Greetings Friends! There is only one place in the whole of the known and unknown universe where life, both seen and unseen, springs forth. It is from this source that all of creation burst forth in life, whether physical or non-physical (spiritual). This is the residence of the One who declares Himself to be God who is Creator of everything. He is the uncreated Almighty God who exists in His substance of Love and Freedom.

He declares Himself omnipotent, meaning He is “all powerful.” The Bible quotes God, “I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by Myself” (Isa.44:24). The prophet introduced the passage about God being Creator of all humanity, “This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb” (Isa.44:24; read also, Psa.139) 

He shows Himself to be omniscient which means He is “all knowing.” God knows everything. The Bible says, “For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything” (1 John 3:20). Further, the Bible says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the One to whom we are accountable” (Heb.4:13; also, Prov.5:21; 15:3).

He reveals Himself to be omnipresent, meaning God is “present everywhere” or He is in all places at once. The Psalmist utters God’s omnipresence, “Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your Presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psa.139:7-10, ESV).

God, in His sovereign mantle of Love and Freedom, calls creation into existence from the expanse and vacuum of nothingness by the creative words of His Son. (John 1:1-4) The Bible states, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son…through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His Being, sustaining all things by His powerful word” (Heb.1:1-3). God encompasses all space and time, and things seen and unseen, and declares Himself to His creation through His Son. Further God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev.22:13). God, in His mantle of Love and Freedom, spreads creation out as a curtain where all of life is made to manifest.

In all God’s greatness from what we have seen described above, He also reveals His divine nature. He reveals Himself as the God who is Love in nature and substance. John declares this beautiful truth about God, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). So, while He is inherently “all powerful” (omnipotent), “all knowing” (omniscient), and is “present everywhere” (omnipresent), God exists spontaneously in His overarching nature of Love. The opposite of Love is hatred, depravity, hostility, self-centeredness, greed, rude and uncaring, coarse and brutish, heartless, unforgiving, cruel, aloof and unfriendly, and so forth. He is none of that, for He is unconditionally and perfectly Love in nature and substance!

However, God is not only Love, He is also the embodiment of Freedom in every sense – He is Freedom personified! He is Freedom in the truest sense of the word, just as He is absolutely Love in substance and reality! As noun or verb, God is both Love and Freedom Personified in His Trinitarian Being. When He created humankind, He Freely chose to do so out of His great Love. And He Freely chose to make humans in His likeness, that is to say, to possess both Love and Freedom as He is in His Tri-Personal Being and Godhead (Trinity). (Matt.28:18-19; 2 Cor.13:14). So, whenever the nature of God is mentioned it always convey both His trinitarian Love and Freedom as one indivisible divine substance.

Humans have searched and conjured up deities following their fallen minds from Adam, and have been led by the devil through idol and other forms of worship with equally evil practices. Unless and until the true God and Creator chooses to reveal Himself to humanity, we are left at the whims of our fallen and sin-conditioned imagination about His deity. Satan has taken advantage of this ignorance and led fallen humanity down the dark path of false and satanic worship. However, the Bible says this about the Creator’s revelation about Himself.

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, He has spoken to us through His Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son He created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command. When He had cleansed us from our sins, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave Him is greater than their names” (Heb.1:1-4, NLT).

So through Jesus, the Son, God created mankind in His own image, and that image is seen and replicated in His Son, Jesus. (Rom.8:29; 2 Cor.4:4) God reveals Himself not as a solitary God as humans have attempted to portray Him, rather, He revealed Himself as a Tri-Personal Being in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Trinity). (Matt.28:18-19; 1 Pet.1:2; Act.7:55; 2 Cor.13:14) The three Persons of the Trinity are three distinct and free Persons in the Godhead. Paul’s blessing upon the Corinthians was uttered with these words, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor,13:14). Jesus said this about Him and the Father, “No one has seen the Father except the One (Jesus) who is from God; only He has seen the Father” (John 6:46, italics my emphasis). Further Jesus declares His divine origin in the Triune Godhead, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Having seen God’s Triune Being is characterized by both Love and Freedom, let’s dig deeper into the flipside of God’s Love nature…that of Freedom, and why is this important to comprehend and understand? Consider, in His Personal Freedom, God gave up His Son to be born a human and die as a worthy sacrifice to save mankind from sin and rebellion, and gift us with immortality. (John 3:16-17) When Jesus gave His life to be crucified upon His cross, He freely did so as a Free Person within the Trinity, “The reason My Father Loves Me is that I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). This reveals the truth that each Person within the trinitarian Godhead is fully God and distinctly Free and whole Personalities.

