A Matter of Life and Death

[Shev]

I have been thinking about the Life of God lately, and how He is Life, even as He is Love, and that this Life dwells fully in His Son Jesus Christ, even as He does:

Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,  27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:25-27)

Peter tells us in his Pentecost speech that it was impossible for Christ to be held by death (Acts 2:24). For surely this Life must triumph fully over death. How could death possibly hold one who is the author of Life?

We all know how beautifully and fully this reality of Life is embedded and revealed in the scriptures, with a multitude of scriptures all harmonizing on this wonderful theme. For this post, I just wanted to focus on how impossible it is for Death to withstand Life, and why, as a matter of course, this Life spread to all men once sin was judged at the cross, and how this Life must utterly swallow up Death, even as Light chases away darkness.

It is as if there was a greenhouse, or a garden, full of once beautiful plants that had withered and dried up, completely dead. But the gardener's mere presence causes the drooping flower to bloom once again, and the shriveled plant to burst with new life. This being the case, how can any plant in the garden withstand such marvelous power?

So my ultimate point is that UR acknowledges the complete triumph of this Life, and has the support of all of Holy Writ. We also then understand why Death is the last enemy, as the final shadows of the realm of darkness finally give way to His wonderful Light in the fullness of time, as the ages are consummated.

This theme of Life is an obvious one, but so closely intertwined with the reality of His complete salvation, that I would love to hear other viewpoints on this Life, and scriptures that illuminate this theme for anyone else.

[rosered]

    :thumbsup:     One of my favorite passages    :HeartThrob:


Light of Life being   the   light men    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+4&version=ESV

1John 4 3All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

    Found this word study shows Comprehended it not.


The meaning of this word differs from that rendered "knew not" in John 1:10. The thought here is that the darkness did not lay hold of, did not appropriate the light, so as itself to become light; the thought there is that individuals did not recognise it.

  I was always curious as to, '' Why Jesus  would  heal and help certain individuals and yet , when he did this   , He would say , Tell no man .....

I began to notice it  as a theme in the   WORD OF LIFE  ,,,  no man knows the time and hour   etc .... 

  I also   began to search   Why ???

It    , to me was because they would hinder   the Holy Spirit   and the work of God though     Jesus Christ     when he walked as a man

  And yet I knew Jesus Christ   was the Word  of Truth  made   flesh  ,,and was Conceived of Holy Spirit  of Truth ,  in a  virgin  mind / heart /  belly  this representing Mary....

  I understood it and connected it to  Paul saying I am making you chaste virgins for Christ ... , this seed of the Holy Spirit of truth / Light / Life , Knowledge of God   to be planted in our  mind / heart / belly 

  Like Mary , and when I looked up the name meaning of Mary ..   

http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Mary.html#.Vm_lsUorK00

I  saw   being chastened of the Lord   or just'' chaste'' pure ,  purified   , clean   and ready to receive  and conceive ...bring forth the   offspring the sons of God though Jesus Christ the one of a kind son of God   making all things new   and right with God again     ...  from death to LIFE       
  the Light is the wisdom of GOD  in knowledge and power   over the darkness and ignorance of mans  heart , the empty tomb /womb , mind lacking  fulfillment  yet ...

  I get Cardinals     speech    and what she shares here and am blessed by many thing  she says  and Sheila'sand many others     , Because   they are spiritual in nature .
  Its quite a story of the Saviors birth     written  for us to know How it is all done according to Gods will / desire for us  to Live again and be brought back from the dead .....   as the creature is subjected to vanity , emptiness and   void/ dark  of understanding   it .


   When sharing  the good new of the gospel of Jesus Christ  and when  you have HIS PEACE , you have more than anything this  world could offer  , having their peace is a lie ..

  The thing is not to give up ,,,   I dont think once you  are   given  His  seed of faith  , you do , you just rest in  between the revelation of Jesus Christ as He is the author and finisher of your / His  faith      and become a part of Gods  marvelous plan  in a LIVING  BODY  that death cannot touch ever again   .

  Good post Shev     , thanks for sharing ,  it is good to think on these      pure and Holy things  of God .
   1 John 3
...13Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Hate kills   , Love makes Alive    :HeartThrob:
 

 

[sheila]

  He the resurrection appeared as a gardener from amongst the tomb......the very same one who cursed the fig tree...and it withered.

[sheila]

...it is written..the keeper of the fig tree shall partake of it's fruit...and he that waiteth on his Lord shall be honored. Jesus honored

  the Father..and as the keeper of the figtree/Israel was due fruit.  That it was not the time...and the demons said 'did you come before

the appointed time?" for He come at a day an hour they thought naught..and judged the kingdom of darkness...and robbed their 'house'

as a thief in the night.[My Father's House is to be a House of prayer for all men..but you have turned it unto a den of robber's]

...and turned the tables on them!!!!!   they were forwarned 'lift me up and I shall draw ALL men unto me"

    all men drawn up and meet Him in the clouds.......a great cloud of wittness's to testify what He has done....and we,who remain

shall also see Him coming on the clouds of heaven...and meet Him face to face.

   BEHOLD...I SHOW YOU A MYSTERY>>>WE SHALL ALL NOT DIE......BUT WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED...[does all mean all?]

:banana:...o'yes...all does mean all..for God shall be all in all..and all shall be in God[one]      and love is the perfect bond of union.



     

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: Beautiful posts.... :thumbsup:

[sheila]

what can be likened to this twinkling of an eye?  the pupil of the eye[I AM} is the one God teaches...and God himself will finish your training.

         look at the vastness of space...it is black..save the twinkling of the stars....and I shall cover the stars[cloud] when I snuff you out[7th

vial on the air]...the the breath/spirit returns unto the one who give it.

    when you see light ' reflect' in some-ones pupil[darkness]...it twinkles..............

   twinkle,twinkle little star..how I wonder what you are.....for when He appears..we shall be just like Him.

[eaglesway]

Beautiful Shev. Such a relentlessly reasonable, undeniably wonderful truth.

[marie glen]

Amen, amen!!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Life! and the garden, is an awesome analogy! ...the dead plants rescued! by life giving life!

In this modern age, many focus on "if there is a God how can there be such suffering?"

Not realizing that (surely?) He Himself is life, itself.. therefore He suffers, experiences and lives through all suffering which ever occur! A more reasonable question would be, why put Himself through all that?

{My son almost 20 years ago asked me two questions "why was the tree of knowing good and evil in the garden?" and "isn't it great we get to be an ant farm?"

I wasn't satifactorially happy with my answers! So i prayed for better answers. and what came back to me, was this idea you have expressed, that God is life itself. and when He endowed thinking ability to angel and man, a whole new world (or tree) of possibilites came about, for with thinking ability, sooner or later comes the ability to make choices (even if so highly limited). Hence life as we presently know it.. death and all suffer, some even horribly.. But He being life itself, the breath of.. the force be with us.. He lives through it all.. feels it all.. Why.. would He put Himself through all that? Perhaps because He's not creating an ant farm.. or robots.. but His own family of many beautiful branches and an eternally un-breakable paradise/perfection. Un-breakable, because it will be deeply engraved upon every heart and mind in heaven and earth what is good from evil, which is also life from death. (He is also Perfection, so to differ with Him in any tiny thought, word or deed, is to be imperfect, the opposite of life.) We are all learning that to wander from Him can only really ever end in a puff of self destructive smoke (apocalypse the unveiling of true from untrue). Without His divine, wonderful intervention that is.. His essence will be all in all..
:Peace2:

[marie glen]

bump  I just had to bring this up again.. great thread.. I especially love this analogy in the original post:

It is as if there was a greenhouse, or a garden, full of once beautiful plants that had withered and dried up, completely dead. But the gardener's mere presence causes the drooping flower to bloom once again, and the shriveled plant to burst with new life. This being the case, how can any plant in the garden withstand such marvelous power?

    :cloud9:   [ U.R / Jesus / YHWH / (who is) Truth / Life / Perfection =  :cloud9: ]

[sheila]

there is a very good article called .".Behold the Fig tree" that a friend of mine wrote.  In one of the lost books of the bible....

  Adam and Eve..it speaks of when God comes to judge in the garden and all the trees putting forth blooms and leaves.[all had fallen off the branches at the transgression of A&E in the garden]

  it has to do with universal restoration/salvation..and His desiring of not only blooms and leaves..but bearing fruit.[garden restored]

   I think you might like it,Shev........google it.[you in the garden with friends in attendance..let me hear your voice]

   the putting forth of tender buds on the figtree is associated with His coming.

