Greetings friends everywhere! This may be the most important editorial I have posted thus far. For it has to do with the purpose of life and why we draw the breath of life. I share this with you as we enter the year 2016. I wish you all a Happy and Blessed New Year!

God made humans to be the receptacle for His divine Love. “God is Love” – that’s the “image and likeness” in which He created humans, and His one desire and purpose for making man. (1 John  4:8; Gen. 1:26-27). In this write-up, I would like to present with unambiguous clarity how God Loves man and how His divine Love enters the life and heart of man. First, man express human love all the time, but his narrative of love, no matter how good and noble he may try to convince himself of its benefit, is not the divine Love of God by any means at all. The prophet Isaiah said, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on Your Name or strives to lay hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have given us over to our sins” (Isa. 64:6-7).

Since Adam’s downfall at the hands of the devil in Eden, man’s nature has been under his evil sway, and man’s heart has never seen the light of God’s divine Love. By saying, “all our righteous acts (human love) are like filthy rags,” the Scripture is pointing us to the “tree of the fruit of good and evil” we partake of as Adam had done. (Gen.2:17) Paul said, “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom.3:10; Psa.14:1). Remember though, the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was in Eden, and therefore in God’s presence. So, all human “good and evil” exists within the sovereignty of God. That’s to say, human goodness is from God but not of God for everything exists within His sovereign will. Nothing escapes Him. Isaiah quotes God, thus, “I form light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (Isa.45:7).  

Often Asked, Seldom Understood – What Exactly Is God’s Love? (Pic: Wiki Commons)

Those are pretty straight shooting claims. So, there is no reservation whatsoever, our narrative of human love as we see it, is anything but divine Love. Like human life is not divine life, neither is human love, divine Love. But everything exists within His sovereign will. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. You must be born again.” (John 3:6-7). It cannot be more plain and simple than that. Humans can reproduce only human love, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual Love. (Rom.5:5) Jesus is the second Adam (or human) who opens the way to receive the divine Love. (John 14:6; 1 Cor.15:45)

God has given man the human mind with the potential to comprehend spiritual matters unlike any other species in creation. He gave man a mind like His, with decision-making ability, because He wanted man to comprehend and live in His divine likeness. In his fallen and depraved state of existence, he cannot become a receptacle of the divine Love which regenerates him. Something has to change, and change at a primordial level. His nature has to undergo a wholesale transformation, in fact, he has to be given a complete new life – literally! Jesus tells us, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can enter God’s kingdom unless they are born with water and the Holy Spirit. You must all be born again” (John 3:5,7; Rom.5:5). Jesus is speaking of a reincarnation. Just as Jesus stepped into our human existence in His incarnation and became the prophesied Immanuel, so must we step into His divine life in our spiritual reincarnation to enter into His Love relationship with the Father. (Isa. 7:14; Matt.1:23) Paul said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor.5:17-19).

God Loves man absolutely, beyond what our human minds can think or imagine, so much so He did not spare His Son but gave Him up for us. We have to understand the primary reason why the Father gave His Son. We have heard repeatedly Jesus died to save man from his sins, and rightly so. But we have not been told why. He is not merely Savior, but an ongoing Mediator in His High-Priestly role in heaven before our Father. He died not merely to save man from his sins, but what man’s sinless state would bring him. And here is the crux of the matter which is hardly taught, if ever – God can Love humans, only if man enters into the eternal Love relationship of the Father and the Son.

Listen to what Jesus affirmed before the disciples in His prayer to the Father, shortly before He was crucified, “You (Father) have Loved Me from the foundation of the world” (John 17:24b, emphasis added). Jesus said, “As the Father has Loved me, so have I Loved you. Now remain in My Love” (John 15:9). Before time was, from eternity, this was the only activity of God – the Father was continuously Loving His Son, and the Son was always Loving the Father. Each found fullness in each other in communion with the Spirit. Of course, if “God is Love,” then that is all He does – He Loves!. (1 John 4:8). This Love relationship between the Father and the Son has been flourishing and blooming from eternity, and will continue forever. It is hard to imagine such a Love with our fallen, depraved, and limited human minds, but the Spirit enters our hearts and reveals the deep things of God. (1 Cor. 2:10) 

Human Mind – Possessing the Spiritual Spark for Repository of the Divine Love (Wiki Commons)

Remember this, the divine Love of God cannot exist outside of His Triune relationship. The most basic and pivotal knowledge man can have is to understand God is Trinitarian, so is His Love. It is the basis for which God spontaneously and organically connects Himself to man through His Son, and in the power of the Spirit. This Love relationship between the Father and the Son is the spring from which the divine Love is channeled to man through the Spirit. “God’s Love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom.5:5). Humans cannot claim a separate relationship with God outside of the Love He has with His Son. Hence, Jesus said, “I am the Gate for the sheep. Anyone refusing to walk through the Gate into a sheepfold, who sneaks over the wall, must surely be a thief! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The Gatekeeper opens the gate to Him and the sheep recognize His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He gets them all out, He leads them and they follow because they are familiar with His voice” (John 10: 7b, 1-4).

There are only three Persons in the Trinity, man is not the fourth being in the union, God has always been Triune, and will continue to be so for eternity. Rather, man can only stand in Jesus if he is to be united in Love with the Triune God. And Jesus has done this by becoming the Immanuel, and becoming mankind’s Door into the Triune Life and Love of God. Man does not lose his separate and unique personality and become lost in a giant banana pudding, so to speak. God blesses each human with unique gifts with the freedom to express themselves as individual persons in Christ. Human personhood is fashioned after the image of God who is three distinct but unified Persons. Paul said the purpose of life is to “know and experience the Love of Christ – though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Eph.3:19). Love is God’s singular motivation, it is impossible for Him to exist in any other way but in His holy Love!

Man’s sinful and depraved state of being prevents the divine Love from entering the human heart. Only through removal from his sin condition, and substituted by the Spirit’s Love condition, can he enter into the divine Love relationship of the Father and the Son. (Rom.8:1; John 17:23; John 15:4-5) This is what Jesus has done once for all when He took our humanity in Himself and died as our Savior on Calvary. This is what Jesus came to do – He took up our humanity and glorified man in His perfect human life, His death, resurrection, and ascension, and literally begot (incarnate) and unified mankind into the Love relation He had with His Father from eternity. Paul said this, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

If Jesus had not come as the Immanuel (“God with us”), there was no other way for God to Love man, nor for the divine Love to enter human life so man can Love God. He took our humanity and included us in His Love relationship with His Father. Man is incapable of Loving God perfectly in a separate and independent relationship because he is not holy as God would have him to make a Loving relationship possible. But God made a way for man – only another God could Love God the Father perfectly and unconditionally in holy union, and He is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “You must remain in My Love. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit (Love); apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4, 5). In other words, we must be anchored in His life and Love, so as our Substitute and Shepherd, we can vicariously enter into His eternal Love relationship with His Father, and our Father.

