Dearly
Beloved,
An
elderly minister whom I highly respect once caught my attention by paraphrasing
Galatians 6:3 as follows, “For if a man think himself to be SOMEBODY,
when he is NOBODY, he deceives himself”. He was simply exposing the
secret that our dear Lord Jesus Christ used to beat His/our enemy, hands down (Jn.
14:30).
Apostles
like Paul saw this early, and by counting all things as dung, he took the PATH of
becoming a spectacle (NOBODY)
before the world (1Cor. 4:9), so that he would
become SOMEBODY that sought the
Excellency of the knowledge of Christ and was ultimately Crowned with
Righteousness (Phil. 3:8-11/2Tim. 4:8)
2Cor. 8:9
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich (i.e.
previously in the form of God – Phil 2:6), yet for your sakes he became poor
(i.e. left that estate and took the form/likens of sinful flesh – Rom. 8:3),
that ye through his poverty might be rich (i.e. that we might thereby acquire true
riches of grace and glory – Lk. 16:11/1Tim. 6:17-19/Eph. 1:7)
Simply
put, our heavenly calling which is to be like God – BE SOMEBODY, places
a single demand on us to gradually Trade-The-Consciousness-Of-Our-Earth-Born-Identity,
so we can Gain-The-Consciousness-That-Was-Constituted-In-Righteousness,
i.e. Gain-The-Consciousness-And Identity-Of-The-World-To-Come!
Cunningly, we despise this process and would rather keep negotiating God's
terms on how to BECOME SOMEBODY.
According to God, becoming
SOMEBODY is a life-long adventure, and the lot of those who would attain
Sonship and thereafter proceed with the learning of obedience like Jesus did
(Heb. 5:8), until they inherit The Fullness of The Son and Father (Eph.
3:19/4:13). Children who play smart with God’s commandments and despise His
chastening (Heb. 12:6-8) actually postpone that awesome process of being
illuminated until the world to come (Rev. 21:23-24)
According to Man, becoming
SOMEBODY takes place by material acquisitions, by the acquisition of abundance
of knowledge, or by attaining the many thousands of Babylon’s names. According
to God, the shortcut to becoming “SOMEBODY” is to be a “NOBODY” according to
the standards of this world. God ratified this order through His Son, He
further exemplified it His Son’s Disciples-made-Apostles and await those who
would add their names to that list! Selah
According
to man, the shortcut to becoming SOMEBODY is by being bright or smart,
like Satan once was (Eze. 28:17), but according to God, the shortcut to
ultimately becoming SOMEBODY is by depending much more on the
dictates of our regenerated human spirit whom God’s Spirit bears witness with,
i.e. the holy unction (1Jn. 2:20&27/Rom. 8:16). According to God, the
unhealthy speed and brightness of carnal minds must be tamed by the cross so it
can obey the faith dictates of the New Testament and thereby experience the
baptisms (teachings) of THE NAME OF THE SON and THE NAME OF THE FATHER (Matt.
28:19-20).
The
choice actually is ours! We can chose to repeat the history of the first Adam,
who, while trying to be “smart with God” like I sometimes find myself doing,
fell short of becoming a SOMEBODY.
WE ALSO CAN CHOOSE THAT LESS
COSTLY PATH OF THE LAST ADAM - CHRIST JESUS, who left His estate as The Word
(Logos), and became NOBODY, that He might unearth the path, process, and
product called Light, Life and Love, for those have no qualification for
such – that they also might be SOMEBODY, LONG BEFORE THEY DEPART THE FLESH.
Salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ would only be
corporately enacted by the Godhead for the first time on earth (Rev. 12:10),
after a critical mass of 144,000 “NOBODY”, would have refused the conformation
offered by this world’s mold (Heb. 11:24/Rom. 12:1), and would have become transformed
in their hearts and minds to be “SOMEBODY” before the God of creation and in
the ages to come.
May
the merciful Lord success in his quest to make us a “Nobody” before the world,
so we can become a “Somebody” in His glorious sight, amen!
Tayo Fasan
+2347025001200
