An Exegesis of Light – Chapter One

An Exegesis of Light

Chapter One

(Genesis 1:3,14-18)

“And God said,
Let there be light: and there was light”
Genesis 1:3

In the scope, wonder and mystery of all that God is, there is a continual unveiling of Himself to His own. He calls these varying degrees of revelation LIGHT. Through His works we see countless expressions of light; the spectrum of Himself as it were. In the natural light of this world there are bands, hues, and diversities of what we call light. The natural order of things are mere representations of the true and eternal things of God. As light gives illumination to this world, so His light is given to illuminate His World.

In Genesis, God brought forth light in the midst of darkness (first day). This light was given before the creation of the sun and moon (fourth day); it was light (illumination) of a different and higher order than the natural light of the sun. In all that God does, He begins from Himself and His purposes. The first light given was the light of Himself before the creation of life on earth. God’s purpose was to fill the whole earth with the Glory of Himself (Numbers 14:21, Habakkuk 2:14). God’s work is always “prophetic”. He created food and all the essentials of life before He created the human race; the answer existing before the need. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. This light spoken of on the “first day” contained within it the revelation of sacrificial, redemptive and predetermined Glory of God.

The material world is a distinct creation into which God has purposed to speak a new revelation of His Light and Glory. It is a revelation of Himself which even the angelic order “looks into” with great curiosity.

“And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God’s servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see”
1 Peter 1:12

This Light included the purpose of redemption and sacrifice predetermined before the creation of the world:

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Revelation 13:8

This light was spoken into this realm and God is bringing to pass His predetermined purpose in Christ! How glorious and mighty is our God!

“And God said,
Let there be light: and there was light”
Genesis 1:3

This same light, by God’s design, would come into this world (once again formless and void by reason of the fall) in the face of the God-man from whom would shine the very radiance of God the Father. This same light which shined out of the darkness in creation came to us in the face of Jesus Christ to shine into our hearts the brightness of God’s glory.

“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.”
2 Corinthians 4:6

The Eternal Word, wrapped in human flesh, would walk among us, dwell among us, and reveal unto us the nature and heart of God the Father. This Word is the very incarnation of God Himself, by Whom He was pleased to unveil Himself to fallen man. God making known to man that light is not merely for the purpose of revelation and illumination; it is in His Life entering into us, in the person of Jesus Christ, whereby it becomes “the light of men”.

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men”
John 1:4

It is in the receiving of Him into our hearts where His very Life becomes our light to live, walk and grow into His likeness.

“The entering of Your Word gives light…”
Psalm 119:130 (LITV)

This is Chapter One of a coming New Book. For the sake of brevity this writing has been broken into short segments and as with all things it is necessary to read all the parts to appreciate the wonder and glory of our God.

A Word in Season – Jürgen Moltmann

Quote for Today

“That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”
― Jürgen Moltmann

The 24 Elders – A Very Brief Introduction

Podcast – The 24 Elders

JUST A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

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Kingdom of God Series – Part Six

The Kingdom of God

Chapter Six

The One Bread
Unity and True Ministry

“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”
John 1:1

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
that ye also may have fellowship with us…”
John 1:3

The simplicity of true and powerful ministry has been lost, to a large degree, in our fast-paced world of data and information. Here we see true ministry described in the simplest of terms: personal relationship with Christ. The ministry of an individual believer is the result of hearing, seeing, and handling Him, the Word of Life! It is not the echoing of something we have heard or read from others (as good as that may be); it is in our own partaking of the Living Christ whereby we share what “we have seen and heard”! It is this personal sharing of Christ that is the basis of true fellowship. There is a union of believers in the knowing of this One Body in Christ! Whenever men and women ascribe to the doctrines/teachings of men there is division and chaos; the discordant and unruly hearts of men seek to draw others to themselves rather than to Christ. The Kingdom of God is revealed in unity and power. It is in partaking of the Bread of Life that we are brought into the realization of Him as the Head of us all; His heart beating and binding us into the cords and bonds of His love.

“For we being many are one bread, and one body:
for we are all partakers of that one bread”
1 Corinthians 10:17

This unity is the evidence that we are partakers of the One Bread.  It is the miracle of His Life that makes us the One Bread and the One Body. It is in this wonder at work that the wheat and the tares are revealed, and that day is upon us.

“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn”
Matthew 13:30

We are living in the Day of the Harvest and even now this great work of God is evident. Isaac and Ishmael cannot co-exist though both of them are the offspring of Faith (Abraham); Isaac is of the womb of Rachel and Ishmael is of the womb of Hagar the Egyptian. One seeks the City of God whose builder and maker is God; the other seeks to build their own ministry/church/city and put their name on it. (See Galatians Chapter 4) Even Peter, on the Mount of Transfiguration, wanted to build “three tabernacles”. It is an inherent need of fallen man to build things unto God and name them after themselves. Peter was rebuked by the Father for such an idea.

“For Israel hath forgotten his Maker,
and buildeth temples…”
Hosea 8:14

It will be become more and more apparent those who are partaking of the One Bread and those who are not. The singularity of partaking of Christ alone is what propels His people into the Unity of His Spirit. Those who are content with the division and sectarianism of our day have not yet touched or felt the wonder of gathering together unto Him. We become what we eat and drink. His flesh is meat indeed and His blood is life. It is from this ministration that all who are His come together.

“Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood has everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. The one partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood abides in Me, and I in him”
John 6:53-56

The Kingdom of God is Christ. He is the Kingdom. Our entrance into this Life can only be known by partaking and abiding in Him. There is an inherent need to be joined with others who are also abiding in Him. “Deep calleth unto deep”, life unto life. It is the desire of the hand to know the living connection it has to the foot, likewise the eye to the ear. The Kingdom of God is a living, breathing, organism which is NOT of this world. It is heavenly, spiritual and, above all, vitally joined in Christ who is the Head.

“But now, indeed, many are the members, but one body. And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you; or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”
1 Corinthians 12:20-21

Those who are truly in Christ are NOT ABLE to say to another member “I have no need of you”. If we are partaking of Him, one would have to deny the very life of Christ within to say such a thing. If we are in Him, we know intuitively that we need one another just as the hand needs the foot and the eye needs the ear. It is only the proud and the arrogant who think they are sufficient in themselves to meet the needs of “their” congregation or assembly.

The Kingdom of God is being raised in this day out of the debris of the methods and arrogancy of men and their selfish endeavors (“my flock”, “my church”, “my ministry”), into the wonder of those who live with such selflessness that they esteem others as more worthy than themselves. This is happening as His people partake of and minister the ONE BREAD. The Unity of the Spirit will culminate in the Unity of the Faith. Let us walk carefully before the Lord to minister His word out of a pure heart.

“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind”
Philippians 2:1-2

Brian Troxel

Persecution Posts – West Africa

ALL 4 WORE CROSSES—NEW BURKINA FASO ATTACK LEAVES BELIEVERS DEAD

July 11, 2019 by Lindy Lowry in Africa, Stories of Persecution

They had just gathered to share stories and the happenings of the day—like West African communities often do in the evenings–when strangers entered their village in northern Burkina Faso. Before the group left, they had killed four believers and had set fire to the shop of one of the Christians they executed.

Our field is reporting that on Thursday, June 27, unidentified armed individuals entered the village of Bani (about six miles from the town of Bourzanga), looking for Christians. According to testimonies gathered from survivors, the militants told everyone to lie down and proceeded to look for Christians by asking for first names or looking for anyone wearing Christian insignia (like crosses).

The deadly search yielded four men: David Zoungrana, his younger brother Philippe, Theophile Ouedraogo and Ernest Kassoaga. They were all wearing crosses. Contacts on the ground tell us that when they saw crosses, the assailants singled them out. All four were taken aside and executed.

At this stage, we don’t know their ages or anything about the families David, Philippe, Theophile and Ernest left behind. Just that they followed Jesus—and their faith was part of them. They weren’t afraid to make a public statement of their belief in an area known internationally for its display of seven adobe mosques–six of which are built at the top of Bani’s main hill.

Before the terrorists left the village, they torched the shop that belonged to Zoungrana. Then they moved on to another village, Pougrenoma, also in the Bourzanga region. There, they warned residents against calling in any government officials or military forces, indicating they would return. They also told Christians to convert or risk execution.

Growth in the Storm

Growth in the Storm

“And when they were come into the ship,
the wind ceased.”
Matthew 14:32

For the disciple of Christ there is purpose in the storms of life. God’s design for His Own is never random and without intent. Nothing is haphazard or arbitrary. The storm in which the disciples found themselves was intended to enlarge their comprehension of the majesty of Christ.  It was also an opportunity to experience this wonder in their own lives. The main beneficiary of this “lesson” was Peter. Peter had a desire to identify with the living Christ; his heart was not content in seeing Jesus walk upon the water! There was an inherent need within him to walk as Christ walked; to step into the storming seas of life because faith propelled him. True Faith can never find contentment in seeing Jesus only. It will inevitably compel the one in whom it resides to invest in the experiential life of identification with Christ.

The wind will cease, and the storm will become calm once the vital lesson is learned! How glorious is the inspired Word of God: “and when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased”! Let the “they” impact our hearts and stir our souls to greater faith and larger living. When Jesus and Peter step back into the boat, Peter is not the same man he was moments before. His understanding has been transformed by stepping out of his current knowledge of Christ into a larger revelation of the power of Christ.

The storms of life are designed of Him to not simply be endured, but to be the very instruments of our enlargement and growth. While many cling to the “safety” of the boat there are those who see Christ upon the waters and have the passion to walk as He walks, to overcome as He overcomes; to know within that a greater life is available. May the Lord work within us that faith that sees beyond the confines of our experience and propels us to walk outside the scope of human possibility.

“If it be thou, bid me to come”
Matthew 14:28

Jesus has one response to such faith:

“Come…”
Matthew 14:29

Brian Troxel

Prophetic Light – Andrew Jukes

Quote for Today

“What the Church now wants is prophetic light—light, that is, to know God’s present will, His will as to existing things—whether this is ‘a time to build’ or ‘a time to throw down.’ No study of the letter of the dispensation will give this. No study of the old law would have shown that in Hezekiah’s day the right thing was to ‘defend Jerusalem;’ in Zedekiah’s, to forsake it and ‘fall to the Chaldeans;’ and in a still later day to ‘flee to the mountains.’ No mere letter of the Gospel will show the Church’s real need to-day. Direct prophetic light is needed—men to whom the Word of the Lord yet comes expressly. And yet these are the men whom the Church always rejects”
– Andrew Jukes (1880)

A Word in Season – David Brainerd

A Word in Season

“We should always look upon ourselves as God’s servants, placed in God’s world, to do his work; and accordingly labour faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can”
– David Brainerd