Tag Archives: eternal purpose

A Heaven Quake?

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Allan Halton

I’m very aware I lack insight as to what is taking place behind the scenes in heavenly places.  That’s where the real action is.  That’s where the things that take place in the earth are initiated.

Last year great shakings took place in the Arab world.  They call it Arab spring.  Unrest that began in Tunisia in 2010 spread to Egypt where in February, 2011 President Hosni Mubarak resigned after 18 days of protests that filled TV screens across the world.  Since then, further shakings have taken place in other parts of the Arab world.

Arab Spring is viewed largely from a political perspective, and certainly it has political ramifications.  But the interesting thing is that God called an Egyptian church to forty days of prayer and fasting just prior to the upheaval in Egypt.  The rest is history, as they say.  Great shakings took place subsequently, and are still taking place.

And in the midst of it all many Moslems are turning to the Lord, as the pastor of the church reveals.  Not only that, Christians previously divided along denominational lines are coming together.  During the upheaval in Egypt, Copts, Catholics, and evangelicals laid aside their differences to fast and pray together, embracing one another in true Christian fellowship and love.  It sounds like it’s ongoing.

I’ve attached a link to a video interview with this pastor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwPf48ouNMA&feature=youtu.be

The interview moved me, especially the latter part where the Egyptian pastor calls on the church of America to humble herself.

My point is… people across the world were glued to the news watching what was unfolding in Egypt.  But where did these shakings originate?  We need to be awakened as to just what it is that causes the things that take place in our world.  Sometimes things happen that… you just wonder, what was that all about?  Not just on the world scene, but in the smaller circle of our own lives.  I am saying that we don’t know what’s going on in the heavenly realm.  Great forces are in conflict there.  Great purposes are unfolding.  We can suddenly find ourselves in the midst of great upheaval unaware that it was caused by something that took place in the heavenly realm.

Daniel saw in vision the four winds of the heaven striving upon the Great Sea (Dan. 7.2).  Why was the sea so roiled and agitated?  Was it just earthly politics?  No, it was caused by the winds of the heavens.

Take this a step further.  Daniel tells us of a time of prayer and fasting he entered into that had repercussions in the heavenly realm (Dan. Ch. 10).  The Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece were stirred up; Michael, “one of the chief princes” became involved.

What caused it?

Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for (as a result of) thy words (Dan. 10.12).

This grips me.  We Christians here in the earth– if we are walking seriously with God– we play a vital part in what happens in the heavenly realm.  Maybe we often feel we aren’t making much of an impact on our world.  But that church in Egypt by their response of obedience to a revelation of the will of God, humbling themselves, chastening themselves before their God… suddenly they became keenly aware that they certainly did have a vital part to play in the unfolding purposes of God.  Their whole nation was suddenly in the throes of revolution.  I wonder if that might be in the category of what the Bible calls a heaven quake.

And what caused it?

Let’s lay this to heart ourselves… and humble ourselves as Daniel did, as they in Egypt are doing.  Our walk with God, our sensitivity as to His leadings… our response to Him… our prayer and seeking… our obedience… getting our hearts right with God… in all this we find ourselves walking in harmony with the heavenly hosts behind the veil… and great shakings take place.  Unexpected things break forth.  A step of obedience in the will of God can produce shakings round about us.  Upheaval.  Spiritual attacks.  Conflict.

…All that.  And more.  The rule of the kingdom of God!  What took place in Egypt and is still taking place is far more than political change.  It’s only a step toward the manifestation of the kingdom of God that ultimately is to cover the whole earth as the waters cover the sea.

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I Brought You Unto Myself

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Allan Halton

Following are a couple of exerts from Segulah on the Other Writings page:

When the King James Bible was translated, peculiar meant singular, or belonging solely or especially to.  It was a good choice for the word segulah back then.  But these days peculiar has come to mean odd, or eccentric, even weird.  So the newer English translations have chosen other words to translate segulah.  The New American Standard has my own possession, with a note in the margin reading, special treasure.  The New International Version has treasured possession.  Putting these all together, we have some idea of the meaning of the word.  We are a special treasure God possesses, a treasure that is singular, unique; there is none other like it; and it is solely His own….

