If you haven't yet read my Blog "Is Jesus Coming Back Soon?" it may help to lay a foundation for this Blog. Or it may serve as a great follow-up to this Blog.
For some many months now a nagging thought has invaded the back of my mind. It's one I thought was too taboo to touch, but as I have studied out the great number of things Abba has laid upon my heart this last several years, this has only grown because I kept seeing hints within the other topics that something might be there, just under the surface waiting to be unburied and dusted off like a fine relic at an as yet to be cordoned off archeological dig. In fact, until the last month, I wasn't sure where to put the parameters so I could begin to cordon off and start to dig.
It is and isn't difficult to give this thought a name. It is because it is still a fresh realization. It isn't because while the finished product might be fresh, the ingredients have been bouncing around in my head and heart for years now. The question nagging me was "if all those in the parable of the garden workers who came early and late is about our getting the same pay for answering the call to labor, then what is the reward which each will be given according to the works/deeds?".
On the surface Romans 2:6-11 appears to answer this question:
"who will render to everyone according to his deeds: to those who persevered in well doing, glory and honour and incorruption, to those who seek eternal life; but unto those that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but are persuaded by unrighteousness, indignation and wrath. Tribulation and anguish shall be upon every human soul that does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek; but glory, honour, and peace to everyone that works good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentile]. For there is no respect of persons with God." (Jubilee Bible)
But this is another one of those doctrines, placed within most people's theology, from an isolated Scripture or short passage without running the thread through the whole 'counsel of Scripture'.
Shaul/Paul goes on to mention how that the "Law" is the standard by which we will all be judged. Gentiles who did not have the Torah but lived by it because the Spirit of God had written it upon their hearts when they converted to Messiah would be judged blameless even though they did not know the Torah. So they were living according to God's standards without having to know the mitzvot (commands) written in Torah and Shaul/Paul called them righteous because of it.
Romans 2:12-15 "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) (Jubilee Bible)
Many have used other portions of Shaul/Paul's writings to say we need not be Torah Obedient any longer, but they leave out passages such as this in order to be able to teach errors like this without being fact-checked by Scripture. One famous Mega-church pastor says that "Christians" can disregard the "Old Testament" altogether (See my blog "A Haunting Reminder" for more verifiable quotes from famous ministries). This isn't the point of this particular blog, so just bear with me for a minute ok? There is a principle at work here, and that is what I want to bring to your attention. There is just one more short passage of Scripture I want to include, for continuity's sake and to further show my point of the misuse of small bits of Scripture and teaching a doctrine of error from it.
1 John 3:4 "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (Jubilee Bible)
Some translations/versions say something to the affect of "sin is lawlessness". This inferior wording makes it seem as though not following the moral, ethical, and legal codes of society can be considered sin. However, that would put this Scripture in error because the very nature of this world's ethics, morality, and laws is fluid and change often. As morals, and ethics decay - so does societal law. The ONLY constant is the WORD and therefore even simple human common sense indicates this can be none other than the "Law" of God - Torah.
Scripture is quite clear from cover to cover that believers are still held accountable to the Torah even when "in Christ". The bondage Shaul talked so much about, and which is so misunderstood, is that of being held to the standard of the "Law" without the Holy Spirit indwelling us and making it possible for us to live up to such a standard. As you've seen in my other writings, it is no longer a labor, but a labor of love because "in Christ" Torah has been written upon our hearts. - Gentile and Jew alike. People neglect a very important portion of Hermeneutics when researching the writing of Shaul. That portion is the context of history. Or, to be more accurate, the historical placement of the letter/epistle they are studying. Galatians is the most infamous book used by Atninomian theology in an attempt to prove that Shaul was explaining that "Jesus freed us from the bondage of the Law". They like to use modern versions of the Bible which are based on a corrupted version of the Greek Texts in order to further their cause. Many, and possibly even most, aren't even aware that versions like the Contemporary English Version (CEV) are missing enough verses from the Greek manuscripts, like the Textus Receptus, to equal the sum total of verses found in the combined books of 1st and 2nd Peter. If they are willing to simply do away with so much, why would they also not be willing to alter a passage to meet an end agenda? We all need to honestly ask ourselves that question and be willing to change our perspective based on a little research into these kinds of real-world agendas. For more on the topic of Bible Translation History, you can find my Live E-Book CoExist? HERE.
