|
The Purpose of God and the Soul of Man
by Jimmy Ned Collins All of our situations, whether current or future will indeed pass, but the greater issue does not pass, but on the contrary, will forever remain. One thing is to come to The Purpose of God; another is to serve His Purpose. I know that you may or may not fully understand what I am saying, but that is all right; I also know that you may already have preconceived ideas of what I will be sharing as well, ultimately it is The Lord alone Who declares His mind. The true issue at hand is always whether a soul will ever come to The Purpose of God, and then serve His Purpose. No, this does not mean go out and become religious! I share the following with One Purpose, which if The Lord wills, you will come to both know and serve. Before a soul (the soul of a person, whomever it may be) comes to Purpose (Christ Appearing in the soul), a soul is at cross-purposes with God (no pun intended). It is kind of like going against your own nature. God created the soul for one Purpose --The Appearing of Christ, His Son. Until a soul comes to its Purpose, then it is not really at rest. This is why you will find many people doing different things to basically preoccupy their minds so that the longing that is truly there in their soul be hushed. The soul of the person is trying to get their attention, but the person does not know what to do with it, or how to pacify it. Another thing is that people will do different things to try to satisfy the longing that is there in the soul, but never truly accomplish this because it is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole -impossible! Here is where you find people changing hobbies, always trying to find something "new" etc..., but nothing really ever satisfies, nor can, because the soul is only satisfied when it comes to The Purpose for which it was created, The Appearing of Christ. Now when a soul does come to Purpose, this does not mean quit your job; go live in a commune; wear a robe; do this, do not do that etc... The Carnal Religion of Man will tell the soul that it needs to do, or not do certain things etc... A soul coming to Purpose will finally have come to rest. The Man-made Carnal Christian Religion does no good in bringing a soul to Purpose; in fact, it does more harm than good! Instead of pointing the soul unto Christ, it points the soul unto being like Jesus!, or better yet "come to Jesus so He can...". The goal is always Man and what God can do for man. Sadly, Christ is relegated to no more than a glorified Santa Claus. This also is at cross- purposes with God. The way you can tell if the religion or sermon etc... is of God or not, is whether your soul is directed to Christ (not Christ for... etc...). If it directs the soul unto Christ, then it is of God. If it does not direct the soul unto Christ, then it is of Man. Now This Purpose does not change. If a soul finally comes to its Purpose (being born-again, Christ Appearing in the soul), then it must continue in Purpose (The Appearing of Christ in the soul). The difference now is that The Light of The Life that is present must Appear. The Purpose does not, nor will ever change, The Purpose never changes! Jesus plus... or Jesus for... is not The Good News! Jesus Himself is The Good News. It is like saying to a soul: "Here is what you have been waiting for --Jesus!" This may just seem like I am playing with words and wording, different ways of saying things etc..., but it is not, there is a very cut and dry difference. Christ or not Christ; Life or Death; Light or Darkness. So with the soul coming to Purpose, now the soul must come to know The Purpose that it has come unto. Once again, I am not playing with words. The very first thing, in fact the only thing, that a person who is born-again must now be presented with is The Light of Life (once again: The Appearing of Christ, but now as Light). This is seen in Genesis 1:1-5. In The beginning God, then The Light of God Appears. With the type in Genesis, it is the Creation of God; the first thing that God does with His Creation is to bring Light unto it. This creation speaks of new birth, being born-again (2Cor 5:17), and The Light of this Creation of God speaks of The Appearing of Christ as the Light of it. The Apostle Paul says it this way: "6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2Corinthians 4:6). It is God's very own creation filled with His very own Self, and now filling His Creation with the knowledge of Himself. The soul that has begun in Purpose, must now be involved in the knowing of The Purpose of God (the knowing of Christ). Notice that I did not say, knowing about etc..., I said knowing. What we gain by reading, listening, viewing etc... is only the knowing about. Knowing about does absolutely nothing. It is God alone Who can cause us to know His Purpose (His Christ), and this is only when Christ Appears as The Light. Once again the Apostle Paul says it this way: "15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me..." (Galatians 1:15-16). Until the soul that has been brought to Purpose is involved in the knowing of The Purpose of God (the knowing of Christ), the soul will still be tying to find Purpose outside of the Person of Christ Himself (Who is the only Purpose for which the soul was created). Also, a soul not knowing The Purpose that it has come unto cannot, nor ever will be able to truly experience the rest that it has come to. The soul, once again, is found at cross-purposes with God. I do not write these things to condemn (for there is no condemnation in Christ), on the contrary, to stir our hearts unto The Eternal Purpose of God, and the Knowing of This Same Purpose. May The Lord Himself in His immeasurable loving- kindness and mercy turn our heart unto Christ. * * * I give permission to download and copy any and all of my Teaching Articles for personal and ministry use, so please feel free to do so. In downloading and copying entire Teaching Articles and portions of Teaching Articles I ask only that they remain intact and not be altered, and that proper authorship is noted. When downloading and copying Teaching Articles for dispersing purposes I ask that they be made available free of charge (Not to be sold) and with this statement included. And always, if any Teaching Articles have been a blessing to you, please share them with others. Freely you have received, freely give. In Christ, Jimmy Ned Collins References: Genesis 1:1-5 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Galatians 1:15-16 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Jimmy Ned Collins is a bilingual Bible Teacher, writer, and editor at the C.M.I. Bible Research Center in Leslie, Arkansas. For more Christ-centered writings, audio and video teachings from Jimmy Ned Collins and fellow laborers in Christ, visit www.cmintl.org email at: [email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |