Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days

Psalm 2 is a Messianic Psalm of importance, much quoted in the NT, a cosmic Drama describing the present spiritual warfare in the Church Age, especially as it comes to its climax. Along with Ps 1, it's part of the Entrance Hall into the Book of Psalms. Ps 1 reveals the contrast between the righteous & wicked on an individual level, Ps 2 reveals it on a global scale, showing the spiritual conflict between those in God's Kingdom and those in satan's kingdom. Thus they are foundational. In this video, we introduce Ps 2 and see how it fits with our times. It's a Psalm of David (Acts 4:25-26) pointing Messiah's victory & rule over the earth, fulfilling the Davidic Covenant (2Sam7, 1Chr 17). It's parallel to Ps 110, for both speak of Christ as having ascended, having accomplished the work of His 1st Coming & received all authority to rule earth, and both also look forward to His 2nd Coming, when He'll enforce His authority, judge His enemies and establish His Kingdom on earth. Thus they describe the present spiritual war on earth between His 2 Comings. They are prophetic of the spiritual war in the Church Age, with relevance to us, giving a theological perspective for interpreting world events.

In Scene 1 the focus is on the unsaved masses of humanity living under darkness & deception, striving with God's Spirit, lovingly yearning for their souls. Speaking thru David, He asks from a heart of love: "Why do they restlessly war against each other, and imagine (meditate) a vain (worthless, empty) thing?” (v1). Why reject God who loves them so much? Why think they can save themselves without God? These souls are the battleground, over which both sides are fighting. In the end each must chose between God & satan. Scene 2 answers the question as we see the forces trying to control them - rebellious angelic & human rulers of earth: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His ANOINTED (Messiah-King)” (v2). This describes purposeful rebellion against God. This describes the battle-lines of the 2 opposing powers. On one side, the Lord & His Anointed One (Christ & all those in Christ), God's anointed weapon in this war (we are in Ps 2), and on the other side all those fighting for the enemy, both demonic & human. This war is over (1) the inheritance of precious souls, and (2) possession of the nations & their land (v1,8). The enemy's desire & message is revealed in v3. They want to throw off God’s laws & authority but can’t escape His rule & jurisdiction. In Scene 3, the focus moves up higher to God on His Throne and His Anointed One (2:4). What's His reaction to the enemy? He laughs at all their plots & striving. He's in Heaven, far above, seeing all. He has all authority, knows the final outcome and never worries. Heaven is always full of joy. As we live on the battleground, it's vital for us to keep this vision of God before us - that we are on the victory side and He will defeat all His enemies. We can laugh with God that the enemy is defeated and rejoice in His victory. The next step in this drama is that God gets serious. Righteous anger rises up in Him against His rebellious enemies (v5), and He announces He's already made His decisive move, guaranteeing His victory and the certainty of final judgment on His enemies: “Yet have I installed My King on my holy Hill of Zion” (v6) - fulfilled in His 1st Coming. God sent forth His anointed weapon, Jesus, who destroyed the power of the enemy in His life, death & resurrection. He rose victorious, ascended far above all powers and is seated at God's right hand, signifying His completed work (Ps 110:1). So, God's answer to satan is He has already set His King on His Throne in Heaven, in the holy Hill of Mt Zion. The battle is already won and satan defeated. Jesus paid the price to redeem every soul (His inheritance), and purchased the earth (His possession), so He now possess the earth's title-deed (Rev 5), and has the right to rule all nations. He is already God's appointed King, over both sinners & saints - ruling sinners by external power and His saints internally by His grace. At His 2nd Coming, He'll manifest His authority & victory, returning in power to take possession of all the earth and rule over all nations from His earthly throne of David on the holy hill of Zion. In our spiritual war, we must follow God's example in 2:6, and point to Christ's finished work, declaring He has accomplished our salvation, defeated all evil powers, and has risen victorious and ascended on High, far above all principalities, and is Lord over all. Thus we confess Jesus has defeated the evil one, and is enthroned on high, with all enemies underfoot, so now we also have the victory, for we're in Christ and have risen with Him and sit with Him far above (Eph 2:6), so now we operate from a position of victory (Rom 8:37). We're not trying to get the victory, for He is our victory, and we're enforcing His victory on the earth.

