1 Peter 1: 10-25
10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 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.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
When the modern church speaks of salvation more often than
not they consider our salvation to be from hell, or punishment, or judgment.
The scripture speaks of a tangible salvation from death and sin. Consider what
death is and when men truly die. YHWH in speaking to Adam said “for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” yet we are told after the loss
of Eden Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years and died. How can these things
be reconciled?
The scripture warns us not to judge after the flesh and
again Yeshua says the kingdom of YHWH is not with observation; if we look at
death as when a man stops with physical activity then we have done exactly
that. Death is a separation from the one shared life of YHWH in us; for YHWH
breathed into Adam and he became a living soul.
When did Adam loose this shared life? In the very day and
moment He decided to become a self-generator of His life. The idea of a zombie
is popular in these times in which we live, a body of corruption and death yet
still animated. So Adam became: he still walked but not as he had been designed,
he still spoke but without understanding, he still ate but received no nourishment,
and in Adams case he reproduced but only corrupt self-generating children.
Yeshua said He was the root or vine and we who receive His
life by faith are the branches; the life in Him by the Spirit is manifested in
us and brings forth fruit of that Spirit. If we look at this similitude and
apply it to Adam then we see that the death of the self-life he took passed
into His branches, all those born of his flesh, bringing forth a fruit of sin.
If we try to remove the fruit without destroying the root
the plant actually flourishes. Many believe we are born with the penalty of
this fruit within us but the problem is deeper. We are born in Adams image of
being a self and therefore dead to the end that the same fruit is produced in
us. This is the condition of every man born of the seed of a man.
YHWH did not leave us as orphans with no hope but instead He
gave to Adam a promise of the expectancy of a savior who would bring redemption
from the death of self into oneness with YHWH once more. This promise kept as
the hope of the patriarchs from generation to generation began at Moses to be
seen with greater detail.
This is the salvation that the prophets spoke of and desired
to see both who He was and of the new covenant that went beyond describing life
and would bring life into the hearts of men. Peter concludes that these things
revealed and sought after by the prophets had been given to those who heard the
message of Messiah and been made to partake of the breath of YHWH (Spirit) once
more breathed into men making us a living soul.
Seeing that this life has been breathed into us let us no
more place any trust in the self to generate who we are but instead let our full reliance be on the grace (gift of
the breath of YHWH abiding in us). As YHWH is separated from sin and death of
mans ways so those with His life must be separated from every hint of the self.
For our redemption does not come from any corruptible source
of the earth or man but from the pure blood of Yeshua. We see that YHWH’s
redemption was before the fall for YHWH rested from all His work and made the
promise that He was coming from the beginning.
This redemption is not to one day be released but is
manifested now in Messiah. So let our full dependence and expectancy be toward
the birth anf living of YHWH in us not with any remnant of trust in the corrupt
excistance of Adam which is crucified with Messiah that we may live unto YHWH.
As Peter concludes all flesh is grass but the Word is
eternal so the life of the flesh is bound to die but the life of the Spirit
shall last forever