Divine Love Springs Solely From The Life of The Trinity. Rublev’s Icon of the Holy Trinity (Wiki Commons)

The divine Love can only be lived within the realm in which Love exists – not outside it! I cannot claim God’s Love independently outside of Jesus’ mediation. I have to be anchored in His life and His Love to enter into a Love relationship with our Father. Why, because only Jesus can Love God perfectly and unconditionally, and man Love the Father through and in Jesus (Immanuel). Only by entering into that circle of Love between the Father and the Son, can Love enter the human condition so man is regenerated by the Spirit.

John was inspired to write, “See how great a Love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him (Jesus). Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He (Jesus) appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is (glorified human). And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3). By saying, “See how great a Love,” it is telling us something that’s beyond human love. Mankind had never seen nor tasted this divine Love until Jesus came and revealed it to man – first to the 12 disciples and the rest of humanity. Sin must first be removed, so we can enter into and participate in their holy union of Love.

Jesus prayed to the Father, “The glory (Love) you have given Me I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one” (John 17:22). This “glory” means the Love activity that has eternally existed between the Father and the Son which united them as one God. Jesus asked the Father that the disciples may “see My glory which You have given Me, for You have Loved Me from before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). Jesus wanted the disciples and His followers to not only see, but step into and participate in this glorious existence of Love between the Father and the Son. He prayed the Father that they may experience this divine Love relationship which existed from eternity, and continues after Jesus ascension back to the Father, and will exist for all eternity. He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you Love one another” ( John 13:35). John said, “Whoever does not Love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). Jesus prayer was the Father’s will from the start – for together in their Loving purpose, they planned to create and have humans enter and experience their Love relationship.

In this activity of divine Love, we Love our fellow humans, like Jesus did when He walked this earth, doing nothing but good by healing all who came to him. (Act. 10:38)  I become an extension of the Triune God in their intense self-giving Love for each other as they have always lived from eternity, and extend that in my relationship with another. Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have Loved you. Greater love has no one than this – to lay down one’s life for one’s friend. You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:11-14). Jesus gives us all a purpose and calling through which His Love is dispensed to God first, and secondly to our neighbors. (Luk.10:27) Remember, we cannot Love God and our fellow man unless we enter Christ’s life so we can receive the divine Love, and through the Spirit be empowered to do the divine will. (Rom.5:5; 2 Tim.1:7) Jesus was the only human who Loved God perfectly, and we Love because He has already done it for us, thus, we Love God and neighbor vicariously in Him. “Whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness, and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor.1:30). Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God, who Loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Yes, He is our life now!

Fruits of The Spirit – Face of God’s Divine Love (Wiki Commons)

Of course, this divine Love is not entirely transcendent and nonphysical, nor is it incomprehensible. Jesus revealed the face of the divine Love when he went about doing nothing but good and healing all who came to Him. He brought healing to the sick and crippled, relief to those oppressed by evil, He raised the dead, fed the thousands, and finally dying for our sins at the cross. When it comes to God’s divine Love, Paul catalogs the moral inclinations of God’s divine Love showing how it affects our everyday human existence. In his letter to the Corinthians he reveals the fruits of the divine Love, yet, this is not entirely exhaustive, for Love is ultimately the life and move of the Spirit in our lives. It is something personable and intimate, not legalistic. But it gives us a window into His Loving nature: *The fruit of patience, *the fruit of kindness, *the fruit of contentedness,  *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *the fruit of humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness, the fruit compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *the fruit of joy, *the fruit of peace, *the fruit of goodness, *the fruit of faith, *the fruit of gentleness, and *the fruit of self-control. All these and other traits reveal to us how the Father and Son Loved each other from eternity. The fruits of the Spirit spells one thing: the power behind God’s Love. Jesus could not have done the good works if He was not cloaked by these Love fruits. For example, He showed gripping compassion for human suffering with the Spirit empowering His miraculous activity and ministry. (Act. 10:38) It was not human love but divine Love.

I must say that when the fruits of the Spirit is mentioned, most view them academically through the lens of human self-improvement. We live powerless lives when we do. We miss the fact that the “tree of good and evil” also produce counterfeits of the divine fruits. For every divine work of the Spirit, there’s a competing work of the flesh that’s of the devil. (2 Cor.11:13-15) For example, humans may show kindness, but it is the underlying motive that determines its roots in authenticity (Love) or vanity (fear).

In closing, Jesus gives us the metaphor of a river telling us how God’s Spirit, carrying the divine Love, flows through man. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.  Does anyone believe in Me? Then, just as Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from inside them.” When He said this, He meant the Holy Spirit” (John 7:37-39). There is one undeniable truth about rivers, they never stop flowing. It’s called hydrology. Hydrology is “flow” and is the central driving force of a river’s ecology. “Flow” means movement and life. So is the divine Love of God flowing in man. Man is the riverbed, and the Spirit is the “living waters” (Love) which flows in him. The riverbed is charted by God to the specific valley it is ‘called’ to water and replenish. Man and Spirit flows into the valley of people he is called to water and bring life. Without hydrology or “flow” of water, the river’s existence comes to a swift end. There’s only one way a river dies – the riverbed dries up for lack of water. Flow means action, it means life, and it spells the river’s mission in life. Hence, we are told “do not quench the Spirit.” Do not put out the Spirit’s “fire” (1 Thess. 5:19). To quench the Spirit is to empty your life of God’s Love (“living waters”). Whatever happens, never empty your riverbed!

God’s Love – Like a River of Living Waters Which Never Runs Dry (John 7:38-39) (Wiki Commons)

This is the heart and core of the Gospel. There is no other Gospel. The Gospel is Jesus Christ Himself! It is about the Messiah who came to take our humanity, glorified us in Himself, so we can take our place in His divinity and enjoy the Father’s Love. He died to restore us to right standing with the Father, so that we can enter into their Love relationship for all eternity. He gave us the gift of the Spirit to keep us safe on this earth for Himself. The Spirit is constantly taking us into Jesus glorified humanity as our High Priest in heaven so we can ever be with the Father in the Spirit – even in this human life now, and forever in immortality in the resurrection.

Paul was inspired to write, “If I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about Him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have Love, I am nothing at all. Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can brag. If I don’t have Love, I get nothing at all.” He goes on to say that if we master many languages and even speak the language of angels, and have not Love, we are just a loud gong which reveal the emptiness of our hearts. (1 Cor.13:1-3).