We can’t follow Jesus in our own strength. We must depend on His Spirit to live the life of a true disciple. The key to surrender is embracing the truth we are slaves ('doulos') of Christ, translated servant (Rom 1:1, Phil 1:1, Titus 1:1, Jas 1:1 2Pet 1:1, Jude 1:1, Rev 1:1). A slave is owned by his master, owning nothing himself, but a servant still owns himself and things. We are owned by Christ, purchased with His Blood (1Cor 7:22-23), so every blessing and gift we receive does not belong to us, but God. We thank God for His blessing (acknowledge Him as our Source) and trust Him for His continual supply (for He is faithful), and surrender (release control of) it back to Him as Owner, in worship. This qualifies us to receive and possess more blessing. We belong to God, so our whole life needs to be surrendered to Him. Then we can abide in Him and continually access His grace, as we cling to Him. When we embrace the fact we belong to Christ, surrendering to His Spirit is natural, but if we hold on to our own life (self-ownership), it’s hard to surrender, so we only do it when necessary. The degree we embrace His right of ownership is the degree we can submit to His leadership, which then determines the degree we can possess His blessing. Only when we embrace His ownership can we surrender our beings fully to Him, for Him to possess us, and only then can we fully possess Him and all He wants to give us. Embracing His ownership and surrendering to His control frees us from covetousness (trying to own, control and hold on to things), which disconnects us from grace, and disqualifies us from possessing His blessing. He made us in His image with capacity to receive and express power, wisdom, dominion and glory, so we desire them, but if we covet them, it blocks His power in us. Jesus said: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself (self-ownership), and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save (hold onto) his life (soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (independent soul-life) for My sake will find (discover) it (real life)” (Matt 16:24-25). The key to a higher life in God is to accept we are His slaves, owned by Him. Then surrender is easier. Our ownership by God relates to the Holy Spirit and sanctification, for when we accept Christ and His Blood, we belong to God, and He puts His Spirit inside us, as the seal and sign of God's ownership (Rom 8:9). The more of our soul, body and life we surrender to God, the more we allow His Spirit to possess, fill and control us, the greater His Presence in us (our holiness), setting us free from sin. “In Christ, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the guarantee (down payment) of our inheritance (the fullness of God - full payment), until the redemption of the purchased possession (when He gives Himself fully to us and takes full possession of us), so that we will be to the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:13-14, 2Cor 1:21-22). When He returns, His Spirit will take full possession of our soul and body, resurrecting, perfecting and glorifying us.

The more we allow His Spirit to fill and take possession of us, the more we experience His grace. Only when we’re poor (owning nothing, owned by God), are we rich, possessing all things He has for us (Matt 5:3, Luke 6:20). Embracing belonging to God, yielding final control to Him, trusting His love to guide and provide for us, sets us free from carrying the burden and stress of managing our life, as if all depends on us. It lets the Spirit flow in us and lead us. He takes the burden and carries us, once we let go of trying to control it all. If we don’t trust in God, we become insecure and anxious, and so cling to things, which we value, to try and secure ourselves, but they are idols, as we value them more than God. He says: “Let go of them. They’re too important to you. Cling to Me and surrender all things, worries and burdens to Me, and My Spirit will carry you and give you all you need.” He controls and guides our life, if we surrender to Him. This is the key to walk in the Spirit, experiencing His fullness. He wants us to have all things to enjoy (1Tim 6:17), but we cut ourselves off from His life, when we act as our own owner, trying to own and control the blessing. Embrace the truth you belong to God, own nothing and will always depend on Him for His continual supply of grace. Then you’re qualified to possess the fullness of His blessing. This is in Psalm 23. In Psalm 22, He lays down His life for His sheep, purchasing them with His Blood (John 10:11). Then in Psalm 23, risen again, He leads His OWN sheep into fullness of life (10:2-4,10). Experiencing fullness (“I shall not want”) is predicated on “The Lord is my Shepherd.” So, to be blessed, we must submit to His leadership. Once a sheep knows he’s owned by (belongs to) the Shepherd, then following (obeying) Him is natural. He stays close and follows Him, so He can lead him into fullness.

Having described the nature and blessing of the righteous, being like a blessed, upright, strong tree planted by God's River of Life (1:1-3), it declares: "No so, the ungodly, not so!" (v4). He then compares the ungodly to the chaff, which the wind drives away (1:4). We describe threshing, when the chaff is separated from the wheat, and winnowing, when both wheat and chaff are thrown up into the air, and the chaff is carried away by the wind. This describes what happens at a man's judgment right after his death. The threshing, which physically separates the chaff from the wheat, corresponds to physical death, and the winnowing describes what happens after death, when the chaff is blown away by the wind to a place of judgment, to be burnt. Whereas the wheat (believer in Christ) continues to stand in God's Kingdom, the chaff (unbeliever) can't stand before God, and is blown away into His fire (Hades, then the Lake of Fire). This process of judgment will be brought to its climax and completion by Christ at the Day of Lord: “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:12). The word for threshing sledge is tribulum, where we get the word Tribulation.

The chaff (thin skin around grain of wheat) is dry, empty, weak, unstable, and worthless, once separated from the wheat. God gives all men a measure of goodness in this life (common grace), but if they reject God, then at death His grace is removed and they become what they've chosen to be, an empty shell, separated from God's presence, life, goodness and glory (substance). The substance and value of our life comes from God's Presence, so those who die ungodly will immediately discover who they are in themselves, without God - worthless chaff, only good to be thrown into God's fire, for they are useless to God, for they've refused to fulfil the purpose for which they were created - to glorify God, choosing rather to be their own gods. Thus the nature and destiny of the cursed, weak, unstable chaff is opposite to the believer, who is like a tree, strong, stable, standing forever. At this time sinners and hypocrites can join in the congregation of the just, but when judgment day comes, sinners will find they can't stand before God with the just (who have right-standing with God thru Christ's righteousness), and will be separated from the just and removed - blown away to a place of fiery judgment (1:5).

The conclusion (v6) contrasts the way and destination of the righteous and the way of the ungodly: "For the Lord knows (watches over) the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish (end in destruction)." We must choose to which of these 2 groups we belong. It describes these 2 groups and their 2 corresponding ways of life, to help us identify to which we actually belong. The Way of the righteous is Christ Himself (John 14:6), so to walk in this Way, means walking with Christ, in fellowship with Him. The statement that the Lord KNOWS the way of the righteous, in a way that He does not know the way of the ungodly, speaks of His personal relationship and involvement with them - that He is walking with them, and watching over them in love, making sure they will reach their glorious destination together. (Saying: 'I am the way' means personally leading us to our destination). On the other hand, the ungodly choose to go their own way, apart from God (Isa 53:6), and Jesus will say to them "I never knew you" (Matt 7:23), and so their way will end in ruin. Jesus is the narrow Gate and Way that leads to life (Matt 7:13-14). We enter through the narrow Gate when we trust in Him and His death & resurrection, receiving Him as our Lord and Saviour. Then we enter into the narrow Way, of walking in fellowship with Him, trusting His leadership. If you are righteous in Christ, you are on the Way of righteousness, which means you are travelling on a very different road through life than the multitudes of ungodly people, on the broad road leading to destruction ( 1:1).

Finally, we point out there is only 1 Person who has perfectly fulfilled Psalm 1 - JESUS. This is a portrait of Christ - the Blessed Man of Psalm 1. This is why 'the blessed man' is in the singular, and the 'ungodly' is plural. Without Christ, we would all be useless chaff destined for fire. But He has made a way for us to be put into Christ and receive His righteousness. Since Psalm 1 is fulfilled in Christ, when you are put into Christ, then Psalm 1 also becomes true for you, for you are in Christ - you become a blessed man in Him (Eph 1:3), planted (in the new birth) by the River of the Spirit, with full access to His grace, enabling you to grow spiritually, become fruitful, as you meditate on His Word and develop strong faith roots to draw upon His life.

Psalm 1:3 says the blessed man, who meditates day and night in God's Word will "be like a TREE planted by the RIVERS of WATER that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." Our ROOT system is our FAITH in God, which connects us to God's life and grace in His Spirit. The secret of a tree’s success is its roots, which are invisible, underground, representing our heart. As we meditate in His Word, our faith-roots becomes stronger, which means that our ability to draw on the waters of the Holy Spirit increases, causing us to thrive, become strong, upright and evergreen, and bear much fruit. That fact that we are planted by the River of Life, means that in Christ, we have continual access to the grace of God in the Holy Spirit. We cannot bear fruit of ourselves - the key is drawing from the life of the River of God. Fruit that glorifies God is produced by the Divine life that flows in and through us (John 15:1-16). We allow God’s life to flow by meditating on God’s Word (to strengthen our faith) and drawing upon His Spirit by faith.

We look at a number of other scriptures that use this same imagery of believers being like fruitful Trees planted by rivers of water (Jeremiah 17:5-8, Isaiah 61:3, 37:31). We see this imagery in the first earthly Temple of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3), and the Millennial Temple, in Ezekiel 47:12: “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the Sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Also we see it in the everlasting heavenly Temple, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:1-3). All of these are pictures of us (redeemed mankind), who are God's ultimate Temples. These gardens with trees planted by the river of life are a picture of garden of our soul. Our thoughts, emotions, convictions and commitments are like trees (Proverbs 3:18). If they are formed and filled by the Word and Spirit of God, they are fresh and fruitful, connecting us to His grace. We relate this to recent discoveries that show that our thoughts are imaged by protein structures in the brain. Whereas God's Word forms healthy tree-like structures, evil thoughts of bitterness and hatred manifest as ugly, twisted protein structures. By meditating in the Word, we can renew our mind, so that it becomes a garden full of fruitful trees, all well-watered by the river of life. Since: "as a man thinks in his heart, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7), it follows that the blessed man who is like a flourishing tree (1:3), is a reflection of the state of his heart (the trees growing in his heart). Likewise, the parable of the sower can in interpreted on both levels, for the seed (which is the word of God) can (1) represent the whole spiritual life of a man, or (2) a particular word of God, which grows by meditation in (hearing) the word (watering with the Word), and brings forth fruit. Thus, the measure of a man is determined by His meditation, and all the trees that he allows to grow in his soul determine the kind of man he becomes, that is, how much he becomes like the blessed, strong and fruitful tree described in Psalm 1:3.

We start our studies in Psalms by introducing the Book of Psalms as a whole. It is God’s Hymnbook, the longest book of Bible (150 chapters), which shows the importance of praise and worship. It is poetry, the language of the heart, set to music, designed to tune our hearts to God. It is given to inspire our response to God and His revelation. Just like the Torah, it is divided into 5 books. The first book is Psalms 1-41. There are many different kinds of Psalms – Psalms of Praise, Psalms of Thanksgiving, Psalms of Lament, Psalms of Confidence, Psalm of Kingship, Psalms of Wisdom and Messianic Psalms (which were written under prophetic inspiration). King David wrote over half of them (including almost all of the first Book). Other writers were Moses, Hezekiah, the sons of Asaph, and the sons of Korah.

Psalm 1 is a special Psalm, described as the Entrance Hall into the Mansion of the Book of Psalms – a Wisdom Psalm, contrasting the nature, way and destiny of the righteous and the ungodly, who ignore God and go their own way in life. In the Bible, all mankind divided into these 2 groups and Psalm 1 spells this out in the strongest way, pointing out you are either righteous or ungodly, either part of God’s people or not, and only the righteous qualify for the blessing of God. God makes this point in Psalm 1, because the rest of the Psalms are only for the righteous, so its pointless reading the other Psalms (like 23), if you are in the wrong camp, as it does not apply to you. So, Psalm 1 is saying, before you enter this Mansion, make sure first that you qualify. Placing Psalm 1 first also tells us that our WORSHIP (represented by the Psalms) is based on mediation on the WORD of God (the emphasis of Psalm 1). Psalm 1 describes the righteous as being characterised by holiness – being devoted to the Lord and His Word, and separated from evil, whereas the ungodly follow the way of the world (1:1-3). Whereas the righteous are blessed (with God's life), and are stable, strong, and fruitful, like trees (v1-3), the ungodly are cursed (cut off from God's life), unstable, weak and empty, like chaff (1:4-5). Whereas God watches over the way of the humble, and walks with them, and gives them His grace, so that they will reach their final destination (glory), the way of the ungodly will result in destruction, because God resists the proud (1:6).

Psalm 1:1 describes the BLESSED man by contrast with the ungodly man, who starts by following the counsel of the ungodly world, which then leads to him hanging around sinners, and developing a sinful lifestyle and convictions. Thus, he becomes hardened in his heart, and stands for things that are ungodly. The next stage, if he continues on this path, is when he sits in the seat of the scornful, is even worse, for this is when he becomes one who is settled in his views and teaches others to reject God and His Laws, actively promoting his world-view, which mocks God and sacred things, and undermines His Word. These ones do not just live wrong, but encourage others to live wrong (Romans 1:32). These are now fully hardened in sin. The blessed man is marked by the fact that he says 'No' to this worldly viewpoint 91:1). Instead, he delights in God's Word, and meditates in it day and night, with the intention of basing his life upon it, seeing that it is the Law of the Lord (it carries the full authority of God). Thus he allows it to form his beliefs and lifestyle (1:2). We discuss what Bible meditation is and how to meditate (Joshua 1:8). The result of being a godly man who meditates on God's word, rather than following the world is that the blessing of God causes him to become like a strong, upright "TREE, planted by the rivers of WATER, that brings forth its FRUIT in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper" (1:3). When we receive Christ, we are PLANTED into Christ, by the RIVERS of WATER (the grace of the Holy Spirit, who now lives in us), and we become a TREE of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3). Then, the more we meditate in God's Word, the stronger our ROOT-system (FAITH) becomes, enabling us to draw upon more of the WATERS of the HOLY SPIRIT.

