Dead and Dying: Dying but Alive

1

YOU SAID WHAT??

The way this writing first started was completely wrong in the words that were used. It’s not that the concept was wrong but the way it was expressed was completely wrong. It started out saying, Jesus Christ, Son of the only true God, Creator of the whole universe, was a sinner. I am very grateful to a pastor for his gentle guidance into the correct way of saying what I was trying to say. So please, before you throw this out listen to what I learned from that guidance of God’s Word.

It started in the Garden of Eden. God made man from the dust of the earth. He made man in His own image, that is, He gave man some of His own characteristics and attributes. He gave His eternal existence, the power to choose, intelligence, emotions, just to name a few. It wasn’t to the same extent that God has but they are what God is. God spent time with man. They walked together, they talked together, and during the conversations, God told the man he should not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because if he did, he would die.

One day the devil came and posed a question. This question was the cause of original sin. It was this, (Genesis, chapter 3) ‘Did God really say you cannot eat of every tree in garden?’ (pp)

The temptation was on the belief system. Up to that time everything that God had said to Adam was taken without question and there was nothing to challenge God’s Word. Now the question was planted and Adam had to make a choice - believe or not believe God’s spoken word. And the first sin was committed; unbelief in the Word of God. The results of that unbelief was an instant separation of God and man. Because what happened when Adam made that choice was that he gave up the spirit, nature, that God had given to him and took on the nature of the devil. He was no longer a child of God but became a child of his new father, Satan.

That was the death God said would happen. Because there is an action for every choice and every choice comes from the nature of a person, Adam could do nothing but sin after that choice; therefore, he disobeyed what God had said and eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Then their eyes were opened and OOPS! What had they done!? The consequences that followed that action were far more reaching than Adam could ever have known. Both he and Eve lost the nature of God and received the nature of the devil. The nature they had received can do nothing but sin; the nature of God cannot sin. And that nature that Adam took was passed on to every person born into this world.

About 18 years ago I stood in a delivery room playing the position of the catcher. My daughter was being born and the doctor knew my medical background so she allowed me to do the whole procedure. What an experience! There she was -- this tiny little creature, all brand new. A new life. I clamped and cut the cord and held her in my two hands. All fingers and toes were present. A perfect little baby, her middle name became DAWN -- the beginning of a new life. So my question is this, was this new person a sinner?

She was innocent. She had barely taken ten breathes. She couldn’t see completely. She didn’t even know her name and never said Hi. She didn’t cry. All she did was lay there and look around. In fact, she was so curious she didn’t go to sleep for close to fourteen hours. So was she a sinner? Yes.

She was the off-spring of parents who were sinners, grand and great-grand parents who were sinners. And if ya wanted to trace it far enough back you would find that her line came from Adam. And she was born with the nature of Adam -- the nature of sin. This is the one thing that every person in the world has in common; we are all sinners.

2

PROOF OF THE PUDDIN’

Contrary to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, Mary was also a sinner. She was not perfect. She was not immaculately conceived. If she had been, God would have announced her as He did for Jesus, and she would have had to been crucified as the perfect sacrifice for all mankind. But it never happened that way. Mary was born human, with human parents, and with the same nature that came from Adam and therefore was a sinner. It stands written …all have sinned… (Romans 3:23) (KJV). And Jesus was an offspring of Mary, but not of Joseph.

Jesus’ bloodline can be traced. It’s written in the third chapter of Luke. It traces that line all the way back to Adam. Matthew traces it to David. One shows Jesus’ human side, through Mary to Adam; the other His royal bloodline, Joseph to David. So if Jesus’ bloodline can be traced that far back, to the one who committed the first sin, then Jesus was also a man, in a body that had the potential to sin.

POTENTIAL is the key word and will be discussed later. But this needs to be understood or this writing is gross sin. The difference in Jesus was that, we humans have human fathers and Jesus’ father was God. In the third chapter of Luke the angel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive and what was in her would be called holy. Just as we humans are conceived by sperm from our fathers, we grow with the nature that was given to us by him. Jesus was conceived by the Spirit of God, so the nature that He was given was the nature of His Father, The Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

Jesus was all God in nature (spirit) yet, at the same time, He was all man (body).

It stands written that God cannot be tempted (James 1:13), but Jesus was tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15). He was as much of a human as you or I. He had to be. If He wasn’t, then He never would have understood what we go through daily. He would never have had the compassion for our weaknesses. He would have only seen us through the eyes of the law that demands payment for sin. And God does demand that.

We as people -- human beings -- are bombarded 24/7 with temptation. It invades our core to pull us to do the things that satisfy the lusty flesh. All those inward desires that lead us to sexual perversion, drug and alcohol addiction, lying, stealing, murder, to name only a few. Those are the things that feed the body, the natural man, so that we feel good. Maybe we could say, How good the fruit of the tree in Eden tasted on that first bite.

Temptation focuses our eyes on the things of the world. The things that we make as our gods. We want to be like others, keep up with the Jones, have wealth, fame and look as good as the people and things we lust after with our eyes. We lust after the pleasures that the body demands.