One more very quick perspective from which you can research and judge if I am correct is in regard to the timing of Galatians. This will fine-tune what I was saying about the Historical Placement. At the beginning of Acts 15, and the famous Jerusalem Council meeting we find Shaul debating with Pharisaic believers in Yeshua. We know that Galatians was the first letter written by Shaul after the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. We know, based on cultural and historic context, that the purpose of this Council wasn't really about circumcision, but what circumcision meant. It was a part of the conversion rites into Judaism. The mistake most in Christendom make is thinking that Torah Obedience and Judaism are one and the same. They are most certainly not. You can find tons on this topic throughout my blogs and those of other contributors on our site.
Now to the point of why I brought this up. This erroneous doctrine, that Jesus freed us from the bondage of the Law, has invaded all of Christendom but simply cannot be backed up by Scripture in its totality. Isolated portions of Scripture can be used out of context from the remainder of the "whole Counsel of God" and made to seem like they're accurate. In modern "church" environments we tend to have amnesia about anything Scriptural which we don't want to accept. So we remember the portions of Scripture which seem to say what we want to believe, but then we miss the greater picture because we forget those which do not support our beliefs. This is a psychological block to learning clinically known as Cognitive Dissonance. Look it up online or go to our RNU FB Page and search for my posts about it. You don't have to join the group to search for my posts, so you can remain completely anonymous while checking.
I want us to apply this principle of checking to see if we have some "Scriptural Amnesia" (or Cognitive Dissonance) where the precept of our eternal reward is concerned. To begin this, I'd like us to take a short look at each of the 5 Identities which Scripture seems to indicate we all are supposed to walk in. Not which one each of us walks in, as it is sometimes presented, but rather from the perspective that we are supposed to all walk in all of these and perhaps, just perhaps, the progression into each will also determine our level of reward.
Before we move on, I want to make something very clear. I am not talking about the commonly used phrase about someone "entering their eternal reward". That is simply referring to eternity itself. For those who are following Messiah eternal reward (after the resurrection), or eternity separated from God for those who die without salvation.
Let's dig into each of the 5 Identities using these Scriptural references. There are more for each, but for the sake of time and space, I decided to limit them to those listed below:
Servants - in agreement with Mark 13:34, Romans 6:22, and Ephesians 6:6
Sons - in agreement with Romans 8:14; Galatians 4:6 and Philippians 2:15
Awaiting the full manifestation of this revelation in accordance with Romans 8:19
Co-Laborer - in agreement with 1 Corinthians 3:9
Joint-Heirs - in agreement with Romans 8:16 & 17 and Ephesians 3:6
The Bride - in agreement with Revelation 21:9 and Revelation 22:17
Mark 13:34 - "For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch."
Romans 6 :22 - "... now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."
Ephesians 6:6 - "Not only under your master's eye, as pleasers of men; but as servants of Christ, doing the pleasure of God from the heart;"
If we consider the totality of just these 3 Scriptures, we can see a few things begin to form about the identity of a "Servant of Christ".
Yeshua/Jesus left his servants with the needed authority to do the will of the Master
He left specific work assignments for each of His "servants" to complete
Someone must always watch a servant to be certain they complete their tasks
Servants of Christ live a life of Holiness
Holiness will result in everlasting life (so a servant gets the same pay as every other believer)
Servants are instructed to do their work not only when they think someone is watching (goes back to #3)
A servant of Christ needs to grow to the place where the reason they complete their assigned tasks is because they are doing them as unto God from heart which has been conditioned to do so. Not to please any person, but to please God.
Romans 8:14 - "And all those who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
Galatians 4:6 - "...because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father."
&
Philippians 2:15 - "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"
Keep in mind from the Blog "Is Jesus Coming Back Soon?" that women can be sons and men can be a bride in Biblical typography. Now, let's see what we can extrapolate from these 3 Scriptures about being a "Son of God":
Sons of God are led/guided by the Holy Spirit - the Greek word of Spirit in Romans 8:14 is "pneuma" and it is widely agreed upon that in this context it is referring to Holy Spirit.
God the Father established, by a sovereign act of His will, that all Sons of God would be infused by the Spirit of THE Son (Yeshua/Jesus) and through this and this alone all believers can call Him Abba (Daddy). We should remind ourselves that Daddy is the term of endearment used by children whose purity and trust in their Father is without blemish and is all encompassing to that child. They have no fear of Daddy, and believe wholeheartedly He can do no wrong by them.
Sons of God should walk blameless and not be violent or purposely harmful to others. There should be no justifiable reason for them to stand in rebuke of others. They should be the light of truth in a crooked and perverse nation/world.
The entire population of the world, in fact all of creation is waiting for the complete manifestation of the Sons of God according to Romans 8:19 - will they see it in our lifetime?
In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Shaul/Paul is specifically referring to he and Apollos when he says "we", but God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), so if they were then we are:
1 Corinthians 3:9 "For we are co-laborers with God. You are God’s farming, God’s building."
Co-laborers WITH God
We are each a garden that God is working in, but we must be willing to work with Him or else we will by default be working against Him
We are a building (other Scriptures declare we are the Temple of God), either way He is building and making us and we MUST co-labor with Him or the building will not stand. Just as a city divided against itself cannot stand - Matthew 12:25.
We have already established that Scripture declares believers are the "sons" of God, which then by default means we are His Children. But have we realized and begun to function in the fullness of such a concept?
Romans 8:16 & 17 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
Ephesians 3:6 "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:"
There are a few things here that I think can be easily overlooked if one isn't accustomed to understanding the Hebraic Context of the "New Testament". Perhaps there is something here you haven't seen before?
When Yeshua/Jesus was immersed by His cousin Yochanan (John) something miraculous and culturally powerful happened. But, without understanding the customs of the day, it is completely missed. You see, when a son came of age, and if he had learned his father's trade well, then the Father would go to the gates of the city with that son. He would openly declare "this is my son and I am well pleased with him". Until that point, a son could be written out of the family and disowned. But once this act was completed, not only could the son not be disowned or disavowed, but whenever he conducted business it was LITERALLY as if the father was the one conducting the business. Symbolically, as long as the father was alive, he and the son were as one - everything the son did he did in his father's name. This is why it is important for us to learn to be a son before we can learn to walk as Joint-Heirs. Yes, there are a number of other parallels here, but those are for another Blog.
Once believers learn this lesson and subsequently learn to Co-Labor with the agenda of Heaven under the direction of it's builder and maker, Our Abba, we find that we can indeed become Joint-Heirs who can operate in Kingdom Principles and in the holiness and integrity we gained as servants under the watchful eye of our "porter" and elder brother, the firstborn of many brethren, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah). As Joint-Heirs we can serve in the distinction of the gender Abba gave to each of us whether male or female. Those distinctions give us the ability to allow the gender-specific uniqueness we each carry to be brought to the tasks which each of us has been given and to collectively assist one another in carrying out the orders of Heaven at any given time. This is why as Joint-Heirs we are separated as His Children and not just His Sons.
Even the distinction of Jew and Gentile is recognized as both distinct and indistinct. You see Shaul/Paul points out that the Gentiles are included, so he purposely points them out specifically. He further then says when they operate as "fellowheirs" (Joint-Heirs) he is obviously saying they are of the same Body as the Jewish believers in Yeshua/Jesus and full partakers of the "promise in Messiah/Christ".
Have you noticed how one identity flows into the next? Yes, I do believe it is progressive and purposeful. Some might even call it a promotional chart. The more someone meets the criteria of one, the more they qualify for the next identity. The key is held in the story of Esther. Esther progressed from being a Servant to being a Bride of the King. Next time you read the book of Esther, see if you can identify her walking in each of the identities mentioned in this Blog...
This progression appears to be available to every believer, but not every believer will walk in the integrity to be found trustworthy to move from one level to the next. Some will reach a limit within each of our potential identities.
Esther 2:8 & 9 "So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was published, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the castle, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken into the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. And the maiden (Esther) pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her ointments, with her portions, and the seven maidens, who were meet to be given her out of the king's house; and he advanced her and her maidens to the best place in the house of the women."
vs. 12 & 13 "Now when the turn of every maiden was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that it had been done to her according to the law for the women, twelve months - for so were the days of their anointing accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six month with sweet odours, and with other ointments of the women - Est 2:13 when then the maiden came unto the king, whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house."
The process of preparation to meet the King took Esther 12 months. That's a long time for a date which may not ever lead to any kind of relationship, much less the intimacy of the Bridechamber! So this process of preparing to be "The Bride of Christ" isn't a one and done prayer-life; it is not an acknowledgement of being a part of any 1, 2, 3, or 4 of the identities. It is an all or nothing if we want to walk in all the fullness of every experience He has prepared for us - but REQUIRES a preparation on our part as well!
Let's examine The Bride and find out exactly what it means according to Scripture, shall we?
Revelation 21:9 "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."
Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. "
Many today teach that Revelation 21:19 is strictly about the "New Jerusalem" but many scholars of the 17th-19th Centuries also believed it was describing the inhabitants of the "New Jerusalem". Yes, chapter 21 is indeed telling us about what Yochanan/John the Beloved saw as the materials of which the New Jerusalem is constructed there is no denying this, but I also agree with the earlier scholars. This is most definitely a parallel of the many participant Bride of Christ.
Revelation 22:17 clears this up some. The conversation taking place here is one which shows the Bride co-laboring to invite others to become a part of the wedding party. To accept the free offer to drink of the water of life which only Yeshua/Jesus can be. She has undergone and endured the entire process of preparation and is now a strong, capable, and equal participant with Christ who is fully able to make wise decisions on behalf of the Kingdom and has the generosity to share all she has as a Joint-Heir of all of Heaven and Creation. She is caring for those who are poor in spirit, just as her Groom had done when He tabernacled among us in the flesh. She has gone through the fires of difficulty as a Servant and learned to please her Messiah and Groom instead of mankind; learned to walk in the integrity of a good son; endured the hardships of co-laboring with Heaven while on Earth and all the rejection/betrayal which comes with this level of dedication; her ability to rule well was observed and proven as she used all of her inheritance as a Joint-Heir with Yeshua and she wasted nothing of her Abba's in order to complete all of her assigned tasks; finally we see her here in Revelation 22:17 working along side of her Groom to rescue as many as possible in the final hours of humanity. Even knowing many among her have died for their faith, she is out beckoning for the willing to come and be a part of the last call to join the Feast.
Revelation 21 Lastly, going back to Revelation 21:9, it describes an ornate and beautiful city coming down from Heaven to the Earth. The Bride will be / IS made up of all those who have gone through the process and come out the other side with a full revelation of who they are in Yeshua and have taken every tool given to them to prepare themselves to be the Bride of Messiah. They will be able to flow from one identity to another according to the needs they face in others. They will know how to because they have already done each and endured the refining process. Just like Yeshua who had no reputation, they are not looking to please people, but only to obey the Father. They have shed the need for material goods in order to obtain a much higher reward. They have learned to not cling to the temporal in place of the eternal. They have grown up and are no longer a child(ish) Bride, but the Warrior Princess He is waiting for.
