28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

One of the more interesting and astounding elements of the human body and its trillions of cells is the amount of variety that can be found amongst these microscopic kinsmen. The process by which this vast variety of shape, structure and function is accomplished by our cells is called “Cellular Differentiation”. It is acted out mostly during the early development of the fetus and is governed by the DNA molecule. It remains as one of the greatest of all mysteries of the study of cellular biology. Namely, how is it possible that so many diverse cells can emerge from the union of a single sperm and a single egg? I would like us to look at this phenomenon and then to relate its operation to our own relationship with the rest of the Body of Christ, an equally diverse and varied collection of believers and ministries as the cells of the human body.

As we have already stated in our previous studies, (see Volume One, DNA), each cell in our body contains an exact copy of the entire book of life, written in cellular code upon the DNA molecule, and contained in segments of code that is known as “genes”. The genes are located in “chromosomes” of which the human cell contains 46, which are paired into 23 pairs of chromosomes. As the cells multiply, they go through a division, called “mitosis”, from which identical cells are created, each with 46 chromosomes. In a similar, but noticeably different, cellular division, the human body manufactures cells that contain only half the number of chromosomes in a normal cell, which is 23. These specialized cells are known as “gametes” and are the sexual cells that the body uses in reproduction. In the male, the cell is called a sperm cell and in the female it is called an egg. Typically, each human male has several hundred million sperm cells stored in the male testes. At birth the female has over 2 million eggs stored in the ovary. In the male, this amount of sperm cells is reproduced daily, and what is not used each day is reabsorbed into the body and replaced by fresh gametes. The female has a set amount of eggs to be used throughout her life. These immature eggs are called “oocytes” and eventually mature into ovum, or eggs, which are stored in the ovary. As each ovum is produced, groups of ovary cells surround each ovum and provide nutrition. This group of cells is called a “Graafian follicle” and it transports the egg to the surface of the ovary. When the Graafian follicle is completely mature, it bursts through the ovary and is now ready for fertilization with the sperm. This process is known as ovulation, and occurs every 28 days in the female.

After the egg is released from the ovary, it is then drawn into the fallopian tube by tiny hair-like structures called “cilia” which whip back and forth and transport the egg along the fallopian tube. Conception occurs when the male sperm, with 23 chromosomes, half the total number of the male chromosome count, and the egg, with 23 of the female chromosome count, are united in the fallopian tubes. This is a process known as “fertilization” and is a very complicated method of union between two foreign objects that will result in a marriage of 2 completely separate trees of lineage, producing an absolutely unique individual, a compound of both parents family tree.

Most biologists suspect that the egg attracts the sperm to it by a fluid that surrounds the outer surface of the egg in the fallopian tube. It is quite a journey of trial and persecution by the sperm to find the egg, one that is purposely difficult in order to assure that none of the sick or weak sperm make it to the egg and increasing the odds of producing a strong and healthy organism. From the moment the sperm enter the vagina of the woman everything starts working against them. Whipping their single strand tails back and forth frantically, the sperm swim toward the egg. They take a severe battering from tiny hairs called “cilia”, which beat them backward with a whipping motion, creating a great turbulence. As if this wasn’t enough of an obstacle to the sperm, they also have to fight acidic conditions created by the woman’s natural immune response to foreign invaders, of which the sperm certainly qualifies. It is a race for life, with millions of sperm fighting for the prize of fertilizing the egg. By the time the sperm reach the egg, there are only hundreds, instead of millions. These are the best of the best, the survivors of the journey toward life that refused to give up but overcame all obstacles to win the chance to penetrate the egg.

Does this sound anything like what has been happening in your life lately? It does to me. It seems that the closer we get to the goal set before us, the more the battles rage and the more obstacles we face. I hope you believe me, when I say that this is a good sign that we are nearing our completed journey. The Lord is turning up the heat on those sons that have made it this far, causing some to fall out of the race, and others to return back to the orders they came out of. It is not because one is any stronger than the other, because in the walk of the spirit, it is not the mighty, or noble, or strong that God chooses, but the difference in who continues on and who doesn’t is based upon a foreordained destiny placed upon those who continue on and those that don’t. There is no condemnation, no pointing of fingers, just an acknowledgement that we are either chosen or we are not. I am not talking about pleasing the Lord or not pleasing the Lord, because He is pleased with every man in his own order. It is rather a journey that is only completed by those that have an inner drive, not of their own making, but an inner hunger and determination put there by God. The race is not won by the swift or the able, but is simply won by the chosen.

