The Most Moved Mover
Romans 8
CLV 1 Nothing, consequently, is now condemnation to those in Christ Jesus …
Someone changed something. There was a sure condemnation coming to those born under law and everyone else, with no way out, until God moved His Son in the garden to move forward with His mission. “now” nothing can condemn God’s chosen people.
… Not according to flesh are they walking, but according to spirit, 2 for the spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus frees you from the law of sin and death. 3 For what was impossible to the law, in which it was infirm through the flesh, did God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sin’s flesh and concerning sin, He condemns sin in the flesh, 4 that the just requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who are not walking in accord with flesh, but in accord with spirit.”
The law was fulfilled in Christ even when He was in the flesh and blood old covenant. He started a new covenant by sending the Holy Spirit to His people, so the requirement of the law may-be-being-fulfilled in “us”. Paul includes himself as part of the rising body of Christ that can no longer be condemned to death.
5 For those who are in accord with flesh are disposed to that which is of the flesh, yet those who are in accord with spirit to that which is of the spirit.” 6 For the disposition of the flesh is death, yet the disposition of the spirit is life and peace, 7 because the disposition of the flesh is enmity to God, for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither is it able.” 8 Now those who are in flesh are not able to please God. 9 Yet you are not in flesh, but in spirit, if so be that God’s spirit is making its home in you.
Who is the “you” (plural) who are no longer in the flesh because they have the Spirit now? And which Spirit are they talking about. The Spirit is called God’s Spirit, Christ’s Spirit and the Spirit who raised Jesus. It is also the Spirit who testifies with a person’s spirit that we are the sons of God. After Jesus’ resurrection, the sons of God are clearly defined as those who have the the indwelling Spirit. Those who don’t, aren’t His chosen people.
Now if anyone has not Christ’s spirit, this one is not His.” 10 Now if Christ is in you, the body, indeed, is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness.” 11 Now if the spirit of Him Who rouses Jesus from among the dead is making its home in you, He Who rouses Christ Jesus from among the dead will also be vivifying your mortal bodies because of His spirit making its home in you.” 12 Consequently, then, brethren, debtors are we, not to the flesh, to be living in accord with flesh, 13 for if you are living in accord with flesh, you are about to be dying.
What mortal bodies were about to be dying if they continued to live in accord with the flesh, in other words, if they weren’t born again into the new covenant body? There are only two destinies for the bodies here being contrasted. They are corporate destinies. One outcome is for those who remain in the flesh with those about to be dying. The other option is to be part of the body that can’t be condemned. We still have two corporate bodies of the two destinies today. One is the body you are naturally born into and the other is the body you are supernaturally born again into. But nobody is being born into the old covenant body anymore. Everyone today is born into the body of people who all became accountable before the old covenant ended. Humanity had pervaded the nations and made one humanized body out of all people.
The transition of covenants is over. Jesus’ individual body was condemned to die in His old testament body. Those who condemned Him to die in the flesh were about to be dying for their false testimony, if they remained in that flesh body. Just as the Jews were first to receive salvation, they were also first to be condemned to perish. The other nations joined the Jews in both their salvation and their condemnation to destruction under law.
Yet if, in spirit, you are putting the practices of the body to death, you will be living.” 14 For whoever are being led by God’s spirit, these are sons of God.” 15 For you did not get slavery’s spirit to fear again, but you got the spirit of sonship, in which we are crying, “Abba, Father!” 16 The spirit itself is testifying together with our spirit that we are children of God.
The Holy Spirit in communion with the spirit in a man was made possible by the only begotten Son. He became the most moved mover in order to rescue His people from condemnation. Not only did He move from the right hand of the Father in heaven to be born in the land, He was born as a helpless baby. He moved from heaven to earth to move heaven and earth for His chosen ones.
17 Yet if children, enjoyers also of an allotment, enjoyers, indeed, of an allotment from God, yet joint enjoyers of Christ’s allotment, if so be that we are suffering together, that we should be glorified together also.” 18 For I am reckoning that the sufferings of the current era do not deserve the glory about to be revealed for us. 19 For the premonition of the creation is awaiting the unveiling of the sons of God.
The glory about to be revealed for “us” was the glory of the justified sons of God in the resurrected body of Christ. The old mortal body of corruption was about to perish. AD70 was the unveiling of the true sons of God. Nobody is in the old covenant today, but we still age out of our flesh body at about 70 years. If we aren’t born again we simply die dead. All flesh bodies die dead. There is no such thing as a new covenant flesh body that lives forever. The new covenant body was born by the will of Yahweh, Yeshua and the Holy Spirit, in the spirit realm not the flesh realm. Your flesh body was born in the flesh by the will of your parents. After your flesh body dies, you live on without it in your born again body. Your parents willed you a body that was destined to die the day it was born. Jesus willed you a new covenant body that was destined to live at birth. The day you eat of the new covenant tree of life you live. Life in the flesh is so old covenant.
