31. Symmorphosed
Covering Philippians Chapters 3 – 4:
God has completely altered our understanding of Philippians – not only because we have placed it into the Flow of Word coming out from God into the human experience, but also because we have placed it into the flow of Paul’s thoughts.
When you find the key thoughts, as we have done, and then see where those key thoughts keep popping up, here and there, worded differently each time, then you come to know what was happening in the mind of the writer. But when you force a theology onto those thoughts, a theology that runs counter to the actual words, you break the thoughts of the writer into unrelated pieces. The various verses then come to mean something quite different from what was in Paul’s and God’s minds.
The Culmination. We now see Philippians as the culmination of Paul’s gospel, bringing everything in it to a wondrous conclusion, God made visible through His Church inside of creation. We will see, then, that Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus are NOT a departure, as I recently imagined, but rather the conclusion of his stewardship, an expression of Paul’s great care for all the churches. When you have presented a vision, as Paul has done in Ephesians and Philippians, then the only thing you can do is give yourself utterly to those gatherings of believers wherein God is revealing Himself as Love.
Paul is not finished with his account of the Ekenosis, however, and so he continues, now, into HOW such a thing happens again, this time as the Church.
An Evil Work. (Chapter 3) 2 Beware of the scavenging dogs; beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation. • 3 We indeed are the [True] circumcision, those in God’s Spirit, worshipping and glorying inside of Christ Jesus, and not trusting in the flesh.
Paul uses the word “mutilation” to describe circumcision, but it means just as much the mutilation of Gospel Word. Paul is very hostile against the act of circumcision. Think of that, here is a Gentile man who is persuaded that Jesus in his heart is not enough to connect him with God, but rather, he also has to mutilate his flesh. So he does it. The degradation is what happens in his soul, his story of self, for how could such a one not be impacted by such a bloody act. He now trusts that the mutilation of his flesh is doing for him something Jesus could not; that’s why it’s an evil work.
True Circumcision. True circumcision is a complete surrender to a Jesus who has already come into union with us, sharing all of Himself with us and ourselves with Him. It means no thought of any bond with God except Jesus already. All mutilation of self, of any kind, comes only as an insertion of self into the bond, the organic joining, between any human and God.
Definition: What is it that joins us with God, Jesus, or the mutilation of our flesh? Those who try to “fix” themselves by their own hand, in order to “fit God,” create self-stories that are mutilated. They then mutilate the words of the Bible to justify their action.
Ruling Verse 5: To surrender to a Jesus who comes into union with us first, is to give to Him all that we are. He alone makes what we are to be pure and devoted to God. Accepting the Cross as complete and finished is True circumcision.
What Do You Want? • 7 But whatever things were of benefit to me, through Christ I have considered them to be a bad deal. 8 BUT, yes rather, therefore, indeed, I also consider all to be a bad deal, a losing exchange, through the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, through whom I have forfeited all that I once thought important, and I consider my own fake rightness to be dog crap, • that I might gain Christ by exchange.
Paul is speaking of simple valuation, an expansion of Jesus’ question to all. – “What do you want?” The value of a mutilated story of self that I have worked so hard to carve out – VERSUS – the value of Christ Jesus entering into a union of soul with me, in which I call His soul my own, and He calls my soul, all that I really am, His own. One is a vapor; the other is Words that endure forever.
By Exchange. Mutilation treats the exchange as “I get rid of this and then Jesus will give me that.” And it is a bloody work that always results in disfiguration, in manmade fakery and ruin. The exchange of union is mutual and reciprocal. Jesus calls all of my own self to be His own, and I call all of Jesus’ self to be my own, in a full interweaving of Soul with soul. It is beautiful, joy-filled, and of immense Value.
Definition: The question is always, “What do you want?” – What is most valuable to you? Those who craft their own story of self create a ruin; they value what is worthless.
Ruling Verse 5: The exchange of union with Christ is mutual and reciprocal. Jesus calls all of my own self to be His own, and I call all of Jesus’ self to be my own, in a full interweaving that is a beautiful story and of all Value.
Inside of Jesus. • 9 And that I might be found inside of Him, not possessing my own self-rightness out of the law, but that just innocence which comes through the faith of Christ, the just innocence out from God coming upon faith. • 10 That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, • having already been symmorphosed, sharing the same form with His death.