There are differing opinions concerning how much of a role the egg itself plays in selecting the sperm that penetrates its shell. Some biologists believe that the egg has the ability to “call” to the chosen sperm and also has the ability to repel unwanted suitors. This reminds me of the scripture in Galatians.

Gal 3:23

23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

 This scripture states that some are “shut up” to the faith, until a time appointed, with no way to come into the truth until the spirit of the Father draws them. The key word here is the word, “kept”, which implies that the Lord Himself held us back from grace, under the law, until faith should afterwards be revealed to us. We couldn’t have come to God before we did, even if we tried!

There is even some evidence that there are “assassin” sperm that kill off undesirable sperm to prevent them from fertilizing the egg ahead of the desirable ones. In like manner, it seems that there are some people in the kingdom message that have only one calling, and that is to “kill” or drive off any that are not ready to receive this truth. While it may seem irksome to some of us and we wish we didn’t have so many airheads around this message, if you think about it, I am sure the Lord has used them as “stumbling blocks” to those that are only interested in this message in a religious way, instead of being called to it by God.

If you have been truly chosen for this word, nothing can drive you away. While we don’t endorse misuse of this word, we realistically understand that there are those that use this word for their own gain, and others that use it as an excuse to fulfill carnal lusts, but we must come to the final conclusion that the Lord is allowing it so, and one of those reasons He is allowing it is to keep at bay those that would “stray” into this path, “assassinating” them with these unrighteous offenses. To us that are chosen to be a part of this word, we continue to allow ourselves to be mis-associated with these imposters, choosing to leave the removal of the “tares” to the Lord of the Harvest, sacrificing our reputations for the good of the wheat that would be hurt by our misguided actions.

Some have mistakenly looked at themselves as the “sheriff” of the kingdom word, arresting all that offend and mislead in the realm of the kingdom. I wonder if they have ever thought that they may be doing more harm than good by trying to rid the realm of all the offense, instead of trying to see the deeper reasons for the Lord allowing these “tares” to grow up along with the wheat. Have no fear, when the Lord is ready to cleanse His house, nothing will remain of hay and stubble, and there will be no hurt nor destruction in all His holy mountain. All things are used by Him to perform His counsel in the earth, even to the point of keeping others “shut up” in their religious boundaries by a few foolish hypocrites.

Most biologists agree that the sperm are drawn to the egg by a sense of cellular “smell”, a chemical communication that allows the sperm to locate the egg. Finding the egg is quite an accomplishment for the poor sperm when you think about it. Having no eyes or ears, they must follow their sense of smell toward the egg. This too is very much like the chosen of the Lord.

Isa 42:18-19

18Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

19Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant?

Which one of you could have found this pathway without the eyes of the Lord guiding you? None of us would have turned aside from our former path without the operation of the Christ within us. This word is not comely to the natural man, it does not taste good to our carnal senses, does not rely upon the sugary trappings of religion, is not interested in attracting us with old order formulas. All the time, I hear this refrain from ministry that think this word should be more palatable for the tastes of the people in other orders. Over and over they say we should not speak about this word so frankly, with such offensive words like, “reconciliation”, or “restitution of all things”, or “universal salvation”. They say we must be better fishers of men and use better bait to attract the crowds. Sing music that is more commercial, don’t praise so long, don’t preach so long, quit talking about such deep things and stay basic and simple minded. Do these things and your church will fill up.

They are right. If this is what I was all about, filling up a church with warm bodies, then I would cool it with the deep talk, change my appearance, pass out questionnaires to the congregation and asking them how I could make them more comfortable with the message, asking them to point out all the offensive language and perhaps letting them pick the appropriate time to tell God He is done speaking now, because the ballgame is about to come on and we have a roast in the oven. All of this is sure to get us more bodies in the seats, but that is not what I am here for. I am seeking the lost house of Israel, the chosen elect of God, and they will not be listening for me to speak religious prattle, but their ears are tuned in to hear LIFE. If I were to try to reach them with these other methods, they would never hear me nor see me, for the Lord has blinded them to the religious spectacle and has closed their ears to the religious noise and they have eyes and ears only for the Lord. They will pass right by the religious bait, a message of worms, and will not be attracted by eloquent, fashionable, religious lures, but they will recognize the voice of him that has been raised from the dead and are attracted to honesty and integrity in the word, a loving spirit and a contrite heart. I have only one bait, and that is the Lord from heaven, His nature and His character, and if anyone doesn’t want that, then I don’t want them in my boat, it is as simple as that. No condemnation, no guilt, no “I made it and you didn’t”, just ships passing in the night, saluting each other, but flying different flags.