The Body often uses the word reward in regard to someone passing away and entering Heaven. In different circles it means different things, but to most it seems to simply mean that they have gone to Heaven. There is a certain truth in this, though it is not immediate. We must not allow ourselves to forget what we believe and why - Generational Amnesia. We need to grasp that while there are different levels (for lack of a better word) in our identity, then there will also be different rewards according to the level(s) in which we operate. While making it into Eternity with Him is our pay, so to speak, as in the laborers in the garden (Matthew 20:1-17), that is not the reward(s) we find in other Scriptures. It is the pay we all receive whether we were with Moses in the desert and were justified by keeping the Torah, or if we are the last to be martyred in the Great Tribulation. We all get "Heaven" as our payday.
I have come to prefer thinking of the reward "everyone [will receive] according to [their] deeds" (Romans 2) as like the bonuses we sometimes receive for exceptional work in jobs today. This concept of bonuses had to start somewhere, right? James 1:17 tells us without a doubt that every gift which is good comes down from our Abba. So it is reasonable to assume this is an idea God Himself put into the hearts of mankind.
If we are to be rewarded with bonuses based upon the "work [we've] done" then it is another cause for which to believe there are levels of 'bonus' which will fit the level(s) of identity which each of us walks in.
I hear a lot among Apostolic-Prophetic circles about Sonship. But only in very specific streams do I hear much at all about operating as the Bride. Some seem to think that the Bride paradigm is a shift which will happen when we all get to "Heaven". The problem is, however, that Revelation 19 shows a different picture...
vs. 7-9 "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."
We must not forget to add:
Matthew 22:14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."
Even the enemy has a specific group of believers who he finds the most threatening to his agenda in the Last Days. Those people are the ones he targets, seeks to martyr, and simply wants out of his way by any and every means possible. But how will we know who is the real threat to the enemy?
Revelation 12:17 - "And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God's commandments and maintain their testimony."
Revelation 14:12 - "This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his (God the Father's) commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus." Parenthetical Insert mine
Revelation 22:14 - "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city."
NOTE: It is commonly accepted in Biblical Symbology that the tree of life represents eternal life and access to the gates of the new Jerusalem represents eternity with Messiah. Have you noticed an increased commitment to obedience is a recurring theme when moving from "realm to realm" and "glory to glory"? Are you seeing that this theme becomes a part of why the "master", "husband", etc all TRUST the other party in every parable when they ARE Obedient?
OBEDIENCE IN THIS LIFE IS A KEY ELEMENT OF PROMOTION IN
HIS KINGDOM AND EVEN REVELATION, THE VERY LAST BOOK
OF THE BIBLE, TELLS US WHAT TO BE OBEDIENT TO!!
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is a Feast which we will enter into immediately following the harpazo of 1 Thessalonians 4 - the "catching away". So if the Bride is not already ready, she cannot enter. Notice the "called" and "chosen" this takes us right back to the parable of the King's Wedding Feast for His Son - Matthew 22:1-14. Only the "chosen" get to stay. The call is going out to everyone who will hear Revelation 21:17 but not all who respond will be able to stay for the celebration - like the man who was cast out - more on this below. This is the purpose for yet another parable we've discussed before, that of the wise and foolish virgins - Matthew 25. The foolish thought they could make last minute preparations when they found that they had not properly prepared during their time to "watch and pray" (Mark 13:33). The term watch is commonly accepted by most in Christendom to mean to be mindful. Mindful is not just a state of belief or faith. It is one of acting, being watchful means making sure everything that needs to be done is done before the return of whoever is expected. Would you not agree? Otherwise, He would simply have said "Pray". Like Revelation 14:12 we see here the cooperative efforts of faith and action.
Have you ever noticed, also in the parable of the Wedding Feast, Yeshua/Jesus mentions that one man did not have on a garment fit for a wedding? This is a parable about the "Kingdom of Heaven". For a long time I believed that person was sent to Hell and that was all there was to it. But then how did He make it to the Wedding in Heaven? There is something more to this than meets the eye and conventional Christian Theology. There is a mystery of the Kingdom within this parable and I believe it's been missed. Perhaps the way to understand this parable is to look at the "5 Parts of our Identity" and the likelihood of "rewards" based on completing the tasks at each 'level'?
