Jesus the Niagara of God

Great Lakes Drainage Basin

“For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” (John 3:34).

A third of a million square miles of American and Canadian mid-west flow into five huge bodies of water. About 290,000 square miles (about 750,000 square kilometers) of land filling 95,000 square miles (250,000 square kilometers) of lake. All of that square mileage of water flows through a small place 1/2 mile  (670 meters) wide. It flows over a cliff 200 feet high that begins the St. Lawrence Seaway, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. All the water cascades off that cliff; the place is Niagara Falls. Millions of gallons of water roll over Niagara Falls every minute—about 750,000 gallons per second. When you look at the tonnage of water tumbling off the edge, the snap-shot in your mind astounds you. But, as you continue to stare at it, you begin to realize the sheer magnitude of it all. Mega-tons of water, moment by moment, snap-shot after snap-shot, minute by minute, hour after hour, day by day, year after year, mega-mega-tons century by century, mega-giga-tons eon after eon.   

This picture, in a visible way starts—even if barely—to help us unveil the energy of the Most High feeding into the pre-incarnate Son of God.

“God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” The eternal God infused His omnipotence into His only-begotten Son. The invisible, intangible glory of God filling His Son made Him seven times brighter than the brightest neutron star—in prophetic symbolism “seven lamps of fire burning”. “His face as the appearance of lightning”, and “his eyes as lamps of fire” (Dan. 10:6) in the night, as “the sun…sevenfold”. He was “as the light of seven days” (Isa. 30:26) combined into one. Fusion reveals Jesus’ eternal infusion of glory from His Father. “O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” (John 17:5).

God had also given the Spirit to His Son without measure in the heaven before sin. The Son was the focal point of God’s love and care and learning for intelligent creation. “Out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” (Rev. 4:5). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1, 4). “The LORD possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old…. Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.” (Prov. 8:22, 30).

“Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever….

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” (Ps. 45:2,6,7).

“Before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.” (Rev. 4:6). Those beasts full of eyes were representative of the whole heavenly hosts that surrounded God’s throne. This is a scene of heaven when Lucifer had not yet known sin. Heaven was a happy place; it was a powerful place, with lightning and thunder and voices (maybe like the earth-bound mighty whales at play in the deep give us a small glimpse of infinitely greater expressions of cosmic joy). All eyes were riveted on the great center, “Him that sat on the throne, …that liveth for ever and ever” (Rev. 4:10) and on the seven Spirits of God burning before the throne. All praise was toward the “Spirit of God”, since “God is a spirit” (John 4:24), the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And, as well the focus was on the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9) burning by the presence of His Father God, the Word of life “upholding all things by the power of His word” (Heb. 1:3). The eyes of all heaven were focused on the Father through His Son who was the seven Spirits, as lamps of an intensity seven-fold brighter than our Sun.

Did God give extra force in His river of life? Did that “fiery stream” (Dan. 7:10) from the King through His Son flow above the natural force of mass and momentum of streams that we know of? No. Like the Jordan River, “the waters of Shiloah that go softly” (Isa. 8:6), the Spirit and purposes of God know no haste and no delay. The Father could have forced His Spirit through the Son, but His creation could not have stood before His Son. The peaceful sea of angelic hosts would have evaporated, dispersed by the overwhelming discomfort, blown away by the infinite magnitude of God. Enough of the Father’s power was manifested to keep them at a healthy distance, except for the strongest ones who were in the midst of the throne with Christ; yet His power kept the sea still yearning to have more of His presence, like the little insects hovering around the outdoor light. Christ’s fellows were glad for His perfect representation of the King’s majesty and meekness, His righteousness and compassion, the strength of His good cheer and serious mindedness to maintain all their Father’s will. 

Later, after sin entered, the seven-fold burning Spirit of Christ, “the Light” (John 1:7), was made flesh, and all of His Father was again funneling through Christ, this time bursting forth to Adam’s fallen race. In a finite Man, the infinite God. From within a Creature the Creator ready to reconcile the world to Himself. From enervated flesh that had been weakened by 4,000 years of sin, Omnipotence exuded healing virtue. Eternal truth was the principle seed in every word proceeding from Messiah’s mouth. How was the Light able to contain Himself?! All things were lawful, but not everything was timely. The contradiction is meant to give us cause for everlasting meditation. The paradox there substantiates His worthiness of our time and thoughts today and forever.

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit.” (1Cor. 15:45). Did all that power cause Christ pressure? No. Once again, the power flowed with its own innate weightiness, unamended by Christ’s own power. He would not imitate Satan’s kingdom of force, for “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12). So, again the Son was simply a channel for His Father to live-stream the glory of heaven here on Earth. The glory of God was shining in the face of Jesus. The abundance of all life from the infinite heavenly sanctuary of God was collected and draining to us through the narrow Spigot of God manifested in the flesh and justified in the Spirit. “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”(John 14:6).

Light! Life! Jesus, all heaven’s water of life!

“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13,14).

“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38).

Rivers of living water! Rivers of words of life! Seven streams! Lots of thirst-quenching, cool water of life!

“Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed.…

Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed….

He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:27,53-56,63).

Words of power! Power that can light up the world! Jesus, through whom the God of heaven flowed, was a charged dynamo, a hydro turbine running at the speed that we could endure, even though able to turn at unlimited speed. Ever holding back, Christ had so much more to say and give, but the people would have all been offended. As it was, many did get offended.

“The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?... Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?... From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” (John 6:52,60,61,66).

In the forbearance of God, which came with the truth He received from God, Jesus was always refraining Himself from saying all the things that thrilled His soul. His restraint was really constraint—it was the Father working in His Son to hold back as necessary. Their union constrained Jesus, not only to burst forth with life, but also to hold back excessive life. It all would have unneccesarily blinded dull hearts and minds. But, when the people went too far by letting Satan use them to prevent Jesus’ giving life to the world, then He judged them guilty of decided resistance; He spoke the truth unvarnished and plainly. Without a union with His heart, His words were harsh to hear and hard to bear. Most couldn’t endure the light. Most could not endure the life. It was too much life. They didn’t see the benefit of being humbled, as their “comeliness was turned…into corruption, and [their pride] retained no strength.” (Dan. 10:8). They did not relish the humbling that must precede salvation. It was unacceptable.

They could have known great magnitude of happiness but they chose unhappiness. They could have been fellows in His gladness with His Father; but they chose to retain their fallen sadness. They were sad, you see. Or, they were far-flung, high-strung, high-minded, and proud descendants of humbled Pharez, see. Either way, Sadducee or Pharisee, they chose to hope in the Roman Empire. They preferred to study the stoic wisdom of the Greek philosophers of Mars’ Hill, which was foolishness. Or, they preferred to mimic the manic prophesying pagan priests of Vaticanus Hill, which was sorcery. They preferred the god of this world and his kingdom of confusion. As if the Roman Empire were to be preferred over heaven. As if the Romans were better than the angelic hosts. As if Pontifex Maximus Tiberias were better than the High Priest Jesus. If only that generation had known the time of their visitation, they would have trusted in Christ as King instead of Caesar.

“In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not….

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.

He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:4,5,9-12).

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19).

But, Jesus was sealed. The truth was sealed in Him. The word of God was sealed in Him, so that He lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. “The Son of man…hath God the Father sealed.” (John 6:27).

What He spoke, He lived. What He spoke He was. He was the word of God. He carried the word of God in His mind and heart. He was the only way to God, the effervescent spring bubbling up with truth and life. He was the image of God, the Law of God incarnate.

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” (Deut. 6:5-8).

“The witness borne concerning Jesus was, ‘Never man spake like this man’ (John 7:46). The reason that Christ spoke as no other man spoke was that He lived as no other man lived. If He had not lived as He did, He could not have spoken as He did. His words bore with them convincing power, because they came from a heart pure and holy, burdened with love and sympathy, beneficence and truth….” In Heavenly Places, p. 237.

Satan could not get into Jesus’ heart who had all power in heaven behind Him. No foot in the door, no pinky in the door, not even a pinky toenail in the door of Christ’s heart. The devil trying to come into the avenues of Jesus’ soul, but where all heaven was bursting forth, was like a salmon trying to swim up the almost 200 vertical feet of Niagara Falls. The evil one was beaten back continually by the Spirit of Christ that he hated. Not that he ever tired of trying; but despite his tenacity, he always got the same face-full of truth and life and joy in the Holy Ghost. In Christ was “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” and “the truth, and the life” (Rom. 14:17; John 14:6). And these are things that make the devil sick “because there is no truth in him.” (John 8:44). Neither is there any life in him, and certainly he has no joy in the Holy Spirit.

Every day Jesus was the epitome of power of heaven. “Power [was] on [His] head because of the angels.” (1Cor. 11:10). The angels were going up and down upon the Son of man.

“When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.” Desire of Ages, p. 324.

Heaven was completely open to Him. He was impregnable to the assaults of Satan. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” (John 1:51).

He was all heaven in one gift. Every word He spoke was backed up by the perfect exemplification of His words. The listeners saw His astounding statements proven true by His life. They had instant conviction of what He spoke to be true. The commandments of Christ were indisputably the commandments of God. They saw that what He spoke was no different than what Moses spoke. High standards. Love and mercy. Everyone who was honest in heart saw His divine credentials “and they glorified the God of Israel.” (Matt. 15:31). He was like a tide of blessing diffusing life and light wherever He went.

And He was our example. We must be following His footsteps. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” (1Pet. 2:21,22).

Truth and wisdom come from hearing Him and copying Him. “Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1Cor. 1:30).

Without Him, man is weakness and foolishness. We need to unite His wisdom with our ignorance, and His strength with our weakness. “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Cor. 1:25). “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1Cor. 1:20). “Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:30).

And one day we will stand forever before the throne of Father and Son, and sing to Them with the hosts of heaven. “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:13).

“Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” (Rev. 7:15).

And “the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Rev. 7:17).
 

Niagrara Falls