HEAVENLY THINGS - 6

Living out the Realities

Knowing about the heavenly things is not enough. I want to highlight and explain just few ways to living them out, the most effective ways though, there may be other ways, but these are the few most effective biblical authorized ways to living out the realities of our blessedness in Christ.

1. Setting your mind:

Colossians 3:1-3 (emphasis mine), “If ye then be risen with Christ (That is, if truly you acknowledge your new birth – the born from above experience – the quickening of your spirit back to life), seek those things which are above (this is does suggest that you have a rapture escapism mindset, but that you desire the heavenly things – the deep things of God), where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on the things above, not on the things on the earth”

First punch at the gates of treasures – set your mind on them! Jesus said, where the treasure of a man is, that’s where his mind will be! It is however disappointing that some believers do not know about their blessedness in Christ Jesus let alone to set their affections on them. Rather, they set their minds on the “things on the earth”. Setting one’s mind on the things of the earth is not really a direct neglect to achievements of the normal life but a condensed focus on the humanity and mortality of man. The first step to breakthrough in Christ is to continually think on these heavenly things, acknowledge and confess them daily in our walk with God. We will easily catch up with the reality in our spirit if we keep focusing and meditating the heavenly things of God.

2. Renewing your mind:

Romans 12:2 (emphasis mine) “And be not conformed to this world (not suggesting making enemies with people and disengaging from relationships, but a turnaround from focusing on only the humanity and mortality of man, neglecting the blessedness that is in our spirit and our identity as sons and daughters of God): but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (a constant synchrony of our human minds with the mind of Christ results into a constant transformation that spans through lifetime), that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (this is a way of living out the mind of God – the heavenly things revealed to us by his Holy Spirit)”

You want to live out the realities in your spirit? You want transformation from inside out? Then renew your mind daily with the word of God, read and meditate on the revelation of Christ plainly written in all of the epistles and watch the spirit-water brooding transformation of your essence! This leads us to the next point: meditating on the word of God.

3. Mediating on the Word of God

“But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord (we behold his glory by beholding his word), are changed into the same image from glory to glory (the constant and consistent meditation on the word of God on our identity and blessedness results into transformation), even as by the Spirit of the Lord (he does the brooding of course)”

Every believer’s goal should be transformation. Transformation here is not a physical change in the shape or complexion of our bodies but a glowing of the glory of the Lord from within inside out - a revelation of the very immortal essence of Christ in our flesh - a complete takeover of the dictates of the corrupt mind of the believer to the reign of the mind of Christ in the spirit of the believer.

4. Praying in the Holy Ghost

Jude 20 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost”

Simple and straight forward! You want to live out the realities of your spiritual endowment? Then build up yourselves by praying in the Holy Ghost. This should not however be mistaken for the common error on “spiritual growth”. A believer does not grow in the spirit –rather they grow in the alignment of their mind or soul to catch up with their spirit. The spirit of the believer is grown up into perfection already. There is no shortage of growth whatsoever in our born again spirit. It was God himself that birthed us and there is no shortcoming in his work. Instead, we grow up in our dealings so that we can attain the height of oneness of our sprit, soul and body. This is the same as “building up ourselves”. This ‘building up’ of ourselves is although a technology of the Holy Spirit, but we have a role to play as well – pray!

Prayer is not begging scheme. It is a mechanism for the working out of the God vested treasures from our spirit through the soul to the physical. This does not suggest that we will do the work, but that prayer is the energy (ability) that causes the work to reach us in the physical from the Holy Spirit. Men ought to pray and not to faint!

Above all, know this – whatever you gaze upon consistently becomes your reality!

Amen.

HEAVENLY THINGS - 5

Accessing the Deep Things of God

One way by which we can constantly receive vital information from the Holy Spirit as regards why we are here on earth and what our destiny holds, is by synchronizing our minds with the Spirit of God in us in other to access the heavenly things. This has to do with a proper alignment with the mind of Christ and an intimate relationship with the Spirit of God.

First, we must acknowledge that we have the mind of Christ in us. This does not in any way disposes the fact of the presence of our own minds. Our human minds exist in us before our “born from above experience” and it remains in us.  However, it is worthy of note that we obtained a new mind when we were born of God.

Recall that the “born from above” experience is a birthing of the spiritual entity of the believer. That is, the Spirit of God birthed a new spirit within us. Now, it is worthy of note that, this action of birthing is the same as the quickening of the spirit of the believer. That the believer was dead in their spirit before salvation means that their spirit became dormant after the fall and that they became alive means that the sprit which was dormant/dead was quickened by the Holy Spirit of God at salvation. Therefore, we did not receive a new spirit actually – we instead received the Holy Spirit which upon his entrance into us quickened our own dead spirit back to life. Let us understand this better.

Paul said to the Ephesians Church, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath QUICKENED US TOGETHER with Christ…” Ephesians 2:5. Now the phrase translated as “quickened us together” here is the Greek word “soodzoopoyeho” which means “to reanimate conjointly”. Paul repeated this same phrase in his epistle to the Colossian church “And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he QUICKENED TOGETHER with him…”Colossians 2:13. You will notice the two phrases are a bit different in translation; one has the word ‘us’, the other does not. This is as a result of inconsistency of the translators of the KJV. The actual word in the Greek is soodzoopoyeho (just one word) not even a phrase, but due to lack of enough vocabulary they had to translate it as phrase. This word, “soodzoopoyeho” which means “to reanimate conjointly” is derived from the root Greek words “sun”, which is a primary preposition denoting ‘union’ and “dzoopoyeho” which means ‘to revitalize’ - to give life. That is, when the Holy Spirit came into us at salvation, he was united with our spirit, and this union produced an instantaneously effect – a quickening – giving our spirit the life we lost at the fall, hereby bringing us into oneness and completeness with Christ.

Now, the reception of the Holy Spirit and hence our union with him gave us access to many of God’s endowed gifts and possibilities. This is why Paul said the Holy Spirit is committed into revealing the deep things of God to us. How does he do that? He does that by enlightening our minds through the word of God on the gifts and possibilities that we have in Christ and that it is evident in our spirit. There is nothing that God has in store for us as his children that have not been given to us, but it is resident in our spirit. The Holy Spirit is the custodian of these heavenly things, and since he and our spirit became one at salvation, we have all that he has as well.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3…the word “all” here in the Greek is the same word used in our previous passages - “pas”, which means “all”, “the entirety”- the whole spiritual blessings in heavenly places –all sort of heavenly things, the deep things of God have been delivered unto us. But where are they? - They are inside our spirit man, provided through the oneness of our spirit and the Holy Spirit who is the custodian. The gifts and blessings are the exact framework and designs of our spirit man that is what makes us like God. Since we are born of God in our spirit, our spirit must necessarily look like our father – God.

There is however a slim difference between the reception of the gifts or blessings and the understanding of what they are and how to utilize them. That is, although we have been blessed and endowed in our spirit, we need to know what treasure we have in place, how to use them and for what purpose we should use them. This is made easy when we access the mind of Christ that is, our spirit. This is where we are going to: the mind of Christ is the portal into the deep things of God revealed to us by the Sprit. The mind of Christ is given to us to know what our father thinks per time and it is resident in our spirit. That is, this mind of Christ is the mission statement of our newly born spirit. It is the channel through which information reaches our spirit from the Holy Spirit. Everyone who has this mind has all capacity to know and understand the deep things of God –the heavenly things!

See Paul’s remark on this reality. Please note the words in block letters.