If this man came to the Wedding Feast dressed inappropriately, then obviously he was not a member of the Bride. So was he a servant, son, co-laborer, or a Joint-Heir - perhaps all but just not part of the Bride? A servant would never have had the resources to buy or make an outfit worthy of being worn in the presence of the King. A son may IF he had been accepted into the father's trade and allowed to do business as his father. A son who had would certainly have had enough respect, in most cases, to honor his father by showing up dressed appropriately. A co-laborer, may or may not have owned such garments, but could have probably obtained them. The question of the co-laborer is would they have? Or would they have been so focused on the tasks at hand and trying to get them done that they didn't take the time to get prepared for the Wedding Feast? This leads to another very important point - obedience is truly better than sacrifice, but it doesn't replace or supersede a relationship - it takes BOTH again back to Revelation 14:12 and 22:14.
Obviously the Bride would have been ready, right? Not according to the parable of the 10 Virgins! Let's not forget this mystery Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5:32:
"This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the congregation [Gr. ekklesia — called out ones]".
[I wrote a very detailed 9 part series on understanding who the "ekklesia" really is and you can start it HERE]
My point is this, whether or not the reward the rest of the people at the King's Son's Wedding Feast received was because they were members of the Bride, or they were properly prepared at the 'level' they were at, they made it into the Wedding Feast and only the one woefully ill-prepared was cast out. On the other side of this coin is the Bride who was prepared.
This parable doesn't go into what happens after the Wedding Feast. The cultural context would be the 7 Day "Honeymoon". We can find in the parable of the 10 Virgins that those who came after the door to the Wedding was closed the Bridegroom tells them "I don't know you". The Greek word used for "know" is (eido - pronounced "I Do") it literally means an "intensive, voluntary, and purposeful gaze". The Bridegroom is saying, "I was never given the opportunity to see the real you".
So the key is to be certain we are fully learning to operate in each of the 5 parts of our identity. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is why Abba prophesied He'd do a "quick work"? That He may see who we really are, and if we will follow Him into intimacy even among the almost certain and likely risk of peril. We must have our mettle tested and come through the testing. We must get up and knock off the dust when we fall so He sees we will not wallow in the pain of being knocked down. We must conduct ourselves as Servants, Sons, Co-Laborers, Joint-Heirs, AND a Bride worthy of His betrothal.
If we pick and choose an attribute or two (the way many do with creating their theology and doctrine) from the lists in each identity above, maybe we will get a VERY small window which allows us to see what we really should look like when walking in our full identity...?
Yeshua/Jesus left his servants with the needed authority to do the will of the Master
Someone must always watch a servant to be certain they complete their tasks
Servants of Christ live a life of Holiness
A servant of Christ needs to grow to the place where the reason they complete their assigned tasks is because they are doing them as unto God from heart which has been conditioned to do so. Not to please any person, but to please God.
God the Father established, by a sovereign act of His will, that all Sons of God would be infused by the Spirit of THE Son (Yeshua/Jesus) and through this and this alone all believers can call Him Abba (Daddy). We should remind ourselves that Daddy is the term of endearment used by children whose purity and trust in their Father is without blemish and is all encompassing to that child. They have no fear of Daddy, and believe wholeheartedly He can do no wrong by them.
Sons of God should walk blameless and not be violent or purposely harmful to others. There should be no justifiable reason for them to stand in rebuke of others. They should be the light of truth in a crooked and perverse nation/world.
The entire population of the world, in fact all of creation is waiting for the complete manifestation of the Sons of God according to Romans 8:19 - will they see it in our lifetime?
[We ARE] Co-laborers WITH God
Even the distinction of Jew and Gentile is recognized as both distinct and indistinct. You see Shaul/Paul points out that the Gentiles are included, so he purposely points them out specifically. He further then says when they operate as "fellowheirs" (Joint-Heirs) he is obviously saying they are of the same Body as the Jewish believers in Yeshua/Jesus and full partakers of the "promise in Christ".
