VISITATION!
Ephesians 3:17 "And He (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were afar off."
Psalm 85:8 "I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints."
Ephesians 3:14 "He is our peace..."
Frightful times are about us, the manifestations of men's hearts and wills, the breaking down of expected social norms with various injustices. We see a storm of wills, emotions, words, and retaliations, over and over. Or far worse.
This is the word that came to me yesterday morning, and I saw this word in caps,
"VISITATION".
There is a promise I am sensing of an event scheduled from heaven,
an entrance of the presencing of our Lord Jesus Christ, tangibly, even an undeniable visitation of Him is imminent! (And I know I'm not the only one sensing this!)
By this I do mean parousia, the appearances of Jesus for our behalf, full of purpose for us! The tangible presencing of Himself to us! Study that greek word and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart about this more.
Hearing Jesus must be just like - and I mean this as a requirement - hearing Him is a pouring out of His character. Ephesians 3:14 declares to us that Jesus is our peace.
Verse 15 says that He has created "in Himself one new man... thus making peace". Jesus is also a peacemaker.
Peace is shalom. This is a ministry of shalom bringing order.
And not just order but placement and unity.
See verses 19-22 to read the intention of God's heart in Christ Jesus: to build a dwelling place for Himself IN
this very unity!
Unity of whom? All men. All mankind. In verses 11 and following Paul describes the lineage of the fleshly line, of both jews and gentiles. He states the gentiles as being afar off from the promises of God and with no hope. Therefore, the jewish lineage indeed had a nearness to these.
Paul declares and describes the blood of Christ in verse 13, how His blood has brought the gentile near.
And then describes clearly in verse 14, that Christ Jesus has in Himself broken down "the middle wall of separation" and has also
"abolished in Himself the commandments contained in ordinances --
so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace."
There is no peace without the shalom of Jesus Christ, Who has openly shed His blood for these purposes, all of them.
Paul has described the uncircumcised in verse 11 as being a natural issue, and then also the circumcision as well being a natural work of men.
But only Christ Jesus could accomplish creating us together IN PEACE, for His blood fulfilled the requirements of the law and also
accomplished for us what things that the natural mind cannot comprehend how to do.
An adoption from a higher court ruling.
A birthing of the Holy Spirit INTO a household in which God is our shared Father.
By definition, this is a work man cannot do! Man's mind and methods could not accomplish making one new man!
Man's abilities never will!
Only in Christ Jesus is there a New Creation, a way to BE "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" as stated in verse 19.
But, He Himself is our peace, who has made both one... This is past tense. It is conditional, but it is past tense for it is Reconciliation.
You and I cannot be reconciled unwillingly. Provision to be reconciled has been made. But the court requires your presence to receive the stamp (the word) of the righteous judgement made in your favor. This means, you have to show up to receive it.
Looking to the work of PEACE, we understand the Kingdom of God is righteousness, PEACE - which is Shalom, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Peace or Shalom is a working and moving characteristic of God. Jesus gave peace to us and called it "My shalom I give to you, not as the world gives."
This is a peace that the world does not have.
This shalom of Jesus is given.
So it has to be received.
Compare:
"For He Himself is our peace (shalom) who has made both one,
and has broken down the middle wall of separation" verse 14 ....
Now verse 15... "having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances..."
ENMITY is the word echthra in the greek language, and it means
hostility, hatred, antagonism.
SHALOM:
Shalom, by translation with correct mood applied, etc --As defined by the One New Man Bible* is defined as,
"Shalom cannot be translated into English with a single word. Shalom comes from Shalem meaning to be complete.
When there is Shalom there is tranquility, justice, sufficient food, clothing, housing. There is Divine health with no sickness.
Shalom means an absence of disorder, injustice, bribery, corruption, conflict, lack, hatred, abuse, violence, pain, suffering, immorality, and all other negative forces.
A rabbi wrote that Shalom means "No good thing withheld."
Therefore when we pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem, we are praying that there will not be any injustice, disorder, strife, violence, poverty, sickness, abuse, accidents, homelessness, pain, hunger and more.
When Shalom reigns there will be no immorality, no injustice. The principles advocated in the Torah will be followed by all. Then the command to love your neighbor will be made complete."
Shalom is Jesus! Jesus is our shalom!
Wherever He is, there is shalom!
Is He in you?
Has your heart - your inner person - been united together with Him in His shalom?