That I might be found inside of Him. – This is our desperation; this is our great hope, our escape from death. Having been found inside of Jesus through Jesus’ own faith inside of us, we then discover why we are here and what we become inside of Him. Verse 10 is what we become, four things so vast in scope, so deep in meaning, that we need a whole lesson just for this.
That I Might KNOW. Actually, Verse 10 is knowing three things inside of something else describing what our lives already are.
1. That I might KNOW Jesus Sent into me.
2. That I might KNOW the power of His resurrection.
3. That I might KNOW the fellowship of His sufferings.
Look, now, at the Calvinist wording of the King James. – being made conformable unto his death. The NKJ is only slightly better – being conformed to His death. The verb tense in the Greek is having already been, something that is complete, something that is our only reality. Yet “conformed to” is also a lie. Symmorphos means “conformed WITH,” sharing the same form WITH. We already share the same form with His death.
Scavenging Dogs. Consider the progression of Calvinist thought. 1. I know Jesus, glory hallelujah. 2. I know the power of His resurrection – cause I’m going to heaven. 3. I know the fellowship of His sufferings – what’s that supposed to mean. 4. I have to be made conformable to His death first. – “Ha! Get back on the cross, loser. Look at yourself, it’s clear to everyone that you are not “dead” yet, so shouting about knowing Jesus is a waste of time. Die, sinner, die.”
Paul called these preachers “scavenging dogs and evil workers,” and he was being restrained. I lay this out, because this is the horror we have known and because God uses this awful contrast to enable us to see the beyond-all meaning that was in His mind as Paul wrote.
The Real Meaning. Having already been symmorphosed with His death is the setting, the place of meaning, inside of which the three things we KNOW operate. What does it mean? First, a wonderful side benefit – everything in your life that you imagined, truly or falsely, to be disconnection from God, is gone forever. It cannot return; the Cross forbids it.
The real meaning, however, is that our entire lives, every particle, every moment, and every interaction, is already a sharing with Jesus in the entire picture described in the last lesson, of the crossing of the Jordan, entirely for the sake of others, carrying all our brethren inside our hearts into God. Inside of that meaning, we KNOW Jesus. Inside of that meaning, we KNOW what His resurrection must be for us.
The Lamb Slain, but now Alive. And inside of that meaning, we KNOW that everything we have ever suffered is for the sake of others, God offering us as His own sons in every moment of our lives, that all those around us might come to know Jesus as well. Do we keep our lives for ourselves, that we might forge them in hades? Or do we give them utterly to our Father, that He might call them the glory of Christ Jesus? That we might live? This is True death, the Lamb Slain, but now alive, now given freely into others for Father’s sake – and we with Him.
Ruling Verse 3: What do you want? What is most important to you? If anyone THIRSTS, let him come to Me and drink. Eat My flesh; drink My blood. “To be found inside of Him” is more important to us than life itself.
With His Death. Definition: To share the same form with Jesus’ death means that God is now inside of Christ inside of us, reconciling the world to Himself. It means that we share with Jesus in carrying our brethren all the way through death into Life.
Ruling Verse 10: Jesus is inside of us and we are inside of Him so that we might KNOW Him, personal and real, our Savior and every Word God speaks, that He might join us with God.
Ruling Verses 1 & 9: Every part of being symmorphosed with Jesus as the image of the Father, of Jesus making us to be just like Himself, of synergeoing with God making all things good, of walking as brethren together, of being already glorified, is found inside of that wondrous ministry of God through us, that we share with Jesus in carrying all inside our hearts all the way through the darkness and into all the life of Christ.
A Bridge. • 11 For by this manner, I would arrive at my destination into the resurrection out from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained that resurrection or have already come to completion; but I am aggressively pursuing it, that I also might seize hold upon that which I also was seized hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not reckon myself to have seized hold of the resurrection (yet). • One thing, however, ignoring the things truly behind and stretching towards the things before, 14 I aggressively pursue all the details of the target all the way into the reward of the filled-to-the-brim calling of God inside of Christ Jesus.
Paul is now bridging between already symmorphosed with Jesus’ death, sharing His propitiation, with Verse 21, that we will be symmorphosed with His Glorious Body.
