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#549 – What Is Practical Christianity and The Practical “Normalcy Bias”?

            Is doing the “Greater Works” Still Our Commission Today?

            Why has Theoretical Christianity and Theological Christianity Produced so Little?

            Have we Misunderstood What the”Greater Works” Really are?

            If we Did “Greater Works” Would Pride Destroy Us?


July 28, 2013

The old saying is “To live in true Christianity is not difficult; it is impossible!” True Christianity has been evaluated as too Idealistic. To live that way would be wonderful but that is beyond the human capacity! The conclusion has then been that; I will do the best I can, God knows my heart, I would if I could, BUT I CAN’T!


When we read the Book of Acts and the rapid spread of Christianity, should we interpret that as unique to that time period and for just a short period of time until the church got a good start? That was then but this is now is a popular conclusion. Some “bias” insists that “The gifts of the Spirit” were just to get the church started and soon passed away. The concept is, now that we have the Bible, we no longer need gifts and this is a popular evangelical conclusion.


Most people, who have some degree of insight, reject that conclusion. In fact some have even said that as we see the time of the end drawing near, we will need EVERYTHING God has available and that every provision of God must increase and become an essential experience just to survive.


Mat 24:21 for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. 22 “And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.


Even though terrible times have occurred in the past and more terrible times will come in the future, Christianity is not presented as impossible. In fact, Christianity, as seen and recorded in the Bible, is not presented as even too difficult or as some impossible dream but as a really practical Life to manifest. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every nation is a simple commandment and sounds “normal.” After the resurrection Jesus appeared to more than 500 persons and gave instructions and not just to the Apostles.


1Cor 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.


Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.


However, according to our gospel, Christianity begins as an inner Life and that becomes the power and motivation for all manifestations of Christianity. While “religion” is outward, “Christianity” is inward and that alone defines the tremendous difference. This “difference” separates Christianity for every other religion that has ever existed. It also separates the religious “work” that men do from the Divine “work” accomplished by the Church He is Building.


Rick Warren, founder and pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Orange County California, addressed the convention of the Islamic Society of North America. Warren stated that Muslims and Christians must work together to combat stereotypes, promote peace and freedom, and solve global problems. Christians and Moslems – faith mates, soul mates and now work mates, forming Chrislam!


“Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.” – Rick Warren in a speech to Muslims.


Rick Warren, alone with other “ministers” are attempting to merge Christianity with the Muslim religion. He is declaring that the God of the Bible is also Allah of the Muslims. It is LOVE” that will join us together. The whole article can be read at; http://www.exposingchrislam.com/


As we see “the end time” approaching there is an extreme need to be able to define the difference between True Christianity and every other religion in the world system. What we see in the majority of visible church groups is NOT True Christianity but another mixture of irrelevant things. This mixture is probably not as gross as what Rick Warren is promoting but still is NOT Truly Christian.


It is within this context and this dimension that we must relate Christianity with the Kingdom of God to understand the true reality of the “Gospel of the New Covenant.” According to our gospel, there is no difference between these two realms of God’s Eternal Purpose. Christianity and the Kingdom of God are so infused together that NO distinction can be accurately made. Christianity without the Kingdom makes a strange anomaly, yet that has been accepted as normal. Even though we have made this distinction in the past, we now repent of that error. Now there seems to be something strange about some sort of Christianity that can exist outside the Sovereign Government of God!


Since our interpretation of the Gospel of the Kingdom infuses the Kingdom and real Christianity together into one, if Christianity is normal then the Kingdom must be normal also.


“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” is the normal Christianity.


Act 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.


Act 28:30 And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.


Act 20:25 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see my face no more.


Act 28:23 And when they had set a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. 24 And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe.


In this document, my purpose will be to present the Kingdom of God AND Christianity together as Extremely Simple and Ridiculously Easy way in which we can live, move and have our being within the Sovereign Government of God. If this proclamation was not so controversial, we could call this “EASY CHRISTIANITY, 101.”


My thesis is this; living within the extraordinary demands of the Kingdom and the ability of every Christian to know and to do His Whole Will, is ALL within the realm of the New Covenant and His total provision that was released following Calvary. All this is well within the capacity of real Christianity. While we may consider “perfection” as something “MAXIMUM,” I will attempt to present it as just NORMAL and expected of every believer. Why? That is simply because of the tremendous provision {the great and magnificent promises} which God has offered to every True Christian. It is by THIS provision that ALL things are possible. But isn’t Christianity too difficult for the natural man? Yes! It is actually impossible!


