Thursday 6-13-24 5th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Sivan 6 5784 87th. Spring Day
By William F. Dankenbring
On the day of Pentecost, in 31 A.D., God sent His Spirit to come upon each individual of His fledgling new Church. We read, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the BLOWING of a violent WIND came from heaven and FILLED the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and began to speak in other tongues [languages] as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit is that which literally "begets" us. In its "solid" form, it can be compared to the "seed" of the Father which, like the male sperm of human beings, literally "begets" a human child by joining with a female "egg" or "ovum" in a woman's belly. However, God's Spirit begets us by joining with our MIND, and thus making us a "new creature" or "creation" IN CHRIST! The apostle Paul wrote of this marvelous mystery as follows: "Having believed, you were marked in him with a SEAL, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a DEPOSIT guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise of his glory" (Eph.1:13-14). James wrote, "He chose to give us birth [or, "to beget us," as the original Greek says] through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of FIRSTFRUITS of all he created" (James 1:18, NIV). Actually, the Englishman's Greek New Testament is more accurate here. It says plainly: "Having willed it, he BEGAT us by the word of truth."
The apostle John writes: "Everyone that believes that Jesus is the Christ of God has been BEGOTTEN; and everyone that loves him that BEGAT, loves also him that has been BEGOTTEN of him" (I John 5:1, Englishman's Greek New Testament). John goes on: "We know that anyone that has been BEGOTTEN of God sins not, but he that was BEGOTTEN of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him" (verse 18). The Spirit of God unites with our mind, and a New Creature is begotten -- a NEW SON OF GOD! Sealed, or begotten, by the Holy Spirit, Christ begins to grow within us. We begin to develop His very own mind and attitude. Paul wrote, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your own self, which is being 154 corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be MADE NEW in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the NEW self, created to be LIKE GOD in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph.4:22-24). Therefore, Paul wrote, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU" (Gal.4:19). Even as a newly begotten babe is created and month-by-month "formed" within its mother's womb, so after the Holy Spirit begets us as children of God, we begin to grow month-by-month and yearby-year spiritually, as the Holy Spirit begins to FORM CHRIST in us, and change us to become more and more LIKE CHRIST in every respect! Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this spiritual process. He declared, "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has GIVEN US THE SPIRIT as a DEPOSIT guaranteeing what is to come" (II Cor.5:1-5).
The indwelling of God's Holy Spirit makes us a new man -- a NEW BEING! As a result of this spiritual process, the apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATION; the old has gone, the new has come!" (II Cor.5:17). The Holy Spirit begetting us, by connecting with our minds, makes us a new SON OF GOD! But if we don't possess the Spirit of God, then we don't even belong to Christ -- we are not His at all. Paul wrote to the Romans, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, IF the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But IF Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your Spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is LIVING IN YOU, he who raised Christ from the dead will ALSO give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who LIVES in you" (Rom.8:9-11). Isn't the truth of God perfectly clear? The Spirit of God is NOT a "Person" at all, but the Power of God -- His creative energy, with which He created all the Universe. This Spirit, like a "gas," fills all space -- the entire Universe. You cannot go anywhere where the Spirit of God does not already exist and is present! But the Spirit-energy of God is also like a liquid, in that it "flows," and can be "poured out" on individuals, and flows through those who have it like a mighty river of living water (John 7:36). It also is like a "solid" in that, like a male sperm cell which unites with a human egg, the Spirit of God unites with a human, 155 making a NEW SPIRIT CREATION -- a new Son of God!Paul goes on, explaining this cosmic mystery.
He says, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are GOD'S CHILDREN [children through a spiritual "begettal," as we are "begotten" by His Spirit!]. Now if we are children, then we are HEIRS -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (Rom.8:16-17). God has called each one of us to BECOME PART OF HIS SPIRITUAL FAMILY!Paul wrote to the Hebrews, of our awesome, manifest calling, saying, "It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: 'What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care about him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and PUT EVERYTHING under his feet.' "In putting everything under him, GOD LEFT NOTHING that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. "In bringing MANY SONS TO GLORY, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of THE SAME FAMILY. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them BROTHERS" (Heb.2:5-12).
Did you get that? Even as God has given Jesus Christ ALL AUTHORITY, and RULERSHIP over everything -- the entire UNIVERSE! -- so He has given to all mankind, when they become converted and have His Spirit, and become His spiritual children, to have rulership WITH CHRIST over the ENTIRE FAR-FLUNG COSMOS -- the vast, unending UNIVERSE! After we are born of God at the resurrection, and become Spirit beings just like He is, we will be "THE SAME FAMILY" -- THE FAMILY OF GOD! Jesus will look upon us as His own BROTHERS in the God Family! We will not be a "lesser" creation, but we will be LIKE HIM! Isn't that astounding? Incredible? Amazing? Think about that! We are literally "JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST" of all things God has created -- of the entire CREATION, and everything within it -- the entire cosmos and Universe, with all the galaxies, planets, stars, and beings in the entire realm of Space! John wrote of this awesome divine calling, when he said, "How great is the love 156 the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see him as he is" (I John 3:1-3). What is Christ like, today? He is the EXPRESS IMAGE of the Father! (Heb.1:1-2).