And why do we live like God does in His Triune Love? Because any other way opposite to God’s outgoing Love is destructive and leads to death. Sadly, that’s what we see much of in the world today. And that’s why we are nothing if His Love does not motivate our every thought, word, and deed.

So, friends, that in a nutshell is how God Loves humans and how we become recipients and receptacle of God’s divine Love in His Son and through the fellowship of the Spirit. God’s Love is for all humanity, for Jesus said, “God so Loved the world (all mankind) that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16) I hope you too can believe and receive His Love in faith.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the writer in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.* 

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven you and make all things concerning you possible in 2016.

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                          (Your Servant in Christ)   

* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information

It is with a heavy heart that I greet you all today. The whole world has heard France cry out, “Paris est Charlie” (Paris is Charlie) after the wholesale slaughter of innocent journalists of Charlie Hebdo (French for Weekly Charlie), a weekly magazine featuring cartoons, reports, and jokes. The newspaper has attracted worldwide attention, whose depiction of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, have been cited as the reason for this heinous attack. Our profound condolences are with the families and friends of the bereaved, and the nation of France. Although respect for others is a common denominator in human relations, nothing justifies the wholesale slaughter of innocent people.

This senseless attack has galvanized the French people, abhorrent and at the same time defiant, to say nothing of fear. The Bible says that “a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God” (John 16:2). This is what makes this kinds of acts so resolute because the perpetrators believe they are dispensers of God’s judgment. So, let’s talk about this important topic of judgment today. 

The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France (Wiki Commons)

The word judgment, in the Bible, is principally used in the context of redemption, not wrath and punishment, as many presume. The word judgment in Hebrew has a different meaning in English. Jesus said, “I have come as a light into the world, that whosoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness. If any one hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world (redemption). He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day” (John 12:47-48 RSV, emphasis added). This tells us of a judgment which is redemptive (now/today), and the judgment at the “last day” (future). Continuing with Jesus’ discourse on the topic, He goes on to say, “For I did not speak on My own (about judgment/redemption), but the Father who sent Me to say all that I have spoken. I know that His commands leads to eternal life. So whatever I say (about judgment/redemption) is just what the Father has told me to say.” (V.49-50, emphasis added). Jesus said, “I judge no one,” and eventually gave His own life as our Savior. Judgment is essentially about eternal life God offers humanity, and is brought to reality in the choices (responsibility) we make in life in the Spirit. In other words, we become our own judge through our decisions and actions – whether for good or evil!

The Bible makes an emphatic statement, while asking a pertinent question about judgment, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy (God). But you – who are you to judge your neighbor?” (Jam.4:12, emphasis added). God is well and able to carry out judgment (punishment) as He sees fit. But for now, His judgment is about man’s redemption, not punishment. When James says, “Who are you to judge,” it applies to each and everyone of us, no matter which side the hammer of justice falls. What then is God’s redemptive work today? If we can see the picture of the final judgment, it will give us a clue what His redemptive work is today, because how we live our lives has everything to do with it. I will present two scenarios about judgment that’s now (redemption), and the final judgment to come when all humanity will appear before God to give account.

Jesus’ view of judgment at the last day ties man back to the purpose of judgment and redemption now. God does not leave us ignorant of the future judgment by which humans will be judged. In other words, they are connected. It means you are I have no excuse. The final judgment picture is going on now in the present redemptive focus, it goes like this, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did it for Me.’ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For when I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life”  (Matt.25:31-46). There’s absolutely no ambiguity about the final judgment and its connection to our present reality today.

How is it that Jesus becomes the reality we see in every person we meet? Because God’s redemptive work in humanity is to owe no one anything but the “debt of Love” (Rom.13:8). Jesus’ life in the Gospels is about God’s Love for humanity. This is the divine motivation of life as God intended from the beginning when He made man in His image of Love (Gen1:26-27). Every human is made in the Love-image of the Creator, and every person is made to be a beneficiary of God’s Love. Just as we are made in his Love- image, we are to be dispensers of His Love. (Gen1:26-27; Rom.8:29; John 1:1-3) It is for the very reason that we are redeemed that we are being judged now and will in the final judgment in the future. Redemption today is about our future judgment. Peter said, “For it is time for judgment (right living/redemption) to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God” (1 Pet.4:7, ESV, emphasis added). Life’s outcome will be according to how we take responsibility for our actions. Make no mistake, we are being judged now as we take responsibility for our lives in the choices we make.

“Love of God, Love of Neighbor” (Latin) Stained Glass (Wiki Commons)

So the word judgment in its redemptive focus is more accurately rendered as ‘discernment.’ It is about decision-making. It is about how we choose to live life now in relation to the message of the Gospel. The story of the Good Samaritan depicted in the stained glass picture above comes to mind. (Luk.10:25-37) It seems the passing foible of humans today to pass judgment upon others. It is not our purpose in life to be judgmental of others, for there is only one Judge of all mankind – Jesus. (John 5:22) Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged…Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye.” (Matt.7:1, 3) Yes, we are to apply judgment personally upon ourselves and see where we lack as it concerns living responsibly in our relationship with God and our fellowman. Paul can’t be more clear when he said, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to Love one another” (Rom.13:8). Even when we see a wrong being perpetrated, this principle still applies – we are to correct the person in Love, not in judgment, knowing fully that we too need forgiveness daily. (Gal.5:26-6:1-2; Matt.6:12)

When we see wrongs perpetrated, it is not our role to become judge, jury, and executioner, but to remember the words of Jesus, “Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luk.6: 27-28). Now, Jesus puts an interesting twist to what He’s saying, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. Love your enemies” (V.32-33). Jesus wants His followers to stand out and above the ordinary and commonplace, and be a light for Him in a dark world. If we seek revenge, then where is the light, we are no better than they who live in darkness. Jesus said, “By this will everyone know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Love is a powerful force – not love according to our human narrative, but the divine Love which God made man to be its container, and dispenser through His Spirit. God is in the business of saving people not condemning them – at least not for now. Jesus said, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).

Recall, that when Jesus was taken to be crucified, His followers wanted to save and avenge Him. One of the disciples drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the cohorts. Jesus said to His followers, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Then Jesus says something in His defense, which many often forget, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Jesus doesn’t need us to defend Him, rather the opposite is true – we need His defense. Angels continue to be at the disposal of believers to help them carry out the will of God on earth. If Jesus could bring Himself to utter this prayer, His prayer would have been answered. But His prayer has always been, “Not My will, but Yours, Father, be done.” Then, He gave reason why He will not pray that prayer, “But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matt. 26:52-54). Yes, He was ready to do the Father’s will to die on the cross as Savior for humanity’s sin. That’s God’s judgment, His redemptive act for mankind, His Love in action for all to see. Love… is more powerful than the sword. But if we choose to live by the sword, then we will perish by the sword.