“Well, Brother Leo, this is welcome news because you make everything so difficult and impossible that we lose both heart and hope.”


I hope to change that popular but erroneous concept by investigating, once again, the New Covenant and God’s UTTER MOST PROVISION and by that understanding remove every excuse we might have for living a defeated and casual “Christian” life! This understanding is NOT entirely NEW but maybe we can present it from another viewpoint.


So many people are NOW asking the practical question “BUT HOW CAN WE DO IT?” They are not asking “did Jesus do it” but they are now asking “HOW DID HE DO IT?” “IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE FOR US TO DO IT?” IF YOU SAY WE CAN DO IT, WHAT PROVISION DOES IT REQUIRE SO WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO IT?


My question is this; Has the time really come for practical Christianity to reign and to be seen, corporately? For example; is it time for THE GLORIOUS CHURCH to be gathered into the One New Man?


Theoretical Christianity and Theological Christianity has run its course and produced very little that God can use in Eternity. Neither has produced a perfected or mature people. Certainly a valid question for us today is; Has God made the total provision for the simplest Christian to live in His fullness, do His will and to fulfill His eternal purpose? If we can answer this valid question with clarity and a practical explanation, along with instructions on how to do it, we will have advanced our calling. Nevertheless, I am not sure if that is possible!


Attempting to live the Truly Christian Life by the Old Covenant Provision has proven to be impossible and has been very frustrating for legalistic groups in the past. However, this is exactly what has occurred when the New Covenant provision was neglected to be taught or, as in most cases, it was just ignored completely. It is amazing how much ignorance of the New Covenant exists among regular church members. I have found the same ignorance among many “pastors.”

 

Act 1:8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

 

This endowment of power, that is received with the Holy Spirit, cannot be isolated from the New Covenant! Why? That is because the provision of the indwelling Holy Spirit IS one provision of the New Covenant. If we can ignore the New Covenant, we can ignore the provision inherent within the New Covenant. However, if we accept the New Covenant, as valid for today, we MUST not ignore its total provision. If the “provision” has passed away then the New Covenant has also passed away. Why? Because they are one and the same. When the Evangelical Church reject the essential provisions of the New Covenant, they guarantee that they are rejecting the New Covenant itself. Since True Christianity is inherently linked and integral to the New Covenant, True Christianity CANNOT exist outside of the New Covenant. Jesus’ current work is in mediating the New Covenant. If we reject His Work, we are ,in effect, rejecting Him.

 

Ezekiel 36:26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

 

Isaiah 59:20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD. 21 “And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you,(the Redeemer) and My words which I have put in your mouth, (the Redeemer) shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”

 

The exact same Spirit that was upon Jesus (our Redeemer) and the exact same words that were in His mouth shall be given to His offspring and to the offsprings, offspring forever. This promise is BY COVENANT. None of this took place under the Old Covenant and is exclusively given only within the New Covenant believers and the Church He is Building. How do we know that? Because, this ONLY begins when the Redeemer / Messiah came to Zion.

 

We also have so much recorded of what Jesus said would happen when the Holy Spirit was given in John 14-15 and 16. We also have so much that Paul shared in his Epistles concerning the Holy Spirit. ALL of these promises were part of the New Covenant Provision. It was Calvary that initiated the New Covenant so none of these provisions, in this magnitude, were available under the Old Covenant.

 

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

 

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD , “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day, And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

 

If we are so ignorant to say; We accept and receive forgiveness of sins but we reject these other provisions, it should be obvious, that we are NOT New Covenant Christians. If this was just an isolated rejection it could be overlooked. However, so much of the visible church has rejected the New Covenant Provisions that it is now epidemic. We could even say it is PANDEMIC.

 

The point I am making is that True Christianity CANNOT be lived or experienced until we have experientially participated in EVERYTHING the New Covenant has provided. This ignorance of the New Covenant in the visible church systems is the basic reason that the testimony of the visible church is so pitiful. Without the full New Covenant Provision, the individual is just limited to walking in the flesh. Romans 8 is about the New Covenant provision even though that is not said there. 1 Corinthians 2 is also part of the New Covenant provision even though that is not said. It was, at this time, assumed because all Christians, at that time, were experiencing the New Covenant Reality.

