As Paul has stated, it is possible for Christians to begin sharing with Christ in the spiritual blessings He possesses within His own life in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 1:3) However, before we can receive the Pearl and begin to experience the Lord’s heavenly Kingdom-life within our heart, it is necessary to turn aside from everything that is unholy to God.
For you are {created to be} the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them {as He did with the first Adam before the fall, and with the Second Adam in this fallen world}…” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you {into the Kingdom-life of promise}…
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Cor. 6:16-7:1 Emphasis added)
God’s called-out people in the Old Testament dispensation were required to prepare a temple that God could use as His dwelling place here on earth. The Lord provided very specific instructions on how it was to be prepared. In effect, this lesson is a spiritual type for New Testament Christians who are to be the dwelling place of God in this age of fulfillment. “For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, ‘I will dwell in them…’ ” (2 Cor. 6:16)
God could only reveal His glory within the temple after the people had prepared it according to His specifications. The same principle applies to us. We have access to the same glory that filled the mortal body of Jesus. He said to the Father, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them…that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:22, 26) But we must fulfill the covenant conditions before the temple of our body can be filled with God’s glory—His life of perfect love {a love that is pure and undefiled by any “self-ness”}.
In another spiritual type, the “life of promise” was separated from Egypt and the ways of the world by a desert testing period. This dry and barren land was a place where God planned to strip away the idols that His people had learned to depend on in Egypt. God requires His people to depend on Him alone for their spiritual life. Everything that prevents the Lord from being “All in All” must be placed on the altar of sacrifice before it is possible to enter into His Kingdom-life of promise.
If anyone comes to Me {to seek out the Kingdom-life from heaven} and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. {Once we have fully submitted to God’s will and have entered into the life of promise, where we receive our spiritual life from God alone, we will then be in a condition to love others with His unconditional, self-sacrificing love.} And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me {into the Kingdom-life of perfect love} cannot be My disciple… So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has {from his self-originated form of life} cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26-27, 33)
When we live by the ways of the world, we have a natural tendency to rely on temporal things, including our relationships with others, for our spiritual sustenance. Those who live this way will find that their spiritual life tends to die each time their idols have failed to do what has been expected of them. In contrast, when God’s children enter into His Kingdom-life of promise and receive their spiritual life directly from God, they begin to enjoy a continuous “river” of everlasting life. Because this eternal life of love—His living water—comes directly from God, it “never fails.” (1 Cor. 13:8)
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