28.1 Rivers of Living Water
© 2017 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
In looking at a Kingdom of Love, I want to consider such a Kingdom, at least in part, entirely beyond redemption and restoration. Redemption and restoration are dealing with the effects of sin and death. The Kingdom of Love has left sin and death behind forever and is now the full expression of Father just being Himself, known and seen, touched and handled, by all.
The Scriptural basis for considering such a Kingdom are these words. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Made Subject
All things are made subject to Him (Jesus) is the completion of all redemption and the essence of full salvation. The Son Himself will also be subject to Him (Father) is the full definition of a Kingdom of Love. God all in all is Father just being Himself. AND – who (Father) put all things under Him (Jesus) means that the whole thing was finished right from the start.
Paul used the Greek verb hupotasso three times in this one verse, but he cast it into a different tense and mood each time. Hypo means under and tasso means to arrange, that is, to arrange all things (Kingdom) under the full intentions of God’s Personal Heart.
Subdue All Things
I have stated that “to overcome” is the ruling verb of the universe and of God’s story. Hupotasso, to make subject, is the same thing, except it extends overcoming to completion, and is the full meaning of God’s command to Adam to subdue all things.
Yet, amazingly, we see three things inside the three different tense/mood combinations that Paul casts this one verb, to subject, (which is Latin – “sub,” under and “ject,” to cast, that is, to place under). We see the same layout of three things as Romans 8:28-30, and we also see these three lessons I have penciled in for this session and am wondering how they might fit together.
God and Us Together
You see, when we ground ourselves in these simple but explicit statements of God, then we know that our consideration of what God might mean is at least inside of His intentions.
The first hupotasso, all things are made subject to Jesus, is aorist tense, subjunctive mood, and passive voice. That means something Jesus is doing right now, something that “all things” are receiving passively, though willingly, as an action caused by Jesus happening to them. And thus this first hupotasso is Romans 8:28, God and us working together in all things, that is, rivers of living water flowing out of our innermost beings, turning everything meant for evil into goodness and life.
Symmorphosed with Jesus
The second hupotasso is future tense, indicative mood, and passive voice. Yet look at what is being cast in this way. The Son Himself will be subject to Father. This is the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, containing inside Himself all whom the Father sent Him to find, receiving passively, though willingly, the action of the Father, causing all creation made brand new to come under the ordering of Father just being Himself. And we see the full meaning of Romans 8:29, symmorphosed together with Jesus as the revelation of Father, that is, we see the fullness of what marriage union is and means.
Already All
And the third hupotasso is aorist tense, participle mood, active voice, and dative case. That means already called, already justified, already glorified (Romans 8:30). That means the whole thing is an active done deal, right from the very start, always unfolding itself into created time.
We cannot know God all in all unless it has been always God all in all. The future part of God all in all is in the knowing of creation; the reality has always been. And from that reality, we can consider the increase of His kingdom and peace forever.
Kingdom – Covenant – Life
And so I am following God’s order of these things, Kingdom first, Covenant second, and Life third. That is, outflowing expression first, the source of all love second, and God-I-Am made visible third.
When God said to Adam in the beginning, “Subdue,” He was offering to mankind the commission, the very nature of Christ. The writer of Hebrews stated that Levi was inside of Abraham when Abraham gave an offering to Melchizedek. By that same reasoning, we know that Jesus was inside of Adam, in his loins, when God said to Adam, “Subdue.” The word was never meant for Adam, but for his Seed, Jesus, and us inside of Jesus.
The River of Life
But “subdue” is the work of one thing, the river of life flowing out, that is, the Spirit of God as the working of God coming out of the belly of Christ. God never intended “subdue” to be by violence or by human cleverness, both of which are an expression of not-God. And the river of life comes only out from one source, and that is the tree of life – symmorphosed with Jesus as the revelation of Father. – John 14:20: You in Me and I in you.
And thus we see this absolute regarding Kingdom. Nothing that is Kingdom comes out from anything other than rivers of Spirit flowing out from us. And thus knowing this flow of the Spirit is our mission forever in a Kingdom of Love.
Neither God nor Man
We have an image of “God all in all” as all bliss on the inside and all perfection on the outside. That is, an existence where everything sits in this stasis, this constant state, of utter happiness and everything working absolutely perfectly. Somehow, I can find neither God nor man in such a vision.
You see, we have escaped the definition of the Kingdom as “God commands and everyone instantly obeys.” God would never express Himself, that is Father could never be Himself through mechanical robots or external slaves. If He could, He would have just made robots, or even just angels, who were created to obey at command.
