Monthly Archives: June 2019

Ultimate Covenant:First and Unwritten?

by fact-s.net

A covenant is a promise for one to do to another. It maybe conditional or unconditional, unilateral or bilateral; unidirectional or reciprocal. It can be between God and man or another like earth, as in Genesis 9:13. Covenants have been made since the beginning of man’s life on earth. But, was there a “covenant” before man’s creation?

Genesis Adam

The proximate Creator God, the El Shaddai/YHVH-Elohim/LOGOS promised, as planned, to make man “in our image, after our likeness” and so He did without any precondition, (Genesis 2:26-27). And, this was only a start for man in his destiny as the promise to have “dominion… over every creeping thing…on earth” (like disease-causing organism) which has not yet been achieved because it requires immortal bodies. As originally made , man was a “created template” that projects the promise into the future of in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit in his ongoing creation of His body, the church.

Covenant at time of Noah and on

While Noah followed the direction of God in building the ark, he was still a sinner (Romans 5:12-21) deserving death but he, and representative animals found grace to live without precondition, as in:

Genesis 6:5-8 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 6:12-13 “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth”.

With Noah, Genesis 9:11 states God’s promise:

“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth“.

Instead of all life ending, some were saved based on grace. And, God decides who will be saved, when and how. This has no pre-condition and there is a sign/proof of covenant as in:Genesis 9:13,

“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.“

Promised and covenanted preceded all

On reviewing verses with covenants, one sees the promise for one to do to another can be conditional, unconditional or general; unilateral or bilateral; unidirectional or reciprocal.

Moreover, for completion, these promises/covenants are prospective and ultimately referred towards one human, “the seed“, as in

Galatians 3:16 “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.“(NIV).

More importantly, as the covenants are prospective to man-Jesus(anthropos-Jesus), it retrospectively reverts to the same person with many descriptive names like Creator-God/El-Shaddai(Almighty God)/YHVH-Elohim(Lord God)/LOGOS, “before the beginning of time” as in:

2 Timothy 1:9-10 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.“

Unwritten covenant between Father and Logos and How of salvation

While all covenants were between God and man(or earth), the “first unwritten covenant” was between the Father and Son “before the beginning of time. Consider this:

2 Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,”

The preceding verse tells us that our salvation was not because of our “own works” (we were still sinners) but was purposely planned and by the grace of the Father. And, this “grace was given us, in Christ Jesus”, meaning because and through him. Moreover, this was and made it, an unwritten covenant between the Father and LOGOS(Jesus) “before the beginning of time“. Yes, before Genesis, prior to you and me, or anything else, were created,i.e., before sun, moon and stars (the universe). Yes, unwritten but covenanted and assured, nevertheless.

That said, the actual meaning/interpretation, the good news/gospel, was not revealed prior to Paul’s ministry until after Jesus was resurrected to life as proof of the Father delivering what was promised;

2 Timothy 1:10 “but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Salvation, a sine qua non to immortality, is the goal in the creation of the God-Kingdom. But, how did we get saved? And when did we get saved? Were we saved at the time when it was promised? And, when was this promised? Was it conditional or unconditional ? Was it written or unwritten? These are questions that eluded many prior to, but revealed through the ministry of Paul, whose knowledge was by the teaching of Jesus through the Holy Spirit in-dwelling in him.

As important as our faith (in) him is, of and by itself, it is nothing without the faith (of) Jesus in the Father. The Father has to promise, before faith is summoned in his ability to fulfill what was promised. Jesus’ faith in the Father started and initiated all that has been subsequently promised. His faith in the Father is absolute, having been the only one who was with him even before creation (John 1:1-3).

This is the faith-to-faith principle as in: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. – Romans 1:16-17

The so-called “father of the faithful” is Abraham (Gal. 3:6-8) as we are the children of Abraham. But, the faith of Abraham was in El Shadddai, YHVH Elohim, Jesus the Creator, the God that he knew, to deliver his promises. But before Abraham’s faith, his Creator/Jesus also has faith in the Father who no one has seen (but Jesus). Jesus’ faith preceded anyone’ faith. So from the faith originally (of) Jesus/Creator in his Father, it transcended from YHVH ELOHIM’s promise to Abraham and to others. Indeed, from faith to faith.

This faith (of) Jesus is based on a covenant. As there were covenants between Abraham and God, Israel and God, new Israel and God, all of these covenants were preceded by the unwritten covenant way before creation, between YHVH ELOHIM/Jesus and God the Father.