*****

….And so God’s segulah becomes uniquely His own.  No one else has possession of it—no one.  His segulah is solely His own.  With the precious blood of Christ He has redeemed us from the iron furnace, from Egyptian bondage, has purchased us to become His segulah, His own unique and special treasure, a people for His own possession.  But for what purpose?  Lord, help us to comprehend the beauty of this.  For what purpose?  Just… for Himself!

“Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.”

“Ye shall be unto Me a peculiar treasure…”

“Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation…”

Unto Me, He says.  I brought you unto Myself.  When with the eye of the Spirit we catch a glimpse of the implications of this, it makes us tremble.  For this is saying far more than that God brings His people into some sort of proximity with Himself.

Isaiah says,

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name: thou art Mine.                                    (Isa. 43.1)

Thou art… Mine.  And a few verses later He goes on to tell us specifically what becoming His own means.

This people have I formed for Myself: they shall show forth My praise.                                                                                    (Isa. 43.21)

This people whom He has formed for Himself… God, in forming us and bringing us unto Himself, it means that we become the unique expression of Himself, the revelation, the very outshining of Himself… to show forth His praise.  It is a thought so astonishing, and so beautiful, and so utterly holy, that it just causes you to take your shoes off.

Peter surely had this verse from Isaiah in mind in the passage we started to quote earlier.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…                (1 Pt. 2.9)

This has to be one of the most beautiful passages in the whole of the Bible.  We who were once darkness… God with creative Voice calls into the darkness, calls Light out of the darkness, and we who were once darkness now become Light in the Lord: we shew forth the praises, the virtues, of the One who called us—all the beautiful aspects of His own heart and character of Light.  Thus, we are created, formed, for Himself.

The Lord told the people that He carried them on eagles’ wings, and brought them unto Himself.  What can this be saying but that the whole story of their redemption from Egypt with the blood of the passover lamb was entirely His own sovereign work.  He did the impossible: broke the yoke of their bondage to a cruel and powerful tyrant; He bore them on eagle’s wings, and brought them unto Himself.

We ourselves have been in the same place, chained in Egyptian bondage, deeply aware that our situation was utterly impossible; there was no power on earth that could ever set us free from the pull of gravity of the sin that pressed down upon us.  We are slaves of a tyrant—sin.  But then the kindness and love of God our Saviour appears… with His strong eagle’s wings.  And there is no sin too great, no problem too difficult, no circumstance too heavy for Him; He redeems us with the blood of a… yes, a Lamb: and thus liberates us, lifts us up, bears us up on strong eagle’s wings, and brings us unto Himself.

How does He bring us unto Himself?  By that Way that is too wonderful for us—the way of the Eagle in the air.  It’s the Spirit-Way, the Way of the Spirit… that no man knoweth (Pr. 30.19, Eccles. 11.5).  It’s by:

…the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit
Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
That being justified by His grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.                                  (Titus 3. 4-7)

All the popular routes and methods of man are but the ways of the flesh, and we must not walk in those ways, however attractive and right in our own eyes they might seem at the time.  For they will not bring us to God.  Again I say—they will not bring us to God.  They lead to death.  We must learn the Way of the Spirit, and walk therein. He will lead us in the Way of the Cross.  But there is no other Way that brings us unto Himself.

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.                                                                    (1 Pt. 3.18)

What wondrous words.  “That He might bring us to God…”  To God Himself!  And so the Passover Lamb is slain, and the precious blood applied to our doorposts, and the days of our Egyptian slavery are over right then and there.  But that is just the beginning.  For God says, “Now get up here, up on these Wings: we’re going on a journey in which you will discover the implications of this great redemption, the full emancipation that is yours, not only from Egypt and sin, but from yourself.”

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.                                                                                         (Rom. 5.10)

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Stay In Intercession Mode

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Allan Halton

Just as I finished the last blog entry the light bulb went on.  I realized that the complaining psalmist struggling with diffidence was actually in intercession mode, if I can call it that.  Yes, he was complaining.  He had a lot of questions, as I do myself.

