because of our definition of Life.

Ephesians 4:23 – And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

John 17:3 – And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The Adam Creation

Now we looked at that, but I want to call our attention now to the Adamic creation – the creation you and I are by flesh and blood; the creation you and I are by natural birth; that creation that is described in the scripture as living souls, as living beings, even before sin entered it. It is pictured in the scripture as living beings, but no life – just simply no life. God made man out of dirt and created him as a living soul. I want us now to think of this not as a corporate picture of humanity, but as an individual – both of the Adam creation, and the New Creation, those who are in Christ. I want us to look at this as an individual living being as created of God. First you know in Genesis 2 and in 1 Corinthians 15 that the first man, Adam, was created a living soul. But what did God do first? He FORMED man, and He formed him out of dirt. It is because man is made out of dirt that he can be races, creeds, kinds and color. And it is that dirt – the form of man that makes that so. But man is never defined by his form. He’s never defined by his individual body. "Bodies" is not the way man is defined in the scripture, when you are dealing with man. He’s not defined by his race, by his creed, by his kind, by his color. Man is not defined that way. God breathed into that form (Adam) and Adam became – beyond the form he became something. God gave something. Man became a living soul. Now that’s the first Adam.

Soul Created For Life

There is no indication: in fact, there’s every indication against the idea that this man has eternal life; that this man has the Spirit of Life; that God is in this man. Paul just outright says it in 1 Corinthians 15:46,47, "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." But God in creating man, and separating man from the other living beings – animals, trees, gave man the capacity for Life. There’s a capacity and it’s in the soul. There’s a hunger for Life. There’s an expectation for Life. The soul was created that way. And nothing else will ever – ever satisfy it. Nothing else will satisfy that soul: though man tries! It always falls short. That’s the reason why when we start trying to "find our life" – out in the world, in people, places and things, we do so through the five senses of this form, and we look there, and we get involved in all of that. Now we’re automatically going to get involved with people, in places and with things: there’s nothing wrong with that. But trying to find our life there – that’s the problem. And that’s why it always ends in disappointment, because the soul can not find the Life there for which it was purposed of God. It always becomes weary to the soul. Right in the midst of it, the soul is NOT satisfied.

2 Corinthians 4:18 – While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

John 12:25 – He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

The Soul Issue

These are things we should know. This is why people are in love – out of love; in friendship – out of friendship. In and out; in and out. It’s the soul. They get all infatuated in the body, and the areas of the senses, and all of that, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are a soul. And while you can find certain things in people, even in companions and one another; your soul can NOT find LIFE in another person. And so even if you maintain the connection in the flesh, until both of you die, there’s always something there in you that is not satisfied. Most of the time you start blaming it on each other, and that’s not where the problem lies at all. ‘Well, I thought he was going to be this… or that…’ And they probably are that, but it’s just that what you are looking for goes beyond anything that person can do. You can blame it on them if you want to, but sooner or later you will have to come to face it! This soul is trying to find Life in its surrounding environment. What environment? The environment around us that we can see and touch, and hear and smell, and get excited about… and get depressed over – which ever! Trying to find Life there; trying to find our worth there; trying to find our self value there.

Mark 8:35-37 – For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

What The Soul Needs

And you can go as far as you want to in that area, but you won’t find LIFE. It will always be disappointing. My concern is that what has evolved to be called "Christianity" approaches the answer to that soul in pretty much the same way. We get a little more "spiritual", but it’s pretty much the same way. We say this soul sinned, and this soul is separated from God… That is all true. So we think what this soul needs is forgiveness of sins. But wait a minute… this soul needs more than forgiveness of sins, and Salvation IS MORE than forgiveness of sins, but we don’t tell anybody about it. That’s my problem. Dispensational preaching doesn’t tell you about that. It says, ‘what you need to do Mr. Soul, is to get your sins forgiven, and then you need to wait.’ Wait for what? You’ve taken the substance out of Salvation! You say you need to get your soul saved and then wait for Life; get ready for Eternity????

