“How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14).
“The eternal Spirit”. Is this
eternal Spirit the third person of a trinity God? Is this Spirit the only person
in the Trinity God who is eternal, “the eternal Spirit”? Does the scripture really say that? Not at all. Scripture
says that the Father is the eternal Spirit. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship (Him)
in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).
The scriptures also say that He
is eternal.
“And I beheld, and I heard
the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders:
and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands;
Saying with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
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.
And the four beasts said,
Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.” (Rev.
5:11-14).
“I give thee charge in the
sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before
Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
That thou keep this
commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ:
Which in His times [our Lord
Jesus Christ] shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King
of kings, and Lord of lords;
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man
can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and
power everlasting. Amen.” (1Tim. 6:13-16).
God the Father was, is, and
always will be that Eternal Spirit. “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them.” (2Cor. 5:19).
“And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to
say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Even though the Lamb of God
felt forsaken, His Father hadn’t forsaken Him. His Father was in Him, as the
Spirit. “He had by Himself purged our sins” (Heb. 1:3), but, evidently, as a
Spirit, God can choose to enter or leave our soul, as it suits His purposes,
for He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11). “He
be not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:27), but that doesn’t mean He is in
every one of us. On the contrary, most people to whom He is near have a giant
chasm in their hearts, with much chastisement of…peace” (Isa. 53:5), because He
is not in them as the “holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). That is what we see with King
Hezekiah. “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of
Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land,
God left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart.” (2Chron.
32:31).
The kings of Judah were
representatives of the Son of God, and of His regenerated Christian children.
And all scripture testifies of Him. It was for the sake of us, His present day
representatives upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1Cor. 10:11), that
the Father shut off the flow of His Spirit to His Son’s soul so that His
presence there was not noticeable to His Son. The unreserved opening in
Christ’s spirit, which was bestowed upon Him at conception, which He was born
with, and which He consciously kept open throughout His life, was left
unaccessed by His everlasting Father and empty of His Spirit. That was for our
sakes, when we feel surrounded by temptation and trials, and this world of sin
and unbelief, when we unconsciously or willfully have absorbed the poisonous “course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). Christ was separated
for our sinfulness during the times when God would be feel so far away that it
would seem impossible to be reconciled back with Him. Yet, in those times He is
surrounding us like He did His Son in His pitch black. “Now from the sixth hour
there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” (Matt. 27:45).
For our sakes, He is keeping
us in the dark and using a spiritual abstinence from this world’s stimulating
sensory placebos, strengthening patient endurance in us, and cooperating with
us to strain every faculty to be restored to His eternal Spirit. He will hone
our yearning to remain with His presence and approval, and He will lead us into
a purer standing before Him by revealing more sin, deeper sin, to be repented
of and forsaken.
Our prayers will be:
“Rejoice not against me, O
mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall
be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have
sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He
will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.” (Mic.
7:8,9).
“Thou art just in all that is
brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly.” (Neh.
9:33).
“We have sinned, and have
committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by
departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments…. And now, O Lord our God,
that hast brought Thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand,
and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done
wickedly.” (Dan. 9:5,15).
“We have sinned with our
fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” (Ps. 106:6).
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, Thou desirest truth
in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and
gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.” (Ps. 51:5-8).
“Hide Thy face from my sins,
and blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O
God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy
presence; and take not Thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy
salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” (Ps. 51:9-12).
Jesus was sinless. He had no
iniquities or transgressions to repent of. But, His Father loaded him down with
all the abhorrence that He had toward a race of sinners, ten billion fold. The
fear of the guilt and shame and eternal loss from His precious Father was
suffocating, debilitating, depressing. Christ’s sense of unworthiness overcame
Him, despite all of His effort to reclaim His Father’s blessed presence, the
Spirit without measure upon Him “who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”
(Rom. 9:5).
“For God had given “not the
Spirit by measure unto Him.” (John 3:34).
All the infinite blessedness
that Jesus carried with Him from His Father’s blessed presence was completely
and utterly rescinded. It was like a trillion Hg vacuum sucking out life from
His soft heart and sensitive soul. His spirit felt all the justice that all of
our race, wicked and righteous, will feel the day Jesus leaves His post as
Mediator between God and man, in order to come to Earth and deliver His
righteous children from the claws of the wicked and the vindictive dragon. Only
because He never ceased to have it back could it be said, “through the eternal
Spirit” He was acceptable to His Father. only because He had spent His whole
life pressing toward the high prize of His Father’s calling could His Father of
spirits be satisfied with His 1000% consecration. By His knowledge of sin and
separation from God could He justify many. By His faithfulness could He be made
our High Priest forever. He has been faithfully providing us with conviction of
sin for the forgiveness of sin. And with that forgiveness He has been
dispensing the seven Spirits of His eternal Father to be witness to our spirit
that we are the children of God indeed.
But, the day is coming when
He will step out from between God and man in order to come and save them from
their wretched world of sin and the power of sin. “And the temple was filled
with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to
enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were
fulfilled.” (Rev. 15:8).
