If we are to understand the Bible we must see it through Paul’s Gospel. It was to the Apostle Paul that the mysteries kept secret were made known. Then understand that the Apostle John spent years in Ephesus amongst the Christians taught by Paul. It was from soaking in Paul’s revelation that John wrote his biography/gospel of Jesus Christ. So we would expect John and Paul to agree on many things.
Read these three passages below from John and Paul(I believe Paul wrote Hebrews).
John said that
Joh 1:1 In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself.
Joh 1:2 He is the One who was face to face with God in the beginning.
Joh 1:3 It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence.
Joh 1:4 It was by Him that life began to exist, and that life was the light of mankind. (Williams)
Paul said
Col 1:15 Yes, He is the exact likeness of the unseen God, His first-born Son who existed before any created thing,
Col 1:16 for it was through Him that everything was created in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Col 1:17 So He existed before all things, and through Him all things are held together.
Hebrews says
Heb 1:2 but in these latter days He has spoken to us through a Son, whom He had appointed lawful owner of everything, and through whom He had made the worlds.
Heb 1:3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the perfect representation of His being, and continues to uphold the universe by His mighty word. After He had procured man’s purification from sins, He took His seat at the right hand of God’s majesty,
Heb 1:4 thus proving Himself to be as much superior to angels
Paul and John agree completely that through Jesus Christ–the Word made flesh, God thoughts as words, all things are upheld, all things are created, all things continue to exist. Through Jesus Christ, who was face to face with Father, all things exist and have their being. Jesus is the WORDS GOD SPEAKS. He is alive and powerful.
Jesus is the Word of God which we are to receive into our hearts by faith.
Once we receive Jesus–God’s Word into our heart, He goes to work transforming us. Even if we do not receive Him…we still are living and moving and having our being inside of Him.
This is all background to what I have titled this post–“Did God indeed say?”
Has God indeed said?
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
The Serpent we are told is more cunning and crafty than any other created thing. Most preachers focus on what the Serpent said from a different angle than what I am sharing here. When the Serpent said this sentence it was with a cleverly thought out strategy in mind. He knew that God had created man by His spoken Word(Jesus). The Serpent knew that the Word God speaks is the very Person of Jesus. He knew that the Word is to be received by childlike faith into the heart where it can sprout and grow. All Word is seed. Seed is received into the heart and there it will take root and grow of it’s own innate power.
A Disaster
The Seed must be received by the heart. The heart is the good ground where the Seeds are to be planted. Thus Satan knowing this….deliberately made God’s Word(Jesus) something for the intellect to reason over. “Has God indeed said?” destroys any possibility of Jesus entering into the heart to be planted as a Seed. Instead Jesus is separated from His word so that the human intellect can throw around ideas about Jesus and God…..without EVER receiving Jesus in Person INTO their heart. By saying Has God indeed said? the Serpent circumvented the Life in the Seed from bringing forth fruit. Man was given the permission by the Serpent to disassociate Jesus from Words God says. We call this Theology!
It is what the Lord Jesus was speaking about here…
Joh 5:38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
Joh 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
Joh 5:40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
“Has God indeed said?” gave tacit approval to man to stay right away from Life(found inside of Jesus Christ)and instead to argue endlessly about doctrines. This is so that in arguing we might gain dominion over others that we argue ceaselessly with. If we would simply receive Jesus’ words into our heart and not try to work them out….then God Himself would teach us out from that Life we have hidden inside our hearts.
God teaches by His Spirit
1Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
1Co 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
1Co 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
1Co 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
You can see here that Paul is showing us that the hidden mystery is the WORD OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS. This wisdom is revealed by the Spirit in our spirit. Life is spiritual! And unless we are born again and receive of His Spirit we will not know Life. But even if we are born again and spirit filled–we must also come to the place where we stop trying to work out God’s words with our intellect and simply receive each Word He says as Jesus Christ in us–fullfilling every word Himself!
In verse 14 the Lord makes clear to us that our natural mind does not receive LIFE. A person may study the Scriptures all their life and never come to know God. The things of the Spirit are shut up to the natural man. They are hidden from the natural mind on purpose by our wise Father. If you want the secrets of God…you must first REPENT and Believe into Jesus Christ.
You say you already have….
The Christian who is living by the intellect to try to understand God….is REJECTING JESUS as his only internal Life source. He is relying upon his mind to understand and find some things to obey in the Scriptures. By obeying scriptures he hopes to prove to himself and to God that he is worthy of rewards. This is the rebellion of Lucifer manifesting through humankind.
It’s like we are saying: “We don’t need You Jesus!!! We are well able to read a verse and obey what it says to do, or not to do!! So go take a hike Son of God….if you really are the Son of God!!“
But the Spiritual receives Jesus as the Only One who fulfills His own Words into his spirit. Jesus is God’s thoughts towards you. Receive Jesus by faith into your heart and begin to live.
You need to be immersed into the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
