March 30th 2014 HIM, NOT OURSELVES And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 22:1 The Lord is working in our lives to make Himself our source. Why are we passing through all kinds of experiences and various environments? They are designed by God to bring us into Himself as our source. So what we are going through right now is another step toward the goal of working a realization into our consciousness that our life is God Himself. When God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, He produced a relationship that makes Him, not ourselves, the source of our lives. This entire universe is destined to be consummated in God as the source of all things. The pure river of water of life is proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. As Gods eternal habitation, the holy city, New Jerusalem, is fully supplied with God as the source. The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The source of supply is the Triune God flowing out and watering every part of the city. This vision of the consummation of all Gods work in eternity future unveils Him as the unique source of the universe. To be redeemed and regenerated is to be ushered into the realm of the new creation, where God begins a process in which experientially the old things start to pass out of our lives. The old things are related to our self as our point of reference. We lived out of our own impulses, our own choices, our own thoughts. But now we begin to live by revelation, that is, by what God has revealed to us in His Word. It is when we live by revelation that God becomes our source. He reveals to us the purpose of our human life. We no longer take mans views and concepts as the basis of our human existence. Revelation unveils to us Gods eternal purpose. This revelation causes us to be persons who are living to be conformed to the image of Gods Son. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb [Rev. 22:1]. And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, River ... water of life ... This metaphor was used by Jesus himself in his conversation with the woman of Samaria (John 4:10), and in his reference to living water (John 7:37, 38). This is in no sense a literal river. Ponce de Leons search for the fountain of youth was a wild goose chase; he did not find it, nor will it be in heaven, literally. However, the reality symbolized by it will be there. Therefore, all of the arguments about where, precisely, this river is located in the city of God are unnecessary. The point is that eternal life will belong to those who enter it. Proceeding out of the throne ... This is the throne of God and of the Lamb, so Beasley-Murray is right in saying, The river flows from Christ. However, he is wrong in the view that Christ took the place of the temple. Just the opposite is true: secular Israel had permitted the temple to take the place of Christ who is the true temple. The throne of God and of the Lamb ... In the fact of the eternal throne of God being here identified also as the throne of the Lamb is also the inherent truth that, The kingdom in which Christ now reigns may be called also the kingdom of God. There are not two kingdoms any more than there are two thrones. March 30 MORNING Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?-- The works of the LORD [are] great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.-- This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.-- My soul shall be satisfied as [with] marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips:when I remember thee upon my bed, [and] meditate on thee in the [night] watches. GEN 24:63. Ps 19:14. Ps 8:3, 4.-- Ps 111:2. Ps 1:1, 2.-- Jos 1:8.-- Ps 63:5, 6. March 30 EVENING How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.-- But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins. Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.-- A woman... cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [thou] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth. PSA 13:1. Jas 1:17.-- Is 49:14, 15. Is 44:21, 22. Jn 11:5, 6.-- Mt 15:22, 23. 1 Pe 1:7.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 15:08:51 +0000
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