To This End Was I Born
(John 18:37)
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John 18:37)
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The KING of Another World
Since footprints are very important both in the SEEN and the UNSEEN, we can answer the great question from modern man, Are we alone? The answer is NO! The UNSEEN dominion is just as real as the SEEN. (Hebrews 11:1) God, the Creator of all things (Hebrews 11:3) created a dominion much greater than the kingdoms of man or the so-called ‘great societies.’ His eternal kingdom is hidden from the eyes of man. The vastness of His kingdom knows NO end by any measurement of man whether it is time or space. His angels alone are innumerable. This presents the question, I wonder how the dust (which is man) has taken to himself such importance in judging God and God’s ways and His will. The Lord Jesus told man, all man in the span of time since the cross, that at the approaching of His second coming that there would be signs in the heavens. And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11) And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25) Are we there yet? Maybe we are misinterpreting the unexplainable phenomenon’s that have been reported such as the so-called UFO’s. Are these signs from God?
While man is still building his towers of Babel in his quest to travel among the stars, he has corrupted the earth in every way, and now wants to travel the universe and corrupt that as well. In the Scriptures God allows man to go thus far and then no further. Whether it was in the days of Noah, or in the days of the kings of Israel and Judah, God measures ALL men, ALL kingdoms, and ALL societies, and He sets limits to them. They are weighed in the balance, and ALL are found wanting. As God writes history His will and purpose cannot be broken. The age of a nation, or a kingdom is according to the measurement of God, and the heart of man.
Sin is the corrupt weight of evil and when evil tips the scales then there is NO hope for repentance and goodness in that kingdom or nation, then the sword of the Lord is unsheathed upon that evil nation or kingdom. This is why we have to consider the court of Pilate.
Many forget or do not see that it was Pilate who judged his own Creator. But this is common, for many men over the centuries have stood in judgment over their own Creator, and they have perished because of the darkness of their hearts. Christ was in the court of Rome, but He was NOT of this world. He was a stranger far above any righteousness man could acquire.
● I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (John 17:14)
● They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (John 17:16)
● And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)
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The KING Came to Call Out a People for His Kingdom
The Spirit of God takes us into the inner sanctum in the holy place of the Lord’s heart. He lifted up His eyes from the place from which He came, and looked upon the Father’s face. The cross was before Him, the evil hosts would shame Him, but He absorbed the shame for the glory that was set before Him. He took the place of shame and scoffing knowing that when He bore the sin of the world upon Himself that He would sit upon His throne of righteousness. The One that was always in the bosom of the Father would go to the cross to exchange His suffering and sorrow for making peace with God FOR man.
The manifest image of the invisible God (Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, Colossians 1:15) in His Sonship before the Father, addressed the Father with ALL reverence by the words ‘Holy Father.’ And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. (John 17:11) The Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the Son of God in this most holy prayer in John 17 showed His love for the Father and all those whom the Father had given to Him. Beyond all measures, Christ was expressing His love for His own. He had a kingdom that was NOT of this world, and He had come to call out a people for Himself and deliver them into His kingdom as joint heirs with Him.
We, the children of God, are part of that great kingdom. We should realize that the things that we see in what we call the natural world are the lesser of God’s great creation and the UNSEEN are greater than the SEEN. We spend too much time thinking of this present world when we should be thinking of the world to come: the new heaven and the new earth wherein righteousness will dwell.
In John Chapter 17 the Lord Jesus declared that He was NOT of this world. This removes Him from any connection to Adam. He also declared that we, the children of God, are NOT of this world. When we are born-again, we are created as a NEW BEING, separated from Adam IN Christ Jesus our Lord. As He came forth from heaven’s glory, He has chosen us to take us OUT of this world. The love of the Father that was jointly IN the Son of His love is the SAME love that the Holy Ghost has put within us in our new creation. The love of God has captivated us into the ONENESS of God, and we are joined with the Father, with the Son and with the Person of the Holy Ghost. Remember . . . John Chapter 17 is the threshold of the Lord’s suffering from the end of this prayer His day had come, His hour was before Him so that He would endure the cross, despising the shame, and sit upon His throne of glory.
God has prepared His throne of righteousness ONLY for His Son. It is Christ who holds the righteous scepter adorned with the gold of God’s love. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8) Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Hebrews 1:9)
As the Great Creator of all things, He not only created the NEWBORN ones, but redeemed that which was out of the way. He who was NOT of this world, the sinless One from heaven took upon Himself the sin of us all. He, the Ruler of ALL Things, the Lord of glory was made sin for us that we IN Him might be made the righteousness of God.
