Him that overcometh will I make a pillar
in the temple of My God, and he shall go
no more out: and I will write upon him the
name of My God, and the name of the
city of My God, which is the new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out our heaven from My God:
and I will write upon him My new name.
Revelation 3:12
Before I move on in this study I once again desire to bring more light upon this New Jerusalem. In Paul Bunyan's book, The Holy War, a book I recommend reading, this allegory speaks of Mansoul, a city made up of people believing in God. You are that city! The last paragraph of this book is good to ponder: "Remember, therefore, O my Mansoul, that thou are beloved of me. As I have, therefore, taught thee to watch, to fight, to pray, and to make war against my foes; so no I command thee to believe that my love is constant to thee. O my Mansoul, how have I set my heart, my love upon thee! Watch. Behold I lay none other burden upon thee than what thou hast already. Hold fast, till I come." (Paul Bunyan: The Holy War: Moody Press, Chicago, p. 336: italics mine).
Jerusalem in the life of Jesus Christ is the place where He reached the climax of His Father's will. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and from that moment on in His incarnation all He was to do was the will of God. You too are Bethlehem for you where born into the family of God and from this you are to do as Jesus did: the will of God. Jesus moved from Bethlehem and went to Jerusalem to the the will of God for which He was sent. You have been adopted into the family of God and are Jerusalem by which the will of God will be manifested. Jesus steadfastly set His face towards Jerusalem and you too are to set your face towards Jerusalem the place where the purpose of your conversion is the purpose of God: to do His will. We go to Jerusalem to fulfill the purpose of God, not our own. As an Authentic Christian we have no ambition or aim of our own. We hear so much about decisions for this or that for our decisions for God, to be an Authentic Christian, is that God is compelling you to come to Jerusalem, to be part of His city, to Mansoul. God chose you: "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:...(John 15:16a). You have been chosen to do something and that something is to bring the Gospel to your world, wherever that place may be, work, home, job, missionary, whatever, you are to bring forth fruit. That is what true Jerusalem does, it manifests the will of God. Jesus did this in Jerusalem when He died upon the cross.
As chosen of God we are not to just have a conscious agreement with God's purpose, we are to become fully be in absorption and have conscious agreement with His purpose and not to have any consciousness at all. What does that mean? We do not know what God is aiming at, but what we do know is what is the work that God has for His children to do, it is not the work that is what we hold onto as the will of God for we do not know or vaguely know, what is His will. But we allow God to remain and to allow God to compel us for our faith is not in works, but in God.
God has not spoken in words that are unclear, but at times they seem so clouded but in time as we walk, study, pray, the clouds part and the purpose for why we are chosen becomes clearer, and clearer. This will not happen if you have not chosen to do the will of God. God will not pick you up off the couch and make you do His will, but when you choose to do it, then the power of God to lead you, then you will be doing the will of God even if it is somewhat unclear. The question is: Will you choose to be compelled by God and are you willing to be Jerusalem?
I am my beloved's, and his desire
is toward me. Come, my beloved,
let us go into the field: let us lodge
in the villages.
Solomon's Song 7:10-11
Choose well: God is compelling you
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment