"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The next part of the verse goes on to say, "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
As I was meditating on the words, "old things," of course I thought of things in the past, but then I had a startling revelation... What if "old things" also include those things that have the propensity toward decay, that have the probability of losing FRESHness? What if everything around us could be permanently impacted with the reFRESHing that the Presence of the Lord within us brings?
"Behold, all things are become new!"
Before we move on to the obvious part of the verse proclaiming "all things are become new," let us consider a very important word that sets the very stage for all things to become new... BEHOLD!
"The light of the body is the EYE: if therefore thine EYE be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23) The eye speaks of our vision, and our vision is what illuminates our entire life. "Single" vision speaks of our perspective. The word translated as "single" is haplous in Greek and has the following meanings- a particle of UNION, properly folded together, that is, single.
The question is, What do we see?... and what is our perspective! It is possible to have absolutely clear 20/20 vision, but if our perspective is bad, we cannot "see" properly.
I believe that Father is not only bringing clarity of vision, but also releasing a new perspective. He is taking us to the next dimension... what I might call the "Throne Zone." The only way I can begin to convey what I am seeing in the Spirit is by painting a visual panorama. I will utilize the analogy of the Tabernacle and going Beyond the Veil into the Holy of Holies, as it is easy to understand. Metaphorically speaking, so far there has been a directional linear progression as we have been moving from the Outer Court (the Evangelical experience), to the Holy Place (the Pentecostal/ Charismatic experience), and through the Veil into the Holy of Holies experience. However, once beyond the Veil, everything changes.
By prayer, via the Golden Altar of Incense, you have just stepped from the Holy Place through the Veil into the Holy of Holies. Suddenly you are aware of only ONE thing- HIM! His manifest Presence is so all-encompassing that you lose all sense of "self!" You feel your perspective changing, turning... your vision has shifted. You are no longer looking through your own eyes toward the Mercyseat in the Holy of Holies. You are IN the Mercyseat, looking outward through His eyes. The closer you look, you see that there is NO Veil, there is NO division, there is NO separation. The Holy of Holies and the Holy Place are one. In fact the Holy Place and the Outer Court are one. You are in the "Throne Zone."
We can gain some insight into the Throne of God from the book of Ezekiel; "Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a THRONE... And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of EYES ROUND ABOUT, even the wheels that they four had." (Ezekiel 10:1, 12) The "Throne Zone" is a place of new perspective and vision, full of EYES round and about! Ezekiel chapter one speaks also of this place, "Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces... and their appearance and their work was as it were a WHEEL in the MIDDLE of a WHEEL... As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of EYES ROUND ABOUT them four." (Ezekiel 1:15-18)
The view from the "Throne Zone" is not a directional linear progression! In my way of thinking, EYES round and about speaks of a perspective that encompasses all perspectives. It is a view much like what quantum physics would call "superposition."
It is my understanding that according to the observer effect, if the outcome of an event has not been observed, it exists in a state of "superposition," which is akin to being in all possible states at once. The result of this is that sub-atomic particles actually pop into existence when you go looking for them (under a very powerful microscope, of course). Do you see the incredible spiritual parallel here? The view from the "Throne Zone" creates an atmosphere of expectancy, providing a "blank canvas" upon which the realization of possibilities can be "painted" into reality!
BEHOLD!... When my vision is in UNION, one with Father's eyes, folded together IN Him, I see beyond my previous perspectives and dimensions. In this next "dimension" you find that there is really only ONE "dimension" and that dimension sees all perspectives.
Friend, the next "dimension" in God includes, encompasses and supersedes all previous "dimensions."
From this vantage point we can't help but cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3)
From this vantage point it IS indeed "in earth as in heaven."
John the Revelator proclaimed, "And I SAW a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1) I find it interesting that he did not say, There WAS a new heaven and a new earth... He says, I SAW a new heaven and a new earth. What do we SEE? Do we SEE a new heaven and a new earth? I believe we must SEE a new heaven and a new earth before there will BE a new heaven and a new earth.
Let us move on to the next part of this unfolding revelation, "Behold, all things are become new!" The word translated as "are become" is ginomai in Greek, and it is the "gen" in the English word generate or genesis. Its' meanings also include- to cause to be, that is, to become, to come into being. I particularly like the idea of a new genesis, a new beginning, regeneration! "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of reGENERATION, and reNEWing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus 3:5)
This makes me think of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. I don't believe that He saw her merely as a Samaritan, or merely as a woman, or even as a woman with a history of dysfunctional relationships. He SAW her destiny as a new creation, and what He offered this woman at the well was a new genesis, a new beginning, regeneration!
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The next part of the verse goes on to say, "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
"Behold, all things are become new!"
Before we move on to the obvious part of the verse proclaiming "all things are become new," let us consider a very important word that sets the very stage for all things to become new... BEHOLD!
"The light of the body is the EYE: if therefore thine EYE be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23) The eye speaks of our vision, and our vision is what illuminates our entire life. "Single" vision speaks of our perspective. The word translated as "single" is haplous in Greek and has the following meanings- a particle of UNION, properly folded together, that is, single.
The question is, What do we see?... and what is our perspective! It is possible to have absolutely clear 20/20 vision, but if our perspective is bad, we cannot "see" properly.
I believe that Father is not only bringing clarity of vision, but also releasing a new perspective. He is taking us to the next dimension... what I might call the "Throne Zone." The only way I can begin to convey what I am seeing in the Spirit is by painting a visual panorama. I will utilize the analogy of the Tabernacle and going Beyond the Veil into the Holy of Holies, as it is easy to understand. Metaphorically speaking, so far there has been a directional linear progression as we have been moving from the Outer Court (the Evangelical experience), to the Holy Place (the Pentecostal/ Charismatic experience), and through the Veil into the Holy of Holies experience. However, once beyond the Veil, everything changes.
By prayer, via the Golden Altar of Incense, you have just stepped from the Holy Place through the Veil into the Holy of Holies. Suddenly you are aware of only ONE thing- HIM! His manifest Presence is so all-encompassing that you lose all sense of "self!" You feel your perspective changing, turning... your vision has shifted. You are no longer looking through your own eyes toward the Mercyseat in the Holy of Holies. You are IN the Mercyseat, looking outward through His eyes. The closer you look, you see that there is NO Veil, there is NO division, there is NO separation. The Holy of Holies and the Holy Place are one. In fact the Holy Place and the Outer Court are one. You are in the "Throne Zone."
We can gain some insight into the Throne of God from the book of Ezekiel; "Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a THRONE... And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of EYES ROUND ABOUT, even the wheels that they four had." (Ezekiel 10:1, 12) The "Throne Zone" is a place of new perspective and vision, full of EYES round and about! Ezekiel chapter one speaks also of this place, "Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces... and their appearance and their work was as it were a WHEEL in the MIDDLE of a WHEEL... As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of EYES ROUND ABOUT them four." (Ezekiel 1:15-18)
The view from the "Throne Zone" is not a directional linear progression! In my way of thinking, EYES round and about speaks of a perspective that encompasses all perspectives. It is a view much like what quantum physics would call "superposition."
It is my understanding that according to the observer effect, if the outcome of an event has not been observed, it exists in a state of "superposition," which is akin to being in all possible states at once. The result of this is that sub-atomic particles actually pop into existence when you go looking for them (under a very powerful microscope, of course). Do you see the incredible spiritual parallel here? The view from the "Throne Zone" creates an atmosphere of expectancy, providing a "blank canvas" upon which the realization of possibilities can be "painted" into reality!
BEHOLD!... When my vision is in UNION, one with Father's eyes, folded together IN Him, I see beyond my previous perspectives and dimensions. In this next "dimension" you find that there is really only ONE "dimension" and that dimension sees all perspectives.
Friend, the next "dimension" in God includes, encompasses and supersedes all previous "dimensions."
From this vantage point we can't help but cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3)
From this vantage point it IS indeed "in earth as in heaven."
John the Revelator proclaimed, "And I SAW a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1) I find it interesting that he did not say, There WAS a new heaven and a new earth... He says, I SAW a new heaven and a new earth. What do we SEE? Do we SEE a new heaven and a new earth? I believe we must SEE a new heaven and a new earth before there will BE a new heaven and a new earth.
Let us move on to the next part of this unfolding revelation, "Behold, all things are become new!" The word translated as "are become" is ginomai in Greek, and it is the "gen" in the English word generate or genesis. Its' meanings also include- to cause to be, that is, to become, to come into being. I particularly like the idea of a new genesis, a new beginning, regeneration! "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of reGENERATION, and reNEWing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus 3:5)
This makes me think of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. I don't believe that He saw her merely as a Samaritan, or merely as a woman, or even as a woman with a history of dysfunctional relationships. He SAW her destiny as a new creation, and what He offered this woman at the well was a new genesis, a new beginning, regeneration!
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