Truth
The end of the age is the story of the emergence of truth. Truth is being born in to the earth. This is a divinely orchestrated process that has taken thousands of years...ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against the Truth, God immediately enacted a plan to restore the light of Truth to the earth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes into the glorious presence...the Light of God...except through Him. This is the Truth: life is not possible apart from the Author of Life.
I picture a tree. A tree cannot live apart from the sun. If you build a shed over a living and thriving tree, and block out the sun, the tree will surely die. The tree will continue to exist, but it will be lifeless wood...firewood.
Mankind is no different. Mankind cannot live apart from the glory of God...the bright light of His presence. In the light of God's presence IS life...there are all the fruits of His presence in the very glory that emanates from His being...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control...when the light of God hits your skin, like the warm sunshine on a cool spring day...you feel the very light has love in it...you are enveloped in the very life giving presence of God...your heart will forever grow in this light...just like day after day the trees reach a little higher and the roots grow a little deeper in the dim light of the sun.
The truth is, everything was made to live in the light of God's glory...even the plants of the earth were degraded when all they were left with was the sun...thorns appeared, the plants yielded less, mankind's activity ceased being primarily about creative development of the earth in partnership with God and became more about surviving the harsh reality of an earth "living" mostly apart from God's glory.
Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Everyone's experience, by the truth of the Word, is supposed to be like that described to Adam. Toiling daily to get enough to survive. This isn't theoretical theology...this is the reality of the earth. Most places on earth this IS the reality. Life is not really happening...life the way God defines it. The earth is broken. We are not supposed to embrace life here the way earth is. We are supposed to be contending with full strength for glory to return.
In the United States and the western world it is hard to see that life is broken. Even the poorest among us in the USA have abundance compared to many places in the earth. Even simple freedoms born out of excess resources that still exist here makes us vastly different in our understanding of life. The options available to those living in the USA have skewed the way we see life. Life actually looks a little like LIFE here...this is a dangerous trap. By definition, life cannot really happen until Jesus returns...what we are experiencing in the western world is a "heaping up" of resources that simulates some shallow aspects of life in the abundant presence of God...
But this is the trouble: because the harsh reality of the broken garden IS true until Jesus returns, our excess MUST mean someone else's lack. This is the only way it works...and paying a little attention to the true conditions on the ground bears this out: there is an inequitable distribution of resources on earth. There simply is. The entire earth knows it...and many hate the west for it. They see the excess...the luxury...and the corruption that has come with it, and they have declared war against it. Simply look at the news. A massive portion of the earth has declared war against the west...according to the Bible, God has put it in their heart to do so! This should trouble us...it is INTENDED to trouble us:
Revelation 17:15-18 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Revelation 18:1-8 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
This is the fate for all those who try to cling to this "less-than-life" as we have come to know it. It must, for this heaping up of resources at the expense of the rest of the world cannot stand. God isn't necessarily "for" capitalism and "against" redistributing resources! In fact, it is this very idea that the end of the age will center on: WHO is able to return peace, justice, joy, abundance, and equity to the earth? The earth has an answer to this question and the Bible has an answer...the two answers do not agree. The earth believes a man, called the antichrist, can redistribute the resources fairly. The earth believes a man can negotiate peace. The earth believes a man can deliver justice. The Bible believes ONLY Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. All the earth must pick which they believe. Only one can be right. Is Jesus the one who has the wisdom to redistribute the resources of the earth, or is the antichrist?
Lately I have heard many make the argument that Jesus would be a socialist or a liberal, because He is for justice for the poor. The argument is made that because Jesus would feel this way, men should operate this way. This is ENTIRELY untrue...it is actually an attack on Jesus' deity. Only Jesus can handle the job. No man has the wisdom, the resources, nor the strength of character and purity of heart to be trusted to redistribute the wealth of the earth...only One is worthy, and until He shows up, no man can handle the job. Absolute power corrupts absolutely...there is only one Incorruptible man...the Man Christ Jesus. Revelation 5 reveals the only one capable of owning the earth is the one who made it, then set His divine privilege aside, laid down His life for the corrupt earth's restoration:
Revelation 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
The plan of Jesus...the perfect man... at the end of the age is to take away every man-based strength...every lie of strength...to birth Truth into the earth by touching the money, touching the armies, touching the resources of the earth...He will do this by handing them all over to the antichrist for 42 months! The antichrist promises to redistribute them rightly, but he will take them for himself.
The earth will get what it wants...and what it wants is a man to be its king. What the people of earth will get in return is the fullness of corruption...desolation...
There is only one safe place... in those hearts, families, churches, and geographic regions that make GOD their strength, there is safety. This takes time...this takes a living history of letting God provide, rather than heaping up resources to last in your own physical strength. This takes manna, water from a rock, the manifestation of the Spirit of wisdom and counsel and might...this takes an intentional turning away of man-based strength now...while there is time to learn to live in the supernatural...