But, what was covenantly promised by the Father to Jesus, even before the creation of the worlds? This promise was not preached as a specific unwritten covenant and has not been understood as such until this time, in this generation. This covenant, way before all other covenants that followed, essentially is for:

1. YHVH ELOHIM to die (Rev. 13:8) as incarnate Jesus, as payment in full for the sins of YHVH’s creation(imputed to first Adam), to reconcile us to the Father.

2. In return, the Father would resurrect Jesus to receive the promise of the Spirit to dwell in the “fleshly tables” of our heart. not in “stony heart” . This will then transform us into the “body of Christ” as an eternal salvation, and be “higher than angels“(Heb.2:5-18). The Father is creating not a plant- kingdom, not an animal-kingdom and not even a human-kingdom, but a “God-kingdom”, all spiritually composed.

Historically and futuristically, all human kingdoms will be destroyed. There will be a fulfillment of the “dream of Nebuchadnezzar” (Daniel 2). It will no longer be “an image/template“, but a God-kingdom, a “new creation” within the “body/church of Christ“.

Jesus’ faith is in the Father whose promise is for mankind to be “in the body of Christ“. This will be fulfilled. His faith in the Father is on solid grounds, as our faith in Jesus is.

Summary

The unwritten covenant that trumps and preceded all covenants is between the Father and Jesus before the beginning of time. This was then re-promised by El Shaddai ( Almighty God) to Adam, Noah, Abraham and others. This is UNconditional as we were not yet in existence and definitive because he is assured that the Father will keep his promise that is faith-based on grace and love of God.

God bless 🙏😇

Original Post: June 16, 2019 .A hyperlink Father’s Day Dedication

Critique is welcome at foundationacts@yahoo.com

Equip, What, When and How?

by fact-s.net

In any organization, the leader has to be well-equipped, as well as the members to achieve the goal they are purposely meant to be. Each member has to be similarly equipped with “mind and actionable power“. With empowerment of the “team“, together everyone achieves more.

Team and group dynamics are essential. This principle is basic if anyone seeks and expects to reach success. What we learned as key to success in the secular world is a predicate to what is primordial also in the “spirit-realm“. An “equip student-seminar 2017″ highlights the importance of being “equipped”.

What to be equipped with?

What to be equipped with, depends upon the goal. In the narrative between Nicodemus and Jesus , undoubtedly, the goal after humans are “born of water” (after having been born into this world) is to be “born of the spirit”, is the creation of a “God-kingdom” from our human anatomy. And, this key ingredient has to be a Helper, aka Holy Spirit, in-dwelling in us to empower our “weak” though perfectly-made composition(Genesis 1:31). We need this empowerment to help our “willing spirit/mind to overcome our weak flesh“(Matthew 26:41) to do God’s will, as Jesus did in Luke 22:42 and as advised for -us in:

Hebrews 13:21 “equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.“(NIV).

Notice that it is through Jesus Christ who got this Holy Spirit/Helper/Advocate/Comforter only after his death and resurrection as in John 16:7ESV. And with that power, he now is giving the Holy Spirit of empowerment to whomever he will, as a gift, at their particular time of “calling” to be readied for “harvests“.

When and How equipped?

As already indicated at the outset, the leader has to be equipped first. In human history, all humans failed as a leader until the prophesied true human leader came into being by the process of incarnation of the EL SHADDAI/YHVH Elohim I AM/Creator God/Logos; see Exodus 6:3; Exodus 3:13-14; John 1:1. He was the first human equipped with in-dwelling gift of the Holy Spirit of power directly from the origin, the Father, at River Jordan as in John 1:32

“Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.“

From then on, this power was first manifested by overcoming the “god of this world/age”, aka Satan, then followed the miracle in the wedding in Cana turning water into wine. There was no proof in the Bible of miraculous power done by Jesus prior to those events, whether in infancy, childhood or adulthood.

But, then, it took his resurrection and for him to be alive to receive this Holy Spirit from God to give as a gift to mankind. He could not receive this at death. His death brought reconciliation of mankind with the Father. As the Creator God, Jesus breathe into Adam’s nostrils the life-giving but temporary breath-of-life. Conversely, his resurrected life will bring to mankind an eternal life-giving power. Temporary in the sense that even with that life-giving power given in Genesis by the Creator God, we still die; in contrast, this life-giving power from the Holy Spirit that was received by resurrected Jesus from the Father is for our immortality. With that power, he could then give it as a gift to whomever he planned as “called” in preparation for “spring and fall harvests”. Pentecost was the first time in-dwelling occurred to other human beings.

