Bible Studies

Bible Studies

A few people are rich in godly thoughts. Why? Because they pos­sess the knowledge of God and are acquainted with Him. Every scribe brings out things new and old. Matt. 13:52. If we bring out only the old, the effect is dryness; but if we have been in His presence, we are anointed with fresh oil. Then it is as if a sweet aroma wafted out of the sanctuary and enveloped us, because we have been close to Him.

God has called all of us to present His riches. We are not permitted to come empty-handed to anyone. It is not sufficient just to know that it is there; we must also show the way to it. We must show the way to lay hold of the treasure—yet we only lay hold of the treasure by going the way. The way to it is beautiful; we must not pause on it, but only go forward toward the goal—to the very image.

We must not pause for the pur­pose of being happy. It is possible to rejoice with ourselves being the source of our joy—because we are glad. But the joy of the Lord is our strength—that joy is not shaken. Many times it can be difficult to dif­ferentiate between these two kinds of joy—nevertheless, there is an amaz­ing difference.

Proverbs 8:22-31. When did God’s ways begin? Our mind stands still before an image of Jesus, which is the highest expression of God’s wisdom. Jesus says in John 17:15: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” The fact that He forsook everything is the evidence of His love for us. The thought of God’s almighty power of creation excludes all atheism. Col. 1:16.

Let us take an illustration from daily life. A man wants to make a pencil. The first thing that meets us is the person. Then that person gets an idea; after that a pencil is formed in his consciousness, and then he begins to create it.

Read Proverbs 8:22-31. Jesus is before God’s face and creates every­thing as a master craftsman. God’s plan of creation is impressed on Jesus’ consciousness. Read Genesis 1:26: “Let Us make man in Our image . . . .” (There is a thinker behind the thought.) And God said, “Let there be . . . .” Then God put His own im­age on our being. Satan, however, broke with this work of creation; nevertheless, God will pursue His goal with us. He will reveal His plan with us in glory. God’s beautiful plan with us is behind each one of us—and behind God’s plan is His heart filled with love. Take one of God’s thoughts, trace it to its source, and you will discover God behind it. Take a thought of the world, trace it to its source, and you will meet Satan behind it. God’s thoughts pervade everything that has been created, and we can trace them back to God. If a small blessing from Him is glo­rious, how much more beautiful is God who has given it to us! He who creates something is greater than the thing itself. Read Hebrews 3:3.

A light from God points out a fault (Satan never points out a fault); we must follow this light, go to God, and confess our fault. God has or­dained it so that everything must go back to Him. 1 John 1:8. I tell God how it is in my heart. If I confess, He will cleanse me from all unright­eousness. I would not have sent the light back to God if I hadn’t agreed with Him. Everything is from Him and leads to Him. It is important that we come into God’s light and plans so that His glory can be revealed to us and in us. As much as I receive of His glory here, that much I will glo­rify Him. As much as we have been formed here by Christ, that much we will have received from Him when we enter eternity. May God help us that we may enter into His being and into His image. Amen!

Colossians 1:18. It is good when God opens up the Word for us and takes us by the hand and leads us into the Word. What will we see then? We will see Christ. All God’s fullness dwells in Christ. Then we will see His fullness. The world has empty words—Satan dwells in them. Christ dwells in the Word of God; therefore we should always have God’s Word on our lips, with the result that it will be a blessing. We are exhorted to let the Word dwell in us richly. Col. 3:16. We know that it is written that He is the head of the body. When we consider the matter from a purely natural point of view, we can see that all the commands go from the head to the body. The head in the body of Christ is the ruling power. Before we say anything about the head, we will say something about the mutual relationship between the head and the body—how the head came into being and how the body arose. Eph. 1:17-23. Jesus was obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And then we read further that God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Phil. 2:9-10.

Take note that God Himself gave Jesus to be the head of the church, which is His body. At the same time as God gave Jesus to be the head of the church, the expression “body” appeared. A head is never alone; it has a body. It was God’s gift, and God’s children are the body on earth.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13. Let us have a look at how the body of Christ on earth was formed. We read that by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. When did Jesus baptize the believers into one body? The body was formed on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit melted them together with Christ. One bap­tism—on the day of Pentecost—and since then there has not been a bap­tism like it. We speak about baptism? We know that there are two aspects to the truth in Christ: an objective aspect, and a subjective aspect. It is true in Christ and it is true in us. If we tell a man in the world that Christ bore his sins on the tree of the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), and he believes it, then he has been set free from his sin. This much he has heard. But now he gets to hear something more. Christ took you with Him on the cross. He asks, “Did He take me with Him?” Yes, there you are to reckon yourself crucified together with Jesus. The man receives this truth. It is true in Christ (objective), but it is also true in the man (subjective). It is true that Jesus bore the sins of the world, but it is only true in those of the world who believe.

One baptism! The cross was not the only place where something oc­curred. After the resurrection this act occurred: God exalted the Head. On the day of Pentecost the follow­ing act occurred: all the children of God were baptized and made into one body. If you believe this, then it will become true in you. What you receive by way of the baptism of the Spirit is that you become a partaker of the blessings that are in the body of Christ. The body of Christ begins with the things that are on the out­side of the body. The entire body was anointed with the Holy Spirit—not only outwardly, but afterwards also inwardly. Our inner man shall be filled with God’s glory. We are not incorporated into the body before the Spirit does a work in us. As we die with Christ, we become partakers of the blessings of the Spirit. Jesus is the head of the body. If we had an understanding of unity, we would know that since God blesses all His children, He also blesses me. If we saw this clearly, we would not only pray for ourselves, but also for the entire body. The more we pray for the body, the more we are praying for ourselves. The entire body in­fluences each member in particular (1 Cor. 12:26), including me. A sick member influences the entire body; but the opposite also applies to a member that is well. A man (a shepherd) who prays can accomplish great things. He can live far away and yet have a great effect and be of significance for the others. Through prayer he lifts God’s church closer to heaven. We should be engaged in this work; then the entire body, not just we as individuals, would receive a greater blessing; then we would receive a great reward. My hand must work so that my body can live. We believe that we accomplish much in God’s kingdom when we work as individuals in simple things, yet the greatest work is prayer for the entire body. Eph. 4:9. Christ gave us to the church so that we—see verse 14. God has made provision for the church (the body) to be edified. You and I are gifts to the body; therefore it is vital that we fill our place—some with an inward ministry, some with an outward ministry. Both are nec­essary. It is important that we have the most profound understanding of Christ. Life proceeds from the heart. Prov. 4:23. The entire body receives its nourishment from the heart. Jesus has a ministry before the Father’s face (Heb. 7:25). He intercedes for us. The lifeblood for the entire body proceeds from this ministry. Starting with a small beginning, God’s chil­dren are called to attain to the most exalted ministry—to pray before the Father’s throne together with Jesus.

Be firmly chained to Jesus to stand together with Him in the ministry of intercession. We will experience suf­ferings when we enter into this state. Love—through sufferings—bears results in God’s kingdom.

The body grows independently of my will; yet each member of my body acts according to my will. We personally, as well as the entire body will grow, when we follow Jesus in blind obedience. We will attain to the most exalted work if we let Jesus’ being and mind permeate us. Each one is called to enter into this work.