Revelation 22:17 clears this up some. The conversation taking place here is one which shows the Bride co-laboring to invite others to become a part of the wedding party. To accept the free offer to drink of the water of life which only Yeshua/Jesus can be. She has undergone and endured the entire process of preparation and is now a strong and capable equal partner with Christ who is fully able to make wise decisions on behalf of the Kingdom and has the generosity to share all she has as a Joint-Heir of all of Heaven and Creation. She is caring for those who are poor in spirit, just as her Groom had done when He tabernacled among us in the flesh. She has gone through the fires of difficulty as a Servant and learned to please Christ and not mankind; learned to walk in the integrity of a good son; endured the hardships of co-laboring with Heaven while on Earth and all the rejection/betrayal which comes with this level of dedication; her ability to rule well was observed and proven as she used all of her inheritance as a Joint-Heir with Christ and she wasted nothing of her Abba's in order to complete all of her assigned tasks; finally we see her here in Revelation 22:17 working along side of her Groom to rescue as many as possible in the final hours of humanity.
Revelation 21 Lastly, going back to describes an ornate and beautiful city coming down from Heaven to the Earth. The Bride will be / IS made up of all those who have gone through the process and come out the otherside with a full revelation of who they are in Christ and have taken every tool given to them to prepare themselves to be the Bride of Christ. They will be able to flow from one identity to another according to the need. They will know how to because they have already done each and endured the process. Just like Yeshua who had no reputation, they are not looking to please people, but only to obey the Father. They have shed the need for material goods in order to obtain a much higher reward. They have learned to not cling to the temporal in place of the eternal. They have grown up and are no longer a child(ish) Bride, but the Warrior Princess He is waiting for.
I would like to encourage you to take some time and make a list of the identities you are operating in now using the criteria from each segment above. If the "catching away" took place immediately after reading this article, at which "level" what would your reward be? There is one more twist on this I want to offer before I close this article.
What if the reward is two part? By this I mean, what if the reward is both for in this life and after this life? Is Yeshua/Jesus expecting us to put together all the many pieces and clues as a whole, as opposed to the isolated and individual Scriptures upon which so much of Christian theology and doctrine have been built? Let's test this possibility with two interesting portions of His teaching(s) and see if there is a possibility of this, shall we? Notice they were written by two separate authors - meeting the Torah's requirement of everything being "established by two or three witnesses"
Luke 18:28-30 “Look,” said Peter, “we have left everything we had to follow You.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Mark 10:28 - 31 Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Do you suppose that Yeshua is using precise principles as clues about what we can expect when we operate in our full identity, and thus showing us how it will really play out? In these two statements, "receive a hundredfold in the present age" "along with persecutions", is Yeshua telling us that obedience brings a reward in both this life and the next? Is He telling us that with every level there is a level of persecution which is just naturally part of walking in that identity? Is it possible that part of the reward in this life is what we are entrusted to do - in other words - does one level prepare us for the next by training us to be more reliable and responsible? My grandparents used to say a job well done is its own reward. Is this what we are seeing here? Does the persecution come in order to test our works (by fire) at one level in order to determine if we are ready for the next? It certainly appears to be so; as you read through the "New Testament" do you see any other Scriptures which may indicate this? I'll leave that to your study. There is something in which there may be a couple of clues right here though; there are responsibilities and privileges... sound familiar?
It's just like from the Scriptures we put into their proper place in the puzzle in the segments above!
I am certainly not proposing this as an absolute. I am attempting to stimulate your desire to dig this out and determine if what you have been taught is absolute truth. I am convinced however, that we MUST live up to the standards Scripture sets for every facet of our identity if we want to spend eternity in the highest places of intimate fellowship with Him; also that in doing so we will be rewarded accordingly, whether in this life or the eternal life to come.
Until Next Time...
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