January 2006
The chart called "God's
Orchestrated Plan of Love for Mankind"
was introduced last month, as part of
The
Ezekiel wheel Project,
to show the intention of God since creation
to connect His heavenly throne to His
people. His finished work of grace anchors
those who believe in Jesus Christ to His
heavenly Sanctuary. May you realize the
many creative possibilities, because of
your divine connection to God's abounding
love this wonderful New Year.
A Heavenly View
One of my purposes is
to help you envision the reality of God's
love with the aid of charts. It has been
said that "a picture is worth a thousand
words." They can remain in the mind
when all else is forgotten. Be still,
people who aren't Christians can't understand
these truths form God's Spirit. It all
sounds foolish to them because only those
who have the Spirit can understand what
the Spirit means. 1
As Christians, we are
encouraged by the Apostle Paul "...to
seek those things which are above, where
Christ is, sitting at the right hand of
God. Set your mind on things above, not
on things of the earth." 2
I believe the Lord gives me these charts
in order to help explain a truth. It has
also been said that "a pound of illustration,
is worth a ton of explanation."
Many times in the Word
of God, a vision describes what the man
of God sees in "like", rather
than how it "is". This doesn't
make his vision any less a reality. The
spiritual world is real. The problem is
the world of sin around us being so real
that we doubt the spiritual world shining
around us.
Imagination vs. Reality
A recent Daily
Bread (RBC
Ministries) shared how David declared
the Lord to be his Rock, Fortress, Shield,
Horn of Salvation and Stronghold. 3
The author explained, "David was
thinking of physical elements that convey
spiritual realities. Each picture expresses
a deeper thought, linking the visible
world to the invisible real of the Spirit.
David doesn't wander into definition and
explanation, for explanation can blunt
imagination. Each picture is left hanging
in our minds -- images that evoke mystery,
arouse our imagination, and deepen our
understanding." I must warn you to
be very careful not to define God's truth
as imaginations, when in fact His truth
is reality.
A.W. Tozer explains in
his book The Pursuit of God,
imagination is different than the word
reckon, which means "count it to
be." He says, "This does not
mean to visualize or imagine. Imagination
is not faith. The two are not only different
from, but stand in sharp opposition to,
each other. Imagination projects unreal
images out of the mind and seeks to attach
reality to them. Faith creates nothing;
it simply reckons upon that which is already
there."
One other point Brother
Tozer makes: "...we must avoid the
common fault of pushing the "other
world" into the future. It is not
future, but present. It parallels our
familiar physical world and the door between
the two worlds are open. "Ye are
come," says the writer of Hebrews
(and the tense is plainly present), "...unto
mount Zion, and unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, to the
general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better
things than that of Abel." 4
A.W. Tozer continues,
"...And [the reality of Mt. Zion,
the heavenly Jerusalem] is not by any
trick of the imagination but is downright
actuality. The soul has eyes with which
to see and ears with which to hear. Feeble
they may be from long disuse, but by the
life-giving touch of Christ, they are
now alive and capable of sharpest sight
and most sensitive hearing."
More Than An Imagination
Be assured that our connection
to God's throne is more than an imagination.
It is not left up to our imagination that
God: 1) Walked in relationship with Adam
and Eve in the garden, 2) Communicated
His law personally to Moses on Mt. Sinai,
3) Counseled the children of Israel in
the wilderness tabernacle, 4) Dwelt among
us through His Son on Earth, 5) Placed
our sins on Christ at the cross, 6) Made
us new creations through Christ's resurrection,
7) Manifests His righteousness, peace
and joy through our lives today, by the
Holy Spirit, and 8) That Christ will return
for His Bride [the Church] and judge the
world.
All these events and
more are absolute realities. When Isaiah
saw the LORD'S train filling the temple
in Isaiah chapter 6, it was not an imaginary
thing. He actually saw God's throne with
seraphim flying about, crying: "Holy,
holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the
whole earth is full of His glory"
(vs.1-3). He actually saw a seraphim fly
to him with a live coal in his hand, which
he had taken with the tongs from off the
alter, and felt the angel lay it upon
his mouth (vs. 6,7).