Then Jesus explained the Father’s free-will to surrender His Son for humanity’s Freedom, He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to bring Good News (from the Father and Spirit) to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come” (Luk.4:18-19, NLT, italics my emphasis). Jesus was reading from the scroll in a synagogue, and told His listeners, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luk.4:21). The time of Jubilee (freedom) was here. The central plank of Jesus’ mission was to bring Freedom by setting humanity free from rebellion and the sin-condition the devil had imprisoned mankind since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden. (Gen.3:1-6).

Jesus’ mission was to set humanity Free as God is Free in His Tri-Personal Being. For in stating the obvious regarding the unity of the purpose of the divine Godhead to save mankind, the trinitarian culture and value is self-evident in that the act of one is always the act of three, and the act of three is always the act of one. (2 Thess.2:13; 2 Cor.5:21; Matt.28:18-19) God exists in three equally Free divine Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because of their shared substance is a divine one, all three Persons are divine and equally Love and equally Free. This is God’s image replicated in human beings when He created mankind. (Gen.1:26-27) It is from the Free Personalities of the triune Godhead by which human individual freedom is realized, understood, and replicated.

John tells us about God’s judgement for giving His Son, “And the (God’s) judgment is based on this fact: God’s light (Jesus) came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil” (John 3:19, italics my emphasis). Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). He goes on, “So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Freedom was the key pillar of Jesus’ mission.

Here, we see that ‘light’ and ‘darkness’ are used metaphorically for ‘freedom’ from or ‘bondage’ to evil and sin. What is this freedom? Paul said, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery” (Gal.5:1). The “yoke of slavery” means the sin-condition humans have been held in bondage to since Adam’s fall in Eden. (Rom.5:17: Gen.3:1-6; 2:15-17) Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34; 2 Pet.2:19). Paul goes on, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor.3:17).

Abraham Lincoln said, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” In this fallen world of Satan, he is the master in the systemetic spritual slavery system he has established over unsuspecting humanity. There is but One true Master in heaven, who is Himself Freedom and its complete embodiment who leads humanity on the pathway to liberty and Love. Jesus said, “No one is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and he will love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and mammon (self-centeredness)” (Matt.6:24, italics my emphasis).

Nowadays many people live and exist like they are anything but free. To be sure, all of humanity exists today in a state of bondage to the devil’s sin-condition of mutinous rebellion against God, following Lucifer’s (now Satan’s) original revolt against his Sovereign Creator. (Isa.14:12-14; Ezek.28:11-19) For humanity, it started from Adam’s fall in Eden, following Lucifer’s revolt. So, feeling subjugated is natural to the ‘fallen Adamic humanity’ having inherited the same spirit of bondage from Satan through Adam’s fall. Paul said, “Because one person (Adam) disobeyed God, many became sinners (remain in fallen condition). But because one other Person obeyed God (Jesus Christ), many will be made righteous” (Rom.5:19, NLT, italics my emphasis).

Yes, after Adam’s fall, God immediately promised to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us through His ‘redeemed Immanuel humanity.’ (Gen.3:14-15; Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23, 21) Yes, His prophetic name, ‘Immanuel,’ reveals Jesus’ origin from the divine Tri-Personal Godhead (Trinity). (Matt.28:18-19; 2 Cor.13:14) It means Jesus was God in human flesh, for that is what ‘Immanuel’ means, “God with us” (Matt.1:23; also, Isa.9:6; John 3:16).  

In this incarcerated condition, humans have become prisoners of their own making because of the ‘fallen Adamic humanity’ inherited from Satan through Adam’s fall in Eden. (Gen.3:1-6; 2:16-17) Be that as it may, mankind possess human freedom and thereby can choose which way to follow – Satan’s way of sin and self-centeredness, or Christ’s triune way of Love, collaboration, and freedom. One of the consequences of following the Satan’s rebellious way is people’s inclination to place blame upon others or on external extraneous factors for their failures.