How this Holy Spirit became available was through a process that started with a covenant between the Father and EL Shaddai/YHVH Elohim/Logos which entails a creation of a God-kingdom. For the Creator-God(Jesus) to do this , he had to create an “image or template” of God (Genesis 1:26), the creation of man(Genesis 2:7). But, while Adam was created perfectly, he was still “weak” to overcome evil, like temptation from Serpent/Satan, and sinned despite God’s admonition against “eating the fruit”. Being a sinner, he will suffer “eternal/irreversible death”, for which a Passover Lamb Christ had to be sacrificed for reconciliation with the Father. And for that to happen, the Creator God had to incarnate, grow and develop to maturity before receiving to himself the promised in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit at River Jordan. With his crucifixion and death that paid for mankind’s sin accounted to Adam’s sin, he was then resurrected (as promised to this human trailblazer) to achieve the reward of immortality and receive the gift of Holy Spirit for others paving the way for their salvation/immortality.

This Holy Spirit becomes figuratively the “spiritual sperm DNA” that “fertilizes” the “spirit-egg DNA, aka our mind”, to become a “spiritual zygote“. This is a “token/deposit” that establishes the “seal as adopted child of God” that will guide, nourish, develop to maturity and will “declared/appointed/manifest as “born again” at time of resurrection. The process by which the Holy Spirit in-dwells in us is through Jesus giving to whomever the Father called towards Jesus.

Summary

As a predicate to spiritual, secular success depends on equipping. The first to be equipped with the Holy Spirit of power was man/anthropos Jesus, our leader, captain/author of our salvation, the trailblazer, the author and finisher of our faith. This power in-dwelled in him at River Jordan. It was a “Helper” to his “weak” human composition that he used to overcome Satan and to show miracles to his disciples at that time. He then died for our reconciliation and after resurrection received the Holy Spirit of power to be given to us to strengthen our “human weakness“. Having been equipped by the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, what we do with or how we use this empowerment will determine whether we will continue to grow and mature.

For those who were given the privilege to partake in the “first/spring harvest“, those who were called to receive the Holy Spirit to partake in the “first resurrection“, take heed not to “quench the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) or “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30). Worse if we return to our “vomit“, as in: 2 Peter 2:22

“Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Any tree has to be planted, fertilized, taken cared for, prior to growth/development and bear fruits. Same with those “seeded” and “sealed/deposited” with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us therefore be empowered by the Holy Spirit, use it as in:

Galatians 5:16.”So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Moreover, bear fruits, as in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Remember:

John 15:2 “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful”

Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

God Bless 😇🙏

Original post: June 4, 2019

Why was Man created “flesh-composed and weak”?

by fact-s.net

What is wrong with humans? In all human history, there is good and evil done by humans, not only to others but practically everything else. Governments rise and fall, wars and rumors of war all throughout memories written or not. Certainly, there are progress, advancements, peace and prosperity. A good man can become bad and an evil man can become good, as we define good/evil. Why is there no consistency in goodness and in eschewing evil?

Man has Creator and Composition

For anyone to understand why human history is what it is, one has to go back to man’s origin and composition. From Genesis creation, after non-living and inanimate elements were created, a perfect God created living and animate things. Lastly, his supreme creation was a human being (Genesis 1:27-31). A Creator made man; no evolution in how he/she got to be.

Notice, though, man’s composition in Genesis 2:7 “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.“(NIV)

The matter/flesh-composition of man came from the non-living “dust/aphar” of the ground, earthy. The other component, “breath/nshamah” of life” was “breathed ” into his nostrils and he became a “living being/nephesh”. Without that “breath of life”, man was dead. This “breath of life” came directly from a living Spirit-Being, the Creator, and therefore heavenly. This breath-of-life is otherwise known as “spirit/of-man or mind” as in:

Job 32:8 “But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding”.

So man is composed of “aphar” + “nshamah“= “nephesh“.

From dead to life, in the same way that humans futuristically will be resurrected to life. But notice the capability of these 2 components, as in Matthew 26:41

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.“(NIV)

These components differ in function, i.e., the “mind“is to will, analyze and decide; the “flesh” is to execute and act; the mind has to act through the flesh. Aside from this, both can actually be pulling each other in different direction or be in conflict as in;

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want“(NIV).