A Door. I can hardly continue, for the “filled-to-the-brim calling of God inside of Christ Jesus” is far more than we have ever imagined or heard tell. The Resurrection, our physical bodies being swallowed up by LIFE, is actually the DOORWAY into our reward. – And our reward is the CHURCH!
As I give my entire life, just as I am, utterly to the Father, not only will my physical body be swallowed up in the LIFE and power of Jesus’ resurrection, but God will give me what I know must become – Christian brethren actually loving one another with pure hearts fervently inside Christ Community. I see the faces of kindness through all the course of my life, and I KNOW that such a way of being must become.
Our Calling. Our calling is LIFE, all things swallowed up by Life, our bodies, our world, and the entire universe. Yet Life is every next step shared with God and with one another. Life is Jesus making it all happen continuously. We are called out from Life, into a shared Life, and as Life flowing through into all.
Definition: The resurrection of our physical bodies, our physical form being swallowed up by LIFE, is the immediate goal of our Salvation and is the Doorway to our calling in God. With Paul, we commit to this wondrous experience.
Life: Life is every next step shared with God and with one another. Resurrection Life is our Doorway into a Church filled with God, revealing God to all. We are called out from Life, into a shared Life, and as Life flowing through into all.
Our Inclusion. • 20 Our belonging, our inclusion in God’s kingdom, exists right now active in the heavens, that is, in the realms of spirit, out from which we continuously and eagerly welcome our Savior [and Life], the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul brings in a second HOW in preparing for the second symmorphosed, coming up next. Only when we know the flows of electricity operating an electrical universe, causing all things to exist, can we know the metaphor God designed to make sense of the actual wording that describes God. This Kingdom is a continuous Life Flow, living and energeoing.
Kingdom: The Kingdom is a continuous Flow of Life inside of the Spirit, a Flow that is Christ Jesus every moment, out from God into us and out from us in return to God. We welcome Jesus as our Life in every next step we take.
Symmorphosed with His Body. • 21 Who will transform the outer appearance of our lowly individual physical bodies, as we are symmorphosed with [sharing the same form with] His entire glorious Body [the Church], • down to the finest details of the Energeia, the mighty continuous and swirling action of His ability to cause ALL [by symmorphy] to be subject to Himself.
“Symmorphosed with His entire glorious Body” is the main thought. What on earth does that mean? For this huge verse, we begin with covenant.
Covenant: Jesus causes us to be just like Himself. This is His great ability, this is the Energeia in power of His Person inside our hearts. Christ Jesus is the Covenant, the Living Bond between us and God and between us and one another. We know ourselves ONLY by what He is and does.
The Ruling Verse. Ruling Verse 1: Paul uses the word “symmorphos” three times, first in Romans 8:29, when he first coined it, and now in Philippians 3, when he uses it as sharing the same form with Jesus’ death and sharing the same form with Jesus’ Glorious Body. In Romans 8:29, Paul goes from symmorphosed with the image of Jesus as the revelation of the Father TO Jesus as the firstborn of many brethren, of His same kind, walking together as one. In Philippians 3, Paul goes from symmorphosed with His death, that is, sharing with Jesus in carrying our brethren in our hearts all the way through, TO symmorphosed with His Glorious Body, the Church. It is only as we carry all who belong to Jesus and to us into God that we know the GREAT VALUE, the SUPREME GOAL that is many as one, our glory forever.
A Glorious Body. The Form for God through Jesus: The Church is EVERYTHING, to God, to us, and to Jesus. A Glorious Church as the form of Jesus in all heaven-earth is also God’s dwelling place and our dwelling place forever. The Church, many brethren just like Jesus, walking together as one in local fellowships, is our Vision, our goal, our reward, and the supreme Joy ever before our eyes. Christian Communities, arising out from God in every place on earth, is our Jerusalem, for which we give our lives utterly to the Father, that He might come Home, that God might show Himself inside of creation as Christians loving one another with pure hearts fervently. It is because we share with Jesus now, in His travail, in the fellowship of His sufferings, for the sake of all who call upon His name, that we share with Him forever in His care for such a wondrous Bride.
Back to JOY. (Chapter 4) • 4 Rejoice always inside of the Lord; again, I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men, as the closeness of the Lord. • 6 Be distracted by nothing, but in all by prayer and asking, with speaking good grace and giving thanks, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God surpassing all comprehension will guard, keep, and protect your hearts and thoughts inside of Christ Jesus.
Paul is giving a picture, now, of the quiet certainty in which those move together, who KNOW God’s purpose for them. In Nicene thinking, we rejoiced in faith and then we sorrowed bitterly in unbelief, back and forth, for we were distracted by an insufficient atonement. Paul said, from Joy to Joy. Kindness is the expression of our inner persons and gentleness is the touch of our hands, both are as the Lord.
The Atmosphere of Community. I sense from these verses the quiet background hum of a Christian Community, everyone walking in the certainty of God, not as outward display, but in the joy of being human. The Church is real and practical; a people in whom God dwells sharing together what God meant when He made us.
Ruling Verse 7: The certainty in which we walk with God in every step, our deep confidence, creates an “atmosphere” of joy and goodness inside life shared together as the Church. Kindness is our face and gentleness our touch.
Speak Christ: We speak Christ our life from joy to joy, with no sorrow in it. We ask God for all Word fulfilled, and we receive all in confidence. We speak good grace to God and to others. We give thanks inside of and for the sake of all. We expect God always to arise as Life and Victory.
Our Story inside of God. • 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever honorable, whatever right, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever admirable, if any excellence, if any praise, account these things, make these things your own self-story. 9 What also you have learned and received and have heard and seen in me, these things practice, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul is not giving an obligation of performance, for the only thing he can be doing is writing out from Philippians 3:10 & 21, sharing the same form with the Lord Jesus in ALL. This is how we now craft our story of self inside such a God, for the “God of peace” is not a feeling, but a living relationship, sharing LIFE and every next moment with the Father, knowing our lives have been only out from God.
Thinking Like Jesus. Paul is describing the thoughts of Jesus, that we might think as Jesus thinks, part of the meaning of “speaking Christ.” This whole story is personal and together, a living flow between self and community. Union with Christ Jesus, one Spirit with Him, encompasses everything we are as His Glorious Body.
Ruling Verse 5: Jesus gives us His thoughts to be our own, just as He receives ours to be His. Verse 8 describes the thinking of Jesus that we now account as our own. The word is “account,” that is, our story of self inside life together.
Speak Christ: We speak the Words that are Jesus now made personal as us and written upon our hearts so that we might think as Jesus thinks, so that we might know God.
Returning to Stewardship. • 11 Not that I speak as to poverty; indeed, I have learned inside whatever I am, to be content, that is, to be sufficient. 12 I know also to be lowly, I know also to abound inside of all, and in all I have learned the secret, that is, to eat until fully satisfied and also to be hungry, to abound over and above and also to suffer need. • 13 I am strong for all inside of the One empowering me.
Paul is now beginning to place himself and us into the role of stewardship, our stewardship over God’s final opportunity to be known through His Church. He will continue in this topic for the remainder of his writing. Paul is not speaking of gain or loss for self, but gain and loss for the gathering together of the Church. Yet, we are always included as individuals in the flow of God’s abundance.
Kingdom Stewardship. The meaning of stewardship has been growing enormously for me. It is the essence of the Kingdom, for the Kingdom is not an impersonal happening. The Kingdom comes out from Hheart. The Kingdom is that which is shepherded by the watching of kindness and the care of gentleness. This care is our purpose, and thus Paul is presenting a progression, from being content, to being strong in the Lord, to all abundance flowing through us to all.
Kingdom: Paul is now turning his focus towards our stewardship over God’s final opportunity to become known through the Church (see Ephesians 1:9-10). To be such stewards is first to be content in all, whether plenty or lack, that is, to be filled with His strength, not our own. Through such contentment, then, the abundance of God flows freely.
The Flow of Provision. • 17 Not that I seek after the gift, but I seek after the fruit abounding into your account. 18 I possess all, moreover, and abound; I am filled full, having received by Epaphroditus the things sent from you, an aroma of a sweet smell, an acceptable offering, well-pleasing to God. • 19 But my God will fill full all your needs and business, down to the finest details of His riches and wealth found inside of glory inside all the sphere of Christ Jesus. 20 To God our Father be the glory into the unfolding of the ages. Let it be so – it is so.