20 For to vanity was the creation subjected, not voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation” 21 that the creation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” 22 For we are aware that the entire creation is groaning and travailing together until now. 23 Yet not only so, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruit of the spirit, we ourselves also, are groaning in ourselves, awaiting the sonship, the deliverance of our body.” 24 For to expectation were we saved. Now expectation, being observed, is not expectation, for what anyone is observing, why is he expecting it also? 25 Now, if we are expecting what we are not observing, we are awaiting it with endurance.” 26 Now, similarly, the spirit also is aiding our infirmity, for what we should be praying for, to accord with what must be, we are not aware, but the spirit itself is pleading for us with inarticulate groanings.” 27 Now He Who is searching the hearts is aware what is the disposition of the spirit, for in accord with God is it pleading for the saints.” 28 Now we are aware that God is working all together for the good of those who are loving God, who are called according to the purpose” 29 that, whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand, also, to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be Firstborn among many brethren.” 30 Now whom He designates beforehand, these He calls also, and whom He calls, these He justifies also; now whom He justifies, these He glorifies also.” 31 What then, shall we declare to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 Surely, He Who spares not His own Son, but gives Him up for us all, how shall He not, together with Him, also, be graciously granting us all? 33 Who will be indicting God’s chosen ones? God, the Justifier? 34 Who is the Condemner? Christ Jesus, the One dying, yet rather being roused, Who is also at God’s right hand, Who is pleading also for our sakes? 35 What shall be separating us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Affliction, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 According as it is written that “On Thy account we are being put to death the whole day, We are reckoned as sheep for slaughter.” 37 Nay! in all these we are more than conquering through Him Who loves us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor messengers, nor sovereignties, nor the present, nor what is impending, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
Jesus moved from heaven to earth to move His people into His new place before His old place perished. He Himself was moved into Egypt as a 2 year old, in order to avoid a premature old covenant death. Moses was lifted out of the water as a two year old to be nursed by his own flesh and blood mother while being raised to royalty. The Holy Spirit and the Father confirmed Jesus’ royal stature when He came up out of the water in the fulness of God’s human image. Jesus came down from heaven to be nursed by His mother and taught the law by His own flesh and blood. His perfect humanity chose to die in Adam’s and Israel’s place. What moved the mover to do that? We are moved by His love for us. We are moved from the perishable body in the flesh to the imperishable body, kept incorruptible in the heavenly realm. Our 70-year average lifetime is a transition of sorts. If only we realized the sort of people God’s chosen ones really are.
1 John 4:16-21
CLV 16 And we know and believe the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who is remaining in love is remaining in God, and God is remaining in him.” 17 In this is love perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judging, seeing that, according as He is, so are we also in this world.” 18 Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear, for fear has chastening. Now he who is fearing is not perfected in love.” 19 We are loving God, for He first loves us.” 20 If anyone should be saying that “I am loving God, and should be hating his brother, he is a liar; for he who is not loving his brother whom he has seen can not be loving God Whom he has not seen.” 21 And this precept have we from Him, that he who is loving God may be loving his brother also.”
Acts 17:30-32 – the diaspora humanity as revealed to Moses on Sinai had permeated the inhabited earth. Humanity became international.
ECB 30 So indeed Elohim overlooked the times of this unknowingness; but now evangelizes all humanity every where to repent: 31 because he set a day, in which he is about to judge the world in justness by a man whom he decreed; having presented trust to all, in that he raised him from the dead. 32 And they hear of the resurrection of the dead, and indeed, some jeer: and others say, We hear you again concerning this.
Acts 17:22-30
YLT 22 And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, `Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious; 23 for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God—unknown; whom, therefore—not knowing—ye do worship, this One I announce to you. 24 `God, who did make the world, and all things in it, this One, of heaven and of earth being Lord, in temples made with hands doth not dwell, 25 neither by the hands of men is He served—needing anything, He giving to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 He made also of one blood every nation of men [humanity], to dwell upon all the face of the earth [land]—having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings— 27 to seek the Lord, if perhaps they did feel after Him and find, —though, indeed, He is not far from each one of us, 28 for in Him we live, and move, and are; as also certain of your poets have said: For of Him also we are offspring. 29 `Being, therefore, offspring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead to be like to gold, or silver, or stone, graving of art and device of man; 30 the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform,
God apportioned the promised land to all the mixed multitude who left Egypt in order for His chosen people to seek Him there. After their diaspora into the nations, the nations could no longer claim ignorance of God, like the Athenians did. Atheism is worse than Athenianism. If the atheist claims to know for sure that God isn’t for real then he has created a logical impasse in his self deception. Agnosticism (athenianism) is the claim of ignorance.