Love, Walter And Debbie
By William F. Dankenbring
On the day of Pentecost, in 31 A.D., God sent His Spirit to come upon each individual of His fledgling new Church. We read, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the BLOWING of a violent WIND came from heaven and FILLED the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and began to speak in other tongues [languages] as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit is that which literally "begets" us. In its "solid" form, it can be compared to the "seed" of the Father which, like the male sperm of human beings, literally "begets" a human child by joining with a female "egg" or "ovum" in a woman's belly. However, God's Spirit begets us by joining with our MIND, and thus making us a "new creature" or "creation" IN CHRIST! The apostle Paul wrote of this marvelous mystery as follows: "Having believed, you were marked in him with a SEAL, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a DEPOSIT guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise of his glory" (Eph.1:13-14). James wrote, "He chose to give us birth [or, "to beget us," as the original Greek says] through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of FIRSTFRUITS of all he created" (James 1:18, NIV). Actually, the Englishman's Greek New Testament is more accurate here. It says plainly: "Having willed it, he BEGAT us by the word of truth."
The apostle John writes: "Everyone that believes that Jesus is the Christ of God has been BEGOTTEN; and everyone that loves him that BEGAT, loves also him that has been BEGOTTEN of him" (I John 5:1, Englishman's Greek New Testament). John goes on: "We know that anyone that has been BEGOTTEN of God sins not, but he that was BEGOTTEN of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him" (verse 18). The Spirit of God unites with our mind, and a New Creature is begotten -- a NEW SON OF GOD! Sealed, or begotten, by the Holy Spirit, Christ begins to grow within us. We begin to develop His very own mind and attitude. Paul wrote, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your own self, which is being 154 corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be MADE NEW in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the NEW self, created to be LIKE GOD in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph.4:22-24). Therefore, Paul wrote, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU" (Gal.4:19). Even as a newly begotten babe is created and month-by-month "formed" within its mother's womb, so after the Holy Spirit begets us as children of God, we begin to grow month-by-month and yearby-year spiritually, as the Holy Spirit begins to FORM CHRIST in us, and change us to become more and more LIKE CHRIST in every respect! Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this spiritual process. He declared, "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has GIVEN US THE SPIRIT as a DEPOSIT guaranteeing what is to come" (II Cor.5:1-5).
The indwelling of God's Holy Spirit makes us a new man -- a NEW BEING! As a result of this spiritual process, the apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATION; the old has gone, the new has come!" (II Cor.5:17). The Holy Spirit begetting us, by connecting with our minds, makes us a new SON OF GOD! But if we don't possess the Spirit of God, then we don't even belong to Christ -- we are not His at all. Paul wrote to the Romans, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, IF the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But IF Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your Spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is LIVING IN YOU, he who raised Christ from the dead will ALSO give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who LIVES in you" (Rom.8:9-11). Isn't the truth of God perfectly clear? The Spirit of God is NOT a "Person" at all, but the Power of God -- His creative energy, with which He created all the Universe. This Spirit, like a "gas," fills all space -- the entire Universe. You cannot go anywhere where the Spirit of God does not already exist and is present! But the Spirit-energy of God is also like a liquid, in that it "flows," and can be "poured out" on individuals, and flows through those who have it like a mighty river of living water (John 7:36). It also is like a "solid" in that, like a male sperm cell which unites with a human egg, the Spirit of God unites with a human, 155 making a NEW SPIRIT CREATION -- a new Son of God!Paul goes on, explaining this cosmic mystery.
He says, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are GOD'S CHILDREN [children through a spiritual "begettal," as we are "begotten" by His Spirit!]. Now if we are children, then we are HEIRS -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (Rom.8:16-17). God has called each one of us to BECOME PART OF HIS SPIRITUAL FAMILY!Paul wrote to the Hebrews, of our awesome, manifest calling, saying, "It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: 'What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care about him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and PUT EVERYTHING under his feet.' "In putting everything under him, GOD LEFT NOTHING that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. "In bringing MANY SONS TO GLORY, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of THE SAME FAMILY. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them BROTHERS" (Heb.2:5-12).
Did you get that? Even as God has given Jesus Christ ALL AUTHORITY, and RULERSHIP over everything -- the entire UNIVERSE! -- so He has given to all mankind, when they become converted and have His Spirit, and become His spiritual children, to have rulership WITH CHRIST over the ENTIRE FAR-FLUNG COSMOS -- the vast, unending UNIVERSE! After we are born of God at the resurrection, and become Spirit beings just like He is, we will be "THE SAME FAMILY" -- THE FAMILY OF GOD! Jesus will look upon us as His own BROTHERS in the God Family! We will not be a "lesser" creation, but we will be LIKE HIM! Isn't that astounding? Incredible? Amazing? Think about that! We are literally "JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST" of all things God has created -- of the entire CREATION, and everything within it -- the entire cosmos and Universe, with all the galaxies, planets, stars, and beings in the entire realm of Space! John wrote of this awesome divine calling, when he said, "How great is the love 156 the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see him as he is" (I John 3:1-3). What is Christ like, today? He is the EXPRESS IMAGE of the Father! (Heb.1:1-2).
Love, Walter And Debbie