I AM Eternity

IN CHRIST ETERNITY IS NOW! You can see this if you really search the scriptures. Eternity is not a "time warp". We are not the cast of Star Wars here! Eternity is not in some time zone. Eternity is Who Christ says I AM. In Revelation 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty"; in the original text when He says "beginning and the ending" the translation of that in the oldest manuscript is "I am eternity". Eternity comes in Me; I am The Eternal –Eternity, Eternal Life. Even the word for "Eternal Life" has nothing whatsoever to do with time. In fact, scholars will tell you it means "NO TIME." How is it measured? It’s measured in the fulness of Christ. It isn’t measured by time. You see days and times speak of it; and that’s where Christianity fails. They say days and times and years speak of Eternity. Well they do: they speak of it, but they don’t define it. Christ defined it. There is a day that time can not measure. That day is here in Christ. YOU are children of that day!

Isaiah 57:15 – For thus said the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Matthew 25:46 – And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.

John 6:54 – Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 17:2,3 – As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 1:2 – (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

1 Thessalonians 5:5 – Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Where is Our Life?

Now, we all know this: but do we know it? Do we know it in Christ? Has there been a renewing of our mind? Or are we here in Christ still with this same mindset: Christians still thinking that life is still their surrounding environment? So their greatest prayer to God is: get me out of here! You can agree with me or not, but I’m speaking down to your soul. If you are finding satisfaction and fulness – fine. But if you’re not, you need to listen. This comes out at funerals – Christian funerals. At the funeral of a precious brother recently someone came up to me to comfort me (I guess) and said, Brother Luman, he’s gone to "a better place". Well, he said that to the wrong person! I turned around and looked and him and said, ‘And just where would that be?’ He stammered and said, ‘Well…. You know…’ And I said, ‘Yes, I do know, but do YOU know? I said this brother is IN CHRIST. He was in Christ before this body died: he’s in Christ now. Now – what better place is there for him to be? Where is it you think he went? He is IN CHRIST: he’s united with Christ by Ever Living, Everlasting, Eternal Spirit. Where is it you think he has gone? The body is still right there in the ground – that hasn’t gone anywhere!’ And he just turned around and got away from me!

John 17:15,16 – I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

The Reality of Life

I’m just asking are we still looking out with our eyes, with our senses? Is that where we are looking for Life? Is that where our Life is, and in our soul we are ‘hoping for better’? Of have we in our hearts come to the Reality of Life? Have we understood what Salvation really is? That it doesn’t stop with forgiveness of sin. It involves a birth – a New Birth. It involves Life! God’s answer to the soul is more than forgiveness. Forgiveness – yes. God’s answer to the soul is LIFE. Jesus says "I am come that you might have life…" (John 10:10) That indicates that the whole Adamic creation does NOT have Life, and there isn’t any other Life. It indicates that what most call "Life" isn’t Life at all: it is an arena in which you ought to live LIFE; it’s where you ought to manifest Life. You ought not try to find it there! You ought not to try to define it there. You ought to MANIFEST Life there. And I’ve never seen a person in whom Christ is revealed as their Life, and who is manifesting Life who wants to get out of that Life yet!

1 Peter 1:23 – Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Philippians 2:15 – That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

1 John 4:17 - …because as he is, so are we in this world.

The Voice of The Beloved

No sir! Our whole mind needs to be renewed. But through The Cross we come to this. And we’ll look at The Door, The Way and The Truth – because, how do we get there? We get there by The Spirit of God – yes, but do you and I comprehend the workings of The Spirit so that we can walk in that, so that we can be motivated by that? So that we can be listening to what He’s saying, and understanding what He’s showing, and living out of that comprehension? We’ll deal with The I AM here, but through Him we come from being a soul, void of Life. Emptiness is the term given in the Bible – void of Life. And since God created this and breathed it, you can try to fill it with whatever you want to fill it with, but there’s only one thing that is going to satisfy it. You can fill it with teachings and Spiritual things and places, but the soul doesn’t get excited about those things: your SENSES do. I’m convinced that there is only one thing that will excite your soul, and that’s The Voice of The Beloved. There’s only one thing that will excite your soul, and that is hearing The Voice that it was created to hear – the Voice that it was separated from in the garden. But it is not hearing The Voice as outward now, but hearing The Voice as within. Not hearing The Voice saying, "Where are you Adam?"; but hearing The Voice say, "I am The Resurrection, I am The Life, and I am in you."