This began with Adam for blaming Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. (Gen.3:10-13). When God asked Eve about it, she blamed Satan. But Satan blamed them for he is called “the accuser of the brethren” (Rev.12:10) He is the blamer-in-chief, for the Scriptures tell us he is “the accuser of our brothers and sisters — the one who accuses them before our God day and night” (Rev.12:10). He is also called God’s and thereby humanity’s adversary. (1 Pet.5:8). So, the common human trait and pastime of playing the ‘blame game’ started in Eden.

Eve was spot-on for blaming Satan, nevertheless, humans possess individual freedoms incubated in the divine Love-image, and must take responsibility for their own actions. We share the blame when we freely choose not to take responsibility for our freedoms, despite our ignorance or willfulness in the moment. Paul warned us, “Do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke (bondage) of slavery (sin)” (Gal.5:1, italic my emphasis). That is why Jesus had to freely and voluntarily choose to die upon His cross as our worthy sacrifice, because we sinned freely and willfully, albeit at the instigation of the Evil One. (Read about overcoming the devil’s temptations following Jesus’ example at: http://bulamanriver.net/20216) 

People tend to refuse to own up to their failures without realizing we are actually living in the spirit of subjugation of the Evil One who instigates and promotes failures and accusations (blaming). (Rev.12:10) Paul pointed out our dilemma, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph.6:12, ESV).

People blame adverse conditions, from economic status and or misfortune, to other’s political persuasion and governments, to racial division and animosity, to ill fortune and just bad breaks, to ill health and negative circumstances, and whatever cause they want to assign blame, take a pick. But it is a symptom of our fallen human nature from Adam. We must be cognizant of the spiritual forces which undertow our freedoms and motivations. (Eph.6:12) In all this, there is Freedom we must contend with and answer to. Freedom imparts transparency to human personal responsibility.  

Let us continue as Jesus magnify our understanding on this point about freedom, saying, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear, your whole body is also light; but when it is evil, your body is also dark. Therefore, take heed, lest the light that is in you be darkness. If therefore your body is full of light, not having any part dark, it will be all light, as when the lamp shining might light you” (Luk.11:34-36, BLB). Light and darkness are symbols for freedom and bondage. Jesus is speaking about two realities, like two sets of ‘eyes’: the physical eye, and the spiritual eye. They both see things differently, depending on which pair of eyes is perceiving (seeing).

If your human eye is the lamp of the physical body, then your spiritual eye (vision) is the lamp to the soul (mind) spiritual body. The human mind is the factory for thoughts where thought-processes are manufactured and turned into human action. Light and darkness are metaphors for freedom and bondage, benevolence and malevolence, sin and virtue (Love), salvation and condemnation. Thereby, our actions which flow from our sight (perception), conceived in our thoughts, generated by actions which constitute either freedom or bondage (light or darkness), virtue (Love) or sin (rebellion).

The important question to answer is, who is the ‘light’ of your eye? Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Satan is also called light, a masquerading “the angel of light” (2 Cor.11:14). This is what Paul spoke of when he warned, “Therefore take heed that the light within you is not darkness” (Luk.11:35). The only light which can be seen in darkness is the devil who masquerades himself as an “angel of light” (2 Cor.11:14). We can be in darkness but able to see only the ‘light’ the devil emits from his masquerading “angel of light.” Jesus is the true Light which brings Freedom.

Let us be spiritually perceptive in our understanding that life incorporates human experiences that reveal personal messages from the divine will. God is using the humdrum events of our lives as kind of alphabets, the bits and pieces of His language of Love that, under the subterranean strata of our lives and with the spiritual eyes convey His Love, purpose, and Freedoms. Paul said in effect that nothing happens inadvertently by accident, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who Love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Rom.8:28). This act of self-discovery and remembering is vital in seeking the treasures buried in God’s own heart for our lives. We train our eyes to see the light through the fingerprints of God in all our situation and circumstances. Jesus said, “Blessed are your eyes because they see” (Matt.13:16).

