This may be incoherent, but here goes. I notice that in the kingdom of heaven, the whole atmosphere is full of light, and love. Everything is clear; God’s purpose and motivating love pervade all. There is absolutely no confusion allowed, no darkness, no lonely self. On earth, by contrast, darkness prevails, along with confusion, pain, and shame and the lonely self (alienation). This, to me, is what it means to be absent God’s will. And this is probably (I am guessing here) the outcome of 3 falls: the fall of Satan, intimated in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28; the fall of the human race in Genesis 3, and the fall of the angels in Genesis 6.
(And it may be noteworthy that the fall of the angels is subsequent to, and tied to, that of humanity [they lusted after
fallen women, after all]. According to John’s “Revelation”, approximately 1/3 of the kingdom was destroyed [12:4]. I connect the idea of “fall” with the idea of being removed from God’s will [“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”]).
Only one Human Being made it out of heaven, with His mind intact, and His will unsullied. He remembered the kingdom of the Father (John 3:13). He continued in the Father’s will. And He came here, leaving the kingdom of heaven and descending to darkness, because of the Father’s great love for us. The rest of us fell irretrievably, into darkness and confusion and sin. But Jesus, in coming, remembered His Father in heaven, and never let go of the golden thread of faith. Even when it meant His death, Jesus believed, and obeyed. Jesus went into darkness and death, knowing, believing, hoping, trusting.
And He did it because of the Father’s love. This love was the motive force. The Father’s will was to express His love for us in His Son Jesus Christ. Now we have the way home. The Father wants us to come home.
To me, Lee’s version of “God’s eternal purpose” is short on two counts. First, it focused on the self – “eat the tree – drink the river”. Second, it then moved to the universal – “build the Body – consummate the New Jerusalem”. But it missed the message of Jesus to love your neighbor. With Nee & Lee, notice how quickly the neighbor, and the "local ground", got subsumed in the rush to the "Jerusalem principle", i.e. consolidation. The "fox tail" of fallen humanity revealed itself, and Babylon just kept building.
I personally believe that God’s eternal purpose is found in the Father's love for the sinner next to you. Just as God sent His Son, to seek and save the lost, now God has sent you to follow the Son. And
OBW's caveat is wise, here: unless we live as Jesus did, connected continually by faith to the kingdom of our Father in heaven, and maintain continual obedience to the will of God, then our gospel, and our works (even motivated by 'good intentions') will be marred.
I find it hard to maintain unbroken communication with the Spirit. Our flesh, our fallen mind, our neighbors all intrude. But we have the Word. In that sense, imbibing of God's word is essential. But ironically, this ex-Liite now sees "the way of eating" and "the way of abiding" in just those types of passages and practices rejected by Lee. For example, go to Psalm 1 and read about the blessed man, who meditates on God's word day and night. Lee said nobody could do that. I say Jesus did it, and wants us to follow.
Let me put it another way, for consideration: A kingdom divided cannot stand. There were 3 falls, and the Father's kingdom was divided. Then the Messiah Jesus came, to make the kingdom whole. Only the King can unite the kingdom. No church, no work, no "ministry of the age", no doctrinal "ground"; only Jesus can make this thing work. Again, only Jesus came to earth, and didn't miss the Father in heaven. Only Jesus made it through. And He did it for us.
Yes, there is a church; I know. But the church takes the lead to look away unto Jesus. The church doesn't look at itself as the solution to the problem. The church is not the solution, but takes the lead to show that Jesus is the solution. Jesus is the King. The Father's kingdom has been restored, and we now are invited in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
As I read it, God sent a few to spread the gospel to many who would remain in place as the evidence that God changes lives. That would live in a manner that made people living in darkness see some light and take note. It was not about the people in darkness seeing others having uplifting meetings or making declarations about God that did not square with the lives they were living (a common problem with the charge to get saved and rush out to preach the gospel). It was lives that could not be hidden, shining light into the darkness. That would make people ask.
That is probably one reason that Paul really did not tell much in those letters about how to preach the gospel, but rather about how to live. Their problem wasn't that the gospel they were preaching was so bad, but the lives behind it were no better than the pagans.
After salvation, which is by grace, we are given commandments on how to live and we should do it.
I'm preaching to me as much as anyone else.
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