13.1 Gates of Pearls
© 2015 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
There are two parts to the fulfillment of Revelation 12:10-11 in our lives, the inner and the outer. To the extent that we know the inner, to that same extent we know and move in the outer.
Now salvation, and (power), and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Revelation 12:10-11).
The word “for” means that the outer is positioned first as the result of the inner.
The Authority of Christ
To the extent that we know the Lamb Slain in our hearts, to that same extent we know the authority of Christ, as Jesus said. All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore . . . I am with you always (Matthew 28:18-20).
KNOWING the Lamb Slain alive in our hearts is the great HOW of God, the How which we will explore through the next three most important verses in the Bible. In future lessons we will envision the universal Cross, the absolute value of the Blood, and the real meaning of the Resurrection, applied to the universe and to our lives now. In this session we will place two metaphors before our eyes in order, somehow, to comprehend the Lamb alive in our hearts.
Pearls
The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass (Revelation 21:21).
The words “Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come” refer directly to the revelation of Jesus Christ, the city of God, dwelling in all reality here upon this earth. There is no entrance into the revelation of Jesus Christ, into the New Jerusalem, into the kingdom of God openly visible here and now, except through PEARLS. The pearl represents the practical application of the resurrection of Christ in our lives right now.
Entering by Pearls
The entrance into Christ our only life will engage us in the next Session, the fifth most important verse in the Bible. The entrance into the throne of God, the Mercy Seat now operating in our lives will confront us in the Sessions on the sixth most important verse in the Bible. The practical realities of this truth, walking now in the resurrection, will blow across our lives in the Sessions on the seventh most important verse in the Bible.
Here we are setting before our eyes the great story of God, the entrance, after all these first entrances, into the fulfillment of our great task, setting all creation free. We enter that great task by pearls.
The Final Entrance First
We place the final entrance first, here in the layout of the great purpose of God in creation, so that we might know the intentions of God for which He has seized us in His grip. We must have some idea of the why and the where before the how can have its full meaning to us.
God created you and me, placing us into the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and He entirely into us, seating us upon the throne of His glory, filling us with all of Himself, flowing out from us as rivers of life and love so that we might be the vessels through whom He proves His Word true.
We prove the Word of God true by overcoming the accuser. We overcome the accuser by turning offenses into pearls.
God or Satan?
I picked up a book at the library solely for its title and the words on the back cover. From the back cover of God Game by Andrew M. Greeley, “What if—by using a sophisticated computer game with a healthy dose of heavenly intervention—you could play God? What if you actually had the power to control other people’s lives?”
God or Satan? Which one do most people hold in their minds when they say the word, “God.” “The power to control other people’s lives” is SIN, it is Satanic power, the source of all evil in the human experience. God cannot sin. God cannot control other people’s lives.
God Cannot Sin
Evil exists in the universe for one reason only. God cannot sin. God cannot force Himself upon anyone nor violate the integrity of any nor compel anyone to obey Him by violence. God cannot do anything separate from the operation of faith, His faith in His Word entering into the faith of the created one.
Any exercise of power to control other people’s lives is the office of the evil one who practices such control by three methods, stealing, killing, and destroying. The governments of men work for the prince of this world to enforce the curse, a task God cannot prevent: God does not sin.
Working Together
How, then, do God and we together work all things for good? How do we turn that which is intended for evil into unending goodness? By making pearls, the only entrance into the city of God.
That’s what Jesus did, you know, in Gethsemane. When Jesus entered into Gethsemane, you and I were enemies of God, evil only, and at war against all that is holy and good. In Gethsemane, we were the dregs of the Cup. In Gethsemane, Jesus transformed us into the Joy of His heart. That is the authority of Christ, authority now given to us, to turn what was meant for evil into goodness.
Making a Pearl
A pearl is a simple thing. I quote from the website: livescience.
A natural pearl begins its life inside an oyster's shell when an intruder, such as a grain of sand or bit of floating food, slips in between one of the two shells of the oyster, a type of mollusk, and the protective layer that covers the mollusk's organs, called the mantle.In order to protect itself from irritation, the oyster will quickly begin covering the uninvited visitor with layers of nacre — the mineral substance that fashions the mollusk's shells. Layer upon layer of nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, coat the grain of sand until the iridescent gem is formed. (http://www.livescience.com/32289-how-do-oysters-make-pearls.html)
The irritation is offensive and painful; the oyster’s labor is to rid itself of the offense. When the oyster is finished with its task, the offense has become a pearl of great price.
Life Power
What Jesus did with the offenses that gave Him pain, there in Gethsemane, was our entrance into the refuge of His heart. What you and I do with the offenses that give us pain is our entrance into the full revelation of Jesus Christ.
God’s power is life power, a totally different kind of power than the “power over” exercised by wicked humans moving in the nature of the serpent. Life power lifts up the weakest and the lowliest. Life power arises from within. Life power wins all things only by love. Life power is the authority of Christ.
The Pearl Verses
We will look at these and other pearl verses in more depth later.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). – My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials (James 1:2).
That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7)
God Beneath
Look again where we will be walking after all of our pearls have taken us into the full knowledge of God and the visible expression of His revelation. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Gold is God in Person, like transparent glass. Look down, God is beneath your feet. And in knowing Him, you know that He has always been beneath your feet. God has utterly carried you through every step and through every moment of your life.