Living in the Environment of God's Presence
by Pastor Jake
The Psalmist exclaims:
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, and dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth!”
(Ps. 8:3-9; Heb. 2:6-8 NAS)
First let us look at the biblical definition of the word “faith.” Faith is hearing, believing, obeying and loving God from a pure heart. This definition is derived from the study of the Holy Scriptures concerning Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all the Patriots and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They all were chosen and called of God; they all received God’s gift of faith by responding to His commands with complete submission and obedience. Thus to have faith one must, first of all, be able to hear the Spirit of God speaking; for,
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.”
(Rom. 10:17 NAS)
We are called by God’s choice; when He speaks His word quickens our ear to hear His loving voice and we receive his gift of faith by a positive response to His call.
Without God given faith it is impossible for modern day man to understand who or what God is. And so it is ever more difficult for him to understand who and what man was in the beginning when God subjected creation to him; for in this present age we do not see man as he was, but as he is; neither do we see all things subjected to him (Heb. 2:8). Before we can answer the Psalmist question, “what is man,” we must first have at least some revelation to the question, what or who is God?
By faith (revelation from God) we believe our heavenly Father is an invincible, omnipresent living soul; an absolute sovereign intellect embodied in an invisible Spirit (Heb. 11:6). God is the indestructible, eternal Holy Supreme Being; He is the one and only Father and eternal power; He is the absolute authority; there is no other likened unto Him. God is sacred, holy and divine in nature. He is eternal life and radiant light penetrating his creation with His healing love, mercy, grace, and peace. He is the substance of all that exist and by His word all things are created and hold together (See Heb. 11:3; Col. 1:17). His glory is expressed in the manifestation of His moral beauty, pureness, perfection, righteousness, power and authority. Since the beginning of creation all that is created is a manifestation of His splendor and glory (Rom. 1:20). He is the unfaltering rightness, the unwavering straightness and the steadfast perfection by which all else is measured. He is the foundation rock and His Word is the corner stone of His eternal kingdom. Also, God’s word is the exact expression and manifestation of the love and thoughts of His invisible soul.
Now that we have a better understanding of who and what God is let us attempt to understand what man is. To do this we must look at what man was when God first created him.
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (soul)”
(Gen. 2:7 NAS)
We understand from God’s Holy Scripture that man’s body was created of the dust from the ground and then he became a living soul by the Spirit (or breath) of God, thus he was both created and born (brought into life) of God. Therefore man’s soul is a spirit; God’s son, the firstborn son of His family of man dwelling in a body created of the dust.
“And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
(Gen. 1:27 NAS)
We further understand that man’s soul was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God, hence he was born in the image and likeness of his Father; meaning he had all the attributes of his Father. In the beginning the soul of man was equal with God in every way except that he was “a little lower than God” because he was born of God and his body was a creation of God; the creature is not greater than the Creator or the son is not greater than the Father.
“And God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’.”
(Gen. 1:28 NAS)
Thus so God gave His son his birthright; as his Father’s first-born he was the heir of his Father’s blessings, he received dominion over all God had created; he was crowned with “glory and majesty.” Man was a sign of his Father’s strength (Deut. 21:17), a manifestation of His glory. From the throne of God’s presence with a heart of love he ruled and reigned with his loving Father.
When we began to study the beginning of creation we realized that all that was created was done so in God’s presence (Gen. 1:1-3). Where ever His word was spoken God’s Spirit was present. Also, we realize that for vegetation, trees and the like, God created an atmosphere and environment suitable for the growth and the reproduction of these before they were created. The same is true for all insects and other life forms. Before He created the fish, He created the bodies of water and the food for the fish, and then He created the fish. Before He created the fowl of the air and the beast of the field He created the environment suitable to support the life He gave them (Gen. 1:1-25). Each and every thing created had a special environment for their own unique design and life form.
When God created man, by His word and His Spirit man became a living soul (Gen. 1:26; 2:7), hence by the indwelling of God’s Word and Spirit he lives. In other words, man is an incarnate word and spirit being dependant upon the Word and Spirit of God for life. This is known as the “Law of the Spirit of Life (Rom. 8:1).” Man was unique---he was born of God a living soul---thus he was created and designed to live and function perfectly, not in the environment of the fish, fowl or the beast, but in the environment of God’s presence.
“And the LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
(Gen. 2:8-9 NAS)
The word “Eden” or “Ayden” means “a place of delight (Strong`s H5730, H5731)” or, according to Scriptural use, “the Garden of the Lord (Isaiah 51:3)” or “the place of God’s presence (Ezek. 28:13; Gen. 3:38).” The Garden was a place that God prepared for the dwelling of He and His family of man. This was the place of His presence and the place where He would share His throne with His firstborn. He prepared the trees that would bear the fruit that man would eat; the “tree of life” was there also. It was in the Garden of His presence that He took a rib from man’s side and “fashioned” for him a female “corresponding to” or in his image and gave to him to be his wife and to give birth to his children. If man would live by the simple principles of his loving Father he would prosper in the love, joy, peace and the glory of God. He would be fruitful and multiply and he and his offspring would expand the Garden to fill the whole earth with the environment of God’s glorious presence.