If we are waiting for this word to come and sweep us off our feet with flattery and gifts, we may be waiting a long time. This word is not interested in making it easy for us, but seems to be going out of it’s way to make it harder for us. Why? Because it is commissioned to keep the way of Life and it does so by weeding out the tourists and vacationers with 40 miles of bad road. Only the most determined will come out on the other side, and once that is accomplished,  the road no longer matters, for it is only a means to a final conclusion. I no longer keep a running tab on how many things went right in my life and how many things went wrong, for at this point of my journey, they are all one and the same, a part of the journey. My eyes stay focused on my chosen destination, not the path that brings me to that destination. I am sure someone else is having a harder time than I am, and so I truly feel blessed to have my path, for it is the one chosen for me by my Master.

I no longer depend on my carnal senses to tell me if I am closer to or farther from my destination, but I have within me a spiritual compass that directs me, and sometimes I make directional changes with no carnal reasons associated with it, but simply because my inner compass, which always points true north, to Christ, tells me to adjust my direction. Most people will never figure this out and will think we have lost our minds, but for us that have been chosen to find the egg, we throw all caution to the wind, because in this race, if you snooze, you lose.

The sperm are turned every which way but loose in the turbulence of the battle, and some end up going in the opposite direction, back where they came from, because they lost their sense of direction and went the path of least resistance. If you were to ask me, which you haven’t, but I’ll tell you anyway, if you have lost your direction, do not, and I repeat, do not under any circumstance seek the path of least resistance. It almost always will lead backward. The way forward is where the giants are, where the pressures are, the sound of battle and fight, for this is where we are going, not to a land of peace and serenity, but to a land of pain and death. Some would say, “Oh no, I’m not going to that land. I’m going to heavenly places and sit on a cloud and sing and laugh the day away.” Some will do this, but others, those that are chosen for a special type of ministry to this age, will not have this in mind. They are not headed to heaven, they are headed into hell, to deliver hell of all of her dead and to set the prisoners free, to preach the everlasting gospel to the broken hearted, to break the chains from off the nations and to be the appearing of the Lord and to give light to those that sit in the shadows of the region of death. This should not surprise us. Jesus told us that the physician doesn’t attend to the well, but his lot is with the sick. If we are becoming what we say we are becoming, His life, His anointed, His sons, then we surely know that we are becoming all of this so we can visit this land with the answer to their problems. We will taste of death, be inoculated with it, and then we will become the vaccination for the nations, a cure for the disease of sorrow and pain, the antibody for the cancer of a sinful nature. Glory!! We are headed to the belly of the earth, not the heavenly skies, to deliver those that are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, and we will be empowered to deal with all enemies, triumphing over them with the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. 

The journey of those that are to impregnate the world with the life of Christ is not an easy one. It is filled with testing and trial, opposition and challenge, but it is this way for a reason, to weed out the called and the invited, until only those that have been chosen by the hand of the Lord remain. Many in this great company of chosen seed carriers are growing weary of the journey and are asking the Lord for the reason so much has gone against them lately. The reason, my dear friend, is because we are approaching closer to the egg and this final phase of humiliation and suffering will leave us with a Gideon’s army, a pitifully small company, that doesn’t look or act like overcomers in the flesh, but they are mighty men of valor in the Lord. Weak in their flesh, they are totally dependent upon the Lord as their strength, and like Caleb, they refuse to go back to the valley, but the Lord has enabled them to remain against all odds, and they want the mountain that the Lord has promised them.

They are willing to do whatever the Lord tells them to do. They have no programs, no rituals of service, no preconceived ideas of how the Lord wants them to minister, but the tests and trials have made them supple and yielded unto the Lord. All of their past doctrines, visions, self-induced desires of grandeur, have been washed away from them, and they are left without any resistance at anything the Lord would ask of them to do. They have only one desire, and that is to please their Father and to bring honor and glory to His name. Theirs is not to ask the reason why, theirs is to do or die. They are perfect soldiers, made fit and able through years of training and conditioning. They have lost all of their individual identity and are fashioned as a team, a company, a body, a unit, bone of bone, spirit of spirit, waiting for the command of the Captain of their salvation, ignoring all other commands given by other dominions and powers, they know how to be still and quiet until they hear the command, and then they spring into action, performing the task, and then they wait for the next command.

