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Thursday, July 30, 2009

The WHY of Creation - Part 6 / The Purging of Conscience

Please study part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 of this series if you have not done so already; even if you have it might be a good idea to review before proceeding....

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The author of the book of Hebrews admonishes us that it is not expedient to be forever stuck on the principles or the basics of the doctrine of Christ, that a baby cannot grow if it forever feeds on milk only but must be nourished on solid food in order to mature spiritually. So what are the principles or the basics of the doctrine of Christ? According to Hebrews 6:1 and 6:2 these are the principles of the doctrine of Christ:

  • · Repentance from dead works
  • · Faith toward God
  • · Doctrine of baptisms
  • · Laying on of hands
  • · Resurrection of the dead
  • · Eternal judgment

I would venture to say that in almost 100% of churches across the world all preaching and teaching is focused on one or more of the above mentioned six principles of the doctrine of Christ. Most churches do not get past the doctrine of sin, meaning man is sinful and therefore needs a Savior, that salvation does not come from one’s own works or good deeds but rather through faith in God. Every Sunday the pastor gets up and preaches sermons related to this doctrine of ‘sin’ making sure his flock feels guilty enough to repent every week, and pay for that repentance, preferably in cash. If they get past this doctrine then as they do in Pentecostal churches the emphasis is on bodily healing and laying on of hands for spiritual gifts, or just sowing seed to gain material wealth. Some bold preachers even dare to speak of the coming judgment when all the dead will be resurrected and present themselves before the throne of God. Beyond these basic principles there is little or not teaching at all out there, but if this is the extent of the diet being fed to the body of Christ then according to the book of Hebrews all these believers are ‘babies’ being constantly fed on milk not on meat or a solid diet. The state of our world is a reflection of the state of the Church, the true Church of Jesus Christ not any of the man made denominations. The sad state of the world reveals to us the sad state of the Church and no wonder its growth is stunted if all it is being fed is milk and no meat.

So what is the meat of The Word of God that the apostle Paul was trying to admonish the Jerusalemite church to grow into? In a word that meat is CONSCIENCE! Or rather the purging of our defiled consciences into the pure conscience of Christ Himself. In a sentence if I were to sum up the real WHY of creation I would say it in this manner: God the father brought into existence all material creation for the purpose of having a corporeal creature with the very conscience of the Creator in Him. The first such creature in the universe is Christ Jesus, a very real flesh and bone corporeal being with a pure and undefiled conscience; with a conscience that is identical to that of God the Father Himself. The real challenge with which God labored, and from which He rested on the seventh day was the problem of creating a creature with a pure conscience like His own. He labored not as a result of having to form planets and stars or oceans and land but rather of how to imprint His own image, His own character, His own conscience on to that of His created sons. These ‘sons’ with His own GOOD CONSCIENCE, the archetype of whom is Jesus are His ‘Begotten Sons’, these are they who follow in the footsteps of Jesus, putting their faith in Him. So the real story of creation is all about ‘Conscience’ not about mere repentance from sin to gain eternal life. Eternal life is available only to those whose conscience has been made pure; no one is born with a pure conscience, it has to be purged from all the filth and sin it acquires over the course of a lifetime. But once it has been purged by the blood of Christ it can never again become defiled and thus the work for which these ‘Sons’ were created by God is brought to a culmination. God the Father can now live His life freely through and in these ‘Sons’ without an iota of impurity in these ‘Living Stone Temples’.

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Christ Jesus Himself whose blood alone can purge the defiled conscience of those who have been called and predestinated to become ‘begotten’ sons of God, went through a growth process where His conscience grew and matured into that of The Father. Not that His conscience was ever defiled or impure, which is what sets Him apart from all the other sons that followed, which gave Him the title of the ONLY BEGOTTEN (John 3:16), which is what made His blood capable of purging our consciences. Nonetheless His conscience matured and grew to full age because of His sufferings that He endured. The development of a ‘Good Conscience’ is a painful process; therefore those who preach only the ‘Happy Days’ gospel of peace and prosperity, materially speaking are liars and deceivers. It is true that we have peace in our hearts and that our souls prosper through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior but the entry into the Kingdom of God comes with much tribulation. Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

As we graduate from a milk diet to a strong meat diet and begin to understand the biblical definition of ‘Conscience’ and how it need must be purged to be made pure in order for us to became suitable temples for God, literally houses in which God lives and moves and has His being; it will become obvious that the real purpose of all material creation, and specifically that of man is so much greater than has been taught recently, both in churches and the secular world.

To be continued….

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