Song of Solomon 2:8 – The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

Genesis 3:9,23,24 – And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

John 11:25 – Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Finding Purpose

Now the soul gets excited! Now the soul begins to realize purpose, Divine Purpose; purpose it could never find in things; purpose it could never find in people, places or things. No – now the soul is finding the purpose for which it was created of God, and it is finding its purpose in a purpose. It is finding it in LIFE. But it is finding that Life is a PERSON. Here we are as a believer. We still have this earthen vessel. We are still what God made us to be – a soul, but now we have Life, and every believer is this way, but this Life is also the Truth, and also the Way. This is what every believer has come to, but this is not what every believer is told. This is what every soul has come to, but most souls have been told all you have come to is forgiveness of sins. Now – do the best you can. Your life hasn’t changed. But our life has changed in the fact that we have come to Life – from no Life. We should know this. Paul says "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:15) And He dwells in you! Do you want to know where The Resurrected Christ is? He’s in you! And He’s there saying, "I am the resurrection. I am the life." (John 11:25)

Manifesting The Truth

If only we had ears to hear! But we don’t have ears to hear because we’ve got too much religious garbage saying, ‘No, He’s not come; No, He’s not in you. No, you’ve got forgiveness of sins but that’s it. Now you’ve just got to live as a forgiven sinner. Your life is still where it was: in people, places and things. Pray every day and ask God to help you with it.’ And all that gets us is a bunch of Christians who say, ‘My God, I just want to get out of it!’ Why? Because they don’t know they’ve got anything to manifest in the midst of it! They just want to get out of it. And the quicker the better! Well, this is the very state of being to which the Apostle Paul said he came – by the Law. See, the Christian religion we preach really differs nothing from the Law. It’s talking to Christians as though they were still living beings – telling them how to live better. It’s not declaring Life to them: it’s telling them how to live better. And living beings love to be told how to live better! It’s just that when you do what you are told, it ends up that still your soul is NOT satisfied. But somehow we get some enjoyment out of ‘trying to live better’. You don’t find Life in that, though. All that is, is a living being trying to live better.

2 Corinthians 2:14 – Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

Trying to Life Better

So Salvation to most people is: I used to drink, smoke and carouse, and now I don’t. I quit drinking beer and started drinking water. I quit drinking wine and started drinking iced tea. We have the concept that one is better than the other, and that will make it okay. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. I just want to be better. That’s what the living being wants to be. That’s the lie Satan fed in the garden that caused man to sin in the first place. ‘Hey, you can be like God! If you want to do better – eat this tree.’ And Christian religion has just come right around to facilitate that, because you get a whole lot more living beings that way. And yet none of their souls are satisfied. When it comes right down to it in the midnight hour, they are just not satisfied. And none of it works! Trying to do better – we give them all kinds of ways to do it. You know: ‘Fifteen Ways to Pray an Hour. Follow Ten Steps and you too can pray an hour!’ Okay – pray an hour, but unless you pray in Truth, unless you pray in comprehension, it isn’t doing you any good. You’re just like the heathen hollering out to an idol. It doesn’t do any good, but it’s all just coming out of the ignorance of your heart.

Genesis 3:5 – For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Matthew 6:7 – But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Veil Comes to Glory

Now I’m not telling you God doesn’t deal with us. I think God continually deals with every soul that truly has Life in it. He wants to reveal His Son. But we are too busy looking outwardly; we are too busy living just like we did before we had Life, only now we’re not going out and doing the obvious sin things. But as far as our soul is concerned, Life is not a comprehension; Life is not Light. We are preached to just as though Life has not even come yet. We build doctrines around that. But here’s the reality, and yes, Paul says there’s still a veil upon our hearts so that we can not see the Glory of God. See, the Old Covenant Tabernacle, which was just a picture of living beings had a veil on it, and the Glory of God came and appeared behind that veil in that very Tabernacle. Do you really think that you, who are The True, Living Tabernacle of God… do you really think that the Glory of God is NOT in you? It was in the Old Tabernacle, but the veil was there. Should it not be MORE glorious in the New Tabernacle – which Tabernacle you are? Paul did not deny that the Glory was in you. He said the problem is the veil is still on the heart, the Old Covenant veil is still on the heart. Paul says, "But when the soul turns to see…" (2 Corinthians 3:16) To see, then the veil that is done away in Christ is taken away, and we face to face… the face of my soul and the face of Jesus Christ! Face to face – without the veil, I behold my Life! "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4) Then you see you are with Him – in glory! That’s what The Word says!

Ephesians 4:1,17 – I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.

2 Corinthians 3:14-16,18 – But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

2 Corinthians 6:16 – And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Colossians 1:27 – To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Beyond the Veil

2 Corinthians 4:6, "for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." But we take the word "Life" out and put the word "we ought to have". But let’s put the word Jesus uses – I AM. And it’s not that He is just these things as a matter of fact: He is these things IN YOU. But most of us have got this all veiled. Most Christians are worse than the Jews. ‘You don’t mess with our veil! We’ll kill you if you mess with our veil!’ Paul started talking about doing away with the veil, and started talking about Eternal Life now come, and immediately they said we’ve got to kill him. He blasphemes against God; let’s get rid of him! He’s trying to take these people beyond where we want them to go. He’s trying to take them beyond the veil. God put that veil there; if He wanted anybody to go beyond that, God would take it away Himself. Little did they know that’s what He came to do! He took it away Himself. Yes, had they known they never would have crucified the Lord of glory! Now He took it away, but you can take your imaginary veil and put it up all you want to! God love you – you can just sit there and live with it, but He took it away! There can be a turning of the heart: this soul can turn from trying to find Life out here somewhere, even in the "spiritual" out here. This soul can turn and have a face-to-face encounter with The Person of Life Himself!

Acts 21:28,31 – Crying out, Men of Israel, help, This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law and this place; and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.

Acts 23:12 – And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Hebrews 10:9,19,20 – Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

1 Corinthians 2:8 – Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Person To Person Encounter

In the Bible it is called the revealing of Christ. God revealed His Son in me. In your Bible another word is used as well; it is called "the appearing of Christ." That is the truth – it is called the manifestation. There are Greek terms for all of these, and all of them coming together are a work of The Spirit in the believer. What it is, is a Person-to-Person encounter, a face to face encounter with SALVATION. With Salvation. Believers are saying that they want to see Him with their natural eyes, but let’s reason together. He had twelve disciples who saw Him that way, because at that time He was manifested in the flesh. That was the Son of God. John said the One we saw, and handled is The One who now lives in us, and we declare unto you that Eternal Word which was with the Father, made manifest unto us. Yes, but what I’m telling you is that even while He was there with them manifest in the flesh, they did not "see Him" in understanding. They didn’t comprehend Who they saw, because you can’t comprehend Him by the senses. You can’t.

2 Timothy 4:8 – Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

1 Peter 1:7 – That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:13 – Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:1,2 – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

Matthew 16:17 – And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Life is Christ Living IN US

So, how is it you shall see Him? The eyes of your understanding are enlightened. We not only see Him – Who is: we see where He is. Face to face with Jesus. Someone says I’d like to go back and walk with Him when He walked those three and a half years. I’m not being sacrilegious, but there’s no way I would want to do that! No – they heard words, but they didn’t understand what they heard. No, He said it is expedient for you that I go away. It is expedient for you that I go into death, that I go into burial, that I go into resurrection; because until I do, I can’t live in you. I can’t live in you: and I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly. Life is not Me walking along ‘life’s roadways’ with you: Life is Me living in you! Folks, now we need to get a hold of that! We need to get a hold of that in reality – in REALITY!