Every tribe and tongue was represented at Pentecost for the initiation into the newly inhabited land of Yahweh. The face of all the inhabited land became accountable to the new covenant humanity. Everyone was without excuse, even self declared atheists, if there was any at that time. Anyone, anytime, anywhere, must be born again to escape the inevitable death of the flesh body they were first born into, by the will of their parents. We are all born the first time destined by our 70-year (average lifespan) flesh body to die and perish.
Like a double rainbow, the two bodies are the two covenants. The higher one appears to be the born again image into a spirit-realm body en route to the invisible realm of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is invisible and inaccessible to people with earthbound eyes. People who die and go to heaven don’t have flesh and blood earthbound eyes. They were given new eyes to see. Jesus died to make a new creation out of His people and a new place for His people, in both heaven and on earth. He returned to His place in heaven to make a new place there and extend it to incorporate His people on earth, so His people could all live where He was.
He moved down to move us up. Trinity Movers may be a good name for a moving company or a local church, but not on a U-haul being towed behind a hearse. That misses the real point. Matter as we see it doesn’t travel with us to heaven. Heaven extends to incorporate and raise us out of our temporary bodies. Eternal life resides in our temporary bodies of planned obsolescence. Life is given to our dying bodies. We are born again into the everlasting ‘physics’ of heaven. After the average lifespan of 70 years, we either perish with our biologically born bodies or we don’t.
Ecclesiastes 3:20
CLV 20 All are going to one place; All have come from the soil, and all return to the soil.”
The planned obsolescence of the body is observable to even the most casual observer. Solomon’s body was going to die like everyone else’s. Maybe Adam didn’t have to die and maybe he did. If Adam didn’t choose to die, he would have achieved an everlasting body at the age of 1000. Adam could have hypothetically lived to the age of 1000 and never die.
Solomon did die, just as he suspected he would. At that point He was put on hold in Hades, along with all God’s people. Solomon waited there for a new creation body. The resurrection of the dead out of the old creation was into the eternal body of Christ. The eternal body of Christ is made up of individuals who no longer age out in failure and go to wait in Hades.
The long wait for the redemption of the dead and dying body ended over 2000 years ago. Redeemed bodies live in heaven today, where bodies don’t naturally die. There is no new covenant death of the body. The flesh and blood body did live to inherit the kingdom. Born from above bodies live there now because Yeshua took the place of the firstborn before its planned age of obsolescence. It is the second birth not the first birth that is called born again. Nobody will be born again back into the old covenant body of flesh and blood. It has aged out of usefulness.
The flesh and blood resurrection started after the half-time intermission of the body in the land. Its mission lasted another 490 years. It was this failed resurrection in the flesh that also ended in their second old covenant death as a nation. That earth bound body died its second death already. The death of the old covenant death was the second death of that now obsolete body. Like Adam, the old covenant was created to age out at 1000; dead or alive. The old covenant Jews either perished in their second death or they were reborn into the higher order of the body of Yeshua.
John 3:5-6
CLV 5 Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If anyone should not be begotten of water and of spirit, he can not be entering into the kingdom of God.” 6 That which is begotten by the flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten by the spirit is spirit.”
Baptism today represents death to the first birth and life in the second birth. Baptism is a publicized testament that that person died to the flesh before they perished with the flesh. Unlike their savior, His chosen people died to their flesh only after being born again. Jesus put His old covenant flesh body to death on the cross so His people could follow Him, by His gift of covenant-body rebirth. Jesus resurrected body looked and acted the same with His new covenant life in it. Even the same old covenant wounds were still in His new covenant earth-realm body. It wasn’t a glorified flesh and blood body.
He ascended back to the glory He already had before He descended. Jesus’ glorified flesh and blood body isn’t in heaven ruling a yet to be glorified flesh and blood body. Bodies in heaven aren’t made of flesh and blood, glorified or not. Even angels supernaturally took on flesh and blood bodies for their materialized appearances on earth. They didn’t take them back to heaven to appear in them there too. Their contemporaries in heaven saw them in their heavenly bodies. Earthlings require flesh and blood bodies in order to live out the average age of 70 here. In the meantime, you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven rather than perish when you age out of your first birth.