Life Walk Lesson 24 — Imitating Christ
The Glory of God
Exodus 33:19
“And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all My Goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’”
Exodus 34:6-7
6 “And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’”
John 2:1-10 (Read) The Miracle of Water turned into Wine
John 2:11
“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which He revealed His glory; and His disciples believed Him.”
The Opposite of God’s Glory
We have seen evidence in both Scripture and Uncanonized Ancient and Historical Writings, in previous Life Walk Lessons, of the angels, who left their first estate and rebelled against God Himself, and bore children with humans, all of whom God cursed.
As long as that seed remained, even until King David fought the last of them, and the Son of David, Jesus Christ, disarmed them at Calvary, they caused chaos, strife and all manner of evil and confusion in the earth, and those who followed the, practicing sin, died for their sins, without forgiveness, just as the angels who fell could not be forgiven. The evil spirits which came from the union of the angelic and human beings, which was forbidden, still cause the evils we know today in our society, for these spirits are eternal, until the consummation of all things, when they will be thrown into the Lake of Burning Sulphur, and Fire, and into the Abyss, the Bottomless pit, and into outer darkness; every conceivable method of utter separation from God and everything He loves, and unable to influence any being, angelic or human, any longer.
For it was God’s will, from the Foundation of the World, that His Holy Spirit would dwell in humans, becoming One with those who believed and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, our King in the Kingdom of God, not angels with humans. Then, when there was sin, and a person could not master it, Christ’s Own sacrifice declared us forgivable, and redeemed us with His Own Blood, so that we could live for eternity in His Kingdom.
When you read chapters 1-16 in 1Enoch, you find that a severe sentence was declared upon the evil spirits, by God Himself, for having sinned against God and humans. It was made clear to them that they would not have any peace, no eternal life in God’s Kingdom of Heaven, nor even live five hundred years of an earthly life. As we know, the oldest righteous human was 969 years old, according to the Book of Genesis.
So, also, we find confirmation in the Apostle Paul’s words of this same truth, for all these sins also occurred during the pre-flood years:
1Corinthians 6:9-10
9 “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men
10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.”
[See also: Genesis 13:10; Genesis 18-19; Deuteronomy 29:33; and 32:32; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 23:14; Jude 1:7; and by contrast Matthew 10:14-16]
Luke 17:1-2
1 “Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.
2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”
Jude 1:24-25
“To Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy —
25 to the Only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now, and forevermore! Amen.”
Matthew 12:32
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Revelation 21:27
“Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Revelation 22:14-15
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolators and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
God is Faithful
Psalm 18:25-27
25 “To the faithful you show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless,
26 to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the devious You show Yourself shrewd.
27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.”
2Corinthians 1:18-22
18 “But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who was preached among you by us — by me and Silas and Timothy — was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No,’ but in Him it has always been ‘Yes.’
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.
21 Now it is God Who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
22 set His seal of Ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
James 4:7
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
There is a downpayment of the Holy Spirit at baptism, guaranteeing what is to come [2Corinthians 1:22], God’s seal of Ownership, for we are bought with the price of the Blood of Jesus, and there is a consummation of that Kingdom, in its total fulfillment, to come, at the end of the age.
[See also the promise made in Matthew 28:20; and Matthew 13, for the end of the age harvest.]
Baptism in Water, and with the Fire of the Holy Spirit, is a requirement for being changed from a life of darkness, which are the sins of the flesh, to a life of light, consisting of righteousness, peace, and joy, which comes through God’s very Own Holy Spirit living within us.
[See also Life Walk Lesson 4]
God’s Promise to the Faithful
Matthew 13:41-42
41 “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
1Corinthians 15:50-52
50 “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
All authority has been given to Jesus Christ, and we are sent in His name to carry on His mission in the earth, to preach the Good News of the indwelling Kingdom of God through belief in, and faith in God, our Heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the acceptance of His reign in us, by His Holy Spirit.
To Adam was given dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the animals of the earth, in order to take care of earth. That dominion was lost when sin entered the earth through Satanic deception, beginning in the Garden of Eden, and onward from then on.
Jesus disarmed the devil and his demons at Calvary, told us He has overcome the world, and sent us to do the same. We must continue to disarm the powers of darkness by loving as Jesus did, laying down our lives for our loved ones, in Holy Spiritual sacrifice, which is worship to God [Matthew 25:31-40], daily carrying our cross and following Jesus’ example — His lifestyle.
Our job, just as God set the example in the beginning when He said, ‘:et there be light’ is to be that light, as Jesus declares in Matthew 5:14, which again covers the earth with His glory.
The commission has not changed. It is plainly stated and amply explained in Scripture, especially to the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 40-66.
Galatians 6:9-10
9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
Scripture Readings:
Ephesians 1; 5:1-6; Matthew 25:31-40; Galatians 5:16-26; Galatians 6
