“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:14-17 NIV)
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being.” (Proverbs 20:27 BSB)
“Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:6 BSB)
The closer I look at this realm of the “sufferings FROM Christ,” the clearer it becomes that this is primarily an internal issue. This is a Spirit to spirit discipline. As a child of God he disciplines me from the inside – out. To understand how God disciplines his children I need to reverse the “natural” way that I perceive life. Let me explain. To do this, I need to go back to the beginning once again and work my way forward. Only then will we truly understand how this works.
”In the beginning,” God who has no beginning or end, dwelling in the spiritual realm (the Kingdom of Heaven), decided to expand his Kingdom by creating a material/physical realm (“the heavens and the earth”). In the midst of this newly formed creation (the universe) he placed a planet (earth) on which he created a garden spot called Eden. In Eden he placed Adam (male and female – created in his image and likeness). From Adam (male) he formed Adam (female). Together they were a complete representation of himself (subsequently, Adam-male renamed Adam-female – Eve).
This Garden (a place of beauty and abundance – an expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven) existed in the midst of a planet thrown into chaos by Satan (formerly Lucifer – the Father’s top angel) and his followers (fallen angels) who were cast out of heaven due to their rebellion of pride. Within this Garden, Adam and Eve enjoyed the benefits of living in perfect harmony and communion with each other and their Father. The three of them would walk and talk daily. During these times of undivided fellowship, Adam and Eve were commissioned, and equipped (given ownership of the earth and delegated divine power and authority) by their Father to expand the Garden (Kingdom of Heaven on Earth) throughout the planet. They were given marching orders to fill the earth (reproduce in their kind – children created in the image and likeness of God bearing fruit for the Kingdom) with God’s glory, rule over nature (restoring it to the Garden environment in which it was created), and subdue the enemy (Satan and his followers).
Sadly, at the first opportunity to carry out their mission in a face to face meeting with the enemy (Satan in the form of a serpent) Eve was deceived and sinned in disobedience to her Father, and Adam willfully transgressed. With full understanding of his choice, he turned his back on his Father and bent his knee to Satan. Rather than take back the planet (take dominion – rule and subdue), filling the earth with God’s glory (be fruitful and multiply), they opened the door to the ravages of death. The power and authority given to Adam (male and female) by his Father was transferred by Adam to Satan. The God of the Universe had designated Adam to be the god of the earth and Adam transferred that position to Satan who became the “god of the world.” The Father of Lights and Truth was now usurped by the father of darkness and lies on the earth.
It was into this chaos that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, stepped out of his spiritual realm in which he was dwelling. He left his eternal Kingdom where there exists nothing less than “divine perfection” (no sin, suffering, sorrow, lack, hatred, death, etc.) into this material realm filled with “fallen imperfection” (sin, sickness, poverty, destruction, hatred, division, wars, Satan and his fallen followers, etc.). To do this he humbled himself and took on the form of humanity. He willingly set aside the innate use of his deity, emptying himself and becoming a man. He came as the Last Adam.
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, willingly became the Last Adam in order to reveal the Father to a world filled with spiritual orphans who had forgotten who their Father was. The Father’s children had followed the first Adam in turning their backs on him and in various ways yielded themselves to the domination of the “god of this world” (Satan). The Last Adam came to right all of the wrongs that the first Adam had done. He came to save those who were lost.
Like Adam, as I turn my back on my Father and bend my knee to Satan, I increasingly think, speak, and act as a “fallen creature” rather than a “new creation.” I take on the nature and character of being a follower of the enemy rather than my true nature and character of being a son of God. While as a son of God (a disciple of Christ) my spirit is connected to my Father (a brand new creation already dwelling in the heavenly realm even while housed in my body – figure that one out), as I yield my members (body and soul) to sin and Satan, from my darkened mind I live in the image and likeness of a fallen angel (Lucifer – Satan) rather than as I was created in the image and likeness of my Father God. This creates an environment in which I am driven and controlled from the outside – in (body driven in cooperation with a darkened mind).
Originally, Adam and Eve lived from the inside – out. They had no sin or shame. They did not have any consciousness of sin, sickness, lack, or death. They lived for a brief moment in the same perfection as the One in whose image and likeness they had been created (spirit, soul, and body). They were spirit driven (not body or soul). They had no awareness of their nakedness because they were clothed from the inside out. The light of their righteousness shone out from their spirits penetrating and flowing through their souls and bodies, clothing them in light (in the same way as Moses, Elijah, and Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration). They were living from the internal light of Glory that flowed from their spirit’s in connection with God’s Spirit, with no division or barriers between each other or their Father. They communed and communicated with God by way of their spirits. From this unbroken spiritual connection to the Spirit of God they walked and talked in perfect harmony with each other and their Father. Then it happened. They flipped the switch, and…
…the lights went out.
From the moment that Adam and Eve turned their back on their Father (the Father of Lights) and bent their knees to Satan (the ruler of darkness) they became dominated by their awareness of their newly darkened nakedness. Their minds became darkened and their bodies became corrupted. Sin penetrated their members.
In this new sense of fallenness and separation, they tried to hide their physical nakedness with coverings of leaves. They tried to hide their spiritual nakedness of sin and shame by hiding behind a bush. They immediately began living from the outside – in, dominated by the sin in their members (body) and darkness of their minds (soul). They separated themselves from the Father (thanks be to God that he did not separate himself from them).
This sinful, darkened separation has permeated the human race ever since this devastating choice. The Apostle Paul clearly points out that Adam’s descendants make this same sin-filled, darkened-mind, choice time after time after time.
STOP! HOLD YOUR HORSES! This is some good stuff, but how in the world does this relate to the topic of “Sufferings FROM Christ: The Pain of Discipline?” So glad you asked. I will tell you tomorrow.
But for now, just think some more about what has been shared so far in…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 406: Discerned Suffering: Sufferings FROM Christ: The Pain of Discipline Continued