True Abiding

 True Abiding

Genesis 1:25-26: And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

·       God created the heavens and the earth, and he made all living things with a life that He chose for it and was particular to its own kind.

Ø And He made that life for the kind of environment that He chose for it.

·       As each living creature “stays in its environment” and “lives the kind of life” for which it was created; this fulfills its purpose. Nothing higher can be said for that creature… other than it fulfilled God’s will for it.

·       God gave man a certain kind of life, and an environment to inhabit. He has no higher calling than to “live in” or “abide in” His environment and fulfill God’s will as the purpose for his life.

·       As originally created, God made man in His own image and man was more like God than any other creature because there is no other creature than man… that was made in God’s image.

Jude 1:6: And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

·       And any being that has left its environment for which it was created will only know pain and misery because they are not fulfilling the purpose for which they were created. This is true of any living creature.

·       Here we see that angels are created beings and many left their habitation (their abode) for which they were created. They became evil.

·       But we are not told that any of the angels were created in the image of God. They were created differently than men, with a different purpose.

·       They also have purpose in their proper domain; in their environment.

·       They are servants of God… not friends and family.

Ø We were created to know Him. It is our purpose; He is to be our habitat!

Hebrews 2:16: For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

Ø There is no salvation for the fallen angels because they were not made in God’s image.

·        Man is also fallen. No matter what anybody says, man is not alright. Man is like a car that has left the highway, gone over the guardrails, and crashed into the rocks.

·        When Adam sinned, he sinned with a “fallen” angel, and was banned from his environment “in the Garden” where he walked in the presence of God. Because of sin, Adam’s spirit could no longer abide with God. God cannot abide with sin.

·        Everything changed…another spirit, an evil spirit, now dominated Adam’s life:

·        A fallen angel, a spirit of disobedience was abiding with Adam.

·        Now, Adam’s new fallen nature, his flesh… was evil. It was a self-loving nature, not a God loving nature. Adam’s new nature was like the fallen angel.

·        This evil selfish nature became the “power” in his life. His spirit could no longer contact the Spirit of God, because it had become separated from God. Guilt, shame, and condemnation made Adam fearful of God. Adam therefore, hid from God.

·        But because of sin, man has chosen the gutter instead of the presence of God… because he abides with another spirit.

·        The pain and misery from Adam’s leaving his habitation (his abiding in the Presence of God) has affected the fulfillment of the purpose for which we were all created, and has affected all of Adam’s descendants. It was a tragedy of “epic proportions.”

Romans 1:21: “they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful”

·        Deep within every human is a deep spiritual memory of having once known God.

·        It is like an echo of something long gone. Having been separated from the true God, we have made ourselves the “god” of our lives…doing our will instead of His will.

·        Man does all kinds of things in his own selfish will; some climb the corporate ladder for money, others educate themselves, and some desire to be famous… trying to find purpose in his own imaginations, instead of in the Presence of God.

·        But why did God not abandon man like he did the fallen angels?

·        Because man was made in God’s image so that man could know Him unlike any other creature and fellowship with Him.

·        The angels that remained in the presence of God can obey God, and worship God, and they have certain capabilities… but they cannot know Him in the same manner as God created man to know Him.

Psalm 8:4-5: What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor, You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.

·        Adam was made “a little lower” than the angels, yet Adam was crowned with glory and honor because Adam was made in the image of God.

·        Adam was made from the dirt from the earth. He was created to reign over the earth from which he was created.

·        The title “son of man” here refers to Adam as the head of the human race, as opposed to being a “son of God.”

·        God made mankind a “little lower” than the angels because His intentions were to always lift man higher than the angels through His redemption plan, it was a rescue plan. Adam’s sin was not a surprise to God. There was always a plan for a Redeemer.

·        Adam was of the earth, but was bound for heaven! The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalms 8 to give us more info:

Hebrews 2:9: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

·        What does the Bible teach us about knowing God? He can be known! He has not abandoned us! How can we know Him? We can know Him through Jesus Christ.

·        Jesus called Himself the “son of man” referring to His humanity.

·        Jesus is really the Second Adam, or Last Adam, who has come to deal directly with what the mess the first Adam brought upon mankind.