Will the Lord cast off forever?  Will he be favourable no more?  Is His mercy clean gone forever?  Doth His promise fail for evermore?  Hath God forgotten to be gracious?  Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies?

But was he nursing these questions as a charge against God?  I don’t think so.  He was crying out his questions in intercession to God.

This kind of cry of intercession is all over the Bible.

O God, why hast Thou cast us off forever?  Why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture? (Ps. 74.1).

Is the psalmist doubting God?  The danger to doubt is always there, of course, in times when God is silent, in times when He has hidden His face.  But such times are also an opportunity to come before God in intercession.

O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?
Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves (Ps. 80.5).

Is the psalmist actually charging God with being angry with our prayers?  Not at all.  He’s seeking to provoke God… to stir Him to action.  For there is no way God is angry with the prayers of His people.  Exactly the opposite.  And when we remember that it is God Himself who inspired this psalm we realize that He is actually encouraging us here to continue to come before Him in prayer and intercession when things seem very dismal and desolate!

Many there are who are more or less content with things these days in spite of the fact that we (the church, I mean) have terribly failed to stem the tide of darkness that has come in upon us.  Not so this psalmist.  He is alarmed at the state of things!  He can’t take it any longer.  He cries out.  He sees the true condition of things.  And he boldly cries out his questions to the Lord.

His cry is the cry of the watchman.  We who in this hour have upon us the calling of the watchman must gird ourselves with all the spiritual strength we can lay hold of to be faithful and not buckle under in the face of what we see.  It is overwhelming, the onslaught of darkness of this hour.  But we must not give in to doubt, to mistrust, to lack of confidence—to diffidence.  Our agony for God… the darkness that presses hard upon us… our awareness of the true condition of a church that sees herself rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing when she is actually poor and wretched and blind and miserable and naked… we can go under because of all these things.   And do go under at times.  We must do fierce combat with diffidence because of them.  How can we engage this combat?  By recognizing that it is GOD Himself who has called us to the difficult calling of the watchman!  It is God Himself who has pressed this burden upon us, and we must be faithful to carry it before Him till He answers the cry of the watchman.

And if He has called us in this calling, He will sustain us in it as well.

Look at Psalm 89, the psalm of another watchman.  It’s written by Ethan the Ezrahite.  It begins with a declaration of the faithfulness of the Lord.

I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.

Seven times Ethan speaks of the faithfulness of the Lord, of His mercy and truth, of His Covenant.  He fills his psalm with great promises all prophetic, I believe, of the ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Throne of God.

For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever:  Thy faithfulness shalt Thou establish in the very heavens.
I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant, Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations…

I have loved this psalm for years, have read it often.  But more and more of late I come to the “Selah” at the end of Verse 37, and don’t want to read any further.  In fact at times I have had to close my Bible.  It’s been too hard to read the next ten or so verses—gut wrenching, in fact.  I read it and am frightened.  For, in the first part of the psalm he has spoken of God’s great unfailing faithfulness.  But now?

Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

In the first part he says, “I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him” (vs. 22).  And then in the latter part, “Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice” (vs. 42).

Again in the first part, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips” (vs. 34).  But later in verse 39, “Thou hast made void the covenant of Thy servant: Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.”

And so in the face of this great, this grievous contradiction, Ethan cries out, “How long, LORD?  Wilt Thou hide Thyself forever?  Shall Thy wrath burn like fire?”

This is the burden the watchman carries—to see the utter failure of the promises of God, to see total contradiction… and carry that contradiction in intercession before the Lord.

For thirty-seven verses God declares over and over again His great faithfulness.  I’ll set my faithfulness in the very Heavens, He says.  I will put David’s throne THERE:  “It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven” (vs. 37).  Over and over again God declares it: His faithfulness will not fail.

And then what?  Utterly the opposite!  His faithfulness seems to fail!  You said, Lord, “My covenant will I not break…”  But what’s this? “Thou hast made void the covenant of Thy servant.”

Is not this the way things seem to have turned out in this hour?  Where is God’s promised faithfulness?

But let’s keep reading.   When this is our experience we must betake ourselves to the last verses of this psalm.

Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants…”

Here is where we discover the sustaining power in this very hard state of things.  “The reproach of Thy servants,” Ethan says.  We are serving our God in carrying this reproach.  It is His own reproach, actually.  We carry this burden with Him— that the days of the right hand of the Most High seem to have failed.  And we let that reproach do in us what God intended it to do:  to try us by fire, to break us, to humble us… and to prepare us for the glory that is about to be revealed.  It’s precious to discover that those who carry this kind of burden are doing so not because they are out of touch with God, or have somehow lost their way.  The reproach has come upon them because they are obedient.  They are walking in the footsteps of His Anointed One.

Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants, how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of Thine Anointed.

So… it’s a very powerful psalm.  We’re given a powerful promise of God’s faithfulness… followed by a picture in which the bottom has dropped right out of things.  God would warn us, and by warning us, seek to prepare us.  He says there comes a time in His purposes when His purposes—and His faithfulness—will seem to have failed.  We must gird on our armour for this brothers and sisters—and stay awake!  It is a time of great difficulty, great perplexity.  But the faithful God is still at work.  There is great purpose in this time, and we must trust Him in it.

For, it is the prelude to a mighty display of His power and unfailing faithfulness.  Many will cry out then, as we ourselves will, “Great is Thy faithfulness.”  Let us do so even now.  Blessed are those who continue to trust Him in this time, and watch faithfully in their watch—and stay in intercession mode.

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The Primal Motive—Love

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Allan Halton

The words “born again” get tossed around pretty carelessly these days. What is the evidence one is born again, and therefore involved in the reversal of the primal fault?

Love.

We have this from the apostle Peter:

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever (1 Pt 1.22,23).

Peter says the evidence we are born again is that we love one another with a pure heart—and fervently.  This is the identifying characteristic of those who are born again, and moving in an eternal realm now.  Much is made of “eternal life” being the portion of the born again.  Rightly so—they are born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, of the word of God that liveth and abideth forever.  But see how eternal life and love are inseparably linked together?  The law of eternal life is love.

This from the apostle John:

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.  He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in Him (1 Jn. 3.14,15).

The evidence of eternal life, that we are living and moving no longer in the corruptible realm of the lusts of the flesh, but in the incorruptible realm of the Word of God, is that we walk in love…

…Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

“For all flesh is as grass,” Peter continues…

…and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away;
But the word of the Lord endureth forever.  And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you (1 Pt. 1.24,25).

This is quite something.  How short-sighted we humans are when it comes to taking the measure of our days.  All flesh—all mankind—is grass.  How enduring is the blade of grass?  And what of all the great works we boast ourselves in?  All the greatest achievements of man, all his great works, all his finest art and music—all his glory—Beethoven, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci—it is all the flower of the grass that today is, and tomorrow is gone.

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone…

But the word of the Lord endures forever.

And so while they are in this world, the wise, motivated by love, sow the eternal word of God.  They sow to the Spirit.  This creation is in bondage to a law of corruption, but in those who sow to the Spirit a very different principle is at work, a very different law.  Life everlasting is resurrection life—life that renews itself, rejuvenates itself, like the eagle’s.  It is indestructible, indissoluble.  Whatever comes against this life only causes it to flourish.  It is life that increases, that grows, that gets better… whatever comes against it.    For, “though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 2.16).

Yes it’s true—we do not yet see the full outworking of what Christ accomplished at Calvary when He dealt with the primal fault right there and then.  But the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus continues to work in those who are in Christ Jesus, though even yet we have scarcely tapped the potential of this powerful law.  But it is at work—at least in a measure—in the spirit, in the soul.  It will yet come to full expression in us.  Ultimately it will change even our mortal bodies (Rom. 8.23, 1 Cor. 15.51-55)…

…And the whole creation around us.  There is a law of increasing entropy at work in our world.  Not only in nature, but in the world of man, where moral decay is rampant now.  But there is also another law at work in this world of ours—a law that means a feast that mends in length, a kingdom that grows in strength, till ultimately… let’s go to the prophet Habakkuk to discover the ultimate outcome of it all:

Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the peoples shall weary themselves for very vanity (futility)? (Hab. 2.13).

