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Body-Builders |
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Issue 2 from |
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In this issue · Introducing “Artios Ministries” · Feedback |
Welcome to Body-Builders! This is a new series of
teaching articles intended to bless and build the Body of Christ. I trust you enjoy this
second issue, and I welcome your feedback. Every blessing, George Alexander For Artios Ministries |
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A COSMIC DRAMA IN THREE ACTS |
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The lights dimmed, and the spectacle of the laser show
commenced. In sizzling light and
rumbling sound, the beginning of everything was represented, as if by a witness. The explosive expansion of the universe
resulting from the “big bang” was described in the customary way, followed by
speculation that one day the expansion may reverse, the universe collapse in
on itself, and form the “big crunch”!
The picture is funny; and so is the tendency to assume that the “big
bang” theory must be true; and similarly how “evolution” has a strong grip on
the scientific community, though the theory itself is rather unscientific. How does life begin? What is the beginning of life? With words rather than sound and light, I want to
present “a cosmic drama in three acts”. Act 1 — In the Beginning
The curtains open on the creation described in Genesis
1. As it unfolds, we see that Man is
different from the animals. He’s not
just a clever ape, but is created with a different quality of life. In Genesis 1:28, man is commissioned to
rule. God did not so commission apes
or dolphins or pigs—only mankind.
Intelligence is not the issue.
The issue is that man, unlike the animals, is “made in the image of
God”. Man is given freedom in the Garden, but with the
necessary test. There is one tree
from which he must not eat (Gen 2:16,17).
And the promised consequence for choosing to disobey is “you will
surely die”, or more literally, “dying, you shall die”. Man did disobey the command (Gen 3) and
sure enough, he began to die. The
effects of this were not confined to man himself. The whole universe apparently began to wind down like a clock
from this point. Man now has a need,
and the need is for life—because he’s dying by degrees. Every man and woman on earth today is descended
from Adam, and every one is an inheritor of Adam’s fallen nature, which we
simply call “human nature”. We’re so
accustomed to it that we know nothing else.
But it wasn’t how God designed us to be. The curtains close, and the scene shifts, zipping
through the years of Scripture, all the way to 1 Corinthians 15. Act 2 — On the Cross
It’s several thousand years later, and Jesus is on the
cross. God hadn’t abandoned His
fallen creation. God prepared for
many years, in words and in history, and when the time had fully come, the
Saviour came. Jesus was not from Adam—He was conceived by
the power of the Holy Spirit. He was
born as a man, but the only one not to have a fallen human nature. So it is written: “The
first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving
spirit. The spiritual did not come
first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth,
the second man from heaven. As was
the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from
heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we
bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 1
Cor 15:45-49 NIV Jesus is called the “Last Adam” and the “Second
Man”. God wrapped up all the aspects
of the Adam race, put them on Jesus the Last Adam and crucified Him. But He raised Him again as the Second Man,
the representative head of a whole new species of man, who love the
Lord. In Him, we are co-crucified,
co-buried and co-raised—made alive in Christ Jesus. “For as in Adam all
die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Cor 15:22 NIV). All are in Adam, not all are in Christ. But all who are in Christ will be
made alive! Therefore we need to be in
Christ! The pivotal verse as the acts change is 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come!” NIV Act 3, Scene 1 — In the Earth Today The man is walking about in AD 2003 — he’s 21st
century man. Maybe he’s in a mess:
subject to addictions; plagued by relationship difficulties; crippled by
financial problems; running from criminal proceedings. Or maybe he’s “successful” and enjoying
life—a happy sinner. Whichever he is,
or anything in between, what he calls “life” is not real life—it’s
only delayed death. For
in his humanity, it’s still true that “dying, he shall die”. He hears the Gospel, responds in faith and places his
trust in Jesus. There’s a beginning
of life. He’s transformed, out
of Adam’s race and into the new creation life of Jesus Christ the Second
Man. He may look the same in the
mirror, and in the short term his personality may be largely unaffected. But on the inside is all the vitality of
spiritual life! In a future day, it
will be outward and obvious. Now it’s
more inward and spiritual, but no less real. It’s a wonderful new beginning—the beginning of life. The curtains remain open, but as the scene-shifters do
their work, let’s review: man has a
need and the need is for life; that life is available in Jesus Christ
the Second Man; we enter into it as new creations as we respond in faith to
the gospel. Now we’re ready for the next scene. The time period is the same. Act 3, Scene 2 — In the heart and mind
of a believer For God, who said, “Let light
shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Cor 4:6,7 NIV In Genesis, God shines His light into His
creation—“Let there be light”.
In the new creation, He makes His light shine in our hearts. It’s new creation life, not
old creation revitalised! Yet so
often we simply take “believing in Jesus” on board. The Adam life ends as new life begins (see 2 Cor 5:17;
Gal 2:20; Col 3:3). Then something goes wrong—something negative
happens, or we slip up, or blow it, or don’t feel like it. And we’re not sure if God likes us
anymore. We think we’ve lost our
salvation or our faith. We think if
we’re not doing all the spiritual things, we’re not spiritual. But there’s one thing that has not
changed: the new creation life of God is still beating in you, and, if you’ll
let it, flowing through you! We have magnificent treasure in our
unimpressive jar of clay. We
get so focused on the drab ordinariness of the clay jar that we forget that
it’s not just that God’s light lit up our jar once and it looked so much
nicer, but that we have that light—the light of life—in the inside! You may have got up late, forgotten the Word,
missed your prayer time (“What prayer time?”!). You may feel too busy, too distracted, or
totally disorganised. But it’s not
primarily about what you do or don’t do. The new creation life of God is in you! You’re in Christ, and a new creation
still! I’m not saying don’t care how
you act and live. I’m saying that at
a deeper level, God’s life is powerfully in you—all you have to do is yield
to it. It’s not just that you believe now. You’re a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. You’re changed, you’re different, and you’ll never be the same again. You’re alive in a way you weren’t alive before. You’ve personally experienced the “Cosmic Drama”. Your need has been met, your shortfall resolved. You have found the beginning of life! George Alexander December 2003 |
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We all learn as we go. Last month’s Body-Builder (the first) resulted in much positive feedback and requests for more. However, there were some problems. Some people didn’t get it because of their anti-spam arrangements. Some received it and deleted it unopened,
because they didn’t recognise it (and after all “body-builders” could sound a
bit like one of these other troublesome e-mails we all receive!). In an attempt to help, my name will this
time appear in the subject line. Another problem is that those who sent feedback by clicking “reply”
ended up in some cases sending back to me a copy of the whole e-mail, and
this took too long and gave a background colour that was hard to read
through. This issue, I have included
a feedback form instead. Several people sent me other names to add to the distribution
list. If you have received this
e-mail second-hand and would like to be subscribed, please click here and then click “send”. In case you missed Issue 1, information introducing Artios Ministries
is included again. More news and developments soon …. Return to top
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Artios
Ministries is a new ministry launched officially in October 2003. The
Founder and Director is George Alexander. For 12 years, George pastored
Liberty Church in Dunfermline, Scotland, before being released in 1997 to a
wider teaching ministry. The
aims of Artios Ministries are:
Artios
Ministries is a charitable trust recognised in Scotland as Scottish Charity
number SC 034194. |
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“Artios” is
a Greek word occurring in the New Testament. It means, “complete,
fitted, completely qualified, with all its needed parts”. It
occurs, together with another word derived from it, in 2 Timothy
3:16,17 “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for
every good work.” RSV |
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Contact Information |
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Difficulties or
Comments? Just click here and let us know. |
Artios Ministries 13 Whinhill Dunfermline Fife KY11 4YZ U.K. |
01383-739537 (+44-1383-739537) |
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