^“These are THE THINGS God has REVEALED TO US by his Spirit. The Spirit SEARCHES ALL THINGS, even the DEEP THINGS OF GOD. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way NO ONE KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF GOD EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF GOD. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so THAT WE MAY UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD HAS FREELY GIVEN US. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. THE PERSON WITH THE SPIRIT MAKES JUDGMENTS ABOUT ALL THINGS, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”But WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 NIV

“The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, DIVES INTO THE DEPTHS OF GOD, and BRINGS OUT WHAT GOD PLANNED ALL ALONG. Whoever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—EXCEPT THAT HE NOT ONLY KNOWS WHAT HE’S THINKING, BUT HE LETS US IN ON IT. God offers a FULL REPORT ON THE GIFTS OF LIFE AND SALVATION THAT HE IS GIVING US. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. WE DIDN’T LEARN THIS BY READING BOOKS OR GOING TO SCHOOL; WE LEARNED IT FROM GOD, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way. The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—GOD’S SPIRIT AND OUR SPIRITS IN OPEN COMMUNION. Spiritually alive, WE HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYTHING GOD’S SPIRIT IS DOING, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and WE HAVE CHRIST’S SPIRIT.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 MSG

Since you have the Holy Spirit, you have the mind of Christ!

Since you have the mind of Christ, you have access to the heavenly things!!

Since you have access to the heavenly things, you can know what God is thinking and synchronously express the will of God here on earth!!!

HEAVENLY THINGS - 4

The Deeps Things of God

1 Corinthians 2:6-13 “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”

Now, in our last lesson, I explained to us what the deep things of God are. And that, it is not a separate message aside the eternal counsel of God determined before the world began. In the above passage, Paul said the act of explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words is the way of the communication of the deep things of God – please note his words.  And I mentioned in the last lesson, that these deep things are also the same heavenly things that Jesus told Nicodemus that ordinary theology or human reasoning cannot decipher. Amen.

It is very important at this point to note that, the custodian of these deep things remains the Holy Spirit and it can be revealed to us through him alone. This is how we can learn and get to know the deep things – the heavenly things of God. They are actually meant for us. So we are the recipients of these things. It was kept purposely for this age. That’s why Paul said; only the spirit knows and has revealed them to us.

The next question should be; ”In what way does the spirit reveal it to us?”

First, we must establish that the Holy Spirit was given to us mainly for this purpose of “knowing the deep things of God”. See what Paul said in the opening passage, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God; SO THAT WE MAY UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD HAS FREELY GIVEN US.” So basic work of the spirit is to make us understand the purpose and plan of God for us – what God has in store for us. Of course he didn’t just call us through his Son Jesus Christ; there are other things he wants us to know.

This is the same as what Jesus Christ told his disciples, when delivering the profile of the Holy Spirit to them before his death. He said in John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you ALL THINGS…”The phrase “all things” here is the Greek word “pas” which is translated as “all”  748 times in the KJV Bible and “all things” - 170 times, the third close translation is “every”- 117 times, so the word specifically mean ‘the whole”, the “entirety”, it meant what it meant! When Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach us ‘all things”, he actually meant what he said. Yes, he will teach us ALL THINGS! Nothing is to be left out!

Interestingly, the same Greek word was used in John 1:3 when God was describing the beginning of creation, “ALL THINGS were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made”. So “all things” is actually “all things” and it includes the deep things of God – the heavenly things known and kept by God in the beginning through his Word. These things are what we are meant to know and live by through the revelation and help of the Holy Spirit.

How does the Spirit reveal it to us – by the word: the word is the first pointer to the deep things of God. The word of God is the foundation anyway, and every other thing in the scope is built on it. The bible is not the word of God (I hope you know that already), the bible only contains a portion of the ‘written’ Word or we simply say the bible is a pointer to the Word. The word cannot be captured in a book, what we have in the bible is the written word. The word of God is infinite and eternal in the heavens. We only have a fraction written of it and given to us as the Bible, and the Holy Spirit is the database for the rest. That is why Jesus pointed to him that he will teach us ALL THINGS!

In another portion of the scriptures before Christ left his disciples, he told them that he has many other things to discuss with them, but he promised that the Spirit will reveal them later. These revelations began just after the church was planted in the Book of Acts as the epistles that we have in the bible today. The epistles are the first set of the deep things of God communicated by the Holy Spirit to men. That’s why Paul said confidently in 1 Corinthians 2, “he has revealed them to us”

So what then? Why is God revealing these things? God’s desire is to have a kingdom of priestly kings that will rule over this cosmos. How is that going to happen?

HEAVENLY THINGS - 3

 

 The Technology of the Spirit

John 2:9 “However, it is written: ‘What no eye hath seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ – the things God has prepared for those who love him – these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

The Spirit of the God is the energetic force that causes the transformation in the life of humans, whether it is the born again experience or the post-born-again daily transformation from inside out of the believer. This technology is dependent upon the waters (word) available for brooding. If every believer knows this secret, they will not joke with the word of God. The word of God produces faith in man which is sufficient for the Spirit of God in such person to transform the life of such person.

For example, if you believe God for a breakthrough, you must have a sufficient word of God in you for the Spirit of God to brood upon to produce your breakthrough. You are a pornography addict or driven by lust, you need to feed your mind on the word of God first, before you engage the Sprit in prayers. The word of the God is the rock upon which every building of transformation or a new life is built. The Spirit of God is the builder. The act of building is what we call the technology of the Holy Spirit.; his outworking power in the life of believers.

Now, our verse says, “No eye has seen...the things that God prepared for us (the believers)”, but it does not stop there, it went on to say that these things that have been hidden from ages past have been revealed by the Holy Spirit of God. How? Paul (the writer of this passage) went to explain that the Spirit of God is greater than all the search engines of the entire internet combined together. We can praise Google for their superb work but the Holy Spirit of God searches the depth of God and hosts greater dimensions of information that every creature might need.

There are many questions here and there today that people are asking. Some of which are:

·         What is the purpose of life?

·         What is my destiny?

·         Why am I born into this world?

·         Why am I saved?

And lots more!

All of these answers are inclusive in the archive of the Holy Spirit. Paul said “he searches the deep things of God”. The “deep things of God” is the same as the “Heavenly Things” that Jesus mentioned to Nicodemus. Recall that Jesus said if he explains earthly things and a master of the Jewish law like him could not understand, how then will he be able to comprehend heavenly things – the deep things of God?!

The technology of the Holy Spirit works powerfully in the spirit faculty of the believer to the awareness of the deep things that God has not revealed to any. These things are knowledge-like-treasures made available in Christ for the consummation of the carnal age. Without the working force of the Spirit in us (believers) we could hardly get through it. That’s why Nicodemus could not understand it. It is high level information produced by the Divine Intelligence. Now, let’s get into it a bit clearer…

The ‘deep things of God’ is the wisdom of God kept secret from before time began. This wisdom is all summed up in the eternal plan of God for his people. How he intended to make a family of sons and daughters from among men - His pre-determinate counsel for the sons and daughters of God. The deeps things begin with the ‘born from above’ experience, but it does not stop there. If Paul says it is ‘deep’, then it is! I know how well certain preachers of this dispensation have tried to confuse a lot of people with big grammars and scientific words and call them deep mysteries. Words like “gates”, “portals”, “dimensions” among others have been used to excite the believer to think that those messages are deep things of God, but they are not. What the bible refers to as the deep things of God here in the epistle of Paul to the Corinthians is the spirit-water determinate counsel in bringing immortality to light by the gospel.

These are the deep things of God! How God intended to make us to be exactly like him, how he purposed to make us his temple forever, so that we can become one in essence. How intends to relate with us as father to child. All of these are the deep things of God that the scripture above is referring to. And Paul said, it is only the Spirit of God that knows these things, the deep things – the heavenly things!  And he did not stop by just telling us that, he said, the Spirit of God who is the custodian of these deep things has revealed them.

But how?                                                                                                                                           

HEAVENLY THINGS - 2

Born From Above

What does it mean to be born from above?

John 3:3-7

[3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (born from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.

