1. I Have the Right to Be a Son of God
Audio Only:This is the beginning of working towards the completion of John’s writings into The Jesus Secret II. I am not connecting with Peter now, which tells me that when God does anoint me to work with Peter’s letter, I will be seeing things from a better perspective.
This is a work in progress, and so, in these sessions, I want to take you with me in this journey. I was finding a “sameness” in writing The Jesus Secret II; it is my hope that this approach will stir things up a bit.
John as a Writer. John is a much different writer from Paul and the writer of Hebrews. John’s words are much easier to understand and to translate. But John is a philosopher, and he weaves narrative and philosophy together. This is strange, because he was once known as a “son of thunder” with his older brother, James. As writers, Paul is the fiery one, whereas the writer of Hebrews is strictly careful in laying out argument. John’s weaving of narrative and philosophy together is different from either one of those. There is a smoothness on the one hand, and an unfolding on the other.
A True Second Witness. Then we understand that John did not write a thing for decades. If John was 20 when Jesus rose from the dead, then he waited 65 years before recording his memories. More than that, John did not write anything until after he had spent more than two decades living and sharing with Paul’s strongest disciples. John did not write anything until Paul’s gospel had become his own. Yet in that writing, it is John’s gospel, and not a copy of Paul’s. It stands in complete agreement with Paul’s gospel, however, a true second witness. Then, Jesus’ words are actually John’s, shaped to fit his then present knowledge of God.
Mixed with the Human. The Words that are Jesus are living and dynamic, taking on the personality and drive of the particular human through whom they are coming. No word from God comes to us unmixed with a human soul, that is, with a particular person’s own story of self. There is no such thing as a “fixed” Bible word separate from mankind. Every passage of God into our knowing comes through brothers and sisters in Christ.
Matthew, Mark (that is, Peter), and Luke were much more literal and historical in recording their memory of what Jesus actually said, but not so with John. John made Jesus’ words to be his own words.
Underlying Definitions. All translators work out from basic underlying definitions which they hold. Almost all Bible translators have no idea that they do so or what their underlying definitions are or from whence those definitions came. Every thought inside the human experience is BENT in one of ONLY two directions. And I state that as an absolute. If one’s thinking is not bent towards Romans 8:28-30, as informed by the other nine ruling verses, then one’s thinking IS BENT towards the words of the serpent in the garden. There are no other options.
I do not bend the translation nearly as much as the Calvinists do, but when I do, it is to consider Romans 8:29.
A Verse in Translation. Let’s look at one interesting verse in translation – John 2:4. I have always disliked the wording of John 2:4. Here is the Greek.
| Kai legei aute ho Iesous, Ti emoi kai soi, gynai? |
| And says to her Jesus, What to Me and to you, woman? |
Here is the NKJV. – Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? – Nonsense! Would Jesus treat His mother with disrespect? So then I look up “gynai,” an inflection of gune. Here is what Strong’s says. – Definition: a woman. Usage: a woman, wife, my lady.
Making Choices. Here, then, is my translation. – Jesus said to her, “What is that to you and Me, My lady (or Ma’am)? Jesus was not positioning Himself against His mother, He simply said, “Look, Mom, it’s really none of our business.”
And what bends a translator towards “woman” instead of “My Lady?” Easy – the contempt of Genesis 3. Then I look up “Madam” or “Ma’am” in its etymology and I discover that Madam is short for the French “my lady.” The same word in Italian, however, comes out as “Madonna.” It is simply a term of respect. Jesus did not disrespect His mother nor pitch it as her against Him.
What About Me? That is just one small example of how so many times the Calvinist translators bend the words of the New Testament towards Genesis 3 and drive a wedge between Jesus and us. They do it without thinking because they assume that their underlying definitions are the only true reality. It never enters their minds that they are perverting the gospel, sowing false seed into the field of Christ, just as Jesus warned.
That brings me to myself, then. What about me? How do I dare to do what I do with the Word, especially when it comes to creating the statements of faith? You know full well that inside of God, I am very bold.
Discovering the Reasons. When I began the account of my life story, I stated that “I hope to show you that there is no good reason why God would pick me.” In one way, that statement remains true, but after writing thus far, I know exactly why God might consider giving His truth to His people through me. Let me list the reasons.
1. I fear God. I KNOW the fear of the doors closed against me. I am terrified lest I be found putting my hands on Jesus’ woman. I have lived inside the certain knowing that I will give an account before God of everything, naked and alone.
God and Mud. 2. I am not afraid of God, not at all. I KNOW and place myself upon the Atonement of the Lord Jesus absolutely, and I set forth that Atonement in all that I write. Therefore I follow David’s example and the instructions of the writer of Hebrews to seize hold of everything I find inside of God as my own.