 

The frustration of continually walking in the flesh can be quickly solved by participating in the full provision of the New Covenant! Preaching “messages” against walking in the flesh is just silly if we cannot tell people HOW TO NOT WALK IN THE FLESH! What possible point is there in preaching a new “message” each Sunday if no one can tell the “disciples” how to do what is being preached? Therefore, too many “messages” just relate to outward and irrelevant things. Even attempting to have Christian fellowship among non New Covenant people cannot be considered as edifying. In fact those who have NOT participated in the New Covenant cannot be considered as True Christians.

 

It is for this reason that experiencing 1 Cor 12 and Romans 12 can only be successful among New Covenant “Disciples.” This does NOT work among those who “believe” 1 Cor 12 and Romans 12 is true. Believers “believe” while Desciples “DO.” It is amazing how few “Christians” know the first thing about the New Covenant and its exceedingly Great and Magnificent Promises. Those who just preach Bible information may have shared the verse about Jesus being the mediator of a New Covenant that is built upon better promises but then be entirely ignorant of what those promises really are. Knowing “about” the promises is not the same thing, or is that even close, to “experiencing these promises.”

 

2Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

Therefore, True Christianity can ONLY be related to those who have successfully received all the “better promises” and the life giving experiences inherent in the Promises. It is the lack of these “experiences” that contributes to this pitiful condition of the visible church.

 

This is the real question that should be asked; Why has this deterioration in Christianity happened?

 

There is, in each religious circle, the standards that have been set and accepted by that group. This “standard” is called the “Normalcy Bias” for that group. This varies according to what the majority accepts as “normal.”

 

Bias refers to a specific and particular concept that prevents another consideration or issue or situation to be considered because of having a slanted, closed or oblique opinion. As an example; “The gifts passed away with the last apostle because they were no longer needed.” This is a “bias” that establishes what that group will ever accept. This “bias” results in the restriction of any further truth concerning the gifts.

 

For a common example of “normalcy” we could site “Gasoline Millage for Automobiles.” When I was much younger 16 miles per gallon of gasoline was considered normal. Gasoline was about 24 cents per gallon. However, now that gasoline has risen by 15 times the “normal” milage might be considered as 24 miles per gallon. Then 24 miles per gallon could now be accepted as the “Normalcy Bias.” The “Normalcy Bias” has increased in proportion to the increase in engineering advancement and with the increase of gasoline prices. This could be considered as a “rising” normalcy bias.

 

However, over time the Outward Christian experience has deteriorated to lower and lower levels of acceptable experience. The result has been that the “Normalcy Bias” has not risen but fallen to unacceptable standards that are no longer even Christian. Whatever the majority considers as “normal” is generally accepted as “normal.” In the visible church system, what has been accepted as “normal” is no longer even Christian when compared with the Bible Standard. This could be considered as a falling “normalcy bias.” The result is that we must re-evaluate our concept of a valid “Normalcy Bias” based NOT upon what the church accepts but upon the Standard set by the Bible. The time has come for each of us to determine which “standard” we will accept? That “standard bias” can affect our eternal destiny.

 

Rick Warren has obviously fallen over the cliff and lost all consciousness of what is the Bible Standard of “Normalcy.” If we all follow the world’s standard for “normalcy,” can Christianity even survive? Obviously, it will soon deteriorate into a harlot church system. The Bible even forecasts that such a system will emerge in the last days. If we just go along with the deteriorating “Normalcy Bias,” what will occur with our eternal vision? It can only continue to deteriorate until anything the majority accepts as the new standard will reflect our opinion also.

 

It seems obvious that someone, somewhere, must at least try to reverse this trend of deterioration and restore the Bible’s Normalcy Bias.

 

This rapid “trend downward” started when Constantine, in about the year 365, established the church as a political and hierarchal structure rather than as a Spiritual structure based upon the New Covenant provision. Of course, small revivals have occurred from time to time and some ground was temporairly recovered. Still, we have never recovered to the “Normalcy and maybe Radical Bias” of the early church.

 

When the visible church was deceived into a political and hierarchal structure, it quickly became a visible religious system. At that time it lost the inner life [New Covenant] understanding of Christianity and held to the outward facade of a Christian Religion. Now it is imperative that we make a distinction between the Christian Religion and True Christianity. We are assuming, from observation, that the Christian Religion has established its own “Normalcy Bias” that is not based upon the same “Normalcy Bias” of True Christianity! The result is that these two are totally incompatible today. The distinction can be reduced down to the church men are building compared to the Church He is building. The Church He is Building will only accept His “Normalcy Bias” and reject anything less. I am guessing that from this time forward the True Christian “normalcy bias” will continue to rise to higher and higher degrees of perfection / maturity / completion until the final first fruit harvest.

