Message 12 covers transformation for building in the flow of life. Transformation is a crucial word in the New Testament. In Genesis 2 we have creation and in Revelation 21 and 22 we have the building. In between is a long process of transformation during which a great deal of work must be done. We as Christians need to undergo this process of transformation. This is not a mere outward change, but an organic, metabolic change. For this, the Lord revealed Himself as the bread of life for our eating in John 6 and as the living water for our drinking in John 7. Whatever we take into us as food will be assimilated into our being. Similarly, we need to pay attention to our spiritual eating and drinking. This is not to try and imitate the Lord outwardly, but to take Him into us inwardly to be our life and our life supply. Then we can be produced as the transformed material for God’s building.
Messages 13 and 14 cover the two trees in Genesis 2. These trees are not part of an antiquated record, but, rather, are a living, up-to-date, divine revelation of two principles. The principle of the tree of life is dependence. Just as we can never graduate from eating and breathing, we can never graduate from depending on Jesus Christ as the real tree of life (John 15). The principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is independence. It is quite striking to see that good and evil are on the same tree. Whether we are behaving in a good way or an evil way is not as important as whether or not we are apart from God. We may be good, yet still be independent of God. Why did God allow the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to be in the garden in Genesis 2? It is because our God is great. Only someone small would force their opinion on others. God gave man a choice. Let us choose life!
There are many other points covered in these three messages. Please use the comments section below to share your enjoyment or even practice composing a short prophecy. Even if what you write is short (1-2 sentences), this may flow life from your spirit into others!
Links:
To read online: Living Stream Ministry
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To listen to the corresponding radio broadcasts with commentary: LSM Radio
When we approach the divine facts in the word, we must exercise to have a praying spirit to receive a heavenly vision. My hope is that a vision of transformation will be televised into my being.
One of the mysterious and divine facts recorded in the Scriptures is transformation. It is a seed sown in Genesis, develops throughout the New Testament, and is harvested in Revelation. The story of creation presents to us the beginning of this marvelous process. From the dust of the ground, man was formed by God, and indeed everything was very good. But what exactly is the value of this clay vessel? How is it that God can ascribe good to a shard of pottery? The answer is unlocked throughout the entire Bible. The Garden of Eden was a picture of what God had planned for man, revealed in its primary stage. Within the garden is the tree of life, a river with four branches, and precious materials. The consummate view of God’s purpose is seen in Revelation. The result is a glorious and splendid city, composed of the same elements: the tree of life, the river of water of life, and precious materials. If this was our view from the beginning, a sense to praise God would rise up in our being for what He is accomplishing. Praise Him! He is bringing His chosen ones through the process of transformation for the building in the flow of life.
We must value God’s purpose for us and the process of transformation He is bringing us through. Our experience corresponds to precious stones. Precious materials are weighty, rare, costly, and only produced by heat and pressure. Similarly, through heat and pressure, God’s precious and weighty element is in-wrought within us. This metabolic process will take a life time. The more we open to Him in every situation, an inward and organic change takes place. Paul had a divine view of this process as he declared, “For our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory” (2Cor. 4:17). Through affliction, Paul was being transformation into precious material for God’s building. How precious are God’s thoughts toward us, and how great is the sum of them (Psa. 139:17)!
The reality of this city of gold, pearl, and precious stones is that we are being constituted with the Triune God: gold signifies the divine nature of the Father, pearl signifies the Son in His death and resurrection, and precious stones signifies the transformation work of the Spirit. Everyday, God is bringing us through this process of transformation until He obtains His corporate expression on the earth.