But if it should become necessary to correct a situation, God says this,  “Do not take revenge. It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” Yes, the Lord is well capable of looking after His own affairs. The last thing He wants is to give up our lives which He would like to use to glorify Him. The Psalmist said, “There is no mention of You in death; In the grave who will give You thanks?” Only the living can show others His praise.

Here is the good news about judgment as it concerns God’s people. For those who receive Jesus as Savior, judgment in terms of punishment has been annulled and cancelled forever. It is now essentially about the reward the Father has prepared for His children. Listen, what the Lord will say at the final judgment, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master’s happiness.” (Matt.25:21, NASB; also, Rev.22:12-13) But to the one who will continue to live in rebellion, and refuse to receive God’s redemption through His Son, judgment will be about God’s wrath, “You wicked, lazy servant…throw that worthless servant outside into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (V.26, 30) Peter said, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise…not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet.3:9). So, judgment is all about living responsibly practicing the Love of God in our relationship with God and others in the redemptive focus of God’s Loving work in man. (Mark 12:30-31)

For, it will be by God’s Love that we find commonality in our humanity, where such heinous acts as we have seen in Paris, has no defense or place in civilization.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write to me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com. 

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you in this Christmas season of the birth of Jesus the Messiah. May the Spirit enliven you and make all things concerning you possible in Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                               (Your Servant in Christ) 

* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information

Greetings friends, and a happy and purposeful New Year 2015 to you all!

As we depart an old year and enter a new one, we reflect on what the old has been, and what the new will bring. While we  contemplate in reflective mood over the past year we’ll find many positives, but I’m sure much negatives too, where we say, “If only I had done this and that differently…” Or, “If only I had been a little more patient…” etc, etc. We all come away with our “If only’s.” We all do, no one is immune. This is what the new year is about, it is a new beginning, a time of renewal. It is a time of new birth, and fresh perspectives.

Modern Slavery. Slavery is Not an Ancient thing – We are all Slaves to Our Own Depraved Nature

We may not realize this, but God is in the business of rescuing and renewing man from his errors into His own perfect image of divine Love. Love is not how we imagine in our human narrative, but the Bible tells us Love is all what God does, and all He can be to us in His Love. And that is why Jesus came to reveal Him to us as a Father to each one of us. He said to Mary, “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God” (John 20:17). That’s what our heavenly Fathers does – He Loves, better than anything or anybody, for He is Love! (1 John 4:8) He says, “I have plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you a future you hope for.” (Jer. 29:11) Renewal is not some abstract notion we conjure up, and it has to be some concrete image we can to look up to and vie for in our heavenly Father’s Love for us.  

Recall Israel’s story, they were slaves to Egypt for 430 years. (Exo.12:40-42) Their whole way of life was living as slaves. Every day they existed in this slave mentality as we may have with our mistakes and negative outcomes which has not bode us well in the past year/s. They never knew what freedom was, like we have not known freedom from a life without crippling weaknesses and blunders. We have been prisoners to our failings which has cost us dearly in whatever way they have touched our lives and those of our loved ones. We will never be truly free until we experience life beyond the walls of our flaws that’s tied to our selfish motives. We will never be perfect, but we will receive atonement, and through it God’s Love and blessings. The new year is like the exodus Israel was given by divine intervention, to be freed from the slavery of our failings. We can keep our successes.

However, the Israelites were given their exodus from Egyptian slavery to enter into a covenant with God in the Promise Land. What finally freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery? Answer: the final miracle of the Passover! (Exo.12) They killed a lamb and used its blood for protection which pictured to them the future Messiah who would come and bring true spiritual freedom to all mankind. He came and died as an unblemished lamb to save us from our sins, wrongs, and mistakes. The covenant Israel was given defined a way of life which would set them apart from other peoples and nations. It also provided Israel with a concrete picture of who they were to become as a people culturally and in their way of life. So they had guideposts for their future. In that future God would be their partner in life to forgive their faults, flaws and slip-ups, and bless them. It was a life wrapped up in the laws they were given which reflected the Love of God. The law (ten commandments) was very personalized which required personal commitment, rather than being nationalistic in its focus. But then, a nation is only a reflection of its individual citizenry.

History tells us Israel did not keep their covenant with God. They were hauled away as slaves once more, this time to the northern kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon. They had forgotten the purpose of their freedom. God made a new covenant to replace the old when Jesus came to save His people anew. Recall, the ancient Israelites were delivered by ten miraculous events God unleashed upon obstinate Egypt. Miracles are acts of God. This tells us that our recurring faults, whether we are aware of them or not, and might I add, not a few of which we don’t have eyes to see – yet. Our Father stands ready to hand us the miracle to free us from bondage. That’s the purpose for sending His Son so He will be our eternal Mediator before Him. The Bible says this of Jesus’ ongoing work on our behalf, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor.1:30).

The Love of God Depicted in His Laws. Austin, State capital of Texas (Wiki Commons)

The new covenant has this picture which we emulate in the Spirit as He renews us: “This new plan I am making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, or chiselled in stone; this time I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, and they will be My people” (Heb.8:10) So we see that God has a plan for us – His spiritual people. If we’re focused on His plan for each of us, we will enter a miraculous life where His Son will provide atonement, and His Spirit will give us the wherewithal to live with renewed energy, purpose, and freedom. Miracle means God has a hand in our lives. 

I will close with a favorite passage of scripture, “I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you a future you hope for.” (Jer. 29:11) 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com. 

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you in this Christmas season of the birth of Jesus the Messiah. May the Spirit enliven you and make all things concerning you possible in Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                            (Your Servant in Christ)  

* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information

Greetings again friends! Let’s continue with God’s story about man. Again, may I wish you all the joys of Christmas, and a reward-filled New Year, 2015.

We have seen the Why, What, and How of God’s story of man that began with Christmas in parts 1 and 2. Let’s answer the final question, When? 

The account of Jesus birth was recorded by Luke in this way, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to his own town to register.  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:1-20) This is the most beautiful and inspiring part of God’s story about man. For in it we witness the humblest manner God chose for His Son to enter our human world through the virgin Mary, in a manger, in the little town called Bethlehem.

The Magi Bring Gifts – Panel belonging to the old set Polyptych of Viseu Cathedral now the Grão Vasco Museum. (Wiki Commons)

Let’s now answer the final question When …

Faith
When…does all this happen in man? When…does this activity of God in making man into His own “image and likeness” become reality? It takes place when a human believes in the Messiah God has provided to make it possible. We take faith for granted. But for God, faith is the turning point in human life and in our relationship with Him. How… because every time a human believes in the Messiah God, a true miracle takes place. Listen to what this miracle does, Paul says, “WHEN YOU BELIEVED, YOU WERE MARKED IN HIM WITH A SEAL, THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT, … (Eph.1:13-14). You and I were specially and personally marked by God our Father as His own CHILDREN with His own seal of adoption in His Spirit – that is what faith in Jesus does. Faith in His Son is what moves God to do miracles – this one, all-important miracle of all man can ever want. You see, when it comes to matters about the spiritual realm of God and the physical realm of man, the only bridge that connects the two realities is faith. Faith is the only thing that bridges this wide divide between God and man. This passage goes on to say what the seal of the Spirit does, “who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory”– yes, we are guaranteed immortality, for eternal life is the “likeness” of God. He is Spirit-composed. Do you believe?

Seal

We know what a seal is, right – Paul said God set His seal upon believers. We place our seal of approval on a legal document to confirm ownership of something, or whatever the legal transaction may be. The seal of God is the seal of His Person in the Holy Spirit. By receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit man receives the image of God, in the very Person of God, which is the Love of God, and the Life and immortality of God. The Spirit breathes and vitalizes the Triune life of God in man. That is the way God our Father had planned for man to take on the “image and likeness” of God. By implanting and unifying Himself to humans, man takes on the “image and likeness” of God. There is no other way. Paul confirms this born again experience and its resulting life, “What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in Love.” (Gal.5:6, MSG)

The Pew Research Group says, and I quote, “Nearly half (47% of Christians) says that one’s actions are the key to determining eternal fate, with nearly one-third (29%) saying that being a good, moral person is the key to everlasting life.” So what do you think? Is it about man straying from a moral code? Or is it something much deeper – that we have strayed, that we are removed from Him?

A Barna survey says most Christian don’t believe in the existence of the Holy Spirit, neither do they believe in the existence of the devil, Satan. (www.pewresearch.org /www.barna.org) A person may claim to believe in the death of a man called Jesus. He can go so far as believe in His resurrection, and salvation by grace alone. But if he does not believe in the God who is Triune in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he is not a Christian. If you believe in Jesus, you cannot not believe in the Trinity, for He is the Trinity and homoousiosly part of it. The Tri-Personal God is the governing center of all Christian belief – it is the image of Triune Love man is made to take on. (see part 1)

Holy Spirit – Image and Likeness of God

Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing” (John 6:63). Isaiah said all our good human acts are like filthy rags to God. (Isa.64:6) The human effort to be morally good springing from the fruit of ‘good and evil’ (because that’s all it is), cannot and will not conform man to the “image and likeness” of God. Only a rebirth and the indwelling life of the Holy Spirit does that. Notice how the image of God, the likeness of God takes shape, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1John 4:7-8). There is human effort, don’t be mistaken, but Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,” but we live by faith and that’s supplied by the Holy Spirit… “the life I now live, I Iive by the faith of Jesus.” (Gal. 2:20). It takes the faith of Jesus to live like that, not our faith. Our human faith was crucified on the cross. Speaking of the purpose and role of the Spirit in human life, Jesus said, “He (Spirit) will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’” (John 16:15). The purpose of the Spirit is conform man to the image of Christ’s Person through faith the Spirit supplies. Like living waters of a covering ocean, He covers man with the Love of God.

The Covering Love of God, Like an Ocean of Living Waters (John 7:38-39) (Wiki Commons)

Jesus has to take on the likeness of man, and man has to take on the likeness of God. Jesus can’t live the ‘Immanuel life’ in heaven – He has to take on His own humanity through Mary. Likewise, we cannot live the Triune Life of God’s Love, God’s very “image and likeness,” unless we are born again and the Spirit unifies Himself with us. Just as Jesus became fully God and fully man, we become a new species of humanity who is given a rebirth with divine life through the Holy Spirit. We have to be born again in the power of the Spirit. So, it’s not about human effort, no matter how noble our intentions, it is about God literally unifying Himself through the birthing of the Holy Spirit in man – it’s a new birth into the Triune Life of God.

Freedom

God’s Love will always give man the freedom to choose which way to go. God in His Love, will never exercise His authority whether by coercion, physical force, or even psychological means, to enforce obedience on anyone. But through the Spirit we are given true liberty to understand who we are destined to be as a person within the Triune Godhead in Christ. Peter said your are like ‘living stones’ being built into a spiritual house for God and for mankind. (1Pet.2:5) Paul said you are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in you. (1Cor.3:16; 6:19) Through our calling and gifts and destinies, we obey willingly and lovingly. There’s a saying that says find what you love doing, your gift, and you’ll never “work” the rest of your life. That would be God’s own story He writes in your personal life. But that’s another subject, suffice to say, your gift and calling, whatever it may be, is essentially from Jesus and is Jesus for the Bible says ”this secret of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. In him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Col.1:16-17; 2:3) Our gift is our charge and mandate in life, isn’t it? It is our personal place in life where Jesus gives us authority, which is our destiny in Him.

The Relevance of Christmas – “Born Again”

Let’s see how this divine purpose takes place exactly. Here’s where the relevance of Jesus’ birth, and the message Christmas should convey to us. The process of making man into the “image and likeness” of God takes place in man in the same identical manner as the birth of Jesus in becoming human. What does the Scripture tell us of the birth of Jesus? It tells us that He is the child of the Holy Spirit. He is the Son of God. (Matt.1:18-24) The angel told Joseph, “The baby inside her (Mary) is from the Holy Spirit.” (V.20, emphasis mine) He is to be called Immanuel, God with us. (V.23) This is how God took on the image of our humanity and joined it to the Triune image and Person of God – by being born a human through Mary in the power of the Spirit. He became the prophesied Immanuel – fully God and fully man, “God with us.”

 Like the Transformation of a Dead Planet to a Living Earth, Man is Born a New Creation in the Image of God. (Wiki Commons)

Now with humans, taking on the image of the Tri-Personal God is the exact birthing process, the exact copy of Jesus birth, but in reverse. Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). He said, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). Man must undergo a new birth. That’s the relevance of Christmas for the believer. We say it’s Jesus’ birthday, but we ought to ask what does it mean? Think about this, God cannot take on the image of Immanuel unless He is born a human, in the same way, man cannot take on God’s divine “image and likeness” unless he is born of the Spirit. In both instances, there is a birthing process. So we see the salvation offered to us is very much a Tri-personal activity of God in His interactive Love through and through.