When we pray for the shalom of Israel, we are praying for the presence of Jesus to be in Israel!
When we pray for peace on earth, we are praying for Jesus to come!
Back to the text, verse 16, "...and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity."
Was there enmity, that is hostility and hatred and antagonism between these 2 peoples? There sure was!
Is there still? We can witness this today.
But enmity according to the word of God here,
has already been swallowed up in the death of our Lord Jesus!
It has already been nailed to the cross with Him, and it was put there by God in Christ Jesus FOR US.
Do we long for peace? Do we long for governmental order in peace? Then we long for shalom.
And we are therefore longing for Jesus for He is our shalom! There is no other!
Verse 19, "Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God" !! (Note: Racism is abolished in Christ!)
And if we read further, we find that this is a building that is "being fitted together" (verse 21) and that it is
growing ..."grows into a holy temple in the Lord".
The fitting together is not something we are doing. WE are not the fitters, but the fit-ees!
But only in the shalom of Jesus, through the cross and His blood.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
"Therefore, if ..." <-- THAT is what is called a condition or a requirement. Remember that.
Verse 17, "Therefore, if anyone..." <--THIS is the whosoever will of John 3:16 and John 1:8. Remember this.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ... " <-- And right here is The Work of God that man's hands cannot do. To be planted in shalom, in Christ, to be born in Him is not anything we can possibly do with our natural means, it is not of ourselves anymore than we caused ourselves to be born in the natural. It is done for us. Ask me how if you need to!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation " <-- hello. There is this new creation of God again!
"...all things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." New! A new creation of God! A creative work of God our Creator, that has never been seen before!
Verse 18, "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ,
and has given us
the ministry of reconciliation." --> What's this??
Verse 19, "that is, that God was in Christ
RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF ..." (caps for emphasis only!)
"...NOT imputing their trespasses to them,
and has committed to us
the WORD of reconciliation. "
The work of God in Jesus Christ on the cross has already resolved the world's problems!
The judgement of the cross was to NOT impute sin, but to instead settle the account of sin for all mankind! God Himself, being found in Christ Jesus, forgave! He forgave mankind.
AND HE resolved the outstanding account of sin.
He Himself ended the strife, the hatred, the hostility, the antagonism, appeasing His own righteous judgement, and
offering Himself instead!
God taking the curse upon Himself in Christ, taking the penalty and paying in full for it, did not impute our sins to us,
but to Christ, the Lamb of God!
God is not hostile. He does not hate. He is not antagonistic. This is not His character.
He draws us, He pulls on our hearts and woo's us by His love to bring us to a place of reconciliation with His: His motion, His movement, the choice He made for us, this work He accomplished on the cross for our behalfs continues,
sweeping across the generations, through time, God's glorious provision exceeds the limits of man, the limits of the natural,
calls to us and finds each one of us!
The permanent Open Door available, The Way to Father God!
The word of God's Reconciliation has been committed to us. The truth of what was done for all of mankind has been imparted and delivered to us if we know Jesus and have received the same. We are carriers of truth, members of a household that has His name, Jesus Christ, and we are no longer strangers to the promises of God, but we eat at The King's table! In His household!
What must we then serve to the hungry, longing souls who have not yet met Jesus and known such a One as this,
who have not heard and had a chance to taste yet of the things that are beyond man's hands, even the resolution, the solution for thieir sin,
What must we say and do to be able to give them a chance to put down their weapons, the hostility, the antagonism, and the hatred, and be made new?
Even to be born a we are into the shalom of Jesus Christ?
This is our calling, to seek God and to carry the effectual word of the gospel INto the earth.
We need more of Jesus Himself, more time with Him, more of His presence, more of His word worked into us by the Holy Spirit. We need to be fitted into His plan, for we are HIS new creation!
Ephesians 4:20-22 "...members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF being the chief cornerstone,
in whom the whole building being fitted together,
grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together
for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
The purposing of God is for unity through Jesus Christ, our ONLY Peace - The Shalom of God -
The Peacemaker -
to build us in the Spirit of God
into His dwelling place, a place for Himself.
A new creation not made with hands.
Revelation 21:3 "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself shall be with them and be their God..."
May we yield to Holy Spirit and receive the visitation of our Lord Jesus Christ today unto this end,
that we be fully prepared...
For He is coming to presence Himself with us!
___
*The One New Man Bible published by Barnes and Noble.
All scriptural quotations from the New King James version of The Holy Bible published by Nelson.