It is not coincidence that Paul the Apostle made analogies to his days as a soldier when describing the character and uniform of the overcomers. It is vital that we are shaped and formed into a yielded vessel of the Lord without any resistance toward His instructions. The line of command is secure in the chosen of the Lord and they know the voice of the Great Shepherd, having heard it many times at the edge of a cliff in the midst of a storm, saying, “Peace be still”. You can see this same kind of focus in Jesus, when He tells His disciples that He speaks nothing except those things He has heard His Father say in heaven, and does nothing except those things He sees His Father do in heaven. This single mindedness comes from the turbulent times, the times of uncertainty when we had to wait until the Lord appeared, and even though we thought some times He might not appear, He always did, until we were able to wait through the night until the day broke upon us without murmuring or complaining, but keeping our lamp lit until He shined into our life again. None of this is learned through books or tapes, but it is only learned through hands on experiences, learned outside the safety of the walls of religion, in the field of the Lord.

Eventually, hundreds of surviving sperm surround the egg and press up against the egg’s outer shell trying to break through. This is hundreds left out of millions that began the journey! It is at this point that science believes the egg has the final say in which one succeeds, as the victorious sperm is the one that is allowed to release an enzyme onto the shell of the egg that acts as a chemical knife and makes a small slit in the shell. Once this is accomplished the sperm wriggles it’s head into the slit and the egg closes the slit, cutting the tail of the sperm off and leaving the head inside. Again, this is such a marvelous action of mutual response between the egg and the sperm, leaving nothing to chance or luck, but through a horrifically arduous journey, the sperm not only arrives at the location of the egg, but has an intimate communication with the egg that is received with an action of agreement and subsequent actions of acceptance on the part of the egg. When thinking about how the egg unceremoniously cuts off the tail of the sperm, many things come to mind concerning our walk in the Lord. First, the tail is what has brought the sperm to the egg, being the propeller on which the sperm has depended upon to bring it through the turbulence. Just as the law has been used of the Lord to bring us to a point of arrival with the Lord, being our schoolmaster and governor until we reached our stage of maturity. But when we become mature, and we have arrived at our designated state of being in the Christ, our tail is cut off, the law is fulfilled, and we are no longer bound to it’s form, but we are a new creature in Christ, old things passed away, and behold, all things are become new. It is same illustration in the scripture concerning Jesus and His discourse with the Samaritan woman, (John 4:28,29) whom He reveals Himself to as the true, living water, that if any man drinks from, he will never thirst again. Then, something marvelous is mentioned in the scriptures. She leaves her water pot behind and goes to the city, ending a lifelong use of a carnal way of quenching her inner thirst, a water pot that at one time was exactly what she needed to draw with, but now, she has shed the exterior means of gaining access to the water and now has a well within her. The leaving of her water pot is in essence the same illustration of the sperm losing its tail. Both had their day of purpose, but both were cut off when truth arrived. Thank God for those things that have been used by God to bring us this far, but don’t get upset if we lose our tails! It is actually a time to rejoice, for when the Lord takes things away from us, it means the greater things are ready to appear! A tailless sperm, is a happy sperm. Why? Because it has ended it’s journey, and no longer needs the exterior supports that brought it this far. It is now ready to become a new thing, uniting with the egg in a genetic marriage dance, and becoming what it has been so efficiently designed to be.

At this point, the egg repels any other suitors and starts a process of fertilization with the sperm. I imagine you are starting to get the picture that the egg is not helplessly waiting around to see which sperm wins it over. The egg has much more control over the entire event of fertilization than ever thought of before. This should help the female gender to not think of themselves along the traditional religious typology as the submissive, weak part of the human race, but is in all actuality, as has been the case all along, gifted with good judgment and discernment and able to discreetly have their way and still make the male counterpart think it was all their idea in the first place. Ha. As someone said, the man may be the head, but the woman is the neck that turns the head. Behind every great man, there is usually a very smart woman.