Наша хвала (1) БЛАГОСЛОВЛЯЕТ Бога, (2) ПРИНОСИТ ПОЛЬЗУ нам и (3) СВЯЗЫВАЕТ врага (Псалом 149). Жертва хвалы – это благодарность Богу прежде, чем мы увидим ответ. Мы видим три примера, которые показывают, как это подготавливает путь и открывает дверь в Духе для того, чтобы Бог мог высвободить Свою спасительную силу в нашу жизнь и ситуации.

Following Christ as Lord means we must accept the truth we belong to Him. We don’t own ourselves. Once we embrace His absolute authority, then surrendering (our independence) to Him follows naturally, and obedience flows naturally from this surrender. This is liberating, as we can let go of trying to control everything ourselves. The essence of sin is not just rejecting God's authority, but also His ownership, as Adam and Eve did to be their own god, operating in independence from God. They coveted their own power to be in control and own things for themselves apart from God, which cut them off from God, who is life. They did not experience freedom, but became slaves of sin and satan. By physical birth, this sin-nature in the flesh was transmitted to all of us (John 3:6). That’s why our flesh wants independence (self-ownership) and resists God’s authority. We were lost, but Jesus came to win us back to God. He paid the ransom price (His Blood) to purchase us for God and set us free. He did not purchase us, so we can be independent from God, but to come under His loving ownership. So, God has a 2-fold claim of ownership on us, He (1) created us and (2) redeemed us, so if we accept that purchase, we are freed from sin to be slaves of God.

God gave very Jew a piece of the Promised Land to possess, but if he got into debt (a picture of sin), (1) he could lose possession of his land, and (2) become a slave to pay his debts, until a kinsman-redeemer came, and pay the price to release him from slavery and purchase back the land, so he could enjoy it again, although the redeemer now owned it. The land is a picture of the earth and all the blessings, God gave to man to enjoy (Psalm 115:16). Although God owns the earth, (1) Adam surrendered man’s dominion over the world to satan, and we lost our possession of God’s blessing, and (2) became slaves to sin and satan. Jesus became a man to be our Kinsman Redeemer, and by His Blood, He purchased the earth and all who’ve lived on it. So He has the legal right to take possession of the earth from His enemies. He will start to enforce this right in the Tribulation judgments, that climax at the 2nd Coming, when He destroys all His enemies and establishes His Kingdom on earth.

Believers in Heaven understand the glory, honour and power they receive from God belongs to Him; and they belong to Him, for He created them – the 1st basis for God’s ownership of us (Revelation 4:11). This is the basis for their total surrender to God. The 2nd basis is redemption, the theme of Revelation 5, where Jesus is revealed as the Redeemer, who purchased us with His Blood, so we belong to God (v9-10). Thus, God is our Owner and Christ our Redeemer, who possesses us through giving His Spirit to indwell us (1Corinthians 6:19,20). Knowing they belong to Christ and thus every blessing they have received also belongs to Him, in v12 they surrender it all back to God: “Worthy is the LAMB, who was slain, to receive (1) POWER (to do works, this power is to be surrendered back to God, so we stay submitted under His control and filled with His power. Our submission to God’s power flows out of acknowledging God is the Owner and Source of all our power), and (2) RICHES (wealth - we are not owners, just stewards of God’s resources, to use them for His purposes and glory), and (3) WISDOM (including knowledge and understanding - submit and release your thoughts back to God, so He has control), and (4) STRENGTH (including health, in our whole being), and (5) HONOUR (value, importance, authority, status, exaltation), and (6) GLORY (God’s manifested anointing, love, radiance, beauty shining through us), and (7) BLESSING (happiness, emotional well-being).” v13: “BLESSING, HONOUR, GLORY, and (8) DOMINION (ruling power, ability to reign) be to HIM who sits on the Throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” When you surrender what you have received from God back to God, He can give you more to enjoy and possess. We are to surrender our works to God, so we do them under His authority, trusting in His power and for His glory, to fulfil His purposes. Then they are not our works, but His works through us, and He gets the glory. God’s River must flow through us, so we have to (1) receive it by faith, then (2) give it back to God in love. If own (covet) nothing, then He can bless you with all things to possess: “Blessed are the poor, for theirs (to possess) is the Kingdom of God (all His riches, which are under His rule)” (Luke 6:20). If we try to hold onto and control His blessing, as if it were ours, we shut ourselves off from it. Our surrender is the basis for our holiness and happiness, as it allows Him to take possession of us by His Spirit, who carries the blessing, so we then possess His blessedness. Then He manifests His blessings through us in our life, as we walk with God and obey Him.