Satan’s mode of deception has always been to try to create a counterfeit light to God’s light in Jesus Christ. For in Christ’s light we are bathed in Freedom, in Satan’s light (fake “angel of light”) we grope and fumble in the darkness of sin and rebellion. (2 Cor.11:14) Satan was once genuine angel of light when God created him an anointed cherub, named Lucifer, called the “Shining Star of the Dawn” (Ezek.28:14; Isa.14:12). But through his revolt with his rebellious angels, his light was extinguished and he mutated into Satan, God’s adversary and angel of darkness. (1 Pet.5:8; Isa.14:12-14; Col.1:13)

Now he is masquerading the former glory which he once had and lost in order to deceive humanity. Today, the Bible tells us something different about Satan, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph.6:12). So, he is the angel of darkness who rule in his dark world. (Col.1:13).

Humans have vision through two pair of eyes. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. They both perceive differently, depending on which pair of eyes is doing the observation and considering the facts before it. If Jesus is our light, then we will have both pair of eyes, but with the spiritual eyes we will observe true light which brings spiritual “health” as Luke’s gospel puts across. (Luk.11:34) We will perceive the truth for Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32, italics my emphasis). Jesus is our light that brings truth and freedom! Truth and Freedom are opposite sides of the same coin. The passage to Freedom is through the Truth, in the Person of Jesus, who said, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

However, with ordinary (unconverted) pair of eyes, without Jesus as our light, we will see with both vision pairs, however, spiritually we will only see Satan’s counterfeit light (“angel of light”) in his dark world. (2 Cor.11:14). With Jesus’ pair of eyes, we will see through the darkness of Satan’s counterfeit light. With ordinary (unconverted) pair of eyes, the only ‘light’ we will see is Satan’s light disguising as the “angle of light.” The ‘light’ he projects emanates and bursts forth from the very depths of hades. He is true darkness, and the prince of darkness. (Col.1:13; Eph.6:12) Unless we have the right pair of eyes of Jesus with His light, we will not see the devil for what he truly is, the angel of darkness. (John 8:12) We remain in bondage to his rebellion and sin-condition.

When Paul, then named Saul, miraculously encountered Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus, Jesus gave him a commission, “I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’” (Act.26:12, 15-18, italics my emphasis). Did you notice, Paul’s mission was to raise a people from the Gentile population, who are given this new pair of eyes so they may see light (freedom) from darkness (bondage) and turn away from bondage and follow the path of freedom (light) in Christ – “through faith in Me (Jesus)” (Act.26:18). The Bible calls Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. (Rom.11:13) Paul was given the same mission the Father gave Jesus. (Luk.4:18-19)

Once again, why is it important to comprehend God’s divine nature of Love and Freedom…and notably Freedom as we are doing in this post today? The passage to Freedom is through the Truth… the very Person of Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In the final scenario of God’s plan for humanity, after all things in God’s venerated and blessed future plan for humanity have been restituted by and through His Son, He reveals this beautiful truth about mankind’s destiny in all creation and in the divine sacred order. It is prophetically uttered in this fashion, “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.8:17; also read, Rev.21:1-8).

Humans are predestined to become offspring of the divine, children of Freedom, children of God. By saying, “heirs of God” means to become heirs of who God is in both His ‘Love Personality,’ and ‘Personality of Freedom.’ To “inherit all things” is to become co-heirs with Jesus of all creation. (Rev.21:7) As offspring and heirs of God and His creation humanity reflect His personalities of Love and Freedom. For God is Love and Freedom by nature and substance (homoousios*). (1 John 4:8, 16; John 8:32, 36; Gal.5:1; Gen.1:26-27).

God has created humanity for Freedom to reflect Him in His divine nature. Let’s now answer what is this divine substance we call Freedom, and why is it so vital to our lives and the lives of all peoples? And most importantly, for the wellbeing of humanity as a whole. It is wrapped up in Jesus’ answer, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Recall, we have seen that ‘light’ is synonymous with ‘freedom,’ as ‘darkness’ is with ‘bondage.’ Paul told the Galatians, “It is for Freedom that Christ has set us Free” (Gal.5:1, my emphasis; John 8:36). Freedom is ultimately about squaring our lives with and about the Truth of sin which holds us in bondage.

What is light? According to the Bible, it is personified in the life and person of Jesus Christ. “I Am the light of the world,” He said succinctly and unambiguously. Freedom is not some mystical, nonphysical, substance we take ownership of like some metaphysical element we can earn, collect and amass, and even manipulate. It is not a degree we earn in college. This is the first truth about Freedom we must wrap around our limited human minds – (I say ‘limited’ not in a derogatory sense, but to underscore how far humanity has drifted from the divine reality since the fall of man in Eden). Freedom is bound up in the Person of Jesus Christ…Freedom shines forth from His ‘light’ as the second Person of the Tri-Personal Godhead (Trinity). (John 8:12, 32).

Sin and rebellion stands as a wall which prevents Freedom from reaching the human mind to illuminate and inspire us with the brilliance of God’s enlightenment. The whole of creation is tied to the divine reality of God’s Person which we saw at the start of this blog, that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

Let me attempt to expand on this extra-ordinary truth about the Person of Jesus who brings about Freedom for He is the Personification of it. Freedom is embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ. I realize that can be very hard to comprehend, having been reared in the fallen, dark, world of the Evil One. Throughout time and history since Eden, our first parents enjoyed the blessed state of existence in complete wellbeing, sufficiency, wholesomeness, and joy unbound in the presence of God. They never knew or experienced any semblance of physical or spiritual degeneration, neither any lack or want whatsoever.

Since God brought forth all things through the creative hands of His Son, then the whole of creation and the universe is wrappred up in Jesus Christ’s Person as the Fountain of life itself. (Heb.1:1-3) Creation does not and cannot derive its existence from nothing, but must spring forth from life itself wrapped up in the Person of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul affirms this, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom.8:2, ESV). Life cannot evolve by a natural process on its own, but by the ‘Spirit of life’ (Holy Spirit) through Christ. (John 14:6)

We can scientifically examine and explain how life is transmitted and emitted from a natural source or element, like our sun. That is merely the analysis of output, yet we’re left with the question of input, which answers the question of life and reality itself which is totally different. God Himself says, “Not by (human) might, nor by (natural) power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zech.4:6; italics my emphasis; also, John 6:63; Act.1:8; Job 32:8; Psa.33:6). Ultimately, the sun’s solar energy is harnessed and radiates through the input of God’s Spirit, the very mantle of power that holds the whole universe in its cosmic order and center. (Col.1:17; Heb.1:3)

We can see exquisite colorful butterflies, humble insects that can solve seemingly complex problems by working together, and even ‘intelligent’ animals, and wonder at the marvelous creative hands of God. The Psalmist declare, “You give them Your breath, life is created and You renew the earth” (Psa.104:30). Hence, all life and all creation is wrapped up in the mantle of the Person of Jesus who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6; Heb.1:2). This awareness and recognition is the precept upon which the human mind is launched into the pathway to genuine liberty, creativity, and eventual immortality. (John 3:16)

Only after humanity’s fall through Adam and Eve, have we drifted so distant away from our predestined Edenic reality that was mankind’s very first divinely miraculous birthright. Humanity has never experienced what it was like to exist in such an Edenic paradise. What we experience today can only be measured in terms of our spiritual distance from God, and humanity’s drift into the darkness of the evil world the devil has fashioned for fallen humans. Through Adam’s fall we have lost our wonder and fascination for God’s Love, and awe for His sovereign Freedom. Be that as it may, the Spirit ensures humans will never lose their inborn divine destiny nor will it be erased. (Gen.1:26-27)

We may have chosen to live autonomously from the Creator and His Love as Lucifer (Satan) did, but God rescues us through His Son in order to bring mankind to His triune (nonautonomous) Love-Being. (Luk.17:21, KJV; Rom.5:12; Ezek.28:13-19) We have lost every glimmer and import of the reality Adam and Eve once enjoyed existing in the Love and Freedom of the divine Tri-Personal Being of God (Trinity). Paul told the people of Athens, “For in Him we live and move and have our being’” (Act.17:28).

In promising to restore our human birthright in the image and likeness of God by saving mankind from sin and death, the Bible made a remarkable prediction about Jesus’ role as our Savior and High Priest. (John 3:16; Heb.4:14-16). He was prophesied to appear as One who is the “refiner’s fire,” and “launderer’s soap.” It means He ‘cleanses’ and ‘refines’ His people. (Mal.3:2-4) As humanity’s High Priest today, He appears before our Almighty Father and performs this role of cleansing and refining us from all our human frailties, evil inclinations, wrong urges and impulses, refines our thoughts and motives so we can live in His Love-instincts, and make mankind holy and acceptable before the Almighty, so we may remain enveloped in His Love and Freedom forever. (Rom.5:9; 3:26)