 

At this time, in the total recovery process, my own “Normalcy Bias” can no longer be trusted and I am no longer confident it is compatible with His. Therefore, we MUST return to the New Covenant structure and the root reality of the EXCHANGED LIFE to define our new “Normalcy Bias.” I am guessing that this can ONLY be discovered within the New Covenant Reality, inherent in the inner life of the new inner man! Why? That is because this LIFE has its genesis in the Living and Abiding Word of God. The revelation and genuine experience of this reality can only be illuminated by the Holy Spirit as He takes the things of Christ and reveals them to us. The fulness of this process can ONLY be experienced within the Holy Place dimension of the Priesthood Realm.

 

At this point, I can only speculate that the true “Normalcy Bias” will be clearly revealed and established by ingesting the Showbread within the illumination of the Seven Spirits of God. All “natural light” illumination should be carefully mistrusted because that is what got us into this disaster and into such a pitiful condition. This lack of illumination, that began with Constantine, is called the “dark ages.”

 

Mat 6:23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

 

It was probably because of the great darkness that the Catholic Church turned into a man centered religion built around a hierarchy, titles, rituals, garments, incense, buildings and non-scriptural doctrines devised by leaders to enhance their position and to deceive the peasant “believers.”

 

When the reformation began, the churches that started outside of the Catholic Church adopted many of the customs, hierarchal positions, the rituals, the robes and concepts of the Catholic Church. Of course the leaders were called “pastors” instead of “priests” but many of the traditions were carried into the new groups. How is that possible? That is because all they knew was the outward religious systems and that WAS the established “Normalcy Bias.”

 

We must begin with a clear understanding that the “Adam nature” IS the prison and the concentration camp that enslaves the individual. Releasing ourselves from that bondage should become our very first priority. With that understanding, the experience of the New Covenant Reality would be welcome and certainly good news. When God said he would remove the “heart of stone” {inherited from first Adam} and give us a new pliable heart (a new inner man) {inherited from the Last Adam} we should respond with exceedingly great joy. When God said He would put His Laws within us and cause us to walk in his ways, we would NOT interpret that as another bondage but as a new and higher freedom. We would see that these Laws are an open door into doing His will and bringing joy to His Heart.

 

However, this is NOT good news to the natural man because he prizes his earthly freedom above all other things. Just the knowledge of that wonderful provision still will not help us overcome. We may rejoice in the facts of provision and praise God for the provision but until we actually receive and live within the provision no real help is received. That IS the basic difference between receiving the knowledge and receiving the Life!

 

The Christian Life is the by-product of having Christ in us. Without Christ in us, our hope of glory disappears and another Christian philosophy will emerge as in the Rick Warren emphasis.

 

Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

 

Paul is speaking about the “exchange of life (psuche) for the Life (Zoe).” My theory is that this “exchange of Life” is just normal Christianity and is absolutely essential to manifest Christ. Any sort of Christianity that does NOT manifest Christ is sub-Christian! Any “salvation” that does not incorporate and develop this Divine Life, as an inner reality, is a bogus “salvation.” This “birth of Life” is NOT another metaphor, as some say about the new birth, but is the genuine beginning of a new species of persons who are called “CHRISTIAN.”

 

In order to “prove” this point I will extend this study beyond the usual few pages that may be quickly read. To “prove” the point we must see that this “SALVATION” begins with God and NOT with man. Kingdom Salvation begins in the Absolute Sovereignty of God.

 

Mat 19:23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking upon them Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

 

In this same way, the Genesis account of the beginnings, began in the Absolute Sovereignty of God. Man was NOT consulted about this creation and offered NO opinions! Man didn’t ask to be created and neither did he establish the rules of his existence. Everything took place under Cod’s Absolute Sovereignty and exactly according to His Plan and His Eternal Purpose! Man, eating from the Tree of Life was essential to walking in God’s ways and fulfilling His Eternal Purpose. The Tree of knowledge was and IS the anti-thesis of the Tree of Life.

 

The First Adam and everyone in first Adam has been blocked and continuously prevented from participating in the Divine Life. This situation was held under the Sovereignty of God until the arrival of the Last Adam. That is why Moses was NOT the Last Adam and exactly why David was NOT the Last Adam nor could anyone qualify until the Prototype Son became the very LAST Adam. When the first Adam refused the Tree of Life, that Life never became available to mankind again until the New Covenant was enacted IN HIS BLOOD!