That’s the insight of the ancient prophet Habakkuk, who saw the primal fault at work in God’s creation about 600 years before Paul the apostle wrote about it in Romans 8. In fact I wonder if Paul wasn’t thinking of Habakkuk’s words when he wrote in Romans 8 about the creation being subjected to futility.  All the labour of man to build himself a life without God… it’s complete futility.  It’s like labouring to build a house that’s already going up in flames.

But Habakkuk also saw the wondrous intent of God in subjecting His creation to futility like this.  God had a primal motive behind it all. God subjected the same “in hope,” as the apostle Paul wrote:

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8.20,21 New KJV).

And so eagle-eyed Habakkuk continued his prophecy:

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2.14).

As the waters cover the sea? This sin-ravaged world of ours being covered with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? Oh, what hope, what great and glorious hope! What compelling words! I incubate them within me, I keep them warm within me, as they keep me, in a world of dismal prospect. God subjected the creation to futility “in hope.”

How wondrous wise—the ways of God only wise!  Man, the creature God made to be the shining forth of His own glory… he sins against Him—the primal fault—and as a result the whole creation is brought into bondage to futility.  But behind it all a God of eternal purpose—and great love—is at work.  Behind it all there is a primal motive—love—the love of God as revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord at Calvary, and which continues to work in the children of His love, and which will yet fill all creation “far as the curse is found.”

I know… Christmas is over.  But I love this old and timeless hymn.  I sing it all year round whenever the Spirit inspires me. Joy to the world, the Lord is come…

Let’s sing a couple of the verses now.

No more let sin and sorrow reign,
Nor thorns infest the ground:
He comes to make His blessing flow
Far as the curse is found.
Far as the curse is found.
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, and wonders, of His love.

Hallelujah!  There is more before us than there is behind us, beloved!

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Love—The Primal Fault Remedied

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Allan Halton

Last time we talked of God’s eternal purpose in delivering His creation from the bondage of corruption—the primal fault.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope:
Because the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glory of the liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8.20,21, New KJV).

What is this—the bondage of corruption?  A meaning springs to mind when we read the word corruption.  We think of the mafia getting into government or something like that.  But our present definitions of words will often mislead us when we take them into the Bible.  We must let the Bible itself define its words for us.  And the way the Bible uses the word corruption is very comprehensive.  This is the primal fault at work, both in the physical universe, and in the world of man.

Peter writes of the exceeding great and precious promises whereby we become “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pt. 1.4).  What is the divine nature?  Love.

And what is lust?  That’s another word whose meaning has changed over the centuries.  Peter is not talking specifically of sexual lust, which is the meaning of the word today, but of the whole range of self-centred desire.  (We will not take space here to talk of the difference between sexual lust and sexual desire between a man and a woman in the marriage relationship, which is honourable and undefiled, Heb. 13.4.)

Paul used the same word when he wrote in Romans 7:

I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet (same word: lust).   But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence (again same word: lust) (Rom. 7.7,8).

And so… “all manner of lust,” Paul says.  Not just sexual lust—but the whole range of sinful, selfish desire.  Where did this evil desire come from?  I believe it began in a heavenly realm when Lucifer began to covet the glory of God for himself.  But as far as the human family goes, it had its beginnings in the “lust” that the Serpent in his subtlety succeeded in awakening in Eve—a desire to be “as God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3.5).  The Serpent suggested to Eve that this was greatly to be desired, maliciously implying that God was keeping something good to Himself.  It was an attractive idea to Eve—being her own god, becoming the master of her own destiny, being independent of God, deciding for herself what is good and what is evil instead of having to depend on God for this.  It was—and still is—a fatal error.  For when Adam saw what Eve his bride had done he deliberately ate of the fruit of that tree himself, and, as federal head of the race, brought in death upon the whole family of man.

It all began with a “lust,” a desire that was not of God—the God of love.  Here, in one word is the remedy for the primal fault—love.

It was the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord at Calvary that dealt with the primal fault.  It does not surprise us, then, to find Peter urging us (in order to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust) to become partakers of this divine nature—to add to our faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness… love.  For herein we discover ourselves in an everlasting kingdom, not a corruptible one—“the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” I won’t quote the passage fully here, but I encourage you to go to your Bible and read it—prayerfully (2 Pt. 1.4-11).