“In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,… we shall be changed.” (1Cor. 15:52).
“At the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible…. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
(1Cor. 15:52,53).
“For our conversation is in
heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself.” (Phil. 3:20,21).
It
is true that Hebrews also says that the Son has lived forever, and not the
Father only. This may sound like the trinity God is true, that Father and Son
are equal in age and power.
“Unto
the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness
is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.” (Heb. 1:8).
But,
Hebrews also says that the Son has a higher authority than Himself—His
God.
“Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy
fellows.” (Heb. 1:9).
“My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).
“And He said unto him, Why
callest thou Me good? there is none good but
one, that is, God.” (Matt. 19:17).
This doesn’t diminish
anything of the Son’s. But it does duly exalt the Father above all.
“So careful was the great
Healer to direct attention from Himself to the Source of His power, that the
wondering multitude, ‘when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole,
the lame to walk, and the blind to see,’ did not glorify Him, but ‘glorified
the God of Israel.’ Matthew 15:31. In the wonderful prayer that Christ offered
just before His crucifixion, He declared, ‘I have glorified Thee on the earth.’
‘Glorify Thy Son,’ He pleaded, ‘that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.’ ‘O
righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and
these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy
name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in
them, and I in them.’ John 17:4, 1, 25, 26.” Prophets and Kings, p. 69.
The Son’s carefulness to
revere His beloved Father was due to His Father’s eternal existence before His,
from whom He received His anointing and creative power before He laid the
foundation of the Earth, and formed our world.
“And, Thou, Lord, in the
beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works
of Thine hands.” (Heb. 1:10).
“Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” (Ps. 90:2).
“Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for
what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father
loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth.” (John 5:19,20).
“And the four beasts had each
of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest
not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which
was, and is, and is to come.
And when those beasts give
glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
The four and twenty elders
fall down before Him that sat on the
throne, and worship Him that liveth
for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for
Thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:8-11).
The Son said, “My Father is
greater than I.” (John 14:28).
His Father’ glory was greater
than His because the Father of all was greatest of all, “all in all”. “For He [God
the Father] hath put all things under His [Christ’s] feet. But when He [the
Father] saith all things are put under Him [Christ’s], it is manifest that He [God
the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under Him [Christ]. And when
all things shall be subdued unto Him [the Son], then shall the Son also Himself
be subject unto Him [God the Father] that put all things under Him [Christ],
that God may be all in all.” (1Cor. 15:27,28). The Son’s glory came from His
Father’s own self. “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” (John 17:5). Everything
about the only begotten Son was dependent upon His Father who is incomprehensibly
infinite to us, “THE UNKNOWN GOD”.
“A throne was set in heaven,
and One sat on the throne.
And He that sat was to look
upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the
throne, in sight like unto an emerald….
And 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. 4:2,3,5).
The
thunders came from the great Father. “Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I
say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father,
glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I
HAVE BOTH GLORIFIED IT, AND WILL GLORIFY IT AGAIN. The people
therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered….” (John 12:27-29).
“And I saw another mighty Angel
come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon His head,
and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire:… And cried
with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when He had cried, seven
thunders uttered their voices.” (Rev. 10:1,3).
I have capitalized “Angel”
because the mighty Angel that roared is the glorified Jesus, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah. “His face was as it were
the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.”
“And in the midst of the
seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to
the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and His hairs were
white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire;
And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His
voice as the sound of many waters.
And He had in His right hand
seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in
his strength.” (Rev. 1:13-16).
Jesus, perfect obedience in
angelic form, and the joy of the universe, was the representative of His seven
Spirits and of the kingdom of Their children. He represented the seven Spirits
of God, He had the seven Spirits of God (see Revelation 5:6), and He was the
seven Spirits of God; just as He lived by every word of God, He taught the word
of God, and was the Word of God. “For it pleased the Father that in Him should
all fulness dwell.” (Col. 1:19). The greater Almighty Father who speaks like
thunder, in comparison to His mighty Son’s roar, is the one who put all the fullness
of the Godhead in His Heir because His Son pleased Him so perfectly.
From eternal ages the
Almighty said, “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.” (Matt.
17:5). The Son is in His Father’s divine, spiritual image and in our human,
fleshly image. While the Father is incomprehensible to us, the Son can be
comprehended, and is very personable.
“In whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.… For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily.” (Col. 2:3,9).
“Who is the image of the
invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature:
For by Him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by Him, and for Him:
And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the
body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in
all things He might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father
that in Him should all fulness dwell;
And, having made peace
through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by
Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” (Col.
1:15-20).
“To us there is but one God,
the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by Him.” (1Cor. 8:6).
“In whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:14). “Who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son.” (Col. 1:13).
“Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus.” (Eph. 2:5,6). Today.
“Now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2Cor. 6:2).
“To him that overcometh will
I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of
God.” (Rev. 2:7).
“Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be
with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). Today we may have the eternal life with
which God anointed Him, His eternal Father’s eternal Spirit.