We are slaves of Christ, our Master and Owner. We belong to Him. He owns us and all we have (Rom 6:22, 1Cor 7:22). His Spirit within is the seal of His ownership (1Cor 6:19,20, 2Cor 1:22, Eph 1:13, 4:30). There’s a word for servant (diakonos), and another for slave (doulos), describing our relationship with God (Rom 1:1, Phil 1:1, Titus 1:1, Jas 1:1 2Pet 1:1, Jude 1:1, Rev 1:1). We miss the truth we are His slaves, because doulos is translated as servant, not slave, due to the stigma of human slavery. But this weakens its force. The difference is that although a servant works under his lord’s authority, he belongs to himself, but a slave is owned by His master. Human slavery is evil, but in relationship to God, it’s right, as He (1) created and (2) purchased us. If you accept His purchase of yourself, receiving Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you belong to Him. So, we must embrace the truth we are His slaves as well as sons, so every blessing He gives still belongs to Him. Then surrender and obedience becomes natural, setting us free from slavery to sin. When I say: “Jesus is my Lord (Kurios)” (Rom 10:9), it doesn’t just mean He has the right to tell me what to do (as His servant), but also, He has absolute authority over my being - He owns me! In the Hebrew Old Testament, 2 words are equivalent to Kurios (1) Yahweh, and (2) Adonai (master, owner). Both are names for God, that were translated into Greek as Kurios (Lord), so when we say: “Jesus is Lord” it means He is Yahweh and my Owner. He owns me and all my blessings, so has the right to define my identity and future. All I have is given by Him, but I own nothing, for I am owned by Him. Once we realise He purchased us for Himself, we know as His slave we own nothing, not even the blessings, He richly gives us to possess. A submissive heart to God rejoices in this truth.

Sin’s essential nature is seen in man’s original sin (Gen 3), rejecting God's ownership, not just of the garden (the blessing), but also of himself (v4-6), to establish himself in independence from God, by trying to own (control) everything himself (covetousness). Before, man was spiritually alive, living by God's life, enjoying His blessing. But by claiming ownership, he cut himself off from God, who is life (Gen 2:17). When you reject slavery to God, you are not free, but are a slave of sin, under satan’s power. Instead of being a slave of a loving, gracious life-giving God, man put himself under the hand of an evil slave master, and suffers the curse (death). Jesus came to pay the price with His Blood to redeem us from slavery to sin and the hand of the enemy. When we receive Him as Lord and accept His Blood for us, He sets us free from that slavery, to become slaves of Christ - true liberty. We have a choice to be a slave of sin or God (Rom 6). To live a life of liberty, we must deny self-ownership. “If anyone desires to come (follow) after Me (Jesus), let him deny (ownership of) himself (his independent soul life), and take up His Cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save (own) his life will lose it (become a slave to sin), but whoever loses (surrenders control of) his life for My sake will find it (discover real life, under His grace). For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul (to sin)? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt 16:24-26). For God’s life to flow freely in us, we must deny self-ownership, then we’ll be free to possess all He wants to give. He wants to bless us with all things, but not so we use them to be independent, for if we act as if we own His blessing & blessings, we cut ourselves off from the Source of life. If we embrace the fact we are poor slaves who own nothing, and submit to His control of us and His blessing, and then we qualify to possess all things. Knowing my poverty makes me totally depend on God and His continual supply of life. Although poor in myself, I’m rich, for in His love, He provides all I need. We need to know God as both (1) El Shaddai and (2) Adonai to receive and abide in His river of grace. (1) El Shaddai is the mighty God, who supplies all our need, who is strong when are weak. When we realize we need Him continually, being poor (owning nothing) and weak (having nothing in ourselves), we turn to Him as our Source, calling on and trusting Him to fill us. As He faithfully continually fills us with Himself, we stay ever thankful for His abundant grace. This is the 1st key to receiving and abiding in His grace. (2) Adonai means Owner and Lord. Knowing He owns us and all He gives us, we surrender ourselves and His grace back to Him, so He has final control, and we live unto Him in obedience. This is the 2nd key to living under grace. Rather than holding on to the safety of the bank, we let go and trust His Spirit to flow through us and carry us along, releasing final control to God. Then all things will be ours and His plan for us will be fulfilled.