Hebrews 9:28 – So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Ephesians 1:18 – The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

John 16: 7 – Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

New Creation Has Life

So, we have come from one humanity to this New Creation. What’s different about it? This one has LIFE! But this picture is not just this soul having life given to it. It had that to begin with: it was created of God to begin with. What we must see is what I am calling "The I AM Factor". Jesus said I AM. We’ve got to see Life in the I AM. What you have is not just "life" in an ambiguous form; you have LIFE HIMSELF! You have the only One Who Lives, living in you! So much so that Paul said Life is NOT I living, but CHRIST living in me. So much so that Paul said "For me to live is Christ…" Philippians 1:21. And he didn’t say to live is living FOR Christ; he said to live IS Christ. My death, he said, the death that came by The Cross: I am crucified with Christ – that death to die – is gain. To live is Christ! And the reality of this is that all of the things that our soul has been looking for in the first creation are actually found in Him. What upsets me is that the Church insists on preaching those things as things, in addition to Christ. They preach them as "things" that He comes to give.

Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Philippians 3:8 – Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

He Is

No – those things are realizations to which we come in Him, of Him. Righteousness is not something given in addition to Him or by Him: it is something we come to realize HE IS! Holiness is something we come to realize He is. Dwelling place is something we come to realize that He is. Glory ceases to be a place, ceases to be a location, and becomes a comprehension of Christ: something we realize He is. And then we come to realize what Glory is. And what is growing up in Him? See, we need a renewing of our mind. We need a new definition of Life, and we can’t get it out of a dictionary. We can only get it in the face of Jesus Christ. Do you know what a renewed mind is? It’s that mind, that soul in whom Christ is revealed. He is the renewing of the mind! Go to Ephesians 4:13, " Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Paul says this is the purpose of all ministry. Ministry is given of God for one thing, and that is to bring the Church, the Body of Christ into this reality.

1 Corinthians 1:30 – But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

Colossians 1:27 – To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

2 Corinthians 4:6 – For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:22,23 – And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The Church is an Expression of Life

Why? Because then that Body, that Church becomes a genuine expression, a real expression of Salvation; a real genuine expression of Life, and ministers that Life in the earth. It’s a shame we’ve substituted the ministry of Life to the preaching of doctrines, and the preaching of things. It’s a shame we have settled for making "converts to Christianity" rather than sons of God whose Life is Christ. But that’s what we have done. Oh my, it’s a shame that God’s people are the way they are today. My heart cries for the Church today like Jesus said His heart cried for the Jerusalem of that day. ‘How oft’, He said, "Would I have gathered you – and you would not?’ It grieves my heart that we have come the road and degenerated in our comprehension, in our ministry, and reduced Christ to a "Christian religion" to the extent that in most dear saints of God, the greatest hope they’ve got is: ‘I hope when I die I go to heaven.’ That’s what it’s come down to. But that’s so far from Glory; that’s so far from Life; that’s so far from reality; that’s so far from being a Living manifestation of Life. We’ve come down to where the Church looks like a convalescent home, and we’re sitting there all ready to die – hoping that when we do, we can get to heaven!

Luke 13:34 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

The Corporate Man

My God, how did the Gospel ever get reduced to something like that? And if we didn’t have more, then it wouldn’t bother me. If that’s what Salvation was, I’d be right there in the wheelchair with you! I’d be saying, ‘God, knock me in the head and get me out of here.’ But oh, our ‘knock in the head’ so to speak, came at The Cross! There’s where the answer came! Yes sir. Here it is: ministry should be for this. Ephesians 4:13, " Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Perfect means fully grown, complete, a mature man. See, Paul is looking at us corporately. We can look at this as the individual believer; but it’s the corporate man. Till we come to a full grown man. The measure of which is what, Paul? Unto the measure of the stature (which means "AGE", not how tall you are) of the fulness of Christ. How do we get there? What’s that all about? "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." What is "growing up"? It’s the eyes of my heart, my soul, my understanding looking at The I AM and seeing Him appear as the fulness of all things, and we do that one thing at a time. The Holy Spirit deals with your soul about love: and immediately the ‘Christian Spirit’ in us says, ‘Lord, okay, I’ll start praying for more love. Lord, help me love, help me love.’ But that’s like the soul in the Adamic man saying it, because it’s the same soul. And in our understanding we put ourselves back over into the old man. ‘Help me love, Lord; help me love.’