Made Like God
But angels who obey are NOT God’s image; they are not like God. I heard again recently, “God is different.” Yes, in some ways, God is different than man, and the manner in which the speaker meant those words was true. But God did not make us different from Himself; He made us LIKE Himself. If you want to know what God is like, just look at humans.
Let’s contrast two Biblical visions of God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).
Turned towards Life
That’s one picture, yes, but here is the other. Love suffers long and is kind – Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4 & 7). There is nothing temporal inside this definition of God, nothing that “passes away.”
We are speaking of rivers of living water flowing out of us, that is, this constant ACTIVE ongoing reality of turning every circumstance, every deed, every word, every thought, towards LIFE. Nothing goes towards life of itself. Every particle in every moment must be turned towards life by this outflow of God from us.
By My Spirit
“Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit,” says the Lord (Zechariah 4). Not by inner fortitude nor by outer abilities, but by My Spirit all things will be accomplished.
As you and I engage daily with this outflow of Spirit, this sending forth of Oour Holy Spirit from the Mercy Seat of Oour hearts to accomplish all that Father and we desire, we are participating in this eternal Kingdom of Love. Those who receive that outflow are also inside that Kingdom. Nothing else nor any other workings are the Kingdom. God turns us from our “own works,” simply so that we can be doing His works.
Symmorphy
Yet when we turn to do His works, we discover that His works and our works have merged as one and now all that we desire is also inside the ordering of that Kingdom. Thus we see that FAITH is forever our part in this symmorphic outflow of God and us together. Just as the wind is never seen, so the Spirit will never be visible. But just as the affects of the wind are clearly demonstrated, so also the workings of the Spirit.
It is the nature of man to put his hand upon things to accomplish them. That nature is entirely like God’s, although the hand of man separate from God causes only ruin. It’s symmorphy God is after – and the Spirit going before our own hand.
The Ordering of Love
We lose nothing in the Kingdom as we send forth all things from ourselves. Rather, we learn that accomplishing all things that we desire comes no other way than together with God in the sending forth of His Spirit. This was God’s intention for man from the beginning, that we would order His Kingdom by His Spirit.
For this reason, we see that the operation of rivers of Spirit flowing out of us in the fulfillment of Romans 8:28, the purpose of God, God and us together making all things good, is what we are about now and what we will be about forever. Things are not “good” in themselves; things are made good as they are directed by the Spirit flowing out of us in the ordering of Love.
The Mercy Seat
Thus we are never surprised by the fact that things and circumstances are “not good” in themselves. They cannot be. The speaking of Christ by which all things are sustained gives to all things the potential for being good, but only as they are turned by the Spirit to be ordered in the outflow of Christ.
And that is the task given to us as the Mercy Seat of God. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them (Revelation 20:4). This ordering of all things out from our hearts is not limited to the times of restoration, in seeking every lost thing hiding in the darkness and drawing it out into honesty and into Christ.
It is the ordering of a Kingdom of Love forever.
We Are Farmers
In a sense, we are farmers forever. A farmer plants a seed. But he cannot then harvest that seed the next day as a mechanic can. A farmer must wait in patience as the rain and the dirt work slowly together, the Spirit operating upon creation. The seed is there, and it will grow.
And not only that, but we also glory in pressure, knowing that pressure produces patience, the ability to wait on the Spirit; and patience is the nature of God, which is to expect the Spirit. This expectation never disappoints, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:3-5 paraphrased).
Be Patient
Behold, a farmer went out to sow seed. Some seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop (Matthew 13:3-8 – paraphrased and condensed). One of the huge lacks of modern life is the disconnection from gardening. I am convinced that disconnection is unhealthy in our bodies, in our souls, and in our spirits.
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the presence of the Lord arises. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain (James 5:7 – modified from the Greek). This is how the Kingdom of God, the ordering of all things in the New Creation, will operate forever.
Bringing All Things Back
We are the Mercy Seat out from which flows Oour Holy Spirit, accomplishing all that Father and we intend. We are the farmers sowing seed and waiting for the fruit of the earth. And the shaping of all things in the Kingdom of Love is the shape of our own hearts.
The thrones upon which THEY (we) sit are our own hearts, the very place where we fellowship always together with Jesus, that is, the throne of God.
God is a farmer, and He casts all of His desire, Christ as Seed, out into the earth, setting it free, and then waits in expectation that the Rivers of Love flowing out from Him will bring all things back.