“Your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are NOT your OWN? For you were BOUGHT at a PRICE (His Blood); therefore, glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God’s (property)” (1Cor 6:19-20). We are OWNED by God, SLAVES of Christ, not just servants, so all we are and have belongs to Him. He has the right to define who we are and make us who He wants us to be, for He is our Creator and Redeemer. His Spirit within is God's seal, signifying we belong to Him (2Cor 1:22, Eph 1:13,4:30). As the Holy Spirit, He sets us apart to God by His indwelling Presence. The more we surrender, the greater His Presence within us. He manifests His ownership by possessing us with His Spirit, setting us apart to God and free from sin. A paradox: (1) we are OWNED by God (so own nothing), but (2) POSSESS all things in Christ, as He is a God of grace, giving us all things to enjoy (1Tim 6:17). The key is to know the difference between ownership and possession, for we can possess a thing without owning it (2Cor 6:10). So, we are (1) POOR, but also (2) RICH. If (1) we embrace the truth we own nothing, as God owns us, then (2) we qualify to receive the flow of His blessing, enabling us to possess all things (Matt 5:3, Lk 6:20). I am (1) WEAK in myself, as I don’t own my own strength, but (2) STRONG in the Lord, possessing His strength by grace (2Cor 12:10, Joel 3:10).

God gave Israel her Promised Land to possess and enjoy by faith (a type of the land of blessings He has for us). Israel is a tenant possessor, not owner. Likewise, He promises us many good things, for us to possess, but keeps ownership. If we forget He is the Owner and try to own what He gives, to be independent from Him, acting as we want, that’s sin (covetousness). God warned her against pride - forgetting He was the Source of all her blessing; they only possessed it by His grace (Deut 8:17-18). She rejected His rule and was disqualified from enjoying her Land. Likewise, when we act as owners of the things of life, we cut ourselves off from His blessing. The essence of sin is claiming ownership of and for ourselves, so we can be in control. The root of the sin-nature in our flesh is self-rule (ownership) and independence from God. It does not want to submit to His control, so tries to take control, rather than trusting our Creator, embracing His will. To overcome, we must deny self, by surrender to God’s rule, and then His Spirit possesses our heart (setting it apart to God), and setting it apart (free) from sin (sanctification). To experience fullness of life, we must embrace God’s ownership of us, His blessing (grace), and blessings (gifts of grace) - the fundamental principle of being a creature (1st Beatitude). He gives us all things to enjoy, but we are not the owner, just a steward of His blessings. Our life must be governed by the truth Adonai is our Master and Owner of all things we possess. So, we must depend continually on His grace, provision and life. As slaves, we own nothing, but have a gracious Lord. He wants us to possess all blessings, but to do this, we must yield final control to Him. He will not allow us to own, for He wants us to depend on Him (live by faith). Coveting limits how much He can bless us, for when we try to own, His supply of grace diminishes. When we embrace the truth (of our poverty) we prosper, for His blessing can now be fully released in our life, enabling us to possess and enjoy all things in His Kingdom (Luke 6:20). Knowing God as Owner of all things, including us, changes our whole attitude to His grace and blessings, making us ever dependent on Him and grateful.

God created Eden and gave possession of it to man, with every tree (blessing) to eat (enjoy). He asserted His ownership by commanding them not to eat from 1 tree. While they obeyed, they submitted to His authority. But by eating from that tree, they acted as if they owned themselves and the Garden, claiming the right to do as they please, rejecting His right to rule their life (rebellion). Dissatisfied with His provision, they wanted full control. Satan’s temptation was not just to reject God's ownership of things, but also to own themselves, be their own god, independent from God, having knowledge of good and evil in themselves, to decide what's right and wrong and do as they please. Thus, they disqualified themselves and cut themselves off from His life (blessing), and came under the curse. They died spiritually and were cast out of the Garden (blessing). Likewise, the key to living under grace, enjoying fullness of life, is embracing His ownership of our being and blessing, surrendering final control of all we receive back to Him, for He is worthy, having purchased both us and the blessing with His Blood (Rev 5:9-14). Clinging to something as an idol brings bondage. Surrender it back to God, looking instead to Him for our supply, security and satisfaction, trusting Him to provide for us in every way.