Christmas is as much about Jesus human birth as it is about man’s spiritual birth. It’s hard to believe that most Christians do not believe in the existence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s power makes this new birth in God’s spiritual Kingdom possible for man, just as the Spirit made Jesus birth in our human world possible. The new birth fundamentally means the Spirit’s power will take man eventually into immortality as John 3:16 affirms, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

“To Fulfill ALL Righteousness”

So, I would like to put across to you that Christmas, the day we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, is not only a time of celebration of Christ birth by itself, but His birth made possible our birth into the divine image of God in the Spirit’s power. Jesus became the first human to receive the Holy Spirit under the New Covenant when He was baptized in the Jordan. Remember, He did not need to be baptized because he had no sin to repent of. When John first refused to baptize Jesus, He told John it must be done “to fulfill ALL righteousness.” What does that mean? He was being baptized for us, so when the Spirit hovered upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and the Father declared, “You are My dearly loved Son, and you bring Me great joy,” Jesus inaugurated the new birth in man which brings the God-life which is the only way that ALL God’s righteousness can be brought to man. (Matt.3:13-17) John told the people, “I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8)

Conclusion

So, next time you hear a middle-of-the-story message of Jesus dying to save us from our sins (redemption) always see it as a jigsaw piece of a bigger picture we have covered today about God’s purpose to make man in His image (incarnation). It tells us why Jesus’ birth as Messiah by the Holy Spirit made possible our spiritual birth into the Triune Life of God. He came, was born in Bethlehem, baptized by John in the Jordan, lived perfectly doing good, died as a worthy sacrifice for human sins, was resurrected and ascended into the Triune Being of God, taking our humanity with and in Him and is our Mediator and High Priest today. He sends the Spirit who gives us a new birth to live the Triune Life in Christ, and so fulfill the original purpose – the purpose God has never deviated from, to make man into His “image and likeness” and complete ALL righteousness in man.

To view the complete write-up on these subject of Christmas, you may read parts 1 and 2 below, posted on November 29th and December 6th respectively.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com. 

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you in this Christmas season of the birth of Jesus the Messiah. May the Spirit enliven you and make all things concerning you possible in Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ), 

* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information

By Kiang P Lee

Greetings again friends! Let’s continue with God’s story about man. Again, may I wish you all the joys of Christmas, and a reward-filled New Year 2015.

The Prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of the Messiah in this way,

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.” (Isa.9:6 NASB).

The Birth of Jesus (Wiki Commons)

By mentioning “government” more than once we are given an emphatic message about a Messiah whose influence is universal embracing all peoples. The New Testament echo this same thought in this manner, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT)It is not a message about a narrow religious sect, but a worldwide Government or Kingdom which has jurisdiction over territory and people. The Kingdom of God is God’s Government that has reign over political and spiritual boundaries. Hence, the world is given a Messiah who carries the title of “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (Rev.20:4-6) God’s ultimate purpose of recreating His Loving nature in man is so people from all nations will become His Kingdom of kings, lords, and priests. So, the birth of the child Jesus, the giving of a Son, the provision of a Messiah, is not just for a religious sect one calls Christianity, He is given to unite all people and impact all mankind beyond borders, beyond religion, beyond any political persuasion, racial differences, and any wall of division. God gave Him for a universal purpose in which His Love unifies the whole world as He himself is One in His Triune Being.

Answering ‘Why’ and ‘What”

But let’s come back and continue from where we left off in part one on this message of the purpose of Christmas, and the Messiah’s birth. The essential prerequisite to the Messiah’s universal impact is the fulfilment of God’s underlying purpose of recreating His people in “His image and likeness.” Nothing happens until that change takes place in the heart and being of humans. We have seen His image is Love, when we answered the question, Why? And we have seen His likeness is Trinitarian, when we answered the question, What? All of the above is predicated on mankind being transformed from his fallen, fearful, and corrupt existence inherited from Adam, and freely adopting the image of God’s Triune Love in His Son, whose birthday we celebrate at Christmas. So, now we answer the question, How will God make this transformation possible in man?

How?

How…. will God make possible man’s transformation into His image of Love and the likeness of His Triune nature? Think of who God IS for a moment. He is the most holy God, all righteous, sovereign, all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, Loving Triune Being. He is the most awesome Spirit Being who have existed eternally without beginning, without end, whose sovereign Being occupies all space and time. There is no other god besides Him. Our limited, inadequate, imperfect, physical mind will never be able to grasp nor comprehend Him. What we know about God is what He has revealed Himself to us and given us minds to comprehend. Without His revelation and the mind and faith to comprehend and be convicted, we would remain ignorant of His attributes and purpose. When we look into the living universe with our mighty telescopes, the creation we see and the feel of this earth, awesome as they are, yet it all still remain utter mysteries to man. Even with the human mind, we are at a loss to explain how it works. We don’t know if we are the result of untold years of evolutionary process, or we are created beings. The question of human origin still baffles us. As we think more and more deeply about all of creation we come up with more questions than answers. Yet, there is a God who is the creative first cause of the universe we can’t explain. And He did all that out of His Love.

Now, this is the God, who, in all His unfathomable mystery, said from the beginning, He wanted to make man into the image and likeness of His Love in His Tri-Personal Being. How does man become like someone who exists in all His unknowable mystery, let alone comprehend and have some semblance of communication and relationship with which to begin? The Scriptures tell us He is utterly holy, and conversely, we are utterly depraved and unholy. Despite His mystery, He has given us minds to comprehend the essentials to sustain a relationship with Him. We were made with that potential in our minds. And it is not as hard as we assume all the mystery about Him suggests. We will go to our death beds never knowing all the answers to the mysteries of this world, but He has ensured humans can have a complete, fulfilling, and lasting Loving relationship with Him and with each other.

God’s Image: A Loving Triunity of the Father, Son, and Spirit

How will God’s “likeness mandate” be made a reality in man? How does He do it in this seeming impossible situation in man? Man has no alternative but to seek His answers. What is His answer? It has to take Someone from within the Tri-Personal Godhead who is a co-equal Being with the Father and the Spirit, to become human, and glorify our humanity in Himself, and forever unify man to the Triune God for eternity. When you think about it, it cannot be any other way. It is simple, it is awe-inspiring, it is something the prophets of old had wanted to peek into the wisdom of God. Man is helpless, so God Himself has to provide answer. Hence, we read of another passage about Christmas and the birth of Jesus in this way,

“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa.7:14).

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring froth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, ‘God with us’” (Matt.1.:23).

That Someone from the divine Trinity is Jesus, God’s own Son. He is the Immanuel who has fulfilled God’s purpose in the divine mandate of unifying God’s image with man. Jesus became man, so man can take upon himself God’s Loving Triune image. Man is transformed from his “solitary” image in himself, to the “Triune” likeness of God in Christ. Jesus becomes man’s Mediator and High Priest inside the Triune Life of God having taken our humanity, perfected and glorified it in Himself, and took us with Him into the heavenly abode of the Triune God. By expressing this impossible and unimaginably Love for man,  through Jesus man can now miraculously respond adequately, perfectly, and completely in Love to a God who is all-holy in his Being.

How did Jesus do it? a) He was born to Mary as the prophesied Messiah in Bethlehem. b) He lived a perfect sinless life teaching the Gospel. c) He was crucified to cleanse man from all sins past, present, and future. d) He resurrected in His glorified human body. e) He ascended and unified man’s humanity to the Triune God forever. That is the greatest story told about man – it is God’s story about man. Let’s now answer the question When? When does all this happen in man? When does this all this start for man?  We’ll answer the When in God’s story of man in our next segment.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                         (Your Servant in Christ)  

* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information

By Kiang P Lee

Greetings once more friends the world over! May the joys of Christmas be yours, and a reward-filled New Year await you!

It is that time of year which believers with genuine hearts, apart from all the distractions, celebrate with true rejoicing hearts. It is a story which carries such deep spiritual meaning with equally transcendent impact beyond any story man could have written. Why, because the story of Christmas, or the birth of the Messiah, is God’s own story about mankind. It’s time we read the whole story as God tells us, and celebrate it as a gift from God as we enter this season of rejoicing.

The Shepherds Visit the baby Jesus – a small section of the large altarpiece in the Certosa in Naples (Wiki Commons) 

Glad Tidings

God had His prophet Micah predict the birth of Jesus this way, “As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the One who rules in Israel for Me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity” (Micah 5:2). It is clear the Messiah’s progeny is key to His role as Savior – He exists from eternity, He is the Son of God.

The Ambiguous Story of Jesus

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, let’s go back to the beginning to recap God’s story for man. For too long the message of Jesus Christ as the Savior has been cloaked in ambiguity because it is being told from the middle of God’s own story about man. There is one message millions have heard about Christ – Jesus died for your sins to save you. (John 3:16) Important as that is, it does not tell the full story. Not even half the story. When you read a book from the middle, you’re always left with many ‘whys’ as you go along because you don’t know what had gone on before. It’s so vital to understand that the incarnation comes before the redemption. So the onus is upon story-tellers to tell the full account of God’s story of man so hearers understand the fundamental imperative for a Messiah. So, many a non-believer has asked, why must my sins be forgiven? Why must it be Jesus and not someone else? Why must He die? The predictable reply is Jesus is God’s own Son, and He died to save man from his sins. Yet again, the person snaps back, but why – to what end? Right here, we have a coin-toss for the many answers that Christians give. Take your pick! We will see at the end of of the three-part write-up, there is only one answer God gives us when we understand the full story.

Angel Announcing the Birth Of Jesus to Shepherds Stained Glass 1691 (Wiki Commons)

Reasons to Believe

One reason given is, so you can go to heaven when you die – but why is that so important? By obtaining a ticket into heaven, you obviously exchanged it for your ticket to hell because of your sins. Why heaven, what’s in there for me? What is hell anyway, has anyone been there to tell its horrific tale as the claim suggests? How does God’s Love reconcile with such a place as hell?

Take the prosperity gospel, it seems the proponents of this belief care just for the here and now. Perhaps heaven and hell is too far-fetched for them. Then, there are those who believe in Jesus because of one’s tradition, as it were a family or village custom to become a believer. It’s just rubber-stamping, but does it mean anything to the person? There are those who believe Jesus is a great moral teacher who came to make this a better world – much like Buddha, nothing more or less.

The Pew Research group says, “A majority of all American Christians (52%) think that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life.” (www.pewresearch.org) So, Jesus’ birth as man’s only Savior is now snubbed by His own followers. “Nearly half (47%) says that one’s actions are the key to determining eternal fate, with nearly one-third (29%) saying that being a good, moral person is the key to everlasting life.” So your moral compass means more to your eternal fate than Jesus.  A Barna survey says that most Christians don’t believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit exists. (www.barna.org) So, one may adopt his/her brand of faith before a smorgasbord of beliefs. Sadly, this is the upshot of religion dictating a relationship which God intended from the beginning to be personal and one-on-one. What do we believe? Why this confusion? Because the Christian message is unclear and ambiguous.

The Full Story

Let’s take God’s story from the beginning so we are not left with many ‘whys’ about God’s call to His purpose for providing a Messiah. The only reason God made man is revealed in these words He uttered from the beginning, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so they may have dominion over the earth.” (Gen.1:26-30) It’s plain, it’s simple. You can say it bears the title of the God’s book about man. I will share the story of God about man in three parts, with God’s Son as the central part of its theme.

History

Now, from Adam to this day, God has never deviated from His story line for mankind with His Son as central to its theme. The story of man’s own history upon this earth has been a mixture of experiences of “good and evil.” There have been many horrendous stories of man as there are helpful ones. In modern times many have not forgotten the atrocities perpetrated in the death camps of World War Two. We can go further back and recount many equally horrific acts of man’s inhumanity to man. There have been good done also, like what we have witnessed in recent history in the field of education, the sciences, technology, medical advancement, transportation, and so forth. Yet, despite the ‘good’ man has witnessed, his knowledge has also been used to create weapons of mass destruction that’s capable of wiping man from the face of the earth. Akin to Winston Churchill words, man’s own story has been “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

God had warned Adam, if he went down this path and write his own story about man, he would live a life of “good and evil” that was depicted in the forbidden fruit he and his wife Eve were deviously led to partake. Though there was ‘good,’ it was not God’s goodness, but man’s duplicitous good. (Isa.64:6; Jer.17:9; Rom.3:23) God’s goodness produces an authentic good that’s represented in the “Tree of life,” which was also in the Eden. (Gen.2:9)

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life was man’s salvation. It represented all the goodness and grace of God to man. Adam botched it, plain and simple. And mankind have been recipients of Adam’s story humans have been writing and rewriting for six thousand years of history. It’s the story of man’s stamp of good and evil in the world that’s leading to a certain dark future. Not unless, Someone steps in to stop this tide of ‘madness’ at its tracks. This is where the birth of the Messiah is ushered in which we celebrate today. Very simply, He came to take us to the Tree of Life which Adam failed to do. For in the Tree of life, God’s story about man can be written, and is being rewritten. The Tree of Life is the metaphor for the Holy Spirit who brings God’s Love to flow in us like a river of living waters. (Rom. 5:5; John 7:37-39)

I would like to present God’s story about man in 3 broad parts. In this piece we will cover part one, and parts two and three before we come to Christmas, 2014.

Tree of Life – Sculpture by Beth Erez (Wiki Commons)

Part One

When God said He created man for the purpose of irrevocably fashioning man in His own image and likeness, we have to ask why, what, how, and when about His story as it relates to you and me. His story about man has always been a personal story about you and me, just as it was personal with Adam and Eve. His work of fashioning man in His image can only be done on a personal, one-on-one basis. There was no religion around to dictate Adam and Eve’s relationship with God. Maybe there was, in the form of the intruder, the devil himself. He’s not asking you to join a religion which dictates your relationship with Him.

Our relationship with God is not based upon a system of beliefs but a relationship of Love with the Person whose birthday we honor at this time of year. He is the central theme in God’s story about man. We encounter Him in His Word, the Bible. Jesus is the Personified Word of God, and we have the Bible as the literal Word of God. We find our place in the world through His Word (Jesus). No religion can lead us to our destiny in Christ. Only God can lead us through each of our gifts He  bequeaths upon us on a personal, one-on-one basis. Our gifts is our personality embodied in the Tri-Personal Loving Being of God. Religion cannot do for God what only God can do for and by Himself. Nothing must and stand between you and God. He desires a personal relationship with you, directly. Jesus was born for that very purpose. That’s the important criterion to understand about the story of man God has written in the past, is doing now, and into the future. It is a story penned in the heart of each individual on the basis of a personal relationship with each man, woman, and child that’s ever been born. (Heb.8:10)

Why?

Why… should I be conformed to His image and likeness, I may ask? Because of His Love, and because He is Love! It’s plain and it’s simple, yet mind-boggling in its scope. God wanted man to share in everything that He Is, and who He Is – His image is His Love – because He can never deviate from doing things out of the magnanimity of His Love. We are told in Scripture, “God is Love” (1John 4:8). He is not made of Love – His IS Love! God is forever “giving,” that’s what Love does. From eternity, God exist in their Tri-Personal life through the power of their Love for each other. Man’s very existence is the result of the ongoing flow of God’s Love within His Triune Being flowing out to man. Were it not so, we would cease to exist altogether. God’s Love is like a river which flows and enriches everything and everyone in its path and never takes back. (John 7:37-39) It is hard to comprehend God’s ever-giving Love, when we have for six thousand years lived in the story line of self-centeredness Adam has penned for man. Man has always been about himself. He is fallen, depraved and corrupt. Even the good he does is done with an ulterior motive. (Jer.17:9) Jesus was born to unify mankind to the Tri-Personal Being and Love of God. God seeks a relationship of Love with man as His very own children as Jesus is His Son. God’s story of man tells us how he plans to do just that.

A Vital Part of Wisdom – Asking Questions (Wiki Commons)

What?

What… is His image and likeness? Love cannot exist in isolation. So, when He said “Let Us…make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” in the Genesis creation account of man, He was revealing Himself as existing in 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 “Elohim” describes a uniplural God. God is Trinitarian in His nature. Love by its nature is relational. Is it possible for God who is Love to exist in isolation, in solitude – unaccompanied, secluded, alone in self-absorbed existence? If God were one solitary person, with no one to love and share His divine Being, then His affirmation that “God is Love” would be meaningless. (1 John 4:8) And we know God is Tri-Personal and spirit-composed, and we are solitary, self-absorbed humans made of flesh and blood. “Likeness” means to become ONE and alike. It is to be natured in the Love of God which binds us as ONE. God’s purpose is to make His people become ONE where they are of a single identity or image of Love in Him, not apart from Him. He seeks to make us His very own children so He can shower all His Love upon us.

God is composed of three Love Personalities, as Father, Son, and Spirit, in ONE Triune Being. And so is mankind composed of many different gifts and personalities God has conferred upon us through the Spirit. We are united in our diverse personalities in His Triune Being of Love. Our numerous and distinct personalities and gifts reveal the greatness of God who created and Loves us as His children. To conform to that image of the Tri-Personal God composed in Love is what salvation is to mankind. We may have different ways to explain salvation, but its essence is to conform as One in the image of God who is Love. Hence, we are told, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of (of LOVE of) his Son” (Rom.8:29, emphasis added). As I said earlier, this is the basis of how God’s story of man is written. It is based upon the Triune Love relationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit, where we are brought into a personal relationship with each other within the Triune Being of God Himself in Christ. Jesus unified our humanity to the Trinitarian God as the prophesied Emmanuel. (Isa. 7:14; Matt.1;23)

Our mentality and psyche for living ought always to be that we are walking on the very grounds, and in the midst, of the Tri-Personal Being of God in the all sufficiency and expectation of His Triune Love.

 How… yes, how is God possibly going to make this “Triune-likeness” mandate happen? How will God go about making man, whom He has made of flesh and blood, into a spirit-composed person, and a Love-composed person as He IS?

The answer… We’ll answer the How question more in-depth in part two, but suffice to say that only Someone from within the Triune Godhead can take man and change man into the Trinitarian likeness and Life of God (Love). That’s the only way, there is no other way. It’s much like trying to domesticate a beast from the wild. We train it to give the animal, say a chimpanzee, some semblance of our humanity in order to live among us. We remove its wild instincts and to some degree instill the human spirit in it. Most times it’s to reflect our humorous spirit in the animal. Why is the dog call man’s best friend? We have seen and continue to see many animated movies that have been produced along this theme. Man trains the chimpanzee to project the image he wants the chimpanzee to adopt. When the beast cannot be domesticated and continues to be untameable, it is let back into the wild. That’s why certain animals, like a lion, cannot be domesticated because it is untameable.

So in like manner, only Jesus, who is God as the Father and the Spirit, and who comes from the Triune Godhead, is man’s doorway into the Tri-Personal Love-Being of God. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Now we can understand why Jesus was emphatic about what He said about Himself – why He had to come, be born a human, be fully God and fully human, live, die, and be resurrected so man can be unified to God forever – through no other way, but in and through Jesus.

That is why the Messiah came. That is why it had to be Jesus. That is why Jesus was born. That is why, in the true spirit of Christmas, we have much more than we realize to rejoice over. As I intimated, the message of His death seems to dominate the airwaves, that is ‘redemption’ – but the ‘incarnation’ is the doorway to ‘redemption.’ If there is no ‘incarnation’ (image and likeness, Immanuel), there is no ‘redemption.’

We will answer the how and when of God’s story about man as it’s seen through the birth of Christ in parts two and three. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                         (Your Servant in Christ) 

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

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.