Come out of her, lest you share in her judgments.
Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus says the Lord : “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord . For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , And whose hope is the Lord . For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
I picture a tree. A tree cannot live apart from the sun. If you build a shed over a living and thriving tree, and block out the sun, the tree will surely die. The tree will continue to exist, but it will be lifeless wood...firewood.
Mankind is no different. Mankind cannot live apart from the glory of God...the bright light of His presence. In the light of God's presence IS life...there are all the fruits of His presence in the very glory that emanates from His being...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control...when the light of God hits your skin, like the warm sunshine on a cool spring day...you feel the very light has love in it...you are enveloped in the very life giving presence of God...your heart will forever grow in this light...just like day after day the trees reach a little higher and the roots grow a little deeper in the dim light of the sun.
The truth is, everything was made to live in the light of God's glory...even the plants of the earth were degraded when all they were left with was the sun...thorns appeared, the plants yielded less, mankind's activity ceased being primarily about creative development of the earth in partnership with God and became more about surviving the harsh reality of an earth "living" mostly apart from God's glory.
Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Everyone's experience, by the truth of the Word, is supposed to be like that described to Adam. Toiling daily to get enough to survive. This isn't theoretical theology...this is the reality of the earth. Most places on earth this IS the reality. Life is not really happening...life the way God defines it. The earth is broken. We are not supposed to embrace life here the way earth is. We are supposed to be contending with full strength for glory to return.
In the United States and the western world it is hard to see that life is broken. Even the poorest among us in the USA have abundance compared to many places in the earth. Even simple freedoms born out of excess resources that still exist here makes us vastly different in our understanding of life. The options available to those living in the USA have skewed the way we see life. Life actually looks a little like LIFE here...this is a dangerous trap. By definition, life cannot really happen until Jesus returns...what we are experiencing in the western world is a "heaping up" of resources that simulates some shallow aspects of life in the abundant presence of God...
But this is the trouble: because the harsh reality of the broken garden IS true until Jesus returns, our excess MUST mean someone else's lack. This is the only way it works...and paying a little attention to the true conditions on the ground bears this out: there is an inequitable distribution of resources on earth. There simply is. The entire earth knows it...and many hate the west for it. They see the excess...the luxury...and the corruption that has come with it, and they have declared war against it. Simply look at the news. A massive portion of the earth has declared war against the west...according to the Bible, God has put it in their heart to do so! This should trouble us...it is INTENDED to trouble us:
Revelation 17:15-18 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Revelation 18:1-8 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
This is the fate for all those who try to cling to this "less-than-life" as we have come to know it. It must, for this heaping up of resources at the expense of the rest of the world cannot stand. God isn't necessarily "for" capitalism and "against" redistributing resources! In fact, it is this very idea that the end of the age will center on: WHO is able to return peace, justice, joy, abundance, and equity to the earth? The earth has an answer to this question and the Bible has an answer...the two answers do not agree. The earth believes a man, called the antichrist, can redistribute the resources fairly. The earth believes a man can negotiate peace. The earth believes a man can deliver justice. The Bible believes ONLY Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. All the earth must pick which they believe. Only one can be right. Is Jesus the one who has the wisdom to redistribute the resources of the earth, or is the antichrist?
Lately I have heard many make the argument that Jesus would be a socialist or a liberal, because He is for justice for the poor. The argument is made that because Jesus would feel this way, men should operate this way. This is ENTIRELY untrue...it is actually an attack on Jesus' deity. Only Jesus can handle the job. No man has the wisdom, the resources, nor the strength of character and purity of heart to be trusted to redistribute the wealth of the earth...only One is worthy, and until He shows up, no man can handle the job. Absolute power corrupts absolutely...there is only one Incorruptible man...the Man Christ Jesus. Revelation 5 reveals the only one capable of owning the earth is the one who made it, then set His divine privilege aside, laid down His life for the corrupt earth's restoration:
Revelation 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
The plan of Jesus...the perfect man... at the end of the age is to take away every man-based strength...every lie of strength...to birth Truth into the earth by touching the money, touching the armies, touching the resources of the earth...He will do this by handing them all over to the antichrist for 42 months! The antichrist promises to redistribute them rightly, but he will take them for himself.
The earth will get what it wants...and what it wants is a man to be its king. What the people of earth will get in return is the fullness of corruption...desolation...
There is only one safe place... in those hearts, families, churches, and geographic regions that make GOD their strength, there is safety. This takes time...this takes a living history of letting God provide, rather than heaping up resources to last in your own physical strength. This takes manna, water from a rock, the manifestation of the Spirit of wisdom and counsel and might...this takes an intentional turning away of man-based strength now...while there is time to learn to live in the supernatural...
Come out of her, lest you share in her judgments.
Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus says the Lord : “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord . For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , And whose hope is the Lord . For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
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