Lust is self-centred desire.  It’s a very insidious thing.  It can be our motivation even in the pursuit of spiritual things—what I get out of it.  Its direction is ever inward and self-serving.  It’s about me and my advantage, my own interests—the opposite of love, the love of God, the Father’s love.

Love is motivation in an entirely different direction—Godward, outward, away from one’s self, to the benefit of others.  And this whatever the cost– even at the willing cost of our own lives, as our forerunner the Lord Jesus Christ showed us at Calvary.  It was love of God—and of His fellow man—that brought Jesus to His cross.  That same love working in our lives and motivating all we say and do will ultimately deliver the whole creation from its bondage to corruption—the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And so the apostle John exhorts us:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever (1 Jn. 2.15-17).

Keep this passage in mind while we look again at that verse from Galatians we talked about in an earlier post.

He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Paul is contrasting two things—corruption, and life everlasting.  And it’s very interesting to note the context in which Paul says this.  He is speaking of doing good, of giving—God-centred, other-centred actions, not self-centred actions.  You sow to the flesh and it’s inevitable—you reap corruption, decay.  You sow your whole life to the flesh, to yourself—the fallen Adam nature ruled by the primal fault—and what do you have for your whole life’s labour?  Great or small it all comes to nothing.  For, “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof…”

…But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Why is this?  Why is it that doing the will of God involves you in an eternal realm?  It’s because the word of the Lord by which we do the will of God, and by which we are born again, abideth forever.

And what is the evidence of this in our lives?  (Hint: it’s a one-word answer.)

…More next time. https://amendingfeast.org/2012/01/08/the-primal-motive-love/

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The Primal Fault—A Law

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Allan Halton

Do you ever wonder why your vehicle keeps breaking down? Yes I understand—it’s a Ford.  But is there something more to this?  Why does your house continually need to be maintained?  The paint fades, the faucet leaks.  It would be wonderful—and very nice on the wallet—if you took your car in for an oil change and were told the oil was better now than it was 5,000 kilometres ago.  How wonderful if the shingles on the house just got better and better over the years.  But no, the car doesn’t get newer, and the oil in the engine deteriorates.  The shingles on the house wear out and need to be replaced.

Why is this?  Scientists tell us this is the result of a law—the Second Law of Thermodynamics, or the law of increasing entropy, in layman’s terms the process of deterioration or running down, or a trend to disorder, which is taking place all throughout the universe.  (We mention just in passing that this law shoots the theory of evolution completely full of holes.  Things are not evolving in this universe—it’s the other way around.)

I am a dunce when it comes to science, but this law arrested me in something I read years ago, and I wrote down a quote about it.  I am sorry I neglected to note the author.

There is a natural tendency, then, for all observed natural systems to go from order to disorder, towards increasing randomness.  This is true throughout the entire known universe both at the micro and macro levels.  The tendency is so invariant that it has never been known to fail.  It is a natural law—the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Here is another quote I wrote down by science writer Isaac Asimov.

We can see the Second Law all about us.  We have to work hard to straighten a room, but left to itself it becomes a mess again very quickly and very easily.  Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty.  How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our own bodies in perfect working order; how easy to let them deteriorate.

“In fact all we have to do is nothing,” Asimov continued, “and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself—and that is what the Second Law is all about.”

I am not aware what scientist first formulated the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  But I know an apostle who nailed it down a long time ago, calling it “the law of sin and death.”  This is “the primal fault” I mentioned last time.

Question.  If Jesus Christ dealt with the primal fault at Calvary, why is the primal fault still very much at work in our world—and in fact is obviously getting worse?  The earth is waxing old as a garment before our very eyes.  And (same question continued) if Paul called Christ “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15.45), how is it that many millions of Adams have walked the earth since His death on Calvary’s cross?

Short Answer:  It’s because God has an eternal purpose that is still unfolding—a mystery that is still in the process of being unveiled.  It was by man that the primal fault was introduced into the world, and it is by a Man that its reversal is to be fully effected.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15.21).