To even better understand what man was in the beginning we should also study the man Jesus, for He is the second Adam (1st Cor. 15:45).
“And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.”
(Col. 1:15 NAS)
He was a man who lived and did all in the presence of His Father. He was a man through whom God the Father performed signs and wonders; through whom the sick were healed, the lame was made to walk and the blind made to see. He was the one who turned water into wine, walked on the sea and raised the dead. He was a man who was able to pass through violent crowds and escape their grasp. He was the one who was transfigured and appeared with Elijah and Moses on the mountain before the witness of men. As a man He was as man was in the beginning; he was faithful and obedient to His Father; His Father’s glory and love was manifested through Him, thus He lives and reigns in the environment of His Father’s presence; He is the Son of God. He is what man was in the beginning. He is man’s hope for a new beginning.
[“What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?”]
In the beginning man was a son of God; not only was he a god, his offspring would be gods also (Ps. 82:6; John 10:34-35). This was man in the beginning. What happened to man that he fell so low and became so corrupt?? He exchanged his birthright for the fulfillment of lust (Gen. 3:6; Gen. 25:29-34). Then he was consumed by “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life (1st John 2:16).” He violated “the law of the Spirit of life” by leaving God’s presence through disobedience, thus he subjected himself to “the law of sin and death (Gen. 2:17; James 1:14-15).” His now sinful flesh became a veil between him and God. The Spirit of God left him, his spirit died and man was cast down from the throne of God’s presence (Gen. 3:22-24). He was now under the curse of the law, therefore all that was of his dominion was subjected to the curse also (Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 8:20). Outside of the environment of God’s presence he is like a fish out of water or a plant in parched ground that soon withers and dies. He was not designed to live and function in the environment of the plants, the beast of the field, the fowl of the air or the fish of the sea. Because of his transgressions man has found himself powerless and totally dysfunctional. He no longer can eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden of Eden; neither can he partake of “the tree of life.” Sin has enslaved him and now he has entered into a fruitless labor. He now eats food from a cursed ground and lives and dies among the beast of the field.
When Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son, who took his inheritance and wasted it in the pursuit of the fulfillment of lust, He was telling us the story of who man was and what he became. It is a story of repentance, forgiveness and restoration to what he was in the beginning (Luke 15:11-24). It is a story of a father’s love and joy over his son’s return. In poverty he lived and ate with the swine and during his time of hopelessness the prodigal son remembered the time when he lived in his father’s house. He remembers the love of his father and the wonderful life he had living in the environment of his father’s house, thus he desired to return. Unlike the prodigal son who could remember his father’s house, man, because of the blinding effects of sin down through the ages, has lost sight of his heavenly Father and of who he was in the beginning. Therefore God in His infinite love, mercy and grace has given us His word telling and showing us of who He is and who we were and of the way He has provided for us to be redeemed and restored to son ship.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
(Eph. 2:4-7 NAS)
As we ponder and meditate upon this passage of Scripture we realize that God not only cleansed us of sin and raised us from the dead in Christ Jesus, but He has also seated us with Christ on the throne of God’s presence for the purpose of revealing His glory and wondrous love through us as He did in the beginning.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."
(Eph. 2:8-9 NAS)
By grace man is called and by grace he is given the gift of faith. And it is through the gift of faith that man is saved; it is all the works of God.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
(Eph. 2:10 NAS)
God has prepared the good works of His glory and love that they be manifested through us as we live in them now, in this present age. It is not some idealistic and futuristic event reserved for another place or time. Man has a need to forsake the theology of the hymn book and return to the theology of the Bible. All is not present, but certainly all is not “in the sweet by and by” or when we “fly way” either. Man is so focused on going to heaven that he fails to live in the environment of the love, joy, peace and glory of God’s presence now. Today is the day of salvation; today is the day of the manifestation of His love and glory. Today is the day of living in the environment of His presence. God’s Son Jesus is the way and the open door into the Garden and He is the Garden of His Presence. In Him the curse of the Law is removed and the veil of sinful flesh is crucified and buried that we may enter into and live in the environment God’s presence now, today (Heb.10:19-20 NAS)!!
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."
(Rom. 8:16-17 NAS)
Man cannot continue to fulfill the lust of the flesh and expect to live in God’s presence. To suffer with Christ is to be crucified with Him, die to the sinful deeds of the degenerate body of flesh, be buried with Christ so that we may be raised up in a new birth of the spirit and glorified with Him. Then, and only then, we can come to “Mount Zion the city of the living God.”
