Hello again and greetings.
I have an interesting post coming up on Elijah, you don’t want to miss it.
I hope you’re discovering a renewed interest in God’s Word and the deep wells of revelation it holds.
God desires to bring people across your path (and mine) to speak personal callings and promises, invitations for healing and restoration, advancing his kingdom.
The prophetic word was spoken over Timothy, and we are no exception.
But, if our hearts are not ready, his callings and promises will fall by the way side.
So, let’s continue to allow the Lord to cultivate the garden of our hearts, enriching our soil to embrace the words of life.
As Christians, many times we focus on Christ’s ministry and Calvary, what he’s done for us, and tragically, miss the most important part of his life – his own personal journey spanning at least 18 years, before his presentation to John at the river Jordan.
The Scriptures are filled with the story of his journey, being Fathered by God; Romans and Hebrews having chapters devoted to Christ’s personal victory over sin, raised to walk in new life.
(A person doesn’t need to sin to fight sin, it can be handed to them from the generations (re:Christ, Mary, Galatians 4:4, Romans 1:3, etc.,) and overcome without sinning; Christ being the only one to put to death the deeds of the body, by the Spirit of his Father, before they could bear fruit in his life (Romans Chapter 6, Ephesians Chapter 2, Hebrews Chapter 5, etc.)
This is what he pioneered for you and me: for us to be healed and restored from the sinful practices handed down to us from our generations, those we’ve embraced on our own account from whatever source, and, “bestow” on you and me attributes of the new creation we need to function in wholeness.
This is wonderful news – new wine in new wineskins!
The Lord not only pioneered how to be cleansed and healed, but, the impartation of Christ to us, by grace, to make us full and complete in him, becoming truly, not only restored, but, a new creation, body, soul, and spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
If we miss understanding the work of God in the one who never sinned – who overcame the hostility of his own flesh – then we miss how desperate we are for the Holy one to rescue us, who have known wounds, brokenness, and sin intimately.
Being born again and spirit filled will not be sufficient in the years ahead. We need the journey of the feast of Tabernacles, cleansing and healing wilderness time with the Lord, to prepare us for what lies before us and in the future.
Only the Lord can take us into Tabernacles.
It is the heart of the Church of Philadelphia, the end time bride.
Many have sat on the sidelines for decades watching or hearing about the various ministries of the Lord occurring outside their circle of instruction.
You and I cannot afford to sit back and watch the glory cloud of the Lord pass by and miss what God is doing in this season of the Church.
Now more than ever, you and I need Christ’s personal intervention and ministry in our lives to prepare us for union with him, and for ministry, to advance his kingdom.
He not only wants us, cleansed, healed and restored, but he wants us to offer healing and restoration to others.
Now is not the time to fall asleep or hide ourselves away hoping to somehow get through all this halfheartedly.
Jesus has wonderful things up ahead for the body of Christ.
(And the enemy has horrible things up ahead for those who cultivate his heart and ultimately receive his mark.)
I’ll share one tidbit I may have mentioned before.
Jesus only ministered for about three and half years.
And he ministered alone, without a bride by his side. Remember Adam was formed first and then Eve.
The second Adam, Christ, came not only to redeem mankind, but to have a bride in his image and likeness.
(There are “intimacy” distinctions in the saints and the Church – the foolish virgins, the wise virgins, the criers, and the bride pictured throughout the Bible in different settings and accounts. For example, the Song of Songs shows different levels of intimacy, the parables of Matthew 13 another, Paul’s letters to the Churches, the churches of Revelation, the 144,000, and clearly different intimacy in Revelation Chapter 12, etc.)
Jesus, the author of love, desires deep and intimate fellowship, companionship, and union. He wants a bride.
The wheels were set in motion in the early church and it appears he got some brides from the early apostles (a story for another time).
And most likely, there have been other brides through the Church ages.
But the Scripture makes specific note, for reasons too numerous to mention here, of a bride for the bridegroom in the closing season of the Church era.
According to the 70 weeks of Daniel, Christ still has about three plus years of ministry to fulfill. He was cutoff in the midst of the final week of the 70th week of Daniel.
The last day revival at the end of the Church era, pictured in Revelation Chapter 12 and other Scriptures, will reveal the intimate union of Christ and his bride – the second Adam finally one with those deeply in love with him (Philadelphia, the Church of brotherly love), reaching out one last time to a lost and dying world.
As I’ve said before, it is more certain the Scriptures will be fulfilled than it is for the sun, moon, and stars, to shine.
Because, they are subject to the Scriptures, for in the sixth seal – the end of the first half of the Tribulation – their glory fades, marking the end of the Church era. (Revelation 6:12-13)
The sixth seal is significant, because it marks the end of the war of the Beast against the Church of Jesus and ushers in the time of the Trumpets/Plagues.
God’s word will be fulfilled no matter what our friends say, our parents, our neighbors, or even some who are in the faith.
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Opening and Closing of the Gospel Age
The creation of the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day herald the inauguration of the Gospel age in typology. Christ came on the 4th “day” after Adam, however long those time periods were in actual calendar days.
