It is a Profession
Almost every human profession has an entry point, a ladder and a zenith. For instance, no one rises to the top of a medical, legal or engineering profession the day he begins. While he might have gone in through the entry point, there are rungs in the professional ladder that he has to scale to arrive at the peak of that particular professional endeavour. The Christian faith is not different. Little wonder it is called ‘our profession’. The entry point of this profession is the New Birth, and its ultimate end is inheriting the very life that is in God. This life expression is also called the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:17-23).
It's also a Journey
That the believer is called to journey is something we find littered all over the Scriptures. From the dealings of God with Abraham when He led him out of the Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan to the exodus of Israel from Egypt back to the Promised Land and the admonition we find in the epistles to ‘run with patience the race that is set before us’ (Heb. 12:1), it is clear that we are born again to embark on a journey.
Ancient classics that God has blessed the body of Christ with, over the years, also bear witness to this thought. Examples of such written works are "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan and Rick Joyner’s "The Final Quest". Both books were written after encounters with the Lord in a dream and vision, respectively. Our journey as believers is not to a physical location on earth; it is a journey of upward change to arrive at a place where we look exactly like our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Need to Journey after the Initial Salvation
The New Birth comes with a lot of privileges and advantages. Going to heaven when you leave this earth, the infilling of the Holy Ghost, bodily healing, casting out of demons and the promise of safety. If peradventure, the believer finds himself in very precarious situations (Mark 16:17-18) are some of the signs and privileges attached to being a believer. As good as these things are, we still find our hearts panting for more right at the dead center of these ‘exploits’ because they are not the reason for the New Birth. Unfortunately, many believers live and die not understanding or really touching the reason they are born again.
The reason this happens is due to the darkened understanding we all inherited when we walked in darkness. This darkened understanding is an inverted understanding that calls life what God has not called life. It is the reason many believers pursue things that fade away and end up living like unbelievers.
It is to this end that Paul, having preached Christ to believers at Ephesus, prayed that God would give them ‘the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, so the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened that they may know the hope of their calling’ (Eph. 1:17-18). These are activities of the Holy Spirit that are responsible for judging darkness in the heart of believers. They are very vital, because this hope of our New Birth, as believers, is something that has no earthly template, because it is hidden in God. Hence, our reliance on revelation knowledge.
The Hope of the Gospel
Peter called this hope ‘a lively hope’ (1 Pet. 1:3) while Paul (together with other apostles like John) called it ‘the hope of eternal life’. Eternal life is the truest life expression, which God alone has. This life is the exclusive preserve/domain of the Creator. While this life is not meant for creatures, like angels, God has promised to share it with man (John 1:4, Titus 1:2-3, 1 John 2:25). This God-kind of life is not something that creatures understand because its nature and intelligence is something entirely hidden from men. This life is what makes God Who He is.
Not only is this life hidden from men, but also the path to it is also hidden. There were Cherubims and a flaming sword turning here and there placed by God to keep the way to the Tree of Life in Eden (Gen. 3:24) in the beginning. It is beautiful to know, however, that our Lord Jesus travelled this way in the days of His flesh and has embodied it. This is why He said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me’ (John 14:6). This path is the lifestyle that makes up the expectation of God over the believer. This is why Christ must be preached; otherwise, the path to eternal life will not be understood.
That I may know Him
That a lot of believers only think of Christ as a morally upright Being who died for men shows how little of Him we know. Paul called the knowledge of Christ an excellent knowledge, for which he was ready to sacrifice everything that was gain to him (Philippians 3:8). The gospel of Christ is the word that dispenses the knowledge of Christ (Rom. 1:16-17). It is powerful because of the power for the deletion of sins that it unleashes in our souls. It is this gospel that has what it takes to deliver us from carnal, worldly and harmful lusts. As Christ is preached, we come into the understanding of the kind of life we are to live as believers and our feet are empowered to walk on the path that connects the promise of eternal life. This path that connects the promise is against the world, and toeing this path is what makes us true pilgrims on the earth.
Our Burden
This is the burden the Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry has found grace to bear. We teach the hope of eternal life and the life (faith) that connects that hope. We have found mercy to understand the scriptures of the prophets through the writings of the apostles and unveil the paths to the Promise which the apostles laid. While you may be hearing things that may sound a bit unusual (because they are not things that are generally obtainable everywhere), we encourage you to keep hearing and forward whatever questions you have. We are certain that you will break into understanding just as we are finding mercy and grace to.
Welcome to this adventure of salvation!!!