Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Anamnesis Prayer Meeting – Week 2 Day 3
Date: Wednesday, 16th November 2022
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” (John 1:14-18). The Only Begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father is the Son of the Only True God. He is the Son of the third day (or To day) by the resurrection from the dead (Heb. 5:5).
Although before resurrection, Jesus became the begotten of the Father. The begotten of the Father (or the Son of the living God) was not yet a Son from the dead, but a Son to whom God gave the resurrection stature. Jesus was given the stature of grace, which is the stature of the resurrection of the dead. So, Jesus had resurrection stature before His death because the Father raised Him.
Resurrection is the raising of a man into a realm where He is clueless. Jesus was raised into a place where He was absent (dead). As a child in the house of Joseph, He did not know all things that were from the beginning. He had to also grow. The strength of Jesus’ resurrection is not the kind that we are having because death has clogged some places in us, but there was no death in Him.
God gradually brought Jesus into resurrection. Later, Jesus died. Then God raised Him “from” the dead and gave Him resurrection “of” the dead. At Bethany, Jesus declared that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). However, He still died physically. This means that He shed the resurrection stature He had acquired. This is the building that was destroyed and raised back on the third day (John 2:19-21).
At birth, Jesus’ soul was not dead but He did not know all things of the Father. Jesus did not attain the resurrection of the dead in one instance. He was first given the foundation of Christ, then He received things that raised Him up. The pattern of Jesus’ raising was different from that of the Old Testament prophets like Abraham. Our Lord Jesus had an originality of resurrection. God gave Jesus a raising from Himself.
“For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself…” (John 5:26). If the Father has life, it means that He had resurrection with it. So the Father gave resurrection to Jesus and, in turn, brought Him into life. The Father is the resurrection and the life, and He gave it to Jesus before His physical death. The Father is a practitioner of resurrection, and He can give life to the dead.
The child Jesus was not aware of everlasting and Eternal Life at first. He shed it while He was in the form of God. God cannot become man unless that Eternal Life is removed or extracted from Him. Eternal Life is a super resurrection higher than life everlasting.
So there are two dimensions of resurrection and life; that of the Father and of God. God and the Father are resurrection workers. Their main work is to raise men (Romans 4:17). Both the Eternal and fatherhood status of God does the work of resurrection (John 20:17).
The layers inside God the Father are resurrection layers. Another way to describe this resurrection is that it is a ladder. There is a ladder in God and there is life beside it. The ladder is the raising or resurrection; then there is the life (John 11:25).
Each resurrection step has life attached to it. The measure of resurrection that a soul has attained is the measure of life he has. What Apostle Paul referred to as the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Son of God is the count or the measure of the resurrection of the dead that a soul has attained (Eph. 4:13, Philipp. 3:11). It implies that Jesus is an embodiment of fullness (Col. 2:9).
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Truth is resurrection while life is grace. Truth here does not mean knowledge per se. It is something that is found in the way. Then, grace is what truth would give to the soul that continues in the way. Life is a manifestation of grace. Every level of life in God is an amassing of grace.
Truth is the acquisition of skill to find grace. It means it will take the inheritance of learning to find grace. Therefore, a person who has truth possesses skill which comes by learning the way of the spirit, not just letter.
We must understand that there are two kinds or levels of truth. There is the truth, which is substances of the word, but there is a truth which comes by the acquisition of experience after one has engaged the former in obedience.
For every knowledge we learn, there is the truth of it. This is what is called the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Knowledge makes a man have strength (Prov. 24:5), but one may not have freedom until knowledge is used and converted to truth (John 8:32). When we have acquired the water of the word, we would be led by the Spirit in the way of truth. When we go in the way of truth, we would acquire the practical learning of knowledge.
We cannot have truth without the ways of God. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). So, way comes before truth. Truth is a personal acquisition of the experience of knowledge. So it is possible to have knowledge and not have truth. Ephesians 4:21 talks about those who are not grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus.
The usage of knowledge is in the demonstration of the way (James 3:13). To have God’s way is a work of mercy. The visitation of mercy is a ground for truth to fully speak. It helps us turn the knowledge of truth into truth itself.
Resurrection is truth, and what comes after is life. Life is the promise, while truth is covenant. “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” (Heb. 8:6). This verse shows us that we cannot touch covenant without promises. “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” (1 John 2:25). Christ, the Father, and God are lives (Col. 2:2). These are the life of Christ, everlasting life, and Eternal Life respectively. All these lives are promises. If Jesus is “full” of truth and grace, it means there are “measures” of these things. Our Lord Jesus is full of promises.
“Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises…” (Romans 9:4). Adoption is to be received by God. When God is adopting men, He is receiving them into glory. Knowledge is the giving of the law, and the service of God is what we do with the law. It is not a stereotypical service; it is done by the leading of the Spirit. They that serve God do so in spirit and truth (John 4:23). The phrase “in spirit” means they will be led to make a covenant to have life. The reward of service or worship is the life it gives.
God adopts men because He wants to give them life. When life has been attained, there is still a glory that the life emanates. The interpretation of life is the manifestation of glory. The manifestation of the sons of God is the manifestation of their lives (Romans 8:19). Their lives will show glory. If the ministration of death was glorious, then the ministration of spirit will also be glorious (2 Corinth. 3:9). This means that life is glorious. A person who has life has the potential for glory. Another word for life is virtue (2 Peter 1:3).
We need to come to the knowledge of truth before we can cut covenant. If we do not have the knowledge of the truth, we would not be equipped for covenant. The Holy Ghost will first give us a lot of knowledge so that we will not be ignorant. The people who sinned and cannot be forgiven did not just have the knowledge; they also had the way of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:21). They had been purged. What purged their sins is beyond what they know; they were also led (Psa. 25:8). The way of knowledge is needed to remove sins. When God gives us knowledge, He is preparing us for the way because sin was established through a way. Satan led men to make covenant.
"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…" (1 Tim. 2:4-5). The reason for the New Birth and the knowledge of truth is for mediation. There are two dimensions to the Man Christ Jesus: He is the Man-God, but He is also the God-Man. The Word became flesh. So the Word in the form of God is not Jesus Christ. He was the Word. The Word had to be given the name Jesus in humility. When the Word became flesh, He had to be accustomed to the name. It became a name that a man loaded with destiny would bear. He was not to remain a man but to transition into God.
We can never have a surety of the testament without Jesus ascending to God and also condescending from God. "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens…" (Heb. 8:1). The “heavens” here is beyond the angelic heavens. Instead, it speaks of the heavens of God. This is where Jesus is seated, and He is bringing us into the heavens of God. He is condescending to be a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which are heavenly places (Heb. 8:2). He is coming to us with God. When we desire Him, love His appearing and wait for Him, we are calling Him to come. Thus, we call God to come to us. By doing so, we call for the God who went.
By having the knowledge of the truth, one does not yet have the truth. Having truth is a covenant that shows that one has an encounter with the Father and the Son. The cutting or writing of the Spirit of God is to show that you have had an encounter with Them. When the Father and the Son cut truth with a man, They are riveting Their hand signature that indicates that the man has Their things and the truth is in him. Truths are covenants and after truth comes life.
One cannot have truth without the High Priest. The purpose of the High Priest is to stir the way of the truth. Having truth invites the spirit of the way. When we see the High Priest, He brings the spirit of the way and covers us with the way. As the High Priest comes, He will stay around, watch our covenant-making season and intercede for us until we have done the things in the covenant.
Truth comes to a soul as a result of obedience to the way. Knowledge is the explanation of the way, but experiencing the way is a spiritual thing. When the law is being written in our hearts, The Father is writing and giving us covenant. When the covenant has been written, things will begin and the covenant will begin to issue out activities. Very soon, we will know those who have the covenant and those who do not have it because the covenant generates life in men. Not everyone who attends meetings has attained the covenant. Some of us have made a covenant with the life of Christ. Some others are still adolescents of that life. Those who reject the "way of truth" are refusing the covenant (truth).
When we get the covenant, we are expected to do it well. It is not enough for a priest to have knowledge; he must have a covenant also (Heb. 13:21). Some priests teach knowledge without giving life. When a priest has a covenant, he will be able to give life. We will have little strength when we only have knowledge (Prov. 24:10). It is when the way is revealed that we can know those who are truly strong by the varying response in obedience. We are expected to do it well. The Lord is supervising us.
"Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Heb. 13:21). There is a covenant for perfection and everyone who has it is perfect through Christ Jesus. Then, what follows it is glory. The glory of God cannot be attained by the works of our hands; we must please Him well for Him to give us the glory that is forever and ever. Resurrection is a writing that writes us to rise. We are going to be written up, that is, we are going to be raised by writing. The Father will raise us by teaching us to have covenant. The resurrection covenant will cause us to have life. Life is an exposure to glory. To be glorified is to have wisdom for living or the wisdom of life.
Blessings!
Summary
1. God gradually brought Jesus into the stature of resurrection when He was on earth. This is why at Bethany, Jesus could declare that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). However, He still died physically and shed the resurrection stature He had acquired. This is how God raised Him “from” the dead and gave Him the resurrection “of” the dead.
2. The Father is the resurrection and the life, and He gave it to Jesus before His physical death. The Father is a practitioner of resurrection, and He can give life to the dead. The layers inside God the Father are resurrection layers (John 11:25).
3. Each resurrection step has life attached to it. The measure of resurrection that a soul has attained is the measure of life he has. What Apostle Paul referred to as the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Son of God is the count or the measure of the resurrection of the dead that a soul has attained (Eph. 4:13, Philipp. 3:11).
4. (John 14:6). The 'way' comes before the 'truth'. Truth is a personal acquisition of the experience of knowledge. Resurrection is truth, and what comes after is life.
5. (Heb. 8:6). We cannot touch promises without the covenant. Life is the promise, while truth or resurrection is the covenant. If we do not have the knowledge of the truth, we would not be equipped for the covenant. This is why the Holy Ghost will first give us a lot of knowledge at our various levels so that we will not be ignorant.
6. One cannot have truth without the High Priest. The purpose of the High Priest is to stir the way of the truth. Having truth invites the Spirit of the way. As the High Priest comes, He will stay around, watch our covenant-making season and intercede for us until we have done the things in the covenant.