Preparation part 5
Let me say it like this: First God made the Way of Grace. This is Jesus--He literally IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus came down to the earth (bringing heaven with Him) and prepared us for a relationship with God by showing us the Father. That was God's part of the deal. Our part is the Walk of Faith. And that's what eating the Passover Lamb--with our shoes on our feet and our loins (or minds... the mind of Christ) girded--prepares us for. Because what's in you comes out of you. If you want the life of Jesus to manifest in AND AS your life, then you have to have that life inside you. You have to know and believe the love of Christ. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. He is the Spirit of Truth and He leads and guides us into all truth. He lets us know how prepared we are by testifying of Jesus. Testifying of the finished work. Letting us know who God is, and who we are. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Because we are dead and our lives are hid in Him. So in order to find ourselves, we have to look to Him. We have to look in the mirror with an unveiled face in order to see the glory of God (in us) and when we see it... we be it. When we see that glory we are changed into the same image FROM glory to glory. But the key is that when we look in the mirror we see ourselves. We see our TRUE selves. We see Jesus. Preparing to live Jesus' life really means preparing to let Him live His own life in and through and as us. That's the mystery that has been revealed--Christ in you the hope of glory. The hope of REVEALED glory. The hope that is not deferred (because hope deferred makes the heart sick) but the hope that was realized at the cross. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. It is the manifestation of what is true. And that's why our part is the Walk of Faith. Jesus did the work. When we BELIEVE that the work is finished, that's when (and how) we can enjoy the fruit of His labor. And the fruit of Jesus' labor--the fruit of the Spirit--is love. That's what this is all about. That's what the Holy Spirit prepares us for. It prepares us to BE LOVED by God. He always has and always will love us. That's not in question. That's not just what God does. That's who God is. But there's a difference between God loving us and us BEING loved by Him. And the difference is knowing and believing. Somebody can give you a gift, but if you don't know about it, or if you don't believe it, then you can't enjoy it. God's wants us to enjoy this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. That's why Jesus gave us His Spirit. That's why Jesus showed us the Father. To prepare us for this journey of life. To prepare us to love by showing us that we ARE loved. That we are LOVE. So when we study to shew ourselves approved, we aren't trying to GET approved. We are showing (ourselves) that we ARE approved. We are seeing what is true, and that truth is manifesting in and through and as us!