Psalm 85:8 "I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints."
Ephesians 3:14 "He is our peace..."
Frightful times are about us, the manifestations of men's hearts and wills, the breaking down of expected social norms with various injustices. We see a storm of wills, emotions, words, and retaliations, over and over. Or far worse.
This is the word that came to me yesterday morning, and I saw this word in caps,
"VISITATION".
There is a promise I am sensing of an event scheduled from heaven,
an entrance of the presencing of our Lord Jesus Christ, tangibly, even an undeniable visitation of Him is imminent! (And I know I'm not the only one sensing this!)
By this I do mean parousia, the appearances of Jesus for our behalf, full of purpose for us! The tangible presencing of Himself to us! Study that greek word and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart about this more.
Hearing Jesus must be just like - and I mean this as a requirement - hearing Him is a pouring out of His character. Ephesians 3:14 declares to us that Jesus is our peace.
Verse 15 says that He has created "in Himself one new man... thus making peace". Jesus is also a peacemaker.
Peace is shalom. This is a ministry of shalom bringing order.
And not just order but placement and unity.
See verses 19-22 to read the intention of God's heart in Christ Jesus: to build a dwelling place for Himself IN
this very unity!
Unity of whom? All men. All mankind. In verses 11 and following Paul describes the lineage of the fleshly line, of both jews and gentiles. He states the gentiles as being afar off from the promises of God and with no hope. Therefore, the jewish lineage indeed had a nearness to these.
Paul declares and describes the blood of Christ in verse 13, how His blood has brought the gentile near.
And then describes clearly in verse 14, that Christ Jesus has in Himself broken down "the middle wall of separation" and has also
"abolished in Himself the commandments contained in ordinances --
so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace."
There is no peace without the shalom of Jesus Christ, Who has openly shed His blood for these purposes, all of them.
Paul has described the uncircumcised in verse 11 as being a natural issue, and then also the circumcision as well being a natural work of men.
But only Christ Jesus could accomplish creating us together IN PEACE, for His blood fulfilled the requirements of the law and also
accomplished for us what things that the natural mind cannot comprehend how to do.
An adoption from a higher court ruling.
A birthing of the Holy Spirit INTO a household in which God is our shared Father.
By definition, this is a work man cannot do! Man's mind and methods could not accomplish making one new man!
Man's abilities never will!
Only in Christ Jesus is there a New Creation, a way to BE "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" as stated in verse 19.
But, He Himself is our peace, who has made both one... This is past tense. It is conditional, but it is past tense for it is Reconciliation.
You and I cannot be reconciled unwillingly. Provision to be reconciled has been made. But the court requires your presence to receive the stamp (the word) of the righteous judgement made in your favor. This means, you have to show up to receive it.
Looking to the work of PEACE, we understand the Kingdom of God is righteousness, PEACE - which is Shalom, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Peace or Shalom is a working and moving characteristic of God. Jesus gave peace to us and called it "My shalom I give to you, not as the world gives."
This is a peace that the world does not have.
This shalom of Jesus is given.
So it has to be received.
Compare:
"For He Himself is our peace (shalom) who has made both one,
and has broken down the middle wall of separation" verse 14 ....
Now verse 15... "having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances..."
ENMITY is the word echthra in the greek language, and it means
hostility, hatred, antagonism.
SHALOM:
Shalom, by translation with correct mood applied, etc --As defined by the One New Man Bible* is defined as,
"Shalom cannot be translated into English with a single word. Shalom comes from Shalem meaning to be complete.
When there is Shalom there is tranquility, justice, sufficient food, clothing, housing. There is Divine health with no sickness.
Shalom means an absence of disorder, injustice, bribery, corruption, conflict, lack, hatred, abuse, violence, pain, suffering, immorality, and all other negative forces.
A rabbi wrote that Shalom means "No good thing withheld."
Therefore when we pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem, we are praying that there will not be any injustice, disorder, strife, violence, poverty, sickness, abuse, accidents, homelessness, pain, hunger and more.
When Shalom reigns there will be no immorality, no injustice. The principles advocated in the Torah will be followed by all. Then the command to love your neighbor will be made complete."
Shalom is Jesus! Jesus is our shalom!
Wherever He is, there is shalom!
Is He in you?
Has your heart - your inner person - been united together with Him in His shalom?
When we pray for the shalom of Israel, we are praying for the presence of Jesus to be in Israel!