We know the sun is a type of the NT and the Messiah, the moon the ancients and OT, and the stars the testimony of the ancients and the saints before Christ.
The moon has no light of itself, it only reflects light from the sun – the OT only has light and life as Christ is cast upon it!
And the stars help the NT saints navigate the night times of our journey.
So, it is only fitting in the sixth seal their lights are dimmed as the curtain is drawn to a close of the Church age, an intermission if you will, before the onset of the final years of the Tribulation.
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Recently, I noted how and in what manner King David was a “type” of Christ.
David’s long wilderness journey ending with “possession” of the Ark, and the throne, foretold a time when the greater David, Christ, would spend years in the wilderness (spiritually, and maybe even naturally).
Christ, “fathered by God” overcame the hostility of his flesh, ending with “possession” of the Holy of Holies, the throne of heaven, sitting down at the right hand of the Father.
His life journey – before his presentation to John at the river Jordan – is captured (witnessed) in Hebrews as follows:
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” (NIV, Hebrews 5:7 – 10)
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Note:
Ephesians 2:14 – 16 speaks about Christ overcoming the hostility in the flesh of him, see an interlinear.
Christ’s personal journey in the wilderness, the testimony of Hebrews and elsewhere in the New Testament, “fathered by God,” occurred before his presentation to John at the river Jordan.
The death referred to in Hebrews 5:7 is not Calvary, but the death of sin – he dyed to sin, overcoming every temptation, without ever sinning – living a life to God perfectly! (Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18(b))
In contrast to his personal triumph over sin, being made perfect over many years, his 40 days in the wilderness was final preparation and commissioning for ministry – the unique and special challenges he would face entering Satan’s kingdom – spiritual warfare far surpassing his personal journey to perfection and exultation.
Christ would be facing new levels of spiritual warfare, spiritual wickedness and dominion in high places, Satan himself. His personal journey did not include that level of warfare.
As you can see, there’s much, much more to Christ than Calvary and his ministry to Israel – those occurred in the last few years of his life.
What about the 30 years before his ministry?
That is the testimony of Romans, Hebrews, and much of the New Testament writings.
Aside from Christ’s ministry in the Gospels, the ministry of the apostles in Acts, and the end time events recorded in Revelation, a good share of the other New Testament writings speak of Christ’s personal journey.
We can’t really know Jesus without knowing his personal journey, and he, cannot really know us, without our personal wilderness journey in him.
After all, there’s more to Jesus than what he did for us, what about what God accomplished in him for him?
That’s the most important story, for nothing else could have happened in the plan of redemption without Christ first overcoming and pioneering faith and obedience for you and me.
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Resurrection this side of heaven?
Just as David was anointed King, before he could minister as a king, he had to be made into a king.
And just as Christ was anointed King and Savior by his heavenly Father through his divine birth, before he could minister and save his people from their sins, he had to be perfected, becoming our High Priest, King, Savior, and Prophet.
If David’s journey foretells Christ’s journey, the greater David, then it also foretells those in Christ, for Christ’s journey is ours.
Romans Chapter 6 captures Christ’s, and ours, wilderness journey in verses four and five:
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (NIV)
The baptism referred is not water, but the putting to death the deeds of the body, the baptism David and others in the Old Covenant typified and Christ pioneered to completion and fullness.
Remember Jesus saying I am the resurrection and the life?
These were events he personally experienced, having overcome the flesh, made alive in spirit.
Christ being raised from the dead to the glory of the father is the journey of transformation and sanctification, from death to life, from living life from the hostility of the flesh to the resurrection life of Christ.
Christ pioneered the path for you and me and he is the only one who can take us through that journey of dying to sin to walk in newness of life, the promise of the Father.
The resurrection life Christ pioneered before Calvary is the death and life we are to enter into – to put the hostility of our flesh to death, being fathered by God – by grace through faith in Christ.
This is the heart of the gospel, the promise of God to fallen, broken, and sinful men and women.
Being united with Christ with a death like his, is not talking about Calvary, but the putting to death the deeds of the body, experiencing the new creation this side of heaven.
By the way, what you’re reading here is a super condensed crash course on the personal life of Christ, long neglected, and much misunderstood.
As we approach the end of the New Testament era, Jesus is revealing more and more about his own nature and journey because he’s preparing a bride and she will need that understanding to finish the race in him.
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1 Corinthians Chapter 15
Note: Paul’s long message about the resurrection and raising of Christ transits quickly from Calvary to Christ’s personal journey of putting to death the deeds of his body, made new in spirit, by the resurrection power of God.
It is this death to sin to walk in newness of life, the resurrection life of Christ, the bulk of this chapter is devoted.
If all we have to look forward to, to be resurrected after we physically die, as Paul says, “… we are of all people most to be pitied.” (NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:19)
In other words, the heart of the gospel is not that Christ died for our sins on Calvary (as critical as that is for our salvation), but that he died to sin once for all in his personal journey (Romans 6:10), before his ministry to Israel – overcoming the hostility of his own flesh, raised to walk in new life.
