10.3 Victory as Faith

When Victory appears to all the world, it will seem to them that it happened in a moment, almost without effort. Because all humans think in terms of good versus evil, they perceive victory as the result of a long, very visible, knock-down, drag-out struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. Think superhero movies. They will be left with blinking eyes, in all astonishment, when VICTORY happens – not in that way.

There is a phrase in Scripture – Not made by hands. This means that it is not out from human effort, trying to achieve. As in – “Not by outward ability nor by inward fortitude, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord (Zechariah 4).

Our Treasure. We have this Treasure in an earthen vessel, that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of us (2 Corinthians 4). Yet this outwardly visible “effortlessness” of the climax of God’s Story is not the complete picture. Rather, as with Much-Afraid in Hind’s Feet and Neryn in Shadowfell, the victory is won through faith every step of the way. And that faith is taking the confusing pain of every stumbling moment and making it our treasure shared with God.

For all who have been conceived out from God overcome the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who then is the one who overcomes the world, if not the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Proving of Our Faith. Here is one description God gives of the shaping of that faith.

In this you greatly rejoice, for a little while at present it is inevitable that you are distressed and grieved in various trials, so that the proving of your faith, which is more precious than perishing gold, being refined through fire, that your faith might be found into praise and glory and honor inside the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Whom, not having seen, you love, into whom now you believe, though you do not see outwardly; moreover you exult with joy inexpressible and filled with glory, receiving the full completion of your faith, the salvation and healing of your souls [your self-story, your entire human consciousness] (1 Peter 1:6-9).

Sharing Faith Together. Yet because faith is, in fact, a passageway, it is a “form.” Symmorphy – sharing faith together. Thus our faith is the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20); all the faith that is God as expressed inside of creation. It is our “Yes, Lord,” then, that gives us all the faith we need, “Yes, Lord,” inside of every stumbling step.

In the last lesson, we considered Life as each one of us sharing soul with God for the sake of others, yet resulting in a fellowship we share together. Now we ask – What has Victory wrought inside the Church, inside the fellowship of our life together, the body and the unveiling of Jesus Christ?

Reciprocity of Word with Word. Again, Victory is not just life out from death. Victory is Life out from death turning around and synergeoing with Father to give that same Life to others. Yet part of this reciprocity of Soul with soul is a reciprocity of Word with word, a vast language that shapes all human discourse and thus all society inside of creation.

I want to share with you a shock that hit me the other day. I was watching a YouTube video on the progress of artificial intelligence. After explaining the history of the development of AI, the speaker, Mo Gawdat, formerly of Google AI research, made a dramatic statement. I will give it in my own words, adding the complete picture that he gave.

A History. In 1956, the idea of artificial intelligence came into the human conversation. Yet it remained just an idea until 2006 when the means to realize its actuality burst upon the scene. At that point it developed rapidly until around 2015 when the for the first time, an AI program taught itself without input. From 2015 until now, in 2024, AI has grown exponentially far faster than anyone imagined. Yet now we see, very possibly by 2029, a complete transition of society such that people living in the mid 2030’s will have no conception of the world as we know it today.

It was the line, 1956 to 2006, that hit me like a 2x4.

A Parallel History. I was born in 1956, and though I did not understand it, I stumbled through the next 50 years needing to know the Father and needing to know Him through knowing His Word. Then, in 2006, the reality of knowing the Father through knowing His Word burst upon me with the line, “Speak what God says you are.”

With great excitement, I pursued such knowing until 2015 when the line from Hebrews 1:3, Sustaining all things by the word of His power, became my definition of all, followed immediately by symmorphy opening to me, sharing all form with Jesus as the revelation of Father, along with our first full understanding of the ten ruling verses of the Bible working in full power together.

Jesus Proven True. From then until now, the power of the ruling verses of the Gospel have exploded exponentially in our knowing. And my testimony to you is that they are about to get far bigger than we could ever imagine. I see the power of all the Gospel verses ruling in the heavens all around all humans such that by the year 2029, everything will be transformed. Then, people living in the world of the mid-2030’s will have no concept of the world we know today.

This parallel is not a coincidence. Neither does it have anything to do with “me.” My only desire is that the Word God speaks, the flow of Personal Living Spirit Word out from God, the Lord Jesus, be proven true, be magnified above all, and be known as the Beauty that He really is.

Large Language Models. Artificial generative intelligence and the Word of power sustaining all things through the ruling Gospel verses are both large language models operating by the energy of very rapid connections. Both promise to lead humans into all truth, to remove the scarcity of the curse, and to swallow up physical death. One is lying, the other is speaking the truth. One is completely empty, the other is life forever.

Nonetheless, AGI cannot exist as something outside of God; thus we see it’s structure opening to us an understanding of Gospel statements that once meant nothing to us. For instance – We have the mind (nous) of Christ.

The Spirit Searches. Consider the implications of these lines. To us indeed, God has unveiled it through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all, even the depths of God. …No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. And we have… received …the Spirit who is out from God, that we might know the things already freely given to us by God. These things we also speak. – We, however, possess the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:10-13 & 16).