Temptation also deals in the pride of life. We build ourselves so high in our own thinking that we are no longer like other people. We go to church, we make confessions, we say the most beautiful prayers, we give of our wealth to a church or charity, we obey the laws, we do this or that, we are always finding ways to make ourselves look good, if not perfect. We think that if we just meditate we will transcend above all other people AND above the very nature that we may or may not admit to ourselves is wrong, let alone admit it’s named sin. The things we do, what we try to do and as we think and act, will make us good enough to stand before God and be acceptable. This will take us to the position of god. And the temptations never stop hitting us.

Imagine this: The Son of God, Creator of the universe, who had all power as God, was bombarded with those same temptations, same lusts, same selfish desires, 24/7 every day of His life from the time He was born until the day He died. And in my own thinking it was most likely worse than what we have to live with. Because all the forces that the devil had must have been coming against Him in every way possible to, either discredit Him as the Son of God or destroy Him or both.

So here we have a man and the perfect God co-existing in a sin body - going through all temptation just like other humans. Yet without sin (Hebrews. 4:15).

In the very beginning, Adam was without sin also. He functioned from the nature that was in his spirit. That nature heard what God spoke to Adam and Adam did not sin -– he NEVER ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When he decided not to believe God’s Word, he lost the spirit of God and a new spirit took over his life. From that point on he could do nothing BUT sin. Jesus had the same type of body that Adam had; but because He had the spirit of God, like Adam once had, Jesus functioned from that spirit and never sinned.

3

REDEEMED

It was very early in the morning, like around 4:30. I was suddenly wide-awake, sitting on the edge of my bed, thinking that it was such a great day I should go for a walk. Then I remembered that it was Sunday and church didn’t start until ten so I had a few hours to sleep. I laid back down and was gone. Sunday was the only day that I could sleep in and I was going to enjoy those few extra hours.

About an hour later, I was awakened by someone beating on the front door. I went to the door ready to punch whoever it was in the face. It was my pastor. Oops, there went the thought of hitting someone. He asked if we could come in, which I didn’t understand because I saw no one else.

So, I let him in and behind him were eleven other men from the church. They all sat on chairs, couches, the floor; and the first thing out of pastor’s mouth was; Cliff, the Holy Spirit has revealed to us that you are demon possessed and we are here to cast them out. And all of the men started praying aloud.

My first reaction was the biggest laughter that could have been, not outwardly, but in my thinking. Are these guys crazy? Am I not a Christian? Who do they think they are saying something like that? But my thinking changed quickly when I caught one statement in the pastor’s prayer, And Father, make sure that he knows that that he is lost and if he died that he would end up in hell. Hmm… I thought, OK, God, IF this is true, then you are going to have to do some big work because it is sure out of my hands."

The next forty-five minutes went by in what seemed like ten. I wanted to scream but couldn’t, the pain was unbearable, I thought my whole body was being ripped into tiny pieces. It was the worst thing I had ever been through.

And then, all of a sudden, total silence. Total calm. Nothing was happening. The feeling was of a body form but there but there was nothing inside. I was nothing more than a shell -- empty -- as if my skin was all that was there and hollowness was all that was inside.

It started in my toes. Slowly filling my feet. It was some sort of liquid that was filling that empty space inside my skin. It filled the legs, hips, chest, got to my arms and flowed into them ‘til they were filled, up my neck and into the head. And when it hit my brain I heard myself inward yell, GOD LOVES ME!! It was the love of God in liquid form. I dropped from the chair and onto my knees and said, God, if you love me that much then I want Jesus to be Lord of my life. No, I did not beg for forgiveness or ask Him into my heart; I didn’t need to. It’s not the words that are said but motivation of the heart and the work of the Holy Spirit.

There was a new baby born into the family of God that morning. A new life, a new creation. I felt clean. All the things that I had done in the past weren’t there anymore, even to the point that I wasn’t sure if they ever happened. Whatever God did was nothing that I ever experienced in the past. What He did was destroy the old nature of Satan and give me a new nature, the nature of Himself. I was born into His family as a son of God.

So what happens when a person is born into the family of God? Very simple terms: the sin nature (spirit) that I was born with physically was killed; this is identification with Jesus’ death on the Cross by faith. The nature (spirit) of God was put into me. I became a child of God at that point in time. I was born again, the identification of being baptized into Christ’s resurrection. I received the nature that Jesus Christ was born with. I was a new creature. A new creation. A new person.

When I got to church that morning I could hardly wait to tell everyone that I was a new Christian and what God had done to me. It was exciting. And while at church two things happened that changed the direction of my life forever.