 

Luke 22:15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

 

To separate the Blood from the New Covenant or the New Covenant from the Blood is a terrible mistake. To separate the Lord’s Table from the New Covenant is extremely ignorant.

 

1Cor 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

 

The Body, the Blood and the New Covenant are all part of the Lord’s Table.

 

1Cor 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

 

So many irrelevant things have been shared about these verses but the Power of the Lord’s Table is from participating in the New Covenant inaugurated in His Blood. This ignorance of the New Covenant has been the source of many disappointments. The Lord’s Table, then, becomes a celebration of the New Covenant and our participation in the provisions of the New Covenant.

 

Let us repeat the main point again. The Tree of Life was NOT available to mankind until the New Covenant was established in His Blood. This Zoe LIFE is IN HIS BLOOD.

 

Lev 17:14 “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

 

John 6:52 The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. 58 “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever.”

 

My point is this; The Blood that initiated the New Covenant presents two of the most important elements of the Christian Life and Function! That is the “blood” and the “New Covenant.” Why? That is because the Life of the Tree of Life is now available for us to EAT AND DRINK! ALL CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY MUST FUNCTION OUT OF THIS LIFE! Let us repeat this Divine Truth!

 

When the Last Adam laid down His psuche life it established the New Covenant in His Zoe LIFE, which has, at last, been made available to us, is once again, the Divine Life of the Tree of Life (Zoe).

 

Now, we can answer the question of why God could put ALL things into His Hands. The answer is this; Now HE is the Last Adam and the Perfect Man. He IS the Man God intended to have from the very beginning.

 

John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, 4 *rose from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. 5 Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

 

John 13:8 Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

 

Now Jesus IS the Second Man and the Last Adam and God finally has the “MAN” that He can put in charge over ALL the works of His hands and to rule over the world yet to come. Still, God’s Eternal Purpose requires that He develop many Sons that He can bring to this same glory. To participate in this “many sons” it is imperaitive that we fully escape from the first Adam and take our place in the “second Man,” the Last Adam. Christ Jesus is that ONE New Man. He is now the HEAD and High Priest of a body {sons of God} who are Priests after the Order of Melchizedek.

 

To fully comprehend this “total mystery” we must begin with the Sovereign Life of God and reason down to man. In the New Covenant times man has NO FUNCTION unless it is within this Divine Life. Any function that man has, then, is not attributed to man but to Christ who IS his Life.

 

Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

 

IF we could experience the reality of this mystery, we could actually BEGIN the fulness of the Christian Life. It is out of this LIFE that all ministry will take in the Priesthood dimension. How can that possibly be true? In the Body of the High Priest it is no longer “I” who live but now “I” must live by the Life of the Head. Why? That is because one Head and Body can only have ONE LIFE! Whoever insists that he live by his own life and resources CANNOT be part of the Body of the High Priest.

 

Galatians 2:20 then IS the transition through the Second Veil (which was not torn) and the actual experience of the Consecration Offering. This EXCHANGE of Life is the final reason for the Consecration offering. This Exchange of Life is the BEGINNING of the New Covenant Priesthood Ministry after the Order of Melchizedek.

 

If we ignore or do not experience the significance of this power / grace / reality that is available to us in the New Covenant, we will surely miss the reality of the Christian Life and calling and the full provision that has been allotted to each of us, in Christ, Who IS our Life, to carry out God’s Purpose and to do His will.

 

2Pet 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

 

This “continuous drama,” which began by the New Birth is actually the BIRTH into the Divine Life! This creates the New Species of man and begins the greatest drama ever initiated by God among His Creation. It is by this New Birth that God can pursue His Purpose, which is to create one New Man who is the Last Adam. All things will be summed up in Him. Whatever is done in Him will bear fruit that remains but whatever is done by the individual will only produce wood, hay and stubble which is not permitted to pass into the Eternity of God! Therefore, it MUST be burned up in the great fire. Even though that person can still be “saved,” his entire work is rejected by God.

 

The New Species of Man, functioning out of the Divine Life, CAN and WILL do the Greater Works. We can dismiss any other method as just more human hype.

 

The Ideal Christian Life CAN and MUST be lived during the Church Age. Why? That is what identifies the Glorious Church! The Divine Life, the Living and Abiding Word of God, Christ, is what is identified as “GLORIOUS!” “CHURCH” Identifies what He built. Then, WHAT IS MAN? Hopefully, A member of the Corporate Body of the High Priest! Why? That is what is identified as “A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS!”