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel."
(Heb. 12:22-24 NAS)
We are not living in the age of the Old Covenant when men kneeled and prayed at altars built by the hands of men to bring down the presence of God. We are not living in the time when it was necessary to make blood sacrifices, burn incense and have a table of showbread. These were all types and fore shadows of things to be accomplished and fulfilled in Christ. We are living in the age of the New Covenant, the Covenant that Christ gave His life for (Heb. 9:16-17).
Jesus is the altar where we kneel and pray and He is the tabernacle of God’s presence; He is the showbread, the word of God that is incarnate in those who by faith partake of it. He is the One who shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of sins. He is the manna sent down from heaven and He is the Word of God in whom we place our trust. Our praise of Him is the sweet smelling aroma that pleases the Father and our worship is our faithful obedience to His commandments. Jesus is the sacrifice, the blood, the mercy seat, the tabernacle and dwelling place and the New Covenant; He is the holy presence of God. If we have been baptized into Christ we belong to Him and we live in the age of Christ, the age of the first-born, the age of the inheritance of a better covenant, and the age of dominion (Gal. 3:26-29 NAS).
“And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister."
(Col. 1:15-23 NAS)
The Word of God was always with God (John 1:1-2), He was “the first-born of all creation;” when God first spoke, the Word was born. It was by God’s Word that all things were created. It was the Word of God that became flesh and lived among men (John 1:14). It was the Word of God that was named Jesus (meaning, savior) and became the Savior of men through death on the cross as the sacrificial offering for man’s sins. It was the Word of God that was raised from the dead by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. When men believe in the Word of God he becomes one with the Word of God (John 17:21); men who believe are, through faith, the incarnate word of God and are raised from the dead restored to what he was in the beginning (Rom. 8:11). Because of faith his enemies are defeated for he is one with the Word of God who defeated the enemy (1 John 5:4 NAS); He is an heir of the Father’s because he is one with the first-born of all creation and he is one with the first-born from the dead and he is one with God. As the incarnate word of God he is the body of Christ in the earth today.
“But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."
(2nd Cor. 11:3 NAS)
When God became man (John 1:1-2 & 14) He did not stoop down to the level of depraved man, but He reached down to man to redeem and lift him back up and restore him to His level. Men today have a need, in his own mind, to let God be God and ask Him to give us the revelation and understanding of Him on His level rather than hopelessly trying to bring God down to our level. Miss-guided religious men build temples, synagogues, cathedrals and church buildings all for a monument and dwelling place for God. All the altars built, glass windows stained, pictures painted of angles, of Jesus and of God (all of which are figments of man’s imagination), loud or soft music, loud weeping and wailing or quite somber sobbing, will not bring down the presence of God. These same miss-guided men will say all these things are necessary because they are conducive to worship. All men need to be inspired to worship is a revelation of God and His love. God did not teach ritualistic religiosity in the Garden of Eden, man learned that in a religious world out side of God’s presence.
“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
(1st Tim. 1:5 NAS)
The presence of God comes in a natural way to those who love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith and their praise of Him is stirred by His presence. It was to a religious, ritual laden people that Jesus spoke these words,
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
(Matt. 11:28 NAS)
When we come to Christ He frees us from the ritualistic worship of the Old Covenant and brings us into the liberty of the New (Matt. 11:29-30).
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."
(Gal. 5:1 NAS)
There are only two rites that we are commanded to do under the New Covenant, they are the rites of Baptism and the Lord’s Super. If we return to ritualistic worship of any other kind we forsake the simplicity of the gospel that is in Christ and disregard the grace of God delivered to us through Him (Heb. 6:1-8)
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears."
(Heb. 12:15-17 NAS)
By the hand of the Apostle, God tells us that a person who endeavors to satisfy the lust of the flesh surrenders his birthright and he is an “immoral or godless person” who comes short of the grace of God. Therefore we must be diligent to keep the faith less we fall short of the grace of God.
“‘Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels (God—see Ps. 82:6), namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ‘I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise’."
(Heb. 2:8-12 NAS)
Christ has paid the sin debt for all mankind, defeated the enemy, and God has restored the inheritance of glory and dominion to His first-born through Him. If by faith we can see Jesus as Lord and King, as the one who has received the inheritance of His Father, then we must also be able, by faith, to see those who have been sanctified with Him as being heirs with Him also.
“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near."
(Heb. 10:19-25 NAS)
“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. For, ‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you."
(1st Pet. 1:22-25 NAS)
Our heavenly Father is the Creator, we are His labor of love. Through obedience from a heart of love (faith) we are redeemed and created in His image in the Garden of His presence. There we live every day of our lives in faithfulness, love, joy, peace and the glory of God in Christ Jesus, the environment of God’s presence.