Jesus’ Person represents the very divine fiber, nuance, and modulation of the Tri-Personal Love. In Him we live, move, and walk thus evoking interactive relationship with the holy God. This was what humanity had through the ‘tree of life’ in Eden, but was cut-off through sin and rebellion owing to Adam’s fall. Today Jesus is the filter by which we are cleansed, refined, and made holy in God’s presence. (2 Cor.5:21) This is what our ‘fallen Adamic humanity’ does not possess and will not attain without the Person of Jesus who is the embodiment of the identical Love substance in the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Hence, Paul says, “So you also are made complete through your union with Christ, who is the Head over every ruler and authority” (Col.2:10, NLT). You see, as Jesus walks in us through the Spirit’s anointing power, the divine Freedom brings on gradual and certain victories in life thwarting the enemy’s work of darkness; and these victories all add up to discovering genuine and joyful liberties found only in our ‘true self in Christ’ previously incarcerated in sin. In our union with Jesus, we are Freed from all forms of bondage. (Col.2:13-15). Yes, “Jesus has disarmed the powers and authorities of darkness, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col.2:15). All praise be to God, this is the otherworldly miraculous life humans are given and privileged to live in Jesus through the Spirit’s empowering presence. When the Scripture says through Paul, “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” it is affirming the miraculous life in the Spirit’s power which defeat evil and sin which keep us in bondage. (2 Cor.12:10) As the prophet uttered the very words of God, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says the LORD of Hosts” (Zech.4:6)

Notice how Paul frames our Freedom through his text to the Christians in Ephesus, “Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing” (Eph.2:7-10, MSG). And the end result is joy and liberty in Love (God).

Unfortunately, through time and deception, Satan has driven a wedge to extricate us from our reality in Jesus Christ and the Godhead. With time and experience, the human uprooting and distance from God has grown wider and further in scope and depth. This is the beautiful truth that was lost from our first home in Eden. But God sent His Son to reestablish this wonderful Edenic truth in all its glory that is humanity’s birthright prior to the fall. (John 3:16-17; Rom.8:12, 36)

Freedom is wrapped up in a Person. Freedom is not some philosophy major one pursues and earns in college. It is not born out of our American history in slavery, although its certain painful legacy can be understood through this aspect of our history. But true Freedom is greater than we realize or we migh care to admit. Freedom is a Person! Freedom is Jesus Christ! (John 8:32, 36; 14:6) It is personified in His Person, in the same way that rebellion and sin is personified in Satan, the devil. (Isa.14:12-15; Ezek.28:14-15) Freedom and bondage, good and evil, are powerful unseen forces which are broadcasted into the human psyche by evil spirits or God’s Spirit. Hence, we are admonished “to test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).

Satan and his demonic spirits know of their future where they will be held in hellish prison through their diabolical work of leading humanity down the path of sin and damnation. (2 Pet.2:1-2; Jude 1:6; Rev.20:1-2) We must understand all forms of bondage and slavery in the backdrop of sin and rebellion for living automously apart from God promoted by Satan. Love leads to Freedom and can never promote slavery and bondage in any shape or form, especially spiritually. (Isa.61:1-2; Luk.4:18) Love is a Person! Love is Jesus Christ! God is Love! (1 John 4:8, 16)  

If the Love of truth is something we can identify with, then the only way genuine Love and Freedom can enter and become part of humanity is to unify the two lives into One, as in the marriage union, humanity in Jesus and vice versa. Jesus said, “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt.16:25). Mankind will be made one with and in Jesus, as Christ is One with the Father and the Spirit in the trinitarian Godhead. (Matt.28:18-19; 2 Cor.13:14).

Jesus’ ‘redeemed Immanuel humanity’ explains the incarnation of the divine nature, will and purpose in humanity…Jesus’ presence is the flow of His divinity, His Love, His Freedom, through us to others. In the same evil spirit by which humans are led and held involuntarily in bondage and sin, mankind will be led in the path of Freedom and restorative righteousness through the Holy Spirit. We will be lifted to a fresh and uplifting consciousness opening the pathway to liberty.

And we know this is the prophetic union of humanity’s future glory of one reality and union in Christ, listen, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife (mankind) has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” (Rev.19:6-9). Only in such blessed union will humanity and God unite and become One in the very essence of divine Love and Freedom as declared in Scripture, “God will be all in all” (1 Cor.15:28).

The very heart and substance of this divine plan began with humanity’s process of rebirth when Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). Yes, we experience the rebirth, a spiritual incarnation, into the divine dynamic union with Jesus’ ‘redeemed Immanuel humanity’ and thereby given to have union with the holy God. Paul explains how this process works from our human perspective, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal.2:20a). Paul speaks of a death and rebirth process of incarnational conversion.

A rebirth takes place when one life is given up for another to make the two One in Christ. We do not lose our individuality, but actually reclaim it from the evil cocoon and prison into which we have been imprisoned by Satan. Once we were in union with the devil’s rebellion, now we are unified in and with Jesus in Freedom and God’s Love. Jesus made this action on our part abundantly clear when He said, “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt.16:25).

Earlier we saw that humans have two pair of spiritual eyes, one sees Jesus’ light, while the other sees the devil’s light which is Satan’s masquerading “angel of light” which blinds unknowing people to the true light of Jesus. (2 Cor.11:14; John 8:12). Both eyes represent the false self and the true self. It is the false self which place blinders before us so we cannot see the light of Jesus. Jesus said that if you lose the false self, you will be given the eyes of the true self to see Him, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it” (Matt.16:25).  

Further, Paul made reference to our union with Christ, “For Christ’s Love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor.5:14-15). And this is what happens in the ritual of baptism, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom.6:3-4).

Did you see that? Baptism is the ritual given us by God to memorialize our death and rebirth and enter into the future glorious spiritual marriage union wherein Christ now lives in humans, and vice versa in one glorious unified being. Paul affirms Jesus’ words, saying, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new (reborn and redeemed) life has begun!” (2 Cor.5:17, italics mine, NLT). Yes, in baptism we bury the old enslaved life and self we had under Satan, and given rebirth into the ‘redeemed Immanuel humanity’ in Jesus, replicating the one unified life of the Tri-Personal Being of God (Trinity) in the Father, Son, and Spirit. (Matt.28:18-19).

Ultimately, Freedom brings mankind to the place in the human journey where we hear, “A loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new! Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” (Rev.21:3-7). This is the epitome of humanity’s journey of incarnation into God’s eternal Freedom and Love which ends in immortality and Paradise. (Rev.19:6-9; 21:1-2)

Reflect on this astounding truth, God is divine and we are the ‘fallen Adamic humanity’ from Adam. How can we possibly imagine that in our fallen state of being we have the capacity wherewithal to enter the existence of the holy God? It is impossible! Yet, here is the Good News – God makes it possible by giving up His Son by attributing His perfect life upon us which makes our future potential all possible. (2 Cor.5:21; John 6:40) Such is the indescribable wisdom of God, the unfathomable Love of our Father, there is no superlative to articulate its depth, breadth, height, and width. A Love that surpasses all knowledge and transcends every nugget of wisdom by which we are filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph.3:18-19)

Petition: Friends, as I have closed my post in the past, I customarily give our readers the opportunity to give their lives to our Maker. I thank you for investing your precious time with me in the sharing of the good news of Jesus who is our hope and has enabled us to live the Triune Life*. Jesus is alive today as our High Priest in heaven seated at His Father’s side, and ceaselessly mediating for us. I hope that in your heart of heart you will receive Him as your personal Savior, receive God’s Spirit, and be part of living this glorious Immanuel humanity made children of God forever.

You can privately and quietly pray the prayer below in your heart. I am asking you to pray this prayer as a human being Christ died for, regardless of your background. All are inducted into the one mankind Jesus saved, not into any religious sect or denomination, or divisions one may espouse – but into the glorious humanity that Christ is preparing as the holy temple for the holy God, the Creator’s dwelling:

Prayer: “Almighty God, Father of all humanity, forgive me of all my sins for I receive Your Son, Jesus, as my personal Savior. In Your incalculable grace, grant Your promised celestial life in Your Son through Your Holy Spirit, and open my eyes to the wondrous gifts you have conferred upon me and all humanity. May Your Love guide and protect me and my Loved ones always, and bring us all into Your beloved and divine Kingdom. I praise and thank You, Amen.”