That Man by whom resurrection came has a Head… and feet.  And though now we see not yet all things put under His feet, God will yet put all things under this Man’s feet till the last enemy, even death, is put under His feet (Heb. 2.8,9, 1 Cor. 15.25-27).  And so we are awakened as to our part in all this, the wondrous mystery of Christ—a many-membered Man—through whom God will yet deliver a groaning creation.

The Bible tells us that “the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope…” (Rom. 8.20 New KJV).  In two or three places the Bible hints that disorder entered God’s universe in a spiritual dimension prior to the creation story that is given to us in the first three chapters of Genesis.  But it was when Adam sinned in the Garden that God—reluctantly—placed a curse on the whole creation—this law of entropy that we see all around us.  There is a primal fault.  All things deteriorate over time.  They decay.  They atrophy.  They go into corruption.  They die.  Not only in the physical universe, but also in the world of man—especially in the world of man—in all the ways and works of man.  And nothing man has ever done or can do is able to change this law.  It rains into the sea, and still the sea is salt.

This has caused wise men to despair, and rightly so.  If only we too had such wisdom, and despaired, and then cried out in our despair, as this same apostle I mentioned did.

“Oh wretched man that I am,” he cried out.  “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Who?  God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Paul discovered (by revelation) that the God who had subjected His creation to futility had later introduced another law into His universe, the result of the Cross of Calvary.  Oh, how Paul thanked God for this!  Let us too thank God—and let the words we are reading arrest us.  It is a law that liberates from the law of sin and death.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8.2).

Can mortal eyes actually be reading such words?  Can this actually be true?  You meant there is a law that to obey, to walk in, triumphs over the working of the primal fault?

Yes!  When Jesus Christ died on Calvary’s cross He there and then dealt with the primal fault—sin in the heart of man.

It was by His death that the primal fault was dealt with.

But it is by His life that the fix is manifested.  This is where you and I come in.

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by His life (Rom. 5.10).

How are we saved by His life?  Paul is speaking here of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  This liberating law of life is working right now in those who are in Christ Jesus—in measure.  In its full working, those walking in this law will ultimately deliver a whole creation that was made subject to futility because of the sin of Adam.

Because the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glory of the liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8.21).

…More next time. https://amendingfeast.org/2012/01/06/love-the-primal-fault-remedied/

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A Little Child Shall Lead Them

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Allan Halton

The other day my youngest grandson and his mother dropped in for a visit. The two of them walked over after kindergarten, and as soon as they arrived, my grandson showed me something he had found along the way.

It was a flat rock about the size of an Oreo cookie, and he gave it to me to hold in my hand. I looked at it, and turned it over. It was somewhat heart shaped. Someone had painted a face on it with red and blue colours – eyes, a nose, a smiling mouth. I smiled, too, and opened my mouth to offer my explanation of where this rock had come from — he had found it on the pavement near the kindergarten – when my little grandson intercepted my words before they had a chance to get out.

“God dropped it down for me, Grandpa. It’s a present for me from God.”

I was convicted in a moment. So much for the obvious explanation my own mind had formed and was ready to set forth for his enlightenment. We adult types are good at getting things all figured out.

My grandson looked at me and nodded as I handed his rock back to him. “I believe in Him, Grandpa.”

I nodded, too, and sang my grandson a little song I’ve loved for years.

Praise the Name of Jesus, Praise the name of Jesus…
He’s my Rock, He’s my fortress,
He’s my deliverer, in whom I will trust…
Praise the Name of Jesus…

…I believe in Him, too, Cole. God sent down a Rock for me, too. And I pray that till my dying day and beyond, He will preserve in me that same childlike sense of wonder. Let me enter the kingdom of God as the little child.

And I pray that you, too, Cole, as you grow, will never lose a child’s believing heart, and sense of wonder.

For, this God that you believe in, and I believe in, is a God of wonder. His very name is Wonder-ful (Isaiah 9.6). And so this whole universe He created – the things unseen and seen, things visible and things invisible – is a universe full of wonder. He “doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number” (Job 9.10).

And of all those wonders, the purpose of God in it all: the wonder of wonders: His purpose in man, that eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord… oh, the wonder of it all!

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