In genetics and cellular biology, the egg is not a passive cell, but is involved in every aspect of the union. As it seems to be in the human race, so it is in the genetic beginnings between the egg and the sperm. The egg is involved in planning and communication, positioning itself just right for the upcoming encounter with it’s suitor, the sperm is interested in only one thing and breaks it’s neck getting to it. The important thing to the egg is uniting itself with the sperm in a romantic genetic encounter of mutual trust and agreement. To the sperm, it is the challenge of the race and winning the prize. Amazing is it not? Some things never change!

Once inside, the sperm’s head, which is made up of a shell of protein material, dissolves and the nucleus of the male strand of DNA fuses together with the nucleus of the woman’s DNA. Long strands of microtubules start to grow inside the egg, resembling spokes on a wheel, which grow from the rim of the wheel toward the hub, an action which moves the united membranes of the male and female nuclei toward the center of the egg. Once the fusion of the two single strands of DNA is complete, one strand from the woman and one strand from the man, there is a complete double stranded “ladder” of DNA formed, a marvelous and miraculous union of genetic instructions that contains the blueprints for a complete “house” of cells, organs, tissues, bones, which make up a composite of both family trees. The result of this wondrous entwinement of life is an individual that resembles both parents and contains attributes of both, but is entirely unique and different from either one, with a genetic signature that would differentiate it from millions of fellow humans.

At this point of development, once the single strands of DNA are joined into a double, complete ladder, the terms and names we have labeled both the sperm and egg no longer apply. A new thing has been created and it no longer qualifies as a sperm or an egg. So, the scientific world has named this single cell creature a “zygote”. This is especially meaningful to us that have progressed to a point of our development in the Lord so that our old labels no longer fit us and we are constantly searching for new and better ways to describe ourselves to our fellow man.

For quite some time now, we have asked people not to call us “Pentecostals”, because the term no longer aptly describes who we are and what our function is in God. We have described ourselves with a plethora of titles, sons of God, life people, kingdom, etc., and even these leave us feeling the inadequacy of their description for what is taking place in us. For we are evolving daily, into what, we know not, but it is unstoppable and each evolvement, each change of order and operation of our ministry demands us to attempt to find a name, a title, that will fully and completely describe this new “thing” that we are. Alas, I fear it is a hopeless task. We will always remain as John, “a voice”, nameless and indescribable in the language of the religious community. In truth, we are sons of God and we are kingdom and we are believers and on and on. We are all of these things, but that is not all we are. We are all that and more! It is the MORE that I am desperately searching out, as I continue my odyssey of development and transformation into that final form He has chosen for me.

What we find in the truly amazing union of the sperm and the egg is an abiding principle found throughout the operation of transformation from a divided house into a unified house. That principle is the principle of plurality. In the place where God dwells, there is always plurality, for He moves in the Elohim, the many, of whom He addresses in Genesis as “US”, i.e. Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness. In John the first chapter, Jesus is described thus,

John 1:1

1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word that WAS God was also WITH God,  showing a plurality in Him. This plurality is especially true in the apt description of the final Amen to this present work of universal salvation. In I Corinthians the 15^th chapter describing the final state of affairs as “God, all in all.”, the Greek word from which the English word “all” is transcribed is “pas” and is described in Strong’s Concordance as:

NT:3956

pas (pas); including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole:

            It is a glorious description of the ALL ultimately culminating with and entwining Himself with the all that came out of Him. Now, we know that all things were made by Him, and that nothing that was made by Him came about without Him making it. When the ALL birthed the all out of Himself, those things that were birthed were no longer termed as being HIM, but were those things that were MADE by Him. Just as the sperm is not the end of the man that produces it and neither  is the egg the end of the woman that produces it, but the sperm and egg are extensions of the man and woman and both contain the completeness of the man and woman individually. However, when joined they form something that is completely father and completely mother, but is MORE than just that, having joined together both BOOKS of lineage and forming a new BOOK that is uniquely different. In like manner, out of God came all things, principally mankind, of which He breathed into His essence, the ALL birthing the all, and He is now positioned to rejoin Himself with all things, to form something that is neither man nor God, which is undeniably and completely both man and God, but by reason of this union of entities the product of the union cannot properly be termed man or God, but something else. The scriptures call it a new creation man, a new kind of species which nothing like it can be found in heaven or earth. It is a representation of both heaven and earth, having borne both the image of the earthly and the image of the heavenly.

            Indeed, this new specimen of creature is at home in both realms, moving in the heavens as easily as it moves in the earth, since it bears the genetic code of both in it’s genetic makeup. The angels wonder after it, feeling a kinship to it by reason of it’s heavenly roots, but they also feel strangely alienated from it by reason of it’s soul. In fact, this new creature sings a song of which the angels find it impossible to sing. It is solely the creature’s song, for it is a song of redemption, something of which none of the creatures in heaven know anything about, not having been formed in the corruption of the earth experience and thusly having never bathed in the cleansing blood of the Lamb.

This creature, however, is ruddy in color with the life-blood of the Lamb of God, having been immersed into it in a baptism of death unto life. Oh, dear hearts, what makes you so unique in heaven is the fact that you were formed in corruption, clothed with the dusty earth, and subjected unto vanity, out of which our blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ has ransomed us, exchanging His life for ours and having given us His name, having become His own Testator and faithfully executing His inheritance in His saints. Glorious Lord! No wonder the angels can’t sing our song, it is not only a song of victory, but it is a song of victory brought about by a daring act of sacrifice, a life for a life, acted out two thousand years ago on a hill, through a lone man, forsaken by all, beaten and scourged by lesser men, agonizingly hung between heaven and earth. Jesus is our prototype, our pattern Son, our Firstborn, our eldest Brother, and without His act of sowing into the earth an incorruptible seed, there would be no new creation man. But sow He did, and we are now poised to become the harvest of His planting, the firsfruits of His redemption, from which the rest of the crop in the field will spring forth by reason of the covenant we have entered into with our Heavenly Father.

            Jesus was the first New Man. It seems that we have no trouble seeing Him, how God sent Him amongst us as fully man and fully God, with a mission to perform, but can you see yourself sent by God in the same way? We are not just another generation, meant to come and go, but we are the FINAL generation, held back in reserve until such a time as this, and have been birthed by the Father and sent to earth to join our Lord Jesus Christ in kingdom authority and to live an overcoming life as He did. If only we truly knew the riches of God that dwells in each one of us. Believe me when I say that you have all of God in you, fully and completely filled up with all that He is. You cannot possibly obtain anymore of the substance of God than you already have. What must be done is that we must tap into this vast reservoir of supply and become accomplished in the operation of it. It is not a matter of getting more of God, it is a matter of using what is already deposited into us. We were born with this supply. From our mother’s womb, we were filled with the fullness of God and lighted with His candle. Not only us, but every man born of a woman contains this supply, saint and sinner, believer and non-believer, all of God’s children contain all of Him. It not a matter of having God in us, it is a matter of KNOWING the God in us.

            In the phrase, “all in all”, the Greek word for “in” is “en”, Strong’s #1722. It is defined as being a word that is both positional and relational. Positionally speaking, God is already IN the all, but it remains for Him to be relationally IN the all. Our heavenly Father has already foreknown us, but we are being brought back to our remembrance of knowing Him. This relation is a different relationship than we had with Him in the beginning, because we weren’t redeemed man at the beginning, but now we are learning to communicate with Him from a point of redemption, looking through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Hence, when the work of redemption of our whole man is complete, we will be a “son”, a term that is infinitely more precious and meaningful than the average person ascribes to it. No other creature in heaven has this title. It simply, but profoundly, means, of the same substance, the same kind. We are spirit as God is spirit. That is what we are at the core of our being, pneuma, the breath of God. Our earthly experience cannot change that, no matter how corrupt our earth has made us, we will eternally remain spirit. The interesting aspect of this line of thought is that because of our earthly baptism, we have been made a little lower than the angels, but in our redemptive experience, we have been exalted above them, and have been given a name higher than theirs. In fact, we are given access to the throne in ways that none of the other creatures in heaven can attain to. Our curse has worked for us, providing for us a place of honor in the eyes of God as His true children.