The focus of Isaiah was
on the reality of God's throne, unlike
the children of Israel as they followed
the wilderness tabernacle. Though God's
cloud by day and fire by night led them,
they lusted after the imaginations of
their heart. They remembered all the fish,
cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic
they used to eat for free in Egypt, becoming
dissatisfied with God's daily manna. This
is an example for us to "...cast
down imaginations and every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God, bringing every thought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ." 5
The Reality of God's
Throne
The purpose of The
Ezekiel Wheel Project, presented
in past articles, was to connect you to
the reality of God's throne. The focus
has been upon the Apostle John's vision
of God's throne as presented in Revelation,
chapters 4 and 5. The vision is signified
by God's angel, which is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. 6
God's throne or His Sanctuary
in heaven is real. God first mentions
it to Moses when He asks him to build
a sanctuary on earth pattered after the
Sanctuary in heaven. 7
As a place of worship, it is only a copy,
a shadow of the real one in heaven. For
when Moses was getting ready to build
the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning:
"Be sure that you make everything
according to the design I have shown you
here on the mountain." 8
The book of Hebrews confirms
the fact that the Heavenly Sanctuary has
a real veil, where our Forerunner, Jesus
Christ, has entered ahead and anchored
us behind it. 9
Jesus Christ has saved us to the uttermost,
and He is higher than the heavens above
us. 10 Jesus, our
High Priest, sad sown in the place of
highest honor in heaven at God's right
hand. There He ministers in the sacred
tent, the true place of worship that was
built by the Lord and not by human hands.
11 He has been given
a ministry that is far superior to the
ministry of those who serve under the
old laws, for He is the one who guarantees
for us a better covenant with God, based
on better promises. 12
The Sanctuary in heaven
is as real as the earthly sanctuary which
describes it. 13
However, the Heavenly Sanctuary is greater
and more perfect. 14
Christ entered the Heavenly Sanctuary
with His blood to purge our conscience
from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Christ has entered
heaven itself to appear now before God
as our Advocate. He did not go into the
earthly place of worship, for that was
merely a copy of the real Temple in heaven.
16
For us today, it is the
throne of grace where we obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.
17 We can spiritually
enter heaven's Most Holy Place boldly
because of the blood of Jesus. This is
the new, life-giving way that Christ has
opened up through the sacred curtain,
by means of His death. Since we have a
great High Priest who rules over God's
people, let us go right into the presence
of God, with true hearts fully trusting
Him. For our evil consciences has been
sprinkled with Christ's blood to make
us clean, and our bodies have been washed
with pure water. Without wavering, let
us hold rightly to the hope we have, for
God can be trusted to keep His promises.
18
Where Is Your Faith
The Children of Israel
had a promise of receiving a land flowing
with milk and honey. But when they arrived,
they could not enter the Promised Land
because of unbelief. 19
The Good News -- that God has prepared
a place of rest -- has been announced
to us just as it was to them. It did them
no good because they didn't believe what
God told them. Only we, who believe, can
enter God's place of rest. 20
The word of God is full of living power.
It is sharper than the sharpest knife,
cutting deep into our innermost thoughts
and desires. It exposes us for what we
really are. 21
The problem of many Christians
is Spiritual immaturity. This world has
so clouded our hearts that we can not
see the reality of heaven. The writer
of Hebrews said they were like babies
who drink only milk and can not eat solid
food. A person who is living on milk isn't
very far along in the Christian life and
doesn't know much about doing what is
right. Solid food is for those who are
mature, who have trained themselves to
recognize the difference between right
and wrong and then do what is right. 22
Brother Tozer says: "As
we begin to focus upon God, the things
of the Spirit will take shape before our
inner eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ
will bring an inward revelation of the
Godhead. 23 It will
give acute perception enabling us to see
God even as is promised to a pure heart.
A new God-consciousness will seize upon
us and we shall begin to taste and hear
and inwardly feel God, who is our life
and our all. There will be seen the constant
shining of "the true Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the
world." 24
More and more as our faculties grow sharper
and more sure, God will become to us the
great All, and His presence the glory
and wonder of our lives.
Let us hear from you
by e-mail
if these Ezekiel
wheel Project articles have ministered
to your heart.
A Prayer For You...
O God, bring to life
every power within me, that I may lay
hold of eternal things. Open my eyes that
I may see; give me acute spiritual perception;
enable me to taste Thee and know that
Thou art good. Make heaven more real to
me than any earthly thing has ever been.
Amen.
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