"For the law of the Spirit of Life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and death.
So then, brethren, we ARE debtors, but not to the flesh – we are not obligated to our carnal nature – to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.
For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh you will surely die. But if through the power of the Spirit YOU are habitually putting to death – making extinct, deadening – the evil deeds prompted by the body, you shall (really and genuinely) live forever.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ – sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
[But what of that?] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!
For (even the whole) creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known – waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship.
For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty – to futility, condemned to frustration – not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it [Yet] with the hope
That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
We know that the whole creation (of irrational creatures) has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the firstfruits of the (Holy) Spirit – a foretaste of the blissful things to come – groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies [from sensuality and the grave which will reveal] our adoption (our manifestation as God’s sons.)
FOR IN [THIS] HOPE WE WERE SAVED!!!" Rom. 8
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The majority of the church is looking for the one Son, Jesus to return.
Yes, all creation has an expectation of something greater. And the word expectation carries a stronger meaning that just a hope. It's true, a woman may hope to have a baby some day, but when she gets pregnant she has more than just a hope. When a woman is pregnant she doesn’t just hope she is having a baby, she is fully expecting to! We are pregnant with more than just a hope, we have an expectation of the fully formed Christ that we are impregnated with to make an appearance into this world in power and great glory.
There is a groaning in all as in birth pangs for something greater to be birthed than what they have thus far experienced in this world of war, and turmoil. The minds of many think that what they are looking for is for the one Son Jesus to return, but the spirit groanings in them are looking for the Son to be revealed, or unveiled in us his sons! Their spirit is looking to us! They are longing earnestly, and waiting expectantly in pain for this disclosure.
They are waiting for us to reach our place that God has ordained for us and to fulfill our purpose as a firstfruits model for them, just as Jesus was our firstfruits model. They are waiting for us to bring forth this manifestation so God can go on with his program so that the rest of the ages can come in.
All the ends of the ages are upon US as a responsibility. They are waiting upon us! For in the unveiling they will see Him and in seeing Him they will see themselves, perhaps for the first time.
Sometimes for us to get in touch with what is within us we have had to catch a glimpse of it outside of ourselves first. That is what Jesus did for us. For in beholding him, we saw our true self. It puts us back in touch with our true self.
People go to pastors, teachers, rabbis and psychologists for counceling all the time, because they are trying, because of some need in them, to find some kind of help to put them in touch with what is happening within them. Or at least, if any of these couselors are worth their salt that is what they should be doing....helping people find their own point or center of power.
And this manifestation is greater than anything that was ever in the Garden, that first man made of dust.
This second Man the Lord from heaven, is a life-giving spirit Man.
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Here is a little illusration of what I am trying to say about catching a glimpse of yourself, outside of yourself that helps remind you of who you could be.
Have you ever been in the presence of someone who so exuded the life and love of God, that it made you want to know about that kind of love and it made you want to find that in yourself?
This is such a simple childish illustration, but it is one that has remained with me all my life. When I was in grade school when the bell rang for recess, certain of us would rush out to get on this one particular piece of playground equipment that everyone preferred. We would all try to grab onto it and there were only so many positions available. Well, I succeeded in securing mine and all the positions were filled but there still were others standing there that were left out and disappointed. And this girl named Carla turned to another standing by and left out and said, "Here you can have my place". Now I was supposed to be this little Christian girl that knew the Lord, but Carla demonstrated real love and I only professed it. Carla always had a very kind and loving nature and her love convicted my heart, but it also made me want to know how to find that in myself.
Blessings,
Karen
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