Much of what Christianity knows about Jesus either relates to his ministry or Calvary.
The Scriptures, on the other hand, give greater weight to his life before his ministry and before Calvary.
Why would the Scriptures do this?
Because, he is our example, not in modeling Christianity, but in becoming Christians, and that can only happen if we follow the path, his path, he laid out before us.
He’s not asking us to die a death like he died for us on Calvary, but a death he died for himself and for us, by carrying the cross through the wilderness in the sojourn of being fathered by God, putting to death the deeds of the body, made alive in spirit – the resurrected life of Christ.
It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit Christ can apprehend and reveal by grace the Spirit of Christ in us.
If all we have to look forward to is heaven, and neglect the newness of life this side of heaven, which Christ purchased for us through his own personal wilderness journey, then we are still dead in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17 and Romans 8:10).
(Note: Paul is not laboring over “Calvary” in 1 Corinthians 15. But, the new life Christ pioneered for us this side of heaven, resurrection life, Christ being the “firstfruit” (15:23) – before ministry to Israel.
And when he “comes” for us, to father us, we can have new life too. Failing to experience the resurrection life, we fall short of the fullness of the promise of the Father, surpassing the Old Covenant saints in relationship (being born again), but, miss the full benefits of Christ’s death to sin, and his death on Calvary.)
Meaning we have not made effective the full promise of the Gospel (1 Peter 1:13).
Simply, Jesus our example, overcame the flesh to walk in new life this side of heaven, the wilderness journey of Tabernacles he has for you and me as well.
In case you’ve missed some of my earlier posts, remember, Christ’s ancestral line through Mary brought forth agreements and temptations in his flesh he had to overcome, it was no cakewalk for Jesus.
And he overcame without sinning!
Many commentators and translators miss the knowledge of Christ’s personal journey, openly admitting not knowing what to do with certain scriptures, confusing many with Calvary. They did the best in their day.
But, we are in a different church age, the Church of the bride. The Lord is revealing old truths again to help us along and speed up our journey for the days are increasingly evil and dark.
Tragically, “many” references in the New Testament to Christ’s raising and resurrection have been wrongly linked to Calvary, missing the most important part of Christ’s life, his own personal journey to perfection, dying to sin to walk in newness of life.
In Acts 2 Peter basically says, God “raised” the “resurrected” Jesus.
Death could not hold Christ he had already been resurrected.
Psalm 16, referred to by Peter in Acts 2, is the resurrection Psalm, the Old Covenant pointing to resurrection life in Christ before death.
Is that not the hope and heart of the gospel – to be free from sin, redeemed, forgiven, healed, restored, the new creation in glorified man, as transfigured by Christ on the mount?
Once you begin to see Christ’s personal journey in Scripture you will understand the Scriptures better, Jesus better, your journey, and the depth of the journey Christ endured to apprehend what God apprehended him for.
One final thought for you in your study.
Jesus completed everything God had for him before he began his ministry. Though temptations came, he completed his race.
And that race included his “once for all” and “one sacrifice” for himself and mankind mentioned a total of seven times in Romans and Hebrews.
When Jesus entered the picture with Israel he was a walking living sacrifice, the Holy of Holies, the New Testament in his blood (Matthew 26:28), else he could not have done the things he did, the words he said, nor been hoisted up on the cross to “contrast and forgive” the marks of sin on his flesh in the Holy of Holies of God.
Jesus was the living sacrifice once for all before he was nailed to the cross by you and me. Calvary confirmed everything he said about himself and everything he had become.
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The tabernacle of David, symbolic of the feast of Tabernacles, a type of Christ’s journey, and also a type of the bride from all church ages, including the end times, lasted for a relatively short period of time, the life of one man, King David.
It was the bridge between the tabernacle of Moses (a type of the Church at large), and Solomon’s kingdom, a type of Christ’s millennial rule.
Today, we have the Church of Sardis (birthed in the Reformation), coexisting with the relatively recent birth of the Church of Philadelphia (mid 20th century).
And Laodicea also exists among us today.
The tabernacle of David and the feast of Tabernacles not only pointed to Christ, but also to his bride.
The tabernacle of David “bridged” the tabernacle of Moses to Solomon’s Temple.
The Church of Philadelphia, the fulfillment of Tabernacles, will bridge the Church at large – Sardis and Laodicea – to the end time revival, one last outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:11 best describes the Philadelphia Church age, intimacy and union with Christ, the tabernacle of David spiritually speaking.
Major transitions, from one era to another, occur in the life time of men and women.
Noah ushered in the flood, Abraham faith, Moses the Old Covenant, David the Solomonic kingdom, Christ the New Covenant, Paul the Gentiles, Luther the Reformation (return of salvation by grace through faith), Azusa Street the return of Pentecost, and the inner healing and fathering movements preparation for Tabernacles, to name just a few high points.
The tabernacle of Moses lasted for centuries, the tabernacle of David for one life time.
So, will it be at the end of the Church era, there will be a generation that passes from one era to the next.
The feast of Tabernacles is that transition.
Next time, Elijah.
Blessings, Drake
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™