The first was something that, in my ignorance, I didn’t even understand and that was, God talked to me. It was just before church was to start and I was outside, alone and I said, God, what is going on? I thought that when a person got saved they were supposed to be happy, yelling for joy, jumping up and down, and dancing in the streets. I don’t feel any of that. What’s going on? It was the clearest voice inside of me that said, Feelings come and feelings go, trust my word, it never changes. (I went home and started to read the Bible)

The second thing that happened was that I was made an outcast in that church. After the service was finished I was outside and, although the person (a leader of the church) didn’t know I heard what was said, made the statement, ‘just because he was saved doesn’t mean anything has changed. He is still the same person, so be cautious.’ Gradually I was left alone in that church. Even my two best buddies eventually didn’t want anything to do with me. I was so alone in a crowd of people that I got to where I had to leave that church and received threats when I had told someone that. The leadership, a lay pastor, told me that if I left that church God would kill me. It was about two years later that I did leave, and I am still alive.

During the time of being in the church, there was one man that didn’t throw me aside. His name was Ken. He wasn’t the richest man; in fact, he was probably the poorest. He had a big family and sold shoes on commission in a local store. His education level was high school so he wasn’t the smartest person in that church. But, he was THE richest and THE smartest person in that church BECAUSE he loved God. His whole life revolved around telling others about the love of God and salvation through Jesus. Everything he did or said exalted God in some way. This man, even though he didn’t know he was doing it, took me under his wing and on a weekly basis for eighteen months taught me the foundation work of Christ. I didn’t know it was being done either. But Jesus was laid as the spiritual foundation that the rest of my life was to be built on.

When I had been threatened with death I told them that God could do what He wanted but I wouldn’t be back. And when I said that I was flooded with the deepest peace.

4

THE NEW ADVENTURE

The first couple weeks of reading the Bible was just reading. There was nothing spectacular in any of it. It was putting information into my brain and God was beginning to put that info into my spirit.

One morning I started to read the 17th chapter of John. Inside I was yawning and wondering when this was going to be more than just words. But I was doing what God had said, - Trust my Word. And in order to trust that word, I had to know what that word said.

I read to verse three and stopped in my tracks, what was that saying? Wow, it was THE definition of eternal life! Hmm… everyone knows that eternal life means living forever, but here was a new thought, a definition that I was never told before.

And this is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou have sent. (John 17:3, KJV)

Knowing eternal life as living forever is, what I call, understanding the Bible on a physical, superficial, level. Sorta like reading a history book and getting information, or a science book to gain some kind of knowledge. It is the factual things of a certain type of discipline. So reading the Bible just to read it gives a certain kind of information that can be only understood on a physical level, some kind of knowledge. But here was something that was more than just physical reading and understanding; it was something that was speaking on a spiritual level. For me it was an ignorance that would take some training before I would have that spiritual understanding. This process has repeated itself in almost everything that I have learned from God’s Word. The physical and then the spiritual.

But that’s another story.

Back to John 17. Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. What a totally different concept from all that I had been taught for so many years. Sure, it did mean I would live forever but it also meant knowing God. So I said to God;

God, what does the word ‘know’ mean? Aha… the question! And God said;

Where have you heard that before?

Hmm…

Flashback: I grew up in a church. My dad was a Baptist preacher. I had the Bible shoved down my throat from day one, so I know a lot of what it said - on a physical level.

I thought about Gods question and responded with;

It was in Luke where the angel had just told Mary she was going to have a baby. She said, How can these things be since I know not a man."’ (Luke 1:34, (KJV)

Then a very wonderful thing happened in my tiny brain. God started my imagination running and the thought process was this.

In the days that Jesus lived on earth it was the custom that when a man and woman were engaged to be married they would take a full year before the wedding. If nothing else, it proved that the woman was still a virgin and they had not had premarital sex. During that year they, possibly, had times to be together and talk. They probably talked about any and every thing. They would share what they did that day, talk about how they felt, about their desires, dreams, feelings and thoughts. They would share their lives with each other. And when the marriage took place they would share their bed in intimate physical contact. Then, all the pre-marriage talking took on a deep deep deep intimate personal bond of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual being and they became as one.

Then God said, Cliff, this intimacy, this oneness, is knowing Me. A deep deep deep relationship that makes us bonded as one. It is a picture of the engagement that the Church has with Jesus. I am born again and He and I begin to share our thinking, feelings, desires, wants. We become one. When we are in heaven and the marriage of the Lamb takes place…

I had no answer to that and sat in silence. Really, what could I say? The God of all creation, The Lord God Almighty, just told me He wanted to have a very intimate relationship with me and that I was already beginning to experience eternal life. Dumbfounded is a good word.

I had no great aspirations as to the meaning that God had said. I set my mind and heart to know God and Jesus Christ in the most intimate way possible. At that point in time the Bible began to be, not just reading words, but an experiential lifestyle where God began to reveal Himself to me.

This is not a sexual experience as we humans know it. It is the way God chose to teach me what He was saying. The relationship between God and a son of God is so great that even this physical understanding cannot describe oneness with God.

5

DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE GOD?

Then came the testing of that mind/heart set.

My car broke down. Nothing really major, it just needed a new battery. Of course I didn’t have the money for that until the next payday and that was a week away. I still had to get to work. Had to be there at 7:00 a.m. The bus stop was a mile from my house, and the bus wouldn’t be there until ten minutes before I was supposed to