[Shev]

Thank you Marie Glen and Sheila.  :dsunny:

[marie glen]

  He the resurrection appeared as a gardener from amongst the tomb......the very same one who cursed the fig tree...and it withered.

One way I think of this is as this life being our Father God's great truth drama which in its entirety will clearly unveil to all what is good from evil and the Rock from sand. And in a drama you have to have more than one (class of) character. And is why some are chosen to be reconciled to Him during this life time and others are not.

And I find myself more and more thinking the majority of those of the second resurrection - all those not yet saved/reconciled before they die will not have a rough time of it on judgment day - the goats and sheep were previously separated, right hand and left, at Jesus' return.

Just because His heavenly casting of lot did not fall upon them, why should their conversion be more unpleasant or any more stringent than ours?? :2c: :smile:

[GodIsLove]

My conversion and walk with God has been salted with fire and some wailing and gnashing of teeth (regret when I'd realized some things I've done wrong). It's funny because even so, even with the struggle of flesh and spirit, I love this journey.

When it's time, I hope that is how it is for most, as well. Not without struggle but for a purpose.

Have you all heard if you help a butterfly out of a cocoon it will die? It needs to struggle to be reborn and fly.

Another analogy, giving birth/being born. A woman struggles to birth new life. The baby struggles as well, it is not a passive process for them. If a woman gives birth without drugs, and in the mindset that the work they are doing is hard but purposeful, it can be a blissful experience. If the woman is fearful, tense, or doesn't want to go through with it, it can be a horrible experience (sorry to the men out there or to the women if this doesn't resonate with you. I became passionate about natural childbirth with my pregnancies. I don't beleive it is a curse to give birth but a blessing. It is work for sure, though. But I digress).


If you force open a flower bud it will not bloom properly.

Struggle is what we all do to improve, for example to become physically fit, to become a musician, athlete.

I think it won't be easy for anyone just as it is not easy for us all the time.

I love my life with God and the old life is just a memory, I usually can't even relate to that person, and to rest in him IS wonderful, it's just that it's a process to get there.

This has been my experience anyway.

[micah7:9]

I like your experience  :dsunny: Wow! :HeartThrob: Thank you

[rosered]

GOD IS LOVE .
  This is  beautiful     :HeartThrob:  Thank you ..   what a blessing  !!!

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: AMEN  :iagree: :dsunny:

[marie glen]

Amen, GodIsLove, you summed it up perfectly! :dsunny:

[guest5685]

what can be likened to this twinkling of an eye?  the pupil of the eye[I AM} is the one God teaches...and God himself will finish your training.

         look at the vastness of space...it is black..save the twinkling of the stars....and I shall cover the stars[cloud] when I snuff you out[7th

vial on the air]...the the breath/spirit returns unto the one who give it.

    when you see light ' reflect' in some-ones pupil[darkness]...it twinkles..............

   twinkle,twinkle little star..how I wonder what you are.....for when He appears..we shall be just like Him.

I'll just say that the twinkling of an eye would be a sudden burst or flash of revelation as opposed to a measurement of time. Just as often as we read scriptures and suddenly like a flash the spirit gives us an understanding that changes our understanding that we may have had from religious teaching. It changes us because we see the real truth and accordingly to that new revelation.

verb (used without object), twinkled, twinkling.
1.
to shine with a flickering gleam of light, as a star or distant light.
2.
to sparkle in the light:
The diamond on her finger twinkled in the firelight.
3.
(of the eyes) to be bright with amusement, pleasure, etc.
4.
to move flutteringly and quickly, as flashes of light; flit.
5.
Archaic. to wink; blink.
verb (used with object), twinkled, twinkling.
6.
to emit (light) in intermittent gleams or flashes.
7.
Archaic. to wink (the eyes or eyelids).
noun
8.
a flickering or intermittent brightness or light.
9.
a scintillating brightness in the eyes; sparkle.

[GodIsLove]

Thanks everyone. I am glad God was able to use me to pass that along

:dsunny: :cloud9: :HeartThrob: