'The mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest one of all' -Pt2
YOU are YHWH's house. No, don't just gloss over what you just read... read it again: you are YHWH's temple.
The import of this is astounding. The Eternal One lives in your human spirit ETERNALLY. Please permit me to gush over this detail.
Eternity is not a thing; rather, it is a state of being. In many English versions, eternity is rendered in a way that suggests a timeless past and a timeless future. For example, the New International Standard Version's rendition of Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
In the New Revised Standard Version (Anglicised), it is: "He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." Well, the terms 'Past' and 'Future' are concepts only defined by Time. Eternity is timeless.
To further elaborate on this concept of timelessness, the New International Reader's Version (NIRV) does something unique but very interesting with Ecclesiastes 3:11. It renders it as: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also given people a sense of who he is. But they can’t completely understand what God has done from beginning to end."
"given people a sense of who he is"... interesting. The Hebrew word used there is ʽôlām, which is rightly translated as eternal, forever, or everlasting in most of the other English Translations of that verse. This NIRV translation caught my attention because it references what Scripture confirms, even if that verse doesn't say it expressly. It equates ʽôlām', i.e., ' eternity ', with 'a sense of who he (YHWH) is '. Eternity is the state of YHWH's existence: It is 'I AM'.
Humankind was given a state of timelessness from the Eternal one (i.e. YHWH), which makes them aware of something bigger than themselves, intertwined with the inability to comprehend it fully.
The most exciting part of this Eternity in our spirits is what Messiah Jesus has done to it by his sacrifice for our sins.
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3
John is not merely referring to eternity in the verse above, for every human has eternity (timelessness) in their spirit (i.e., heart). The Apostle John is writing about a shift in the quality of Eternity as a result of true oneness with the Eternal One - it is Life.
Apostle Paul expounded on this in Colossians 1:
"15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The hope of this mysterious glory unfolded by Christ (the Messiah) being in you (i.e. tabernacled inside YOU by his Spirit) is this:
What the Preacher declared in Ecclesiastes 3:11(b) as inaccessible to us ("... set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end") is now fully accessible to our Eternal spirit by our union with Messiah (Christ) Jesus. For now we have the infinite mind of Christ! (1 Cor 2:16b)
This is why Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 explains:
9“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit."
He details the process:
10 "these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us."
In other words,
The Spirit of God in us searches the deep (eternal) things of God and the (eternal) thoughts of God, so that we may understand what the Eternal God has freely given us for all eternity!
Therefore, your creativity is boundless! Your innovative ability is infinite! The world of Timelessness is open to us! WE CAN understand Eternity and all the Timed phases embedded in it for all of eternity!
With all that ability comes the anchoring, which is Christ (the Messiah) himself. He anchors us to do all according to the expectations of the Eternity One (i.e. YHWH) in us.
So telling the whole world about Jesus is not merely handing out a get-out-of-jail card to rescue them from hell; it is much more!
"No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began" 1 Corinthians 2:8
Yes, escape from hell is important, but it is also an invitation for humans to begin experiencing a depth of oneness of thought, insight, innovation, creativity, and life inaccessible to a human heart without the Spirit of Christ. We are invited (and invite others) to begin experiencing eternal life now.
The eternal Kingdom of God is in us as YHWH's children; it is I AM. This is good news; may we live in its reality.
Amen
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