RULING AND REIGNING WITH GOD

Part 8

 

September 18, 2020

 

Had to stop again in the middle of this discussion we’ve been in for the past couple of weeks. We’ve been in the middle of the Garden experience, and all the issues that resulted from Eve first partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then Adam following instead of utilizing the authority God had given him to cancel out Eve’s actions. Adam had authority to deal with this failure, but he chose human compassion over spiritual authority. That, unfortunately has been a problem in the human race ever since.

 

Anyway, back to our narrative.

 

A funny thing happened when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were stripped. And of course, we know they had no clothes to be removed. But they were stripped, nonetheless. They were stripped of Truth. They were stripped of Righteousness. They were stripped of the glory of the Lord. And their intimate relationship with the Lord was history.

 

Now, they were naked!

 

Interesting, isn't it? Now Adam and Eve had the very thing the sages of this world strive for. Now they possessed that quantifiable knowledge men and women the world over seek for in their colleges, universities and seminaries -- ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth! Adam and Eve had given up Truth in exchange for knowledge. When they got that knowledge, it robbed them of the throne. It stole their crown. It exchanged the Truth for a lie.

 

And it left them naked! It left them defenseless against that old Serpent, Satan, who took them into slavery and bondage.

 

Had they been naked all that time? Not in God's eyes. Who cares whether knowledge sees you that way? Knowledge -- regardless of how factual it may be -- perpetrates a lie. Knowledge robs men and women of relationship. Knowledge steals love and intimacy. Knowledge deprives God's people of love, of power, and of a sound mind. Knowledge brings Fear. In this case, Adam and Eve were infected with the Fear of Evil, and they reacted to it instantly. They did what every rational(?), reasoning member of the human race has done from that day to this when faced with Evil (or whatever is perceived as Evil): they ran and hid themselves.

 

Why had they not run and hid before? Had the natural circumstances changed? No! But they had. They had traded revelation for knowledge. They had been tricked into exchanging the Life of Truth for the death and lie of knowledge.

 

And they learned -- the hard way -- that Truth, a loving relationship with the Lord, the Throne, the Crown, and the glory of the Lord were all inextricably, inseparably woven together.

Without Truth, there was no throne of God. Without relationship and love, there was no crown for them. Knowledge did not make them "as God!" It turned them into slaves held captive in cruel bondage to a great pretender, the father of all lies, who wanted the throne for himself.

 

Because the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil became the focal point for the loss of relationship with the Lord, it must, of necessity, also be the focal point at which that relationship was returned.

 

When Jesus' ministry began, therefore, John the Baptist prophesied, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the tree." (see Matthew 3:10) In so prophesying, he made it clear that Jesus' purpose was to cut down the Tree of Knowledge, and sever it at the root.

 

Because of the enormous significance of the Tree, and the fact that it caused the death and downfall of this species of beings specifically created for fellowship with the Lord, He chose to lay the axe in such a demonstrable action as would clearly illustrate for all time his love and desire for His Bride.

 

In next week’s discussion we will share something the Lord gave to me as a revelation some years ago. I’ve titled it, "It is Finished." We will discuss the plan set in motion even before the words were spoken, "Let there be light." We will talk about the legal significance of Jesus' acts, and how each step represented the gathering together of every aspect of the Serpent's control over the human race.

 

Consider these aspects.

 

Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and thus were separated (evicted, actually) from the Garden, and from their place of intimate relationship with the Lord. That removal condemned their seed to being perpetually infected with the "Knowledge Virus," and with it, the death incorporated into its very essence. Until Jesus' birth, no human being on the face of the earth had ever been born who was not infected. Jesus, by virtue of His spiritual genetics, although He was born of a woman, did not carry in His flesh the proclivity for "knowledge."

 

Being born of a woman qualified Him as a genuine member of the human race. Having the genesis of the Holy Spirit in His DNA, He also had -- in His human form -- all of the qualities of His Throne in the Heavenlies, and the rulership and authority which went with that place of dominion. It was imperative -- for the sake of His Bride-to-be -- that this dominion be worked in His being as a human. It was critical and necessary that He put down the knowledge of good, and the knowledge of evil, and that He rule over the tendency of the flesh to be lured by the lust for knowledge.

 

He must of necessity squash "under His feet" human reasoning and rationale by responding only to the dictates of His Father. And He did! Jesus could therefore freely state, "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." (see John 8:28-29)

 

This word, "please," is of great significance in the Greek text. The word used here is: arestos. We define arestos (which comes from the root word, aresko) as much more than just to please. It means: to be in agreement with; to accommodate one's self to the opinions, desires, and interests of (the intended individual).

 

Hence, "to please" is not to merely acquiesce to someone's wishes and desires -- even if you don't necessarily completely agree. Arestosis to be in a place of complete unity and agreement, and to therefore "please," or "bring pleasure," through the active fulfillment of those opinions, desires and interests.

 

Being in that place of complete unity and agreement with the Father meant that He was in complete agreement with the Throne of the Universe, and was therefore acting on its behalf. As a result, He could walk and talk -- in human form -- and at the same time function from the Throne, ruling, and overruling the flesh, the emotions, the lust for the knowledge of good and evil, that old serpent Satan, and every evil spirit pitted against Him.

 

Jesus walked as the personification of perfect agreement, perfect sumphoneo -- perfect accord -- with the Father, and with the Holy Spirit, Who would shortly come to fulfill His bidding in the preparation of His long awaited Bride. How did He do this? It was simple! Though He walked in human flesh, He lived in the realm of the Spirit.

 

That union, that accord, that agreement -- that place of demonstrated authority -- all existed because He lived in the realm of the Spirit. Let me explain.

 

When Jesus visited that day with the Samaritan woman at the well, and she began to talk about worship, relating to worship in a physical sense with physical acts in a geographical place, Jesus stopped her with this statement.

 

John 4:22-24, NASB: "You worship that which you do not know.............But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."

 

The point He makes is that worship is neither a physical act, nor a function in a physical or geographical place. Worship is not the doing of things. Worship is not something which occurs in a church or a synagogue. Worship is not even the doing of things which please the Father. Although true worship will certainly result in our doing things which please Him, it is a place of union, a place of intimate love in the Spirit.

 

Allow me to take a quick jump to the subject I want to explore in more detail next week. God with me to the book of Revelation.

 

Revelation 10:7: “….In the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow the trumpet, then shall also the mystery of God be finished, as He promised and gladly announced to His bond-servants, the prophets.” (RAC Translation & Amplification)

 

In order to grasp the significance of that which the Lord is doing, and has done -- in and through us -- we must return to the scene which took place at the Cross. Bear in mind that Jesus' death on the Cross was the fulfillment of a plan set in motion before time began -- set in motion before time began -- before Adam and Eve were created.

 

Before we revisit the scene at the Cross, however, let us examine for a moment the Plan of both the Father and the Son.

 

Creation was set in motion for the exclusive purpose of bringing into being, nurturing, and bringing forth to maturity a Bride, who would be the co-equal counterpart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan's deception of Adam and Eve in the Garden was no surprise to God. It didn't catch Him off guard. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all knew before creation even began that Adam and Eve would succumb to the enticement of the Serpent to eat of the Tree of Knowledge.

 

The Garden of Eden, along with all of its delights, and the Tree of Life -- and the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil -- were created as the initiating place within a kind of laboratory, if you will. It was the environment in which this unique species of being -- mankind -- would be given its first opportunity to choose relationship and union with the Lord by a freewill choice. A Bride, after all, who was to become co-equal with the Lord Jesus Christ -- a Bride who was to be His counterpart, His other self; a was to fellowship in a place of love and intimacy with this Being who was both Lord, King, and God incarnate -- must, of necessity, choose Him and His desires to the setting aside of all other choices.

 

Pardon me if I seem to repeat what I’ve already said, but this picture is important for us to grasp in our spirits.

 

The Garden contained the first opportunity for choice: The Tree of Life, or the Tree of Knowledge. This would be the most important choice mankind could make, since to choose the Tree of Life would be to choose the desire of the Lord over the temptation of the flesh. To choose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would set in motion events which, if left unchecked, could bring an end to the entire plan of Creation.

 

To choose the Tree of Knowledge would initiate the deadliest virus anyone could possibly imagine within the human frame: the "Knowledge Virus." This virus would bring death to virtually every member of the human race. It would also create and set in motion a series of events which would force those who desired relationship with the Lord to overcome spiritual forces pitted against them -- evil spirits and wicked principalities who would take up dominion over the whole earth, whose entire existence revolved around defeating the heart's desire of the Lord Jesus Christ. These would be spiritual forces which could only be overcome in the place of union with the Lord. It would also force mankind to overcome mountainous obstacles which were designed to entice, subvert, and attract the desires of human flesh and human will.

 

This choice, as I said before, was the most important choice to ever face mankind. To choose the Tree of Life, after being given the opportunity to choose the Tree of Knowledge, its enticements and delights, would be equivalent to a total rejection of the legitimacy of Satan and his lies. To reject the Tree of Knowledge would be to overcome the screaming of the flesh for creature comforts and tasty goodies. It would be tantamount to questioning the Serpent,

 

“Since when do you dispute the veracity and validity of God’s word? By what arrogance do youassume that your statements and claims are on a par with the Lord God? You are a created being like us – not THE CREATOR!."

 

Wow! The consequences of such a response and choice would have forever sealed the destiny of the human race. It would have instantly sealed the fate of that old Serpent, Lucifer, and rejected the validity of his existence. He would have been a non-entity, as far as the human race was concerned. The seed of Adam and Eve would have been born into this world with that choice of the Tree of Life veritably ingrained and incorporated into their genetic structure. Relationship with the Lord would have been the natural and automatic choice of their descendants.

 

Hmmmmmm. It didn't work out that way, did it? Adam and Eve blew it! They chose the Tree of Knowledge. They bought into the Serpent's lies and insinuations, believing that "knowledge" would put them on a par with the Lord God. Somehow they had forgotten that they had been created to be in union with the Lord -- that in the place of that union, their strength, their power, their authority, their very existence superseded the most sagacious argument Satan could bethink. They missed the fact that the wisdom of God functioning in them surpassed the Serpent’s most inventive artifice.

 

Yup! But it didn't, as I said before, take God by surprise. The Plan had already taken their choice into account. They were going to have to overcome incredible spiritual obstacles. They were going to have to overcome the thirst in their souls and minds -- no, a force which would absolutely rule their beings -- for more, and more, and more, and more knowledge. So long as they succumbed to this quest for knowledge, they would forever learn, and learn, and learn, and learn, and never come to the knowledge of the Truth!

 

Knowledge would lead them, and their descendants -- the human race as a whole -- to wrong conclusions. Knowledge would steer men and women down a path which would lead them to conclude that man had somehow evolved out of the primordial goo -- the chaos which existed on this planet prior to present Creation. Knowledge would lead men and women to discover......Science! And their minds would become further mucked up because they would fail to realize that "science" is the domain of the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who set all of these things in motion.

 

Men would use science improperly by attempting to gain knowledge through the study of history, the study of geology, the study of the laws of physics, the study of mathematics, and the study of the human frame itself. They would pursue that study to the very exclusion of the scientific domain which controls the realm of the soul, and the realm of the mind, and the realm of the flesh. This domain controls the realm of every natural thing which exists -- whether past, present or future. It is the realm and the domain of the Spirit!

 

If it seems like I’m messing with you, stand by! It’s only going to get worse! More to come.

 

In case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:30AM Pacific. That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings available on video usingZOOM. If you wish to participate by video on ZOOM, our login ID is 835-926-513. If you miss the live voice-onlycall, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later. The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

Blessings on you!

 

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76502

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available . Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: AnotherCoffeeBreak@protonmail.com with the word, “Subscribe” in the subject line. To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to AnotherCoffeeBreak@protonmail.com with the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.