·        Since Jesus was born into a human body, His state as lower than the angels was temporary. As a result of His finished work on the cross, Jesus was crowned with glory and honor, and He is now seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father.

·        And now as we are “in Christ” we are lifted up with Him! And we can know Him and he wants us to know Him!

Philippians 3:10:  That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

·        Paul didn’t just want to know the Lord intellectually. He wanted to know Him experientially and personally!

·        He meant His heart touching God’s heart. He meant His spirit touching God’s Spirit in true fellowship.

·        Paul wanted to know God, not just know about Him. This describes many Christians, they only know about Him. Some have known him, but only faintly. It’s like hearing a recording of God’s voice instead of the voice itself.

·        It’s as if someone reads a book about someplace. They may know many facts and information about the place, but anyone who actually travels to that place only smiles when they hear others talk about it. Many Christians have only read a book about God. It’s as if they’ve seen only a picture instead of the experience.

·        God sent His Son, Jesus; to bring back the image that man had lost.

·        He redeemed man by the blood of the Lamb to bring man back into His environment; God is that environment! God wants us to abide with Him again.

·        Is not the ocean the environment for whales? Is not the air the environment for birds? Is not the dirt the environment for worms? The heart of God is the environment for man!

John 5:39-40: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

·        The Bible is not an end in itself; those who make it so are in error. The purpose of the Bible is to lead us to God. The word of God is like a door, or a ladder, it is an entrance in. It is “one of the means” of His communication with us.

·        Many have undergone a kind of brainwashing where studying the Bible is an end in itself. We parse the words, we look up men’s commentaries, we listen to videos, Greek word meanings, and we go to conferences… thinking that somehow this will get us closer to Him! Yet we still thirst.

·        Most are trying to reach God with their minds instead of with their hearts.

·        Don’t get me wrong… I love to study the Bible, but for one reason, to hear from Him. I want to hear His voice, I want to know Him, and I want the Holy Spirit to manifest Christ to me in the volume of the book as He promised.

Psalm 42:1-3:  As the deer pants for the water, so pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”

·        Every one of us was made with eternity in our hearts. We hunger and we thirst for something we don’t understand. We fill the emptiness with the things of this world, people, religion, drugs and alcohol. But none of these things can ever satisfy us.

·        When we are trying to live outside the environment for which we are created, as the great philosopher, Mick Jagger said, “I can’t get no… satisfaction!”

Matthew 5:6-8:  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

·        Jesus says we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

·        We know that sin has left a filthy stain upon us. We know something is wrong deep inside, and the evidence is in how we treat others.

·        Our own love and righteousness is like filthy rags, our hearts are focused on evil, but we continue to hunger and thirst. Never quenching our thirst and never filling our hunger, never seeing God.

·        A pure heart is a heart that is focused on God. All of a pure heart’s affections are not on worldly things but on the Lord. The pure heart loves God, totally and completely.

·        The pure heart may not see God face to face in this life, but the pure heart will see God in others, and will see God in the stars, and will see God in all of His creation, because God is “omnipresent.”

1 John 4:16: And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

·        God is love, and there is no other way to experience Him. There is no other way to abide with Him. It’s only with your heart and your yearning for Him that our love for Him reaches out and touches the Eternal. God wants to give you Himself!

·        You can never experience Him with your brain, just let the love of your heart reach out and touch Him. Just believe and love… it’s by faith and love that we can know Him.

·        Don’t let anyone tell you how much you can have of Him, only God can tell you how much you can have. Don’t let anyone pull you aside and tell you are too excited or too fanatical, or let them tell you that you already have all you will ever have.

·        Too many Christians have been walking under a cloud for too long, His face is shining bright and His divine illumination shines brightly upon you. Rise above your clouds.

John 15:5-7:“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

·        Come into the environment for which you were created. His Presence is waiting for you.

·        Abiding in His presence makes all things possible, and without Him you can do nothing. Abiding with Him you will be fruitful within the purpose for which you were created.

·        If you are not abiding in Him, you will wither. You will be unfruitful, miss your destiny, and sink into religion.  One last thing, if you abide in His presence and in His word… you will ask and receive what you ask!