Welcome to the celestial life of Love in God’s holy, eternal Family. (1 Tim.6:19) Then keep in touch with God’s Word for you by reading and studying your Bible, and visiting this blog and website and look at various subjects listed in our ‘archives’ that may be relevant for your situation – go to: http://bulamanriver.net. You can email me with your questions at the address shown below.

Personal Blessing: Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”* Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Farewell for now! 

Appendix: *”Triune Life”: Relationship with God has no meaning without Love. By its very nature, Love cannot endure in solitary existence. So, when God said “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” He was revealing Himself as existing in His trinitarian existence. That is, His Tri-Personal Being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Gen.1:26; Matt.28:19; John 14:10, 16; 16:7) The Hebrew word for ‘God’ in the creation account is “Elohim.” It describes God in His plurality, as the Trinity – the Tri-Personal Godhead, which other scriptures attests. (Matt.28:18-20; 1 Pet.1:2; 2 Thess.2:13; 2 Cor.13:14) So, God is Trinitarian in His Love nature. He is also clothed in Freedom. For the three Persons of the Trinity are three distinct and free Persons in the triune Godhead. Love and Freedom by nature is relational as God is in His Tri-Personal Being. Hence, a human being was created a relational being.

Adam was solitary and incomplete until God made Eve. He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone (solitary). I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen.2:18, italics mine). So, God gave Adam a family to raise composed of a father, mother, and offspring, to reflect Himself in His plural Being. The Bible states that the Church’s or humanity’s destiny is to marry Christ, the second Person of the Triune Godhead, in the new age to come which will be an everlasting relationship. (2 Cor.11:2; Eph.5:23-27, 32; Rev.19:7) The Bible is abundantly clear about God’s nature and declaration of Himself in His relational Triune Being from the past, the present, and the future. God has never lived as a solitary Being, but a Tri-Personal Being.

It’s noteworthy to understand that Eve was not created an individual creation from the dust of the earth as was Adam. She was not created apart from Adam as an individualized separate human being, instead, she was taken out from Adam’s side to show she was biologically one and indivisibly part of Adam. Eve was not detached (solitary) from Adam, but intrinsically inseparable from Adam’s innermost humanity. When Adam saw Eve, he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Gen.2:21-23) God created humanity to reflect Himself in His unified Tri-Personal Being (Trinity).

Each one of us was created as an indivisible relational human being incubated and given birth from Adam’s mold as one species, for God created humanity to reflect the eternal likeness in His triunity. We are born for relationships with the divine triune Love as our guiding principle. All this show that humans were created to be indivisibly one to reflect God’s Tri-Personal image of Oneness, not solitary separateness. When God sent Jesus His eternal Son, He became human in order to unify humanity spiritually to the Triune Being of God once for all time. Hence, when the prophet Isaiah proclaimed Jesus’ coming, He was given the prophetic name, Immanuel. (Isa.7:14) The name means “God with us” (Matt.1:23). Humanity is ‘organically’ one with the Triune God, just as humanity is one with Adam.

Most religions believe God as some solitary being. The true God is not solitary by any means, He is the Trinity in His Tri-Personal Being. God consist of three Persons in One divine triune Godhead. They exist in One “homoousion” meaning consisting in one substance, or “consubstantiality.” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in One hypostatic union, One substance, like Eve was biologically part of and never physically separate, but of one substance from Adam. Likewise, humanity is made of one spiritual substance with the triune God through Jesus Christ who took our humanity upon Himself and joined it to the divine triune existence forever.

The three-dimensional Triune Life/Love is opposed to living the one-dimensional solitary life of the fallen humanity inherited from Satan through Adam’s rebellion. For additional information about the Triune Life: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036. Also at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092. 

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, you may obtain a copy of my book, “Bula” Man-River, from Amazon.com; xulonpress.com, barnesandnoble.com, and other online book stores. All proceeds will go towards furthering the work of Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

***Homoousios: “In Christianity, the key term of the Christological doctrine formulated at the first ecumenical council, held at Nicaea in 325, to affirm that God the Son and God the Father are of the same substance. The Council of Nicaea condemned Arianism, which taught that Christ was more than human but not fully divine. The use of homoousios (Greek: “of one substance”) in the creed produced at the council was meant to put an end to the controversy” – https://www.britannica.com/topic/homoousios).  

Mission Statement: Read the Triune Love Mission, Vision, and Value statements at: http://bulamanriver.net/8664

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.

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