3. I have a long and certain history of never getting away with anything. I have known God dropping me onto my face in the mud so many times, even up to the present time. This habit of God no longer bothers me, for I know the He shares all things with me, including my humiliation. Flexing with God has become safe, including as I write.
Moved by Word, not Bullies. 4. I have always set the words God actually says above everything else. I have covenanted in tears with God over decades that He would write His words upon my heart. I love the Word God speaks; the more I write out from it, the more beautiful His word becomes to me.
5. I am completely unmoved by bullies, though never to their face. I have no regard for “the Bible says,” “the Bible says.” I have a Bible; I will know what God says. More than that, Sam Fife gave me permission, one might say, to place what God actually says against all that Nicene Christianity claims, even in boldness. This shows itself in an upcoming statement of faith – “I will not die.”
Bending towards the Covenant. Next, let me show you how I bend the Greek towards Romans 8:29, or, shall I say, towards the COVENANT into which God entered with me. That Covenant, Romans 8:29 with 1 John 3:2 joined together with 2 Corinthians 3:18, is this – that God has sworn, by Word and by Oath, that I, Daniel Yordy, WILL BE just exactly like the Lord Jesus Christ in all ways except honor, whatever God might mean by the Lord Jesus.
And so John uses the Greek word “monogenes,” typically translated “the only begotten.” But if Jesus is the only One like Himself, then there is no Covenant and there is no God who speaks the truth.
Context and Covenant. Not only that, but in Chapters 1 and 3, John is setting out the truth that we are conceived of God. This reality will grow as he proceeds through his gospel account, but it begins right at the start. In other words, the context and the covenant require us to understand that Jesus is NOT the only one begotten of God. Therefore, John did NOT mean “the only begotten.”
Then, the word adelphous, in Romans 8:29, means “brothers, of the same KIND, born out of the same womb.” Then we see that the word “genos,” in monogenes, is not translated “begotten” anywhere, but rather, kind or race or family.
The Only Seed. Technically, John meant that Jesus is the only human kind that is out from God. You see, John wrote 1 John 3 in the same year that He wrote John 1 and 3. As a writer, I know that my thinking is very similar even when I am working on two different things in the same year.
Here are three ways that I could translate John 1:14, then. Here is how I had it – glory as the One-Seed from Father. Or we could say – glory as of the only Kind that is from Father. Or – glory as the only-Seed from Father. The second is more accurate to the Greek wording, but I think I’m leaning towards the third.
Fitting in All. But see what the Calvinist translators do, they chose a translation that, again, drives a wedge between Jesus and me. And almost every mistranslation does the same.
Reason 6: God gave me a mind that understands and remembers, a mind that can see in a visionary manner and yet knows the practicality of construction. Into this mind, I have poured His Bible, from beginning to end. Then, I have sat under so much preaching of the word from so many different preachers of every type. For this reason, whenever I am considering any specific verse or topic, all the many things God says in both Old Testament and New speak inside my heart, requiring the present word to fit.
Faithfulness & Trust. Reason 7: I am always faithful to place the entirety of the ten ruling verses of the gospel upon all my thinking and upon every line I read in the Bible. Yet as I do this, I am always astonished and overwhelmed by how much every line in the Bible FITS and just sings inside these definitions.
Reason 8: Here is my bottom line, however, something that has come slowly and only with proofs convincing to me. – I TRUST that God my Father is teaching me. I TRUST Him; I trust Him. I believe that God is telling me the truth.
I think it’s very good for me to have set these things out where I can see them and I will include them in the conclusion of my life story.
Discovering Ourselves. In setting these “reasons” out, I am not boasting in myself, for I accomplished none of this. Rather, these are the things the Lord Jesus, by Spirit and by Word, has accomplished in my life for His purposes. He has done something similar in your life as well, but for different purposes, something you will discover as you give your account. In fact, giving our account is the discovery of our true selves.
The point is that I do not “know” what to write, rather, I TRUST that the understanding in me towards the meaning of the Word is truly from the Father, and that I also know when something isn’t right and I wait on Him until it is.
I Will Have My Right. You see, I have the right, all the authority of God, to become a son of God. No “right” is ever given. Rights are only TAKEN, seized upon with a steel grip and never ever surrendered. Apart from God I am LOST; therefore I will have my right.
Then we come to creating the statements of faith out from the flow of verses. I use one firm rule when I create those statements of faith, and that rule is the Covenant, that in my finished state, I am already just like the Lord Jesus Christ in all that being just like Jesus could mean.
Chapter 1 Statements. Here are the statements of faith from John Chapter 1.
- I become through Jesus as the Word God speaks.
- The life of Jesus is my light inside of me.
- I seize hold of that light as it is made visible to me.
- Jesus gives me true light as I enter into the world.
- I receive Jesus; I seize hold of Him.
- I have the authority and the right to become a son of God.
- I believe into Jesus’ name. I am conceived out from God.
- The Word becomes flesh in and as my own flesh.
- I look upon Jesus’ glory, filled with grace and truth.
- I have already received grace coming out from grace, out from the fullness of Jesus.
- Grace and truth are my reality through Jesus.
- Jesus makes God visible to me. I see God only through Jesus.
- I am not “the Christ” of myself, but I am His witness, for He reveals Himself through me.
- I am the voice that says, “Make straight a highway for God.”
- I am God’s highway; I am God’s entrance into my world.
- I see the Lamb of God.
- My task is to make Jesus visible and known to His people.
- The Spirit descends as a dove and remains upon me.
- Jesus immerses me inside of His Devoted Spirit.
- I see the Lamb of God; I follow Him.
- I want to know where Jesus abides; He says to me, “Come and see.”
- I follow Jesus; I abide and remain with Him.
- I lead others to Jesus.
Constructing The Jesus Secret II. And what is that one thing towards which all of Chapter 1 is pointing? I see that my first hunch was right – all of Chapter 1 is underlining and giving meaning to – “I have the right to be a son of God.” And I seize hold of that right with all fixed determination.
The next step in constructing the one page for this statement of faith, then, is to write all these together into a smooth flow followed by choosing four or five things to fit into the boxes on the page. I will simply choose what stands out to me and is unique and important in the overall flow. And so I construct The Jesus Secret II one box at a time.
Primary Statements. I cannot begin with any task such as fitting John’s gospel into The Jesus Secret II, however, without having a precise outline of the whole. The size of the page limits me to no more than 19 primary statements to divide the half of the gospel I am including. Here is that outline.
- I have the right to be a son of God – All Chapter 1
- I am conceived from above – All Chapter 3
- I worship the Father inside of Spirit and truth – All Chapter 4 (includes springs of water bubbling up).
- I possess life. – All Chapter 5
- I Believe into Jesus whom God sent – Part of Chapter 6
- I eat His flesh; I drink His blood – Part of Chapter 6
- Rivers of living water flow out from me – Chapter 7
- He calls me by name – Chapter 10
- I will never die – Chapter 11
- Jesus is planted inside of me – Chapter 12
- I live inside of Jesus; Jesus lives inside of me – Part of Chapter 14
- Father makes His home in me – Part of Chapter 14
- I bear much fruit – Part of Chapter 15
- I love my brethren reciprocally – Part of Chapter 15
- The world hates me – Part of Chapters 15 & 16 & 17
- The Spirit leads me inside of all truth – Part of 15 & 16
- I know the Father; I know Jesus Sent – Part of Chapter 17
- I am with Jesus; I am one inside of God – Part of Chapter 17
- Jesus sends me - Part of Chapter 21
Reading for Next Time. As I proceed, I will be posting my newer, but still not finalized version of the chapters of John as I finish them. You can find them here – https://christrevealed.info/secret/john. I have already placed in John 1-3. (This time, I am translating all of John, even though only half is going into The Jesus Secret II.) So – read John 1-3 for next time.
The next lesson will be “I Am Conceived from Above.” – I am conceived from above; I see the Kingdom of God. The One(Only)-Seed of God enters into me, and I am conceived. My genes now follow the same Word that is Jesus.
Let’s Pray Together. Our prayers together are effective and mighty in God. We will plant the Word into our own lives first and then into the life of another. Choose one person to pray for and say their name, even while I say the one I have chosen.
“God, my Father, I have the right to be Your son and I seize hold of that right with all that I am. Father, You have planted Your Only-Seed into me, the Lord Jesus, and He has been faithful through my whole life to prepare me for Your purposes. Father, I have the right to call every moment of my life by the Lord Jesus as my light and my life, that He has accomplished all grace and all truth in me.
“Father, just as You have summoned me into Yourself with great desire, so I summon You into my world with the same desire returned.
“Father I call You into the life of my niece, Rochelle (put the person’s name for whom you are praying into the blank), that she would KNOW You in an overwhelming flow of Your love and of Your Spirit. Father, I sweep aside all that would obstruct Your out-poured glory into Rochelle’s knowing, that Your Spirit would win her heart for Jesus in all fulness. Father, I call you into Rochelle’s world, that she would know herself surrounded and carried inside of grace and all keeping power, that she would know all-victory. Father, I require these things of You and of Oour Devoted Spirit by Jesus’ authority and inside His name.”