Meaning, that while the mind may decide one way, the needs of the flesh, i.e., hunger, pain, self-interest for self-preservation, etc., may overtake and oppose initial/gut response of the mind, but the mind changed direction depending on what justifies that decision. How often do you see people whose mind says it is wrong to kill or steal or cheat but did that anyway because of “lust of the flesh” (Romans 13:14;Romans 7:18)

Man as created needs a Helper/Advocate

Without question, God from the beginning wanted us to follow him. From the 1st Adam until the last/2nd Adam, we were advised, guided to follow him, his Commandments and his direction. But, history shows we all failed. We all did until the “trailblazer/archegos” the captain/author of our salvation came to earth (Hebrews 2:10) and showed us the “way, truth and the life“(John 14:6). God was not wrong in telling us to follow his commandments; that was his plan and desire. The problem was us being created temporarily incomplete, a mere image/template, being weak and needs a “Helper“, as planned.

As Jeremiah 18:1-4 , Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 64:8 ; Job 4:18-19; Romans 9:19-21 say, our Creator has a plan for this temporary creation to be reworked or remade and we should not question his plan.

All of what happened to humanity centers on what the Creator planned to do after his incarnation through the man/anthropos Jesus (Timothy 2:5). There is an “ongoing creation“.

Made weak on “hope“:

Because God is perfect, it is difficult to accept this proposition that we were created imperfect, weak, incomplete, temporary, an image and a template. But that is exactly a perfect creation as it was and became “marred clay” for a purpose. It centers on Jesus as the “hope of mankind“. Notice the following:

Romans 8:20 “For the creature was made subject to vanity(frailty-depravity), not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD:“

Romans 15:4 ESV “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Yes, we were created as such (spirit willing but flesh is weak) and subject to weakness by reason of him ” who subjected the same in hope”. And this, to direct us and look forward to the only man who was planned from the foundation of the world…our “hope IS THE LORD” (Jesus).

Jesus is the trailblazer, captain author (archegos) of our faith towards salvation/immortal life, the carpenter/builder. He is our “hope of eternal life” as in Titus 1:2

“In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

The Father promised to El Shaddai/YHVH/LOGOS before incarnating into man-Jesus that when he takes on the role of the Passover for mankind, that he would receive the reward of the Holy Spirit to be given to him and subsequently give it to us as a gift to empower us. His hope, trust in the Father was on faith in the Father and is evidence-based.

With this hope, let us do our part by “walking and following” the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 3:3 “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”.

Any tree has to be planted, fertilized, taken cared for, prior to growth/development and bear fruits. Same with those “seeded” and “sealed/deposited” with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The gifted Holy Spirit will empower us, so that this hope of eternal life will see fruition.

Summary

We were created perfect by God as we were composed from the ground + breath/of-life. Still, as perfectly-made we were, our history shows how incomplete and “weak” we are on our “own power“. We were formed as an “image/template” of our Creator. We need to be empowered out of our “weakness” by the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit which we will receive only from Jesus.

It took the incarnation of EL Shaddai/YHVH ELOHIM/LOGOS/ Creator God into man-Jesus to remake the “marred clay” using the empowerment of the Holy Spirit which he was gifted/received for himself at River Jordan to overcome Satan, to do miracles and to subsequently be given for us only after his resurrection.

Let us then heed the advice in Hebrews 5:16:

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh”

With this in-dwelling in us of the Holy Spirit, hopefully we will follow it’s guidance and bear the “fruits of the Holy Spirit”. These comprise the righteous acts that God required us to be “one with him” as “all our (personal” righteous acts are as filthy rags”.

Be mindful that as we are guided through the agency of the Holy Spirit, that it “ is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

This action of ours is strictly speaking, merely a consent from us to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose actions are “fruits of the Holy Spirit“.

God bless 🙏😇👍😊

Original post: June 3, 2019

Please tap on hyperlinks for references.

Critique is welcome at foundationacts @yahoo.com after reading all for context.

Wedding in Cana, First Miracle or What and Why?

by fact-s.net

It is commonly taught that the first miracle of Jesus was turning water into wine. Actually, going through the events that followed the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit in him, he “went straight way” (Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 4:1) out of the water, empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome Satan in the wilderness. That was the first miracle to subdue the “god of this world/age”. It was only after this that the narrative surrounding the wedding in Cana took place. So, rightly put, the water-to-wine miracle was “first of the signs through which he revealed his glory” (John 2:11) to the disciples who then believed in him, and not the actual first miracle.

Moreover, observationally, one sees that in the life of Jesus, prior to this in-dwelling, there was no miracle recorded, suggesting exactly that. There was no miracle at all performed by man/anthropos-Jesus as the Holy Spirit was not given yet to him. One can therefore discredit the claims of others about”miracles” performed by Jesus as a child.

With that said, let us now visit the wedding in Cana which was was narrated in John 2:1-11,

“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman,why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”

Consider John 2:4 “Woman,why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come“ Here, Jesus was questioning his mother Mary why involve him now and answered himself to emphasize that his “hour has not yet come”. What was that hour that has not come yet? It has to do with water and wine, but what?

Also, John 2:10 “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now“ Here, Jesus was referring to himself bringing out the “best wine after guests had too much to drink.” Regarding wine, it had to be precious and the best.

Symbols of water and wine?

With that laid out as a preliminary, one can see the connection between water and wine.

The principle of Isaiah 28:10 applies as in:

“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:“

Regarding “water” as a symbol and used in a figurative sense referring to the Holy Spirit, consider the following verses:

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

There is a difference between “born of water” from the womb into flesh-composed human beings and born of the Spirit which is spirit-composed.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Clearly, water represents the “Holy Spirit“.

Regarding “wine” as a symbol and used in a figurative sense referring to the “blood” of Jesus, consider the following verse:

Matthew 26:28
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.“

Blood has to be shed first as a consequence of mankind’s sin for remission and reconciliation with the Father. This death of Christ is key before the Helper/Advocate will be given by the Father to Jesus, then subsequently to us.

Why turn water into wine?

The key to answer this question lies in:

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”

As the preceding verse intimated to us, this is about the process of how to “enter the kingdom of God”, i.e., the ultimate creation of the God-kingdom from human anatomy. What is planned to be created is not a plant-kingdom, animal-kingdom or even a human-kingdom that is destined to end and replaced as prophesied in Daniel 2.

As everyone understands, first, we have to be “born of water“, i.e., from the womb of our mother filled with amniotic fluid/water for protection, growth and development. Thereafter comes being “born of Spirit”. Jesus was “turning what was born of water into “born of Spirit“. But, for humans to be born of Spirit, the Holy Spirit of adoption has to in-dwell in the person as a Helper/Advocate for nourishment, guidance, protection, growth and development.

The timing for this in-dwelling was “not yet” until the crucifixion. Jesus has to die first before we can be considered “crucified/died with Christ”. Blood has to be spilled first for Jesus to die and receive (John 16:7) the Holy Spirit from the Father to empower our “weak flesh“. Water baptism signifies death and Spirit-in dwelling is spiritual baptism towards life. It is not the symbolic waters of baptism that cleanse and reconcile us to the Father but Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:22) and the thereafter receipt of God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, symbolized by water, has cleansing power; it quenches a person’s spiritual thirst, cleanses him from his spiritual filth and facilitates his spiritual birth, a stage of being “born again”.

Summary

“My hour has not yet come“ refers to the time of his death. “Turning water into wine” suggests that after man has been “born of water” from the mother’s womb, there is a process to be “born again through the Holy Spirit”. That process requires, water to turn to wine as in “blood of Christ as a Passover” sacrifice and payment for the sin of one man imputed to all mankind. That “wine” was the best and given only at a particular end-time and people. This then reconciles man to the Father for him to give the reward of the Holy Spirit to Jesus who will then give the gift of the Holy Spirit to us. Through the Holy Spirit in-dwelling in us, we received and were sealed with the Spirit of Adoption, and empowered us to have the Ten Commandments “written not in tables of stones but in the fleshy tables of our heart” as a “new covenant” with spirit-commandments to bear the “fruits of the Holy Spirit“. As what was written in tables of stone had commandments so does the one written in fleshy tables of our heart to follow. The difference between these covenants is the empowerment through the Holy Spirit which was not in-dwelling previously.

For those who were given the privilege to partake in the “first/spring harvest“, those who were called to receive the Holy Spirit to partake in the “first resurrection“, take heed not to “quench the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) or “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30). Worse if we return to our “vomit“, as in: 2 Peter 2:22

“Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Let us therefore be empowered by the Holy Spirit as in:

Galatians 5:16.“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Moreover, bear fruits, as in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.“

Remember:

John 15:2 “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful“

Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.“

Out of his love for us, Jesus died for our reconciliation with the Father. More importantly was to receive the Holy Spirit from the Father to empower us against the “pull of the flesh“. Let us use this creative power wisely.

God bless 😇🙏

Original post: June 1, 2019

Hyperlink version dedicated to those celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Hopefully … in Cana.