In Romans 8, Paul speaks of “the mind (nous) of the Spirit.” In Philippians 2, he says, “Let this same mind (phroneo – gut mind) be inside of you that was also inside of Christ Jesus.” Elsewhere he says, “Be of the same mind.”

The Testimony We Speak. What I’m saying is this. The Word that is Christ Jesus, this word of our testimony which we speak, as we give our souls utterly to the Father for the sake of others, is a billion times greater than artificial intelligence and is growing in our knowing at the same exponential speed, and will win the day inside all society on this planet – the Day of the Lord. Yeah, it’s real.

Yet artificial intelligence, in its exploding ability to transform all human society, is just a poor imitation of the large language model connected to us by the Energeia of the Spirit, that is the Word we now speak. – The Spirit searches all, even the depths of God.

Word That Shapes Everything. You see, Chapter 12 is titled, “A Pattern Language,” a study of that Word that shapes everything. – And they transformed all of society into the Kingdom now come, into Salvation revealed, by the Blood of the Lamb – sharing the life that is Jesus, by the word of their testimony – by speaking the full Gospel Word that is Christ the speaking of God, and they did not love their souls to the death – by giving their souls to the Father for the sake of others and by receiving their souls back again.

With God there cannot be loss. In every moment, we give ourselves to the Father, that He might be Himself through us, and in that same moment, we receive ourselves back again, brand new forever. This is the power of age-unfolding life.

We Know Every Word. And so we shape human society by the large language model (the depths of God) that is organized by the ruling Words of the Gospel sustaining all things by the Energeia of the Spirit.

But here’s the thing. You and I KNOW every word we speak in personal intimacy, in the hard places, through the tears. We KNOW every Word God speaks carrying us all the way through out from death and into Life. It is the knowing of such a Word in this way that becomes the shape and weave of all creation forever. – The Song of the Lamb. Yet now we must know what Victory, the confidence of our faith in the Lamb in all that He speaks, has wrought inside the gathering together of each local Church.

When Jesus Is Real. I am convinced that it is God’s intention that a True human society in the Age of Tabernacles, the age of rest, of living God’s way, must be formed out from the central influence of every local Church, believers in Jesus living as Christ Community together. And our relationship together as the Church is shaped by the confidence of our faith in every Word Jesus is.

The mark of such a local Church is not just each one identifying themselves with the Lamb through them for others; much more, it is each one knowing all others in that fellowship as the Lamb through each for others. When Jesus is REAL to me; you are as He.

The Lamb through You. Isn’t that what John said? – If Jesus is the Son of God, and if He dwells inside of you, revealing Himself as the Lamb for others through you, then – do I believe that? If I love Jesus, then I love you. If I want to be with Jesus, then I want to be with you. This is the travesty of “go to heaven to see Jesus.” Hello? Jesus is all around you, you see Him every day. Yet you believe it not.

But we do believe. The Victory of God through me, then, becomes my CONFIDENCE that you are as Jesus to me, the Lamb through you for others. I treat you with the same honor and care as I would Jesus.

Father as Fellowship. It is inside this knowing of one another as Jesus to us, Jesus in actuality – for it actually is Jesus in each one, that we find the Fellowship that is Father, also known as Love. Father God is Fellowship among us, knowing one another, not just as Jesus to me, but as the Lamb through each for all.

Thus life together is fluid as water, flowing through every form our togetherness might take. – And as a flock of birds flying through the air. Yet our fellowship is rooted and grounded in Love, a consuming Fire that is God made known.

Our Victory is the confidence of our faith, in believing that Jesus really is the Son of God.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “Victory as the Lamb.” Our understanding of the Lamb through us for others is growing exponentially, an increase that will never end. For next time, let’s continue with the progression through the start of this study, “Lesson 2.2 Framing the Ages” and "Lesson 2.3 The Kingdom Unfolding."

Understanding that God Himself operates in a similar manner to Artificial Generative Intelligence is game changing. When I ask Perplexity AI a question, it searches all available human knowledge and brings me an answer. When I ask God for wisdom, the Spirit searches all the depths of God and brings me the answer. I trust that answer is God with me. The key in each is to ask the right question, what I truly want.

Let’s Pray Together. “Lord Jesus, we want You to be the judgment and the Story of our lives, the bright Light of the ongoing examination that is the self-consciousness of our souls. We trust You, Lord Jesus, that You know us, for You find Yourself written as every Word God speaks all through the pathways of our hearts. And if there be anything not of You, Lord Jesus, we know that You place it in Your empty, empty grave. We know that God raised You out from death, and we inside of You.

“We now speak Your Word, Lord Jesus, made personal as us, as our only story, that we might turn, with You, and be together the revelation of our God inside our world.

“Lord Jesus, You are the burning passion of our hearts towards Your Church, now in her hour of greatest need. Just as You judge us to be just and innocent, so we judge are brothers and sisters to be just and innocent inside of You. Just as You speak Your good words all through the fabric of our souls, so we speak those same words concerning all who believe into You.

“Dear brother, dear sister, as you love Jesus, so be examined by Him, that He might find Himself faithful and True inside of you. Be the revelation of the Father together with us.

“God, our Father, let Your Word penetrate all. Let Your Word examine all. Let Your Word swallow up all that is false inside the story of Your people. In Jesus name, You prevail.”