Alive part 4
The difference between life and death is love. We know that. We know that we have passed OUT of death and INTO life because we have love one for another. But there's also a big difference between "living" and being "alive." Look at Genesis 2:7, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Adam, the first man, was a LIVING soul. And what is the soul? The mind, will, and emotions. The Old Man, made of the dust of the ground, was tied to that earth realm. That soul ream. That five senses, judging things by appearance, trying to get enough knowledge of good and evil in order to earn God's love and affection and acceptance realm. And he was "living" but he wasn't alive. Especially when you consider that on the day that he ate of that tree of death... he died. But there's good news (the Gospel). Fast forward to Revelation 16:3, "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." Revelation being an in-depth look at the cross shows us that Jesus' blood being shed on the cross was the death of Adam. The death of the old man. The second death that was needed in order for the new birth. Out of death... into life. Out of Adam... into Jesus. And while, "The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:47). Adam and Jesus, the only two men who have ever "lived." They both died on the cross. And only One of them rose back to "life." But not life as we knew it. Not the life of the soul. Not the carnal mind. But the mind of Christ. The life of the Spirit. Abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! I know I dropped this revelation a few days ago but I think it's important, and my dad taught me that the best way to learn something is repetition. Ok. When we see Hebrews 6:1 speaking of repentance, it doesn't speak of repentance of sins. It speaks of repentance of dead works. "Dead" is number 3498 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "a corpse." While "works" is G2041 and it means, "to work, toil, an act." So repenting from dead works--being transformed (into what we've already been transformed into) by the renewing of our minds--really boils down to this: Stop acting like a corpse! Stop "living" like Adam. Stop trying to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow. Stop judging by appearance and judge righteous judgment! Reckon yourself dead to sin (unbelief) and ALIVE unto God! You can't live--really live--without being alive. Jesus is the QUICKENING Spirit. He brought us to life by GIVING US HIS LIFE. Because He IS life! And I can say that because He said it (John 14:6), and I can say it because God is love (1 John 4:8, 4:16). So being alive unto God means being alive unto love. Living and loving are the same thing. You can't have one without the other, and you can't do one without doing the other. They aren't just linked... they're the same thing! To live is to love and to love is to live. Adam was a "living" soul, but Jesus is the quickening (life giving) Spirit. We LIVE in Him and we are ALIVE because of Him! It's His love. It's all about love...!