I AM Appearing in All Things

And someone comes along and says send me $500 and I’ll send you my pamphlet on "Ten Ways to Genuine Love." And I’ll do it! And we read it, and the soul still can’t love. Why? Because love is not one of the emotions of the soul. Love is The I AM Himself! It’s His nature, His character – it’s Him! A renewed mind: growing up into Christ Who is the Head in all things is looking in the face of The I AM and seeing Him appear in all things, one thing at a time. Whatever the issue of our soul is – it’s looking and hearing His Voice say – I AM. I AM. And then in response to that He is also The Truth, so in The I Am we see The Truth to this thing, and in response to that we say, thank God it is not I, it is Christ who liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20) Love is not a product of me trying: it’s an automatic of Christ being revealed in me. It’s an automatic of seeing Him, because when you see Christ, the soul is transformed. What happens? There is a forming in this soul. This soul was created to be formed into the image of its creator. And how does that happen? Inwardly. Where is the New Covenant? The New Covenant is here in the face of Jesus Christ – He’s The Word of it! How is it written in our hearts? When He is revealed in us.

Ephesians 3:19,20 – And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Romans 8:29 – For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Colossians 3:10 – And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

Hebrews 8:10 – For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

Reality of a New Understanding

It’s not something we read with the eyes of our body. No, we may read about it. We may read the letters of Paul, but that’s not reading the New Covenant; we’re reading about it. He is speaking out from the New Covenant that is revealed in him. The books of the New Testament are not in and of themselves the New Covenant, because the New Covenant is not written on parchment, or stone, or paper. It’s in your HEART. But those letters were written by men of God in whom Christ was revealed, and it is the inspiration and letters of God – certainly; but what they are doing is still testifying of CHRIST. It’s testifying of a realization. What is Paul doing when he says, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened…"? What is Paul testifying to? He’s testifying to the reality of that taking place in you. He’s testifying to a reality. He’s not just writing a letter; he’s talking about the reality, of the eyes of our understanding actually being enlightened, and of Christ actually being revealed in us, and of this soul actually being transformed into that same image! He is testifying of a New Understanding given of God, a New Covenant given of God. And that Covenant is IN YOU. The Person of that Covenant, the face of it, The Word of it is THE I AM!

I am not – to The I AM

If we just want to say this simply we could say by The Cross we have come from the I am not – to The I AM. Beloved, the scripture states for us the fact of the matter, but only The Spirit can reveal The Person of the matter in you. It’s got to be a Work of The Spirit in your heart. It’s a Work of The Spirit based upon the fact of the scripture. We need to say, ‘Oh God, I read it: will you open my understanding? Will you reveal Him in me? That it not just be scriptural facts, but that it be LIVING REALITY. Living Reality!’ Let us set our hearts upon knowing Him. What I pray that we can see is just this: we need a new definition of Life. That is what The Lord has been saying to me. The Lord told me to go back and look at this thing called "Life" and I want to appear in it. He said, ‘I want Life to be the appearing of Me.’ Paul knew that. "When he who is our life shall appear…" (Colossians 3:4) And that word goes right back to "being revealed in you." Then… we understand that we are with Him in glory. Why? Because He’s glory in you! He has brought it right into the Tabernacle; He’s brought it right into the Temple. But this time it doesn’t come and hide behind a veil, and come and go. He comes and remains! Glory to God! He comes and remains! So much so that the question with you and I is not ‘God, get me out of here’; but ‘God, open the eyes of my understanding that I may become an expression here of all that is in Christ. What really is a new definition of Life? We come from the I am not to The I AM; we quit defining things in any one but Christ. The new definition is not a better word definition: but a Person definition. Oh, I trust that these are not just words to you, but if they are words, that they will create in our hearts an environment for seeing Him of whom all words, true words are a Testimony. Amen.

Let’s make these days a time for the revealing of Christ. Let’s know Him not in the realm of what He is, but of The I AM. He so wants to communicate with this soul in the reality of The I AM. And here’s the thrill of that – there’s no time that He is not! It’s as good at midnight as it is at noonday! I AM! Thank you Jesus.