            There is a side to the nature of our Father that is not often revealed by the ministry of today. It is a side that you must ponder in your heart to understand, but once understood it is able to transform our life and our relationship with Him. We find it best illustrated in the story of Job. It reveals that there is nothing that our Father loves any better than a good challenge to His ability to keep that which He has committed. Enter Job, a righteous man, perfect, or complete, in all his ways concerning his servitude to God. A man that is so righteous and upright that he stands out conspicuously in all the earth, to the point that he draws the attention of Satan himself, which prompts him to show up at the next gathering of sons before the Father, during which he and Father enter into a friendly competition for Job’s heart. I don’t believe anyone can read this account and not come away with the immediate conclusion that our Father cannot pass up a good challenge to His ability to cause man to step out of his fallen character and serve the Lord God out of man’s God-character. As a matter of fact, I believe that most of our dealings with the Lord are brought about by some kind of challenge we have unwittingly thrown down to Him about His part in our lives and His ability to fulfill His word on our behalf. I am quite famous for some stupid, ill-advised remarks, such as, “I’ll never do that!”, which have brought immediate repercussions in my life, proving once again, that one should never say never to God. One amusing story took place in a small church in Cross Plains, TX, at a time when Charlotte and others were going through some difficult times in their bodies and were being helped by some alternative health treatments that involved taking enemas. I had a natural aversion to enemas, brought about by having a mother that thought castor oil and enemas could cure anything, which gave me opportunity to view the day when I would be old enough to leave home as the last day I would ever take an enema, or taste that yucky castor oil again in my life. After service, while eating some food and sitting on the altar, (of all places), and having obviously taken leave of my senses, I proclaimed that I would never take an enema, no matter how sick I was. Well, we left that night with our friends, Joe & Myrtle Patton and Robert and Mary Helen Thompson for Oklahoma City. We arrived at the house late that night and everyone went to bed and to sleep. All, that is, except me. The challenge had been issued and God immediately took me up on it. My stomach had swelled up to twice it’s normal size, (scary thought isn’t it?) and I was rolling and groaning and moaning in terrible pain. Charlotte finally gets Mary Helen up, and since she was a registered nurse at one time and chief of the enema participants, she asks her what they should do. Of course, she recommended an enema. By this time, they could have suggested a firing squad and I would have been all for it, so I gave my assent and went to the bathroom. By this time, the whole household is awake, and I don’t know how many accompanied me to the door of the bathroom, but I was beyond caring and actually looking forward with much anticipation for something I had swore I would never do again. My only comforting thought was that at least this time, I was in the hands of an experienced, professional nurse that would take care of this business quickly and efficiently, which would put my mother’s enemas to shame. About 20 minutes later, I came to the conclusion that God not only proves His point to you, He has a lot of fun doing so. Poor Mary Helen could not get past the fact that I was the messenger of God, and someone that she honored greatly in the Lord, and so, she had problems looking at my behind to give me the enema. So, she sort of guesses where the tube should go, which brought forth a number of yelps and squeals from me with each miss, providing the entire household with fits of laughter after each miss. Finally, I was able to convince my nurse that I really didn’t mind her looking at my backside, and that any embarrassment I might feel would be infinitely better than her missing the mark and maiming me for life! Finally, I found a way to hide her in the cleft of the bathroom and showed her my hinder parts and got glorious relief. And I have tried to never say never again.

            I can see how this penchant for proving His ability to keep His word against all odds may have played into our Father’s intent in the beginning, when we were with Him in our other form. How far can my love reach? What lengths can it go to, and what depths of corruption can it plunge? How enduring is my mercy? Some of these questions may have prompted God to perform six days of creation and then to rest in the perfection of His Holiness, and say to the Elohim, let us now wait, for the die has been cast, and the work has been done, and we will watch my intent and purpose be accomplished. Thus the gauntlet was thrown, not by someone else’s hand, but by God’s own hand, and He swore unto Himself, because there was none other greater to swear by, that this frail, soulish mutant creature He called man, would one day stand before Him clothed in glory and honor, redeemed from the frightful depths of depravity and sinfulness and will ascend into His throne and sit down at His right hand, redeemed and whole. The devil didn’t make this happen, only God Himself could think of such a thing, a challenge to His own Godself. So, when the final Amen is said, and our Blessed Redeemer stands with us and we all offer back unto the Father all of our possessions that we attained through His spirit, and the kingdom of the Son is given back to the One that put it in harm’s way, then God, our God, will become All in all. At that precise moment, I will look back on all of my ordeal, and so will all of you, and I will be glad for it, every tear, every pain, every test, it will all be as nothing compared with the glory that will be present in that great gathering of the redeemed from the earth, as we bow allegiance unto our Holy One, as an innumerable host of souls give thanks for His curious works that He has wrought. It will be worth it all.

By Robert D Torango