[4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

[5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

[6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

[7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

The ‘born from above’ experience is the spiritual regeneration of every chosen son of God in Christ. That is, those whom are born from above are born into a new family – the family of God. The word “son” or ‘man” used in any passage that has to do with the spiritual birth or the kingdom of God as seen here in the above passage, has nothing to do with gender. It is a general term used for all humans. Therefore, we could say that, anyone who will be part of the family of God i.e. part of God’s kingdom will have to be born from above.

Now, to be born from above is simply the born again experience. There is a physical birth and there is a spiritual birth. Of course, man is both physical and spiritual. All humans have both the spirit part of them as well as the physical part of them. The birth of a child in the hospital or anywhere by some medical personnel is the physical birth of that child. Jesus is now telling us that, everyone who is born like that will never have anything to do with God’s kingdom!

Since God is a spirit, his Kingdom is also spiritual, hence the need for anyone who will have anything to do with him and his kingdom to be spiritual as well. This is why he said they must be born from above. The word ‘above’ here signifies being born from heaven or being born of God. To be born of God is to be born of the Spirit of God since, it is the spirit to spirit reproduction that we are actually interested in according to the passage, to be part of the Kingdom of God. Then, everyone who will be born again will be born spiritually. It has nothing to do with the physical birth of such person. This was where Nicodemus missed it. The ‘born from above’ experience has nothing to do with the physical body. The physical body will never be changed or tampered with during this spiritual experience.

When a person becomes born again, they don’t suddenly change in size or appearance. The born again experience is strictly a matter of the spirit. It has everything to do with the spirit entity of the person. It is a hundred percent spiritual activity that will not be seen with the naked eyes.

How does it happen?

A new creature is born from above by the interactive action of the water and the spirit. That’s why Jesus said: “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. This has nothing to do with baptism. The KJV has the word ‘of’ before the phrase ‘the Spirit’, which is not so in the original manuscript. It is ‘of water and the Spirit” not ‘of water and OF the Spirit’. It is not about having both water baptism and the Holy Ghost baptism! The “water” here is a symbol of the word of God while the “spirit” is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. “Born of water and the spirit” is a figure of speech referring to God’s authentic way of creation. Before a man can be born again, there must be a spirit-word interaction. It is the brooding of the spirit upon the word that quickens something back to life.

See how the Message Version of the Bible puts it: “Unless a person submits to this original creation – the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life – it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.”

From the onset, the only authorized creation methodology of God is the Spirit-water reaction method. The technology of the spirit-water interaction produces a transformed new creation. The world was created in this manner, according to Genesis 1:2. “…And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2b. The Amplified version of the Bible reads “…God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss”. This is the spirit-water reaction that produced the created world! At this time, the world was void and formless; the spirit-water reaction turned a formless earth into an ordered earth. This is just how the Lord creates new things out of old unreasonable things. When the Lord saves a believer, he gets them born by the Spirit-Water reaction in other to transform them just like the formless and void earth into a new and ordered one. So if any man be in Christ, they become a newly transformed personality.

The “word” that the Virgin Mary heard from the Angel became flesh (John 1:14) only when the Holy Spirit came upon her and brooded upon the word.

In God’s agenda of creation, this is the only authorized mode. No one will be transformed into a new creation if they did not first hear the word of Christ, and when the Spirit brood upon such word. This brooding act is actually what Christ says he has seen and witnessed many times: He said “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen…” John 3:11a 

So if any man is born from above, then he is born in his or her spirit by the spirit-water reaction, that is, the Word and the Holy Spirit joint-productive mechanism. That is to say, the salvation of mankind is a joint work of the Word and the Holy Spirit.