The essence of discipleship is a love relationship with the Lord - a true disciple loves Him and seeks to express that in his life. Discipleship begins with the Gospel - the message of God's awesome love for us (1John 4:19). We need a revelation of His love for us, to receive His love and then give our love to Him. Once our heart is converted to Christ, we become His disciple and our whole life becomes an expression of our love for Him (the motivation of a true disciple is love for Jesus). If we detach discipleship from love, it becomes a religion of laws and rules, with little value or joy. God is not calling us to legalism, but the obedience of love, a real love relationship with Him, where we do His commands, because we love Him (John 14:15). This starts by us receiving the Gospel, the Good News of His love for us. Our hearts are converted to fall in love with Jesus, when we see how much He loves us personally, and how much He suffered to save us from sin and hell to have our love forever (Hebrews 12:2). The essence of the Gospel is the revelation of God's love for us. Its purpose is to win our heart. Mary demonstrated what it is designed to achieve – the total conversion of our heart to Him, so we give Him our worship and love, fully and freely, surrendering our lives to Him (Mark 14:3-5,9). Once our heart is converted, we naturally move into discipleship - the outworking of this love-relationship with Christ in the details of our life. Thus, the Great Commission is in 2 parts: (1) preach the Gospel to convert the heart (Mark 16:15). Then, (2) discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20). The life of a disciple, following and obeying Christ, is all from love, to please and glorify Him. We want to be like Him, because we love Him. Without that love, flowing from a converted heart, it loses its meaning.

The Gospel is all about God’s everlasting love in Christ, which (1) began in eternity past, when He chose us, and (2) was manifested in history through Christ, and (3) came to us personally, when He called us to Himself through the Gospel and saved us, and (4) is continually sanctifying us by His Spirit within us, and (5) will ultimately be consummated in us, when we are glorified. To fully comprehend God’s love for us, we must go back to eternity past. God, in His Omniscience, before the creation of the world, knew all possible worlds He could create, with free-will beings in His image, to be part of His forever family, who choose to trust and love Him. He knew all possible freewill beings that could exist, and their choices in all possible circumstances. Then He sovereignly chose to set His love on certain ones (from the infinite number who might possibly exist) that He wanted for Himself, and then brought forth this universe where these ones exist and are saved (this is election). If you exist and have received Jesus, you are part of His elect. He has chosen you for Himself, for He loved and chose you from eternity, and created this universe to bring you forth. That's how special you are to Him! (2Thessalonians 2:13-14, Ephesians 1:4). His election means He set His special love upon us (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), as a man chooses a woman, based on his love for her. Since He loves us, He chose us to exist and be saved and belong to Him forever. God’s ELECTION is also called FORE-KNOWLEDGE (1Peter 1:2), which means He chose to KNOW us from BEFORE creation. He chose to create and know Jeremiah before he was conceived (Jeremiah 1:5). Likewise, from eternity He chose to know us, set His love on us, and have a love-relationship with us (Jeremiah 31:3).

Romans 8:28-39 is a declaration of God’s everlasting love for us. Romans 8:29-30 describe the 5 manifestations of God’s love from eternity past to eternity future: “(1) Whom God FOREKNEW (chose, set His love upon), (2) He also PREDESTINED to be conformed to the image of His Son (to be glorified).” He planned our salvation, and then carried out that plan by Christ’s life, death and resurrection): “Moreover, whom He PREDESTINED, these (3) He also (effectually) CALLED (to Himself through the Gospel), and whom He CALLED, these (4) He also JUSTIFIED (when we responded to His call and received Jesus, He demonstrated His love for us by forgiving us and declaring us righteous through His Blood, putting us into right relationship with Himself, qualifying us to receive every blessing), and whom He JUSTIFIED, these (5) He also GLORIFIED.” On the basis of our justification, His Holy Spirit came inside us to sanctify us (make us more like Jesus), transforming us from glory to glory, and that process will be completed at His Return, when we will be GLORIFIED. The fact these verses talk about God’s relentless LOVE for us, in the past, present and future (the heart of the Gospel), is confirmed by the next verses (v31-39). God chose you and will glorify you. He has wonderful plans for you for all eternity. This is the Gospel of His love!