When we pray for peace on earth, we are praying for Jesus to come!
Back to the text, verse 16, "...and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity."
Was there enmity, that is hostility and hatred and antagonism between these 2 peoples? There sure was!
Is there still? We can witness this today.
But enmity according to the word of God here,
has already been swallowed up in the death of our Lord Jesus!
It has already been nailed to the cross with Him, and it was put there by God in Christ Jesus FOR US.
Do we long for peace? Do we long for governmental order in peace? Then we long for shalom.
And we are therefore longing for Jesus for He is our shalom! There is no other!
Verse 19, "Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God" !! (Note: Racism is abolished in Christ!)
And if we read further, we find that this is a building that is "being fitted together" (verse 21) and that it is
growing ..."grows into a holy temple in the Lord".
The fitting together is not something we are doing. WE are not the fitters, but the fit-ees!
But only in the shalom of Jesus, through the cross and His blood.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
"Therefore, if ..." <-- THAT is what is called a condition or a requirement. Remember that.
Verse 17, "Therefore, if anyone..." <--THIS is the whosoever will of John 3:16 and John 1:8. Remember this.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ... " <-- And right here is The Work of God that man's hands cannot do. To be planted in shalom, in Christ, to be born in Him is not anything we can possibly do with our natural means, it is not of ourselves anymore than we caused ourselves to be born in the natural. It is done for us. Ask me how if you need to!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation " <-- hello. There is this new creation of God again!
"...all things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." New! A new creation of God! A creative work of God our Creator, that has never been seen before!
Verse 18, "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ,
and has given us
the ministry of reconciliation." --> What's this??
Verse 19, "that is, that God was in Christ
RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF ..." (caps for emphasis only!)
"...NOT imputing their trespasses to them,
and has committed to us
the WORD of reconciliation. "
The work of God in Jesus Christ on the cross has already resolved the world's problems!
The judgement of the cross was to NOT impute sin, but to instead settle the account of sin for all mankind! God Himself, being found in Christ Jesus, forgave! He forgave mankind.
AND HE resolved the outstanding account of sin.
He Himself ended the strife, the hatred, the hostility, the antagonism, appeasing His own righteous judgement, and
offering Himself instead!
God taking the curse upon Himself in Christ, taking the penalty and paying in full for it, did not impute our sins to us,
but to Christ, the Lamb of God!
God is not hostile. He does not hate. He is not antagonistic. This is not His character.
He draws us, He pulls on our hearts and woo's us by His love to bring us to a place of reconciliation with His: His motion, His movement, the choice He made for us, this work He accomplished on the cross for our behalfs continues,
sweeping across the generations, through time, God's glorious provision exceeds the limits of man, the limits of the natural,
calls to us and finds each one of us!
The permanent Open Door available, The Way to Father God!
The word of God's Reconciliation has been committed to us. The truth of what was done for all of mankind has been imparted and delivered to us if we know Jesus and have received the same. We are carriers of truth, members of a household that has His name, Jesus Christ, and we are no longer strangers to the promises of God, but we eat at The King's table! In His household!
What must we then serve to the hungry, longing souls who have not yet met Jesus and known such a One as this,
who have not heard and had a chance to taste yet of the things that are beyond man's hands, even the resolution, the solution for thieir sin,
What must we say and do to be able to give them a chance to put down their weapons, the hostility, the antagonism, and the hatred, and be made new?
Even to be born a we are into the shalom of Jesus Christ?
This is our calling, to seek God and to carry the effectual word of the gospel INto the earth.
We need more of Jesus Himself, more time with Him, more of His presence, more of His word worked into us by the Holy Spirit. We need to be fitted into His plan, for we are HIS new creation!
Ephesians 4:20-22 "...members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF being the chief cornerstone,
in whom the whole building being fitted together,
grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together
for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
The purposing of God is for unity through Jesus Christ, our ONLY Peace - The Shalom of God -
The Peacemaker -
to build us in the Spirit of God
into His dwelling place, a place for Himself.
A new creation not made with hands.
Revelation 21:3 "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself shall be with them and be their God..."
May we yield to Holy Spirit and receive the visitation of our Lord Jesus Christ today unto this end,
that we be fully prepared...
For He is coming to presence Himself with us!
___
*The One New Man Bible published by Barnes and Noble.
All scriptural quotations from the New King James version of The Holy Bible published by Nelson.
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