by Casley Cormier
Pressing onward with last week’s topic, when we read biblical text that speaks to being fruitful, and multiplying, being a great and mighty nation; how do we see that? What do those words mean to our inner being… to the internal dimensions of our being as we operate in the earth?
Let’s jump right into the main text for this week’s discussion:
Philippians 3:9-10 “…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, being made conformable (becoming like Him) in his death”
What was Paul attempting to convey when he wrote his letter to the Philippians? What drove him to make the powerful statements like the one aforementioned. What experiences caused his internal configuration to shift to such a degree that it would deliver him to a place of a greater dimension of understanding who Jesus was. The statements he made requires deep consideration and pondering. One must ask oneself: How do I see Jesus? How am I experiencing Jesus, and am I intimate with Him?
In Matthew’s letters, Jesus asked this thought-provoking question, “Who do men/people say the Son of Man is?” and “Who do you say I am?”.
Matthew 16:13-16 “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?”, he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
In John’s letters, Jesus says the following:
John 5: 30 “I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him (the Father) who sent me”.
In Mathew’s letters, Jesus says the following.
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. Then in his joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it”.
I think when Paul is writing to the Philippians in Chapter 3, he was pulling and drawing upon intimate experiences with Jesus, like the one mentioned above. For Paul to arrive at the place of desiring nothing more than to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto death.
“Know” in the Greek is “Ginosko”. Please see this word as personally, intimately, and experientially knowing something. We can see in Mathew 1:25 in the Septuagint where a derivative of this word (eginosken) is used in ways that implies physical intimacy of which produced children. Take a seed and multiply it.
Religion (Christianity) would have one only know about Jesus and never come to the place where one becomes impregnated with Jesus and is able to be fruitful and multiply, and to become a great and mighty nation in the earth. Religion (Christianity), because of its roots in paganism, cannot activate movement and the momentum that is capable of propelling the believer into intimacy with Jesus that produces an internal architecture/infrastructure that will carry the purpose of the Lord to its full realization. In fact, because of its roots in paganism, Religion attempts to restrict the believer’s entrance and access thus preventing the believer from experiencing intimacy with Jesus and the Father.
Religion (Christianity) would have us continue to walk in the current understanding of Jesus by observation from afar. Thus, the believer is unable to enter the internal operation and configuration that frees one to live out life from the internal promised-land position, which causes one to possess and extend the kingdom of heaven in the earth. The believer today continues to wander in the wilderness or live in captivity in Egypt/Babylon with no point of direction or reference because of how they see Jesus. We must dial in our scopes (our sights) in this age or season. We must know Jesus and the Father. We must abide in them and be transformed from the inside out. This will cause us to manifest the Ekklesia in the Earth. Jesus spoke of an Ekklesia that He would build and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
Are we the Ekklesia that He has built? We must see that practicing Religion or the Christianity of today may need to be realigned. Practicing our belief, as we have understood it since the birth of America, is a good thing. However, the greater question that must be resolved is: Is it the right thing? Is it righteous, profitable, and does it align with the character, nature, purposes, plans and will of Jesus.
Does this “thing we do” called ‘Religion/Christianity’ correctly image Jesus and His kingdom in the earth?
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