Valley Vineyard Christian Fellowship
Incarnation and Celebration, December 2007
the incarnation is a cosmic event that touches the whole universe
about 13 incarnation heresies
don't get too bent out of shape about being able to explain the metaphysics
God was in X reconciling the world unto Himself and He has placed in us the word of reconciliation
sin is not the last word. love is the last word.
a lot of the problem in trying to understand the incarnation comes from not having a high enough view of matter
matter is capable of receiving God and all that is good about God
think of how powerful matter is WRT atomic power
Jesus came to establish a point of reference through which the power of the body can be used gloriously
we have to think highly of matter before we can study incarnation
Jesus is present in the material world in two ways:
1. Creator
2. Redemption. Incarnation. He comes personally and inhabits it.
flesh is the socialized reality of human abilities
flesh binds us together and it's not bad in itself
it's a terrible mistake to translate 'flesh' (sarks) as 'sinful nature'
you learn how to submit your flesh to the Spirit of God. your natural powers are good as long as they are submitted to God
when they are taken out of submission to God, they go crazy. flesh away from God is just unvarnished human desire
flesh manifests itself in ordinary human life apart from God as desire, the lust of the flesh. epithumia. obsessive desire.
the way lust is deceitful is that it only thinks of one thing
desire says 'if you just let me have my way, you'll be happy'
it doesn't contemplate alternatives. you have many desires that conflict with one another. and if you try to live by your desires you will end up doing many things that are wrong just because you want what you want when you want it
will is your spirit, your power of self-determination. and it's not just looking for what you want, it's looking for what is best. will contemplates alternatives.
it's not that we don't know what is right, we just want something else.
when you surrender your will to your desires, the next thing that happens is your mind goes crazy
'Him whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.'
what the Gospel brings to us is not what we want, but what's good for us. and we will want it later, but we don't want it now.
part of the way our mind goes crazy when we surrender our will to our desires is trying to justify what we want to do.
if you have truth, you can integrate your life with reality
if we surrender our minds to God, they work beautifully. they can take in truth (as intended)
1 Pet 4.1: therefore, since X has suffered in the flesh, arm yourself also with the same purpose because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin
if you're driven by desire you are sure to be disappointed and you will turn to all sorts of stuff to try to get what you want
give up getting what you want and you'll get much more than you ever dreamed
there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in XJ: when you look at the context, that's not talking about guilt. it's saying there's nothing going on in there that's worthy of condemnation
not only do we want the wrong things, we have no idea what to want in most cases
our wanter has to be changed and we go for what is good trusting to God to sustain us, to give us what we need
the flesh and will are good in their place
if you're crucified, you're not dead, but you are sure under control
the greatest way of stepping into the KoG is to begin to do what you know to be right and trusting God to take care of the outcome.
maybe, in the Lord's Supper, the Cosmic X is claiming all of Creation for Himself. this is my body. bread is my body.
[is this moving toward pantheism or panentheism? hard to think that of Dallas, but sort of sounds like it's moving that way…]
you're never going to get what you want. give up now. avoid the rush.
when our focus is on X, we can claim all of the beautiful things of Xmas
Progress in the Blessed Life in Christ, September 2009
see Ps 23
Mt 5: blessedness/life in God is available to everyone
you are the salt of the earth: preserving, purifying, giving taste
you are the light of the world
God has tagged you and you are 'it'.
they will see your good works and realize God is great/wonderful.
live in such a way that the first petition of the Lord's prayer is answered in you
it is the solution to all human problems: Hallowed be Thy name
Jn 4.14: never thirst again. don't be overwhelmed by desires. are you up for that?
life with X is only hard if you try to do it w/o walking w/X (eg, if you try to obey w/o walking with Him)
watch over your life with all diligence for from it flows the springs of life
we can affect what is in our heart and God will join us in it
our life is not ultimately determined by external things like money or sin. when we turn our heart to God the blessed life comes to us.
if you want to go to heaven, the secret is to go now. eternity has already begun.
we begin to walk in the KoG now by putting our trust in Jesus and learning from Him
think of the great commandment not as a commandment but of life as it is meant to be, how to live in order to live the blessed life
loving God is receiving from God. it's what enable us to live the blessed life, including critically, loving our neighbor
social relations are full of rejection and withdrawal based on fear
our souls fracture. we can't do what we intend and not do what we intend not to do.
and then we try to cover up these deficiencies.
our problem: we think the wrong thoughts about God and others
want to know God? He's here, He's good, He doesn't hate you. He's not mad at you. He doesn't need to be mean.
ignorance of God leads people to try to run their own kingdom and that's where all the trouble comes from
let people see God in your life. you can use your mouth, too, but you want it to match up with your life
if you don't know God is good, you will mistrust everything except yourself
the project is not to become a shining saint. it's to replace the bad stuff in us with good stuff.
don't try to keep the law. become the kind of person who keeps the law
become a student of Jesus
[Father, please help me to be the light of the world where I am. You will have to make it possible.]
your desires can't be satisfied to say nothing of also satisfying the desires of others
desire is good when it is subordinated to what is good
the wrong thing is in our minds about how to treat other people, so we let Jesus teach us and replace the wrong stuff
people act from their feelings and it's a disaster
training, not trying
if at first you don't succeed... find out what went wrong, fix that, and try again
for example: national problem with pornography
problem is thinking, then feelings, then what your body is ready to do without thinking
so you go back and change your thinking (with God's help!)
you see them as creatures of God living a life of suffering, disappointment and death, you see them as objects of love
the training of desire is a discipline
practice not doing what you want. for example: not scratching an itch
Jesus, the very thought of Thee
with sweetness fills my breast
but sweeter far Thy face to see
and in Thy presence rest
live with Jesus in your mind, spirit, soul and body
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