No one will be saved if they don’t hear the word, Paul said “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Not word of God) the Greek word in the original manuscript used here is ‘Christos’, so the KJV’s translation of this phrase as ‘word of God’ is an error. It is the message of Christ’s death and resurrection that saves the unbeliever not just any message about God. And no one will be saved except the Spirit broods upon the word they have heard. Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the father which hath sent me draw him…” John 6:44a. The Father draws every human who is to be saved by the spirit. Jesus said concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment.” John 16:8

So when Jesus told Nicodemus that, “Except a man be born of WATER AND THE SPIRIT (not of water and ‘of’ the spirit, the word ‘of’ is not in the original manuscript, KJV translators inserted it), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” he meant that the ‘born from above’ experience is a result of the joint working power of the Word and the Spirit of God!

To be continued…

©BASILEIA INTERNATIONAL

www.thebasileia.blogspot.com|www.facebook.com/basileiafb|+2348137579913

Monthly Teaching Series | September 2020

HEAVENLY THINGS - 1 | The Discourse

Glory be to God. Honor be unto Jesus, we are here again for another edition of the Monthly Teaching Series after many months of absence. 

Now, our theme “Heavenly things” was a phrase made by our Lord Jesus Christ in his discourse with the Jewish teacher, Nicodemus. He mentioned this during his little explanation concerning the “born from above” experience that everyone who will be part of the kingdom of God must have. Everyone knows the story; Nicodemus was a secret disciple, he came to Jesus at night and hence their discussion:

John 3:1-12

[1] There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

[2] The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

[3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

[4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

[5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

[6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

[7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 

[8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

[9] Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

[10] Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 

[11] Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 

[12] If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of HEAVENLY THINGS?

It is obvious that the heavenly things that Jesus Christ was referring to, are deep things of God which is not captured by the Jewish customs and law neither is it taught in any religious circle. Jesus Christ was not really surprised that a whole doctor of the Jewish law, Nicodemus, could not comprehend the “born from above” experience, he knows that spiritual things can be only be understood by spiritual people. The “born from above” experience is not however the same as the ‘heavenly things’ that Jesus was referring to but a pointer to it. The ‘born again’ experience is the simplest mechanism of the deep things of God that the carnal mind would find difficult to understand.

Jesus made it clear in his statement that these “heavenly things” will be difficult for just anyone to understand if they are still having problems with the ‘born from above’ experience. Even up till today, there are many people out there including some Christians, who still have a little problem understanding the ‘born from above’ experience. 

And since this is so, how can we ever know or perceive that there are still greater things in the depth of God? How can we then understand God in his fullness? How can we then comprehend the full essence of our existence in his Kingdom? Seeing that he surely has a goal; a kingdom of sons and daughters who will understand and live a life according to his will. God’s intention is that, his people whom he created in his image should understand the reason for their existence and the essence of their faith.  There is no gainsaying that every believer is saved for a purpose; But for what purpose? The born from above or born again experience is the portal that launches the believer into the deep things of God. 

If you are not born from above, you cannot understand the things from above. 

In the ‘above’ is God, the eternal creator. His glory is everlasting and all of his creations are his idea and glory. There is nothing in existence that is outside his foreordained counsel for humanity.

So, if we have problems understanding the ONLY experience that can bring anyone into God’s eternal agenda and his eternal Kingdom, then we surely do have a challenge in getting acquainted with the Heavenly things, the deep things of God. That was the problem Nicodemus and others had. They couldn’t comprehend the concept of the spiritual birth, hence void of understanding the secret and deep things of God. 

Although the bible made it clear that these heavenly things are difficult for the natural man - the carnal mind, but it also made it clear that they are very simple and understandable to the spiritual man. This is because they are spiritual mysteries, and only the spiritual can comprehend. Interestingly, everyone that is born again is filled with this Holy Spirit of God, so they are made ready to understand these deep things of God. Amen?

Now, before we delve into the heavenly things of God that Nicodemus and the likes of today are void of understanding, we need to check properly what the born again experience is, to be sure that we are on the same page. This is because it is the gateway into God’s depth of knowledge.

What does it mean to be born from above?

To be continued…  

©BASILEIA INTERNATIONAL

www.thebasileia.blogspot.com|www.facebook.com/basileiafb|+2348137579913

Monthly Teaching Series | September 2020