New True part 3
The interesting thing about the white stone that has our new (true) name written in it... is that the white stone was used as a ticket of admission to public events. So let me try to paint another picture of what we're talking about here. Water baptism. The act of the old man dying in a watery grave and the New Man rising to walk in newness of life. Our ticket into the Kingdom, if I can say it that way. Or, as it says in Galatians 3:27, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Its like how Jesus unlocked the prison cell... but we have to walk out of the prison. Because I see a lot of people who act like they are in bondage, even though they proclaim freedom. I'm trying to say... the truth HAS set you free and made you free... but unless you know and believe the truth you can't really EXPERIENCE the freedom that comes with it. I'm trying to say, nobody knows the name (which is Jesus, which is love) that is written on that white stone except for those that have received it. We've been given the ticket of admission, but we need to enter in. We've been given the mind of Christ, but we need to let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. We've already been transformed, but we need to BE transformed into what we've already BEEN transformed into, by the renewing of our minds. And I think one of the best examples of this is in the book of Genesis. Now we're probably familiar with the story of Jacob. So let me try to cut to the quick of what I'm getting at here. Ok. In Genesis 32:28 we see this: "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." But even though God gives Jacob a new name, he is still identified as Jacob. Until Genesis 35:19-21, "And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's gave unto this day. And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar." And I've heard this passage preached as, "You have to give up the thing that's most important to you before you can step into your true destiny." But I don't agree with that at all. No father wants to strip his son of what he loves. What we really see here is that the name Rachel means an ewe. Which is a female lamb. What we really see here is that it took the death of the lamb for Jacob to receive his new (true) name. Its not about giving things up. Having things is ok. God made Abraham, for example, extremely rich. The problem is when things have you. Because God blessed Abraham so that he could be a blessing. God gave us His abundant life so that we could live out of that abundance. So that we could share what we have. So that we could have something to share! And if we spend our three t's (time, talent, treasure) always trying to get something... that's when we miss out on what we've got. And what we've got is a golden (or in this case, white) ticket. We've got everything we need. Because we've got the name... the character... the authority... the nature... of our Father. And when we know who He is, we know who we are. And when we know who we are, we can stop trying to be someone we're not. We can EMBRACE ourselves, and each other, and we can live that life we've been given by letting God live His own life of love in us, and through us, and as us!