~ I seek after the fruit of Christ Jesus abounding into the account you give as a local church together inside the presence of God every moment. ~ This is stewardship. When our focus is on True Christ Community, the flow of provision is without hindrance.
Stewards of Abundance. It seems to me that the entirety of Philippians 4 is a description of the inner workings of Christian Community as it is the dwelling place of God. – Symmorphosed with His glorious body, the Church.
The Form for God through Jesus: Paul closes Philippians by returning to the whole purpose of everything – that God would have His Desire fulfilled as the Church, His deepest value and His greatest achievement, that is, Glory. God is Living, that is, He moves, and God movement is overflowing Abundance, Rivers of Spirit. We are God’s pathway when we do not hold such a Flow as for ourselves, but rather for the gathering together of Communities of Christ. As such, we are stewards over all abundant wealth, over all the riches of Christ.
The Ekenosis. We must now place everything found in Philippians 3 & 4 back into the Ekenosis, first through Jesus, but now as the Church, the Glorious Body of Jesus, His completion.
You see, this is what we learned about crystals in our study of John’s vision. A crystalline structure grows by the initial gem, the Lord Jesus, drawing to Himself others who align themselves with Him, becoming just like Him. Then, out from their hearts like Jesus, many more are drawn, seeing clearly how they can live like Jesus filled with God. This Heart of God, then, this giving of Himself as He appears in the form of our gathering together, becomes the very nature and existence, first of the Church, then of our world, and then of all creation. The Ekenosis is Father made visible.
The Deepest Mark. My life is marked deeply by the actions of two men towards me during my time at Graham River Farm. One was Bill Ritchie. I was working in the welding shop by myself, feeling a bit lonely. Brother Bill came into the shop, and when I turned towards him, he said to me, “Daniel, I am so glad you are here with us.” It was much more than his words, it was the KINDNESS in them and upon his face. I remember that kindness like it was yesterday.
The other was Dan Kurtz. During the three months I spent as part of their home, Dan and Joanne welcomed me into all KINDNESS. In all the years since, I have not experienced anything close. It is the most valuable thing I have known. Be ye therefore kind. – God manifest in the flesh.
That I Might Know Him. Here is the Covenant into which I have entered with God, my Father. I require of God that He give to me such a Church. In His human form, Jesus could not accomplish any of this. Just like Jesus, neither can I. The place of joining took place entirely in secret, entirely inside His human soul.
My life would have absolutely no meaning if I quit. Though I am assailed greatly by utter inadequacy, quitting is not for me. It is Covenant alone upon which I place all my hopes and fears, that God Himself would bring such a Church to me. And as I receive such a Church from my Father, so I give myself to Him in return, that my whole life might become a stewardship over His opportunity to be Himself through the Church, God’s opportunity to be kind, His chance to be gentle.
Reading for Next Time. At this point, we have completed the Flow of Gospel Word through Paul. The final lesson for 2 Timothy, “Why I Persevere,” is now on the website. As I shared, we will do Hebrews last. Next, we are going to John’s gospel, making the next lesson for Zoom to be 43. “The Word Became Flesh.” The audios for the first several chapters of John are on the website. You should read/listen to, maybe Chapters 1-3 for next time.
A couple of finishing touches in InDesign, and I will get another proof copy of The Open Scroll, so that it will be much closer to being finished before we complete these studies. Meanwhile, I will be working on the two lessons for 1 Peter and should have them finished in a couple of weeks or so.
Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, we know You, that our desire for Church as You mean Church, is just a tiny reflection of Your great Desire to come Home, to have Your dwelling place inside of creation as You intend, separate from anything created. Father, we give ourselves utterly to You, our best and even our worst, as Your own Travail, as the deep groanings of Your Spirit shared with us, for we KNOW YOU, Oh God, that You are already bringing to us that gathering together of precious brethren which You have appointed for us.
“Lord Jesus, it is the hour of Your appearing, as You move now to reveal Yourself as Your Church already here inside heaven-earth. We call You forth as that precious Community of Christ inside of which You will show us God-Love.
“God, our Father, we know You, that You always answer us.”