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The KING of Righteousness Became Sin for Us
In our modern age man has exhausted all his unrighteous arguments against God, against His Son, and against the word of His power. In our modern age man has run out of answers and solutions in his own unrighteousness and ungodliness condemns him. Man uses the same excuses over and over. Man refuses to examine himself in Adam and to see what Adam became when he brought sin into the world. This was no longer the dust of the ground who was formed into the image of God. Man was changed at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and forever more man would bear the mark of his disobedience, SIN was transferred to all of mankind. From Adam and throughout the whole history of mankind, man is inexcusable. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. (Romans 2:1) Every conception, every birth, every life of man is IN SIN and INIQUITY. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51:5)
Here we have the deep root of the sin of Adam that brought forth death. Adam upset the entire balance of life on earth for in his disobedience both the earth and all the creatures upon the earth suffered and are still suffering from Adam’s trespass against God. However, in Psalm 51:7 we have the hope of faith and our salvation.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7)
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. (Psalm 51:8)
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. (Psalm 51:9)
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (Psalm 51:11)
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. (Psalm 51:12)
You should understand the fundamentals of the Spirit’s voice throughout the WHOLE of the Scriptures for it is the Spirit’s voice that has woven this tapestry of the divine mind to man. God has given His word and controls that word. It will accomplish everything according to His will and purpose. The promise and the fulfillment of our salvation have been given to us throughout sundry times and in diverse manners. The great congregation in the sides of the north was seen in the foreknowledge of God in His determinate counsels BEFORE He spoke the first word of creation. When we see the righteousness of God IN Jesus Christ there is NO other righteousness. He is the full mountain. He is the highest peak. There is NO OTHER who stands beside Him. This righteousness that He has transferred to us came at the great cost by offering His own soul for the sin of the whole world. A minor thought of great consequences: if Christ had NOT fulfilled the righteousness of God there would be no new heaven and new earth because they are both founded on the righteousness of God. Consider Psalm 40:8-10. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:8) I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. (Psalm 40:9) I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. (Psalm 40:10) Now apply those verses to the Body that was prepared for Him in heaven’s glory to be manifested among man as the Son of God and compare it to the marvelous verse found in Hebrews 10:5. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
As we see in the Scriptures that God has shared His foreknowledge with man throughout mankind’s history. We, as the children of God, hold the foreknowledge of God in our hands as we read the holy Scriptures. We see the beginning to the end and ALL that is in between. God through our new birth has taken us into the great congregation and the Lord Jesus is NOT ashamed to call us His brethren. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, (Hebrews 2:11) Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12) And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13) Compare these verses with Psalm 40:10 and Psalm 1:5 and 6. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. (Psalm 40:10) Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5) For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1:6)
This book (the Bible) is the breath of God to the children of mankind. It is of ONE SPIRIT throughout, which is the Spirit of Truth. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:17) It is of one mind, the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:5) It is of one breath. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) Every child of God has been breathed upon by the Spirit of Christ. And when he had said this, he breathed on [them], and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: (John 20:22)
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (Luke 24:44)
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, (Luke 24:45)
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: (Luke 24:46)
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)
And ye are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:48)
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:49)
The promise and the power is the Holy Ghost sent down to declare the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the whole world. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)
Jude, in his epistle, informs us that there has only been one faith delivered to the saints. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3)
As Christ was being judged by Pilate, Christ KNEW what was before Him in the suffering of the cross. He KNEW the transaction and the cost of offering His own soul. (Isaiah 53:10, Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.) He would do this for the joy that was set before Him for each and every soul that would come into the great congregation in the sides of the north.
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The KING Came to Make Us Joint-Heirs With Him
For this cause came I into the world, the ONENESS of the Spirit of God has transformed us into the sons of liberty and joint heirs WITH Jesus Christ. We have a heavenly liberty to walk among man, traveling through this world with the gospel of TRUTH and LIBERTY for the sons of man to free them from the Law of Sin and Death. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) Although we have been translated by God the Father into the kingdom of His dear Son, we spend our sojourn on earth as heavenly servants with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. YES, we are looking for a new country. We are part of the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, and we are waiting to enter into the city of our God. We can do this with a FAITH that IS an enduring substance that CANNOT FAIL. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Our faith has allowed us to SEE and to ENTER into the UNSEEN by the Spirit of Truth looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
By walking in this path of faith, we travel on a continuous stream of faith from faith to faith. This allows us to feel the presence of the Spirit of God, and by the word of God we see and feel the presence of God’s glory, and we feel the love of God in the very depth of our souls. We walk with the Spirit of Truth, and thorough faith we KNOW and FEEL the liberty of our salvation. As we have been set free from the Law of Sin and Death, we have also entered in through the door of hope in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we consider the first command concerning the soul of man in Genesis 2:17 then we understand the tragedy greater than all the disasters of man that occurred at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam not only brought sin into the world, but He FULFILLED the Law of Sin and DEATH and passed both SIN and DEATH onto all of his descendants.
● But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)
● For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
● For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Genesis 2:17 was the FIRST COMMAND given to man concerning his eternal soul. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. For when God breathed LIFE into Adam’s dust, Adam became a LIVING SOUL. And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7) In breathing LIFE into Adam, God MADE Adam a LIVING SOUL. When Adam brought sin into the world that most precious soul was sold into SIN by man’s own trespass against God. Since the disaster of Adam ALL of mankind, ALL souls have been weighed in the divine balance and have been found wanting. ONLY Christ holds the divine scales of justice for He is the Great Justifier of man, and to become the Great Justifier He had to become the Great Savior and He became the Great Savior by fulfilling all the righteousness of God.
The soul of man is still the most precious article on earth, for what shall a man give in exchange for his soul, or what should it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?
● For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26)
● For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36) Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:37)
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Why Were YOU Born?
Now ask yourself as I have asked myself, in God’s planning and purpose, Why was I born? My answer (as I serve the greatest Master of all) is . . . to this end was I born to walk in the footsteps of eternity in Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. May God the Father bless all His children, heirs of righteousness and salvation, through our great God and savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen and Selah.
© Copyright – Michael Haigh
Published on December 2, 2024 @ 12:30 PM (EST).
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)