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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Hidden in Christ: Our Journey from Cross to Kingdom Citizenship
The Cross of Christ stands at the central crossroads of all human history—a singular moment that forever altered the relationship between God and humanity. Yet how do we adequately express the depth and significance of what happened during those hours of suffering and sacrifice?
This message delves into the heart of God's kingdom by examining its most pivotal moment: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Like "a Coke bottle full of pennies all wanting to spill out at once," there's an overwhelming fullness to this truth that defies simple explanation. The Roman cross—designed as a mechanism of torture and public humiliation—became God's chosen instrument to demonstrate the limitless extent of divine love.
What compelled Jesus to endure such suffering? Scripture tells us it was "for the joy set before him"—not merely the joy of returning to His heavenly position, but the profound anticipation of sharing His divine life with us throughout eternity. When Jesus looked at humanity, He saw beings worth dying for, worth suffering for, worth creating a path to relationship with, regardless of the personal cost.
The crucifixion represents far more than a historical event to be commemorated. It serves as the divine solution to humanity's fundamental problem: the condition of sin that brings death and rebellion against God. Through Christ's sacrifice, we witness the ultimate covenant exchange—our sin becoming His, His divine life becoming ours. No human effort could break these chains; only the blood of Jesus could liberate us from the compulsions and destructive patterns that damage our lives and relationships.
Following Christ means journeying to the cross, through the cross, and beyond—into resurrection life and our true identity seated with Him in heavenly places. What appeared as defeat to human eyes was actually the seed of unstoppable kingdom power. Three days after what seemed like failure, resurrection revealed the greatest victory in cosmic history.
Have you experienced this transformation from citizen of death to citizen of God's kingdom? Are you living in the freedom Christ purchased at such tremendous cost? This message invites you to look into the passionate eyes of Jesus and hear Him say, "I love you. I did this for you."
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearounsthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
Folks, I have been expressing, in various ways and in various settings for the past 50 plus years, the gospel of God's kingdom, of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the love of God that he has for us, and every time, every time, every time I get to this particular place in conveying that, it feels like my mind is full of thoughts and they all want to be released at the same time, like a Coke bottle full of pennies and they all want to empty out at the same time, finding the exact words to say, because every word that comes out of my mouth seems close. But there's so much more to what's going on both within and behind one, attempting to see and I'm specifically referring to the cross and Jesus Christ offering his life as a love sacrifice for us on that cross that mechanism of torture and death perfected by the Roman culture of that particular time. It was a heinous way of executing someone, and yet that was the way in which God chose to demonstrate the depth of his love for us, the degree to which he would go in order for us to have relationship with him. And here we are again. Here I am again. Here we are again. Here I am again concerning the kingdom of God being compelled to convey the cross and Jesus Christ offering his life on the cross, the event that took place on the cross and the events that took place on the cross and the events that took place after his death on the cross, but him going to the cross on our behalf.
Speaker 1:There's so much love that's there For the joy. The scriptures say, for the joy, for the joy set before him. He, jesus, endured the cross. What was that joy? That joy must be him being exalted to the place of his divinity and being supreme overall, granted, that being true. But the joy set before him was the fact that he was going to share his life with the people that had his life in them, the divine life of God. He was going to have a bride that he was going to share that life with throughout eternity. That's us. He saw us and he said because I want relationship with them, because he wants relationship with you, he determined ahead of time that he was going to see to it that the way would be made, regardless of the cost, that we would have relationship with him. And he did. And he did, and he did in order to defeat something that had been defeating mankind since its inception, since its introduction.
Speaker 1:The introduction was sin, that three-letter word sin, or whatever language you're using, the letters that make up that word sin or whatever language you're using, the letters that make up that word sin. The entrance of sin into the equation has affected relationship with God from that point, and that there was going to be a point in time in which God was going to make a way for us to have relationship with him, in which we were going to become partakers of his divine nature, not just observers of who he is, but participating in his very nature of him, offering his only begotten son as a sacrifice, as a blood, covenant sacrifice in order to eradicate sin. Sin Because sin, with its introduction, brought with it death, a condition known as death, so that every person that was born on planet Earth was born with a condition known as sin and with that, an ultimate consequence of being there is death. And with that death there was a rebellion, a nature that was rebellious, resistant toward God, people born with that, and the only way to eradicate that was going to be through a covenant relationship with God, where God would say what's yours becomes mine, even the sin. And from his end, what is his becomes ours, even his divine life, that divine exchange. We become born again as citizens free from sin, victorious over it, by virtue of the sacrifice that Jesus paid for on the cross, and then his victorious resurrection from the dead. From the dead, the powers of death could not hold him. He defeated them and, as proof, he rose from the dead. He rose up from the dead, resurrected from the dead and ascended now to the right hand of God, soon to come again. We are called into relationship with not just a mighty God, but a God who is so moved by love that the passion that he has for you knows no limit, even to the point of him shedding his own blood so that there would be a removal of that bondage, that obsessive thing that goes on inside of your life, that thing that just doesn't want to stop on its own. You can't try as hard as you try. You can try, and you can't try hard enough to make it stop. You still do it, it still happens, it's still there. Blood of Jesus paid for that, so that you don't have to be in bondage to that, that way of life, that compulsion to be rebellious, that compulsion to do things that are damaging to your own mind, to your own body, to those around you, those things that damage things, the death nature that goes along with sin, is defeated by virtue of Jesus Christ and placing faith in him. Where covenant is made with God, relationship is restored.
Speaker 1:The cross If we just stop at the cross, we haven't gone far enough. But if we don't go to the cross, we haven't gone far enough. But if we don't go to the cross, we haven't gone far enough either. We need to go all the way to the cross, through the cross, conquering death and ascending with Christ to the highest place where we are seated with him, where our true identity is found, securely hidden in him. We're already there, we're on our way, and the process for us getting there is one in which we become sanctified, we become perfected along the way. We are victorious because he was victorious. When we follow him, we follow in the steps of victory, but it requires us following him and following him to the cross, and following him to the cross, and following him through the cross, and following him to resurrection life and following him into ascension life.
Speaker 1:But the cross, the cross, the passion of God, to endure the cross Now, to dwell on the cross, is very sadistic. Sadistic, but to see it for what it's worth meaning, to see it for what really, really, really really took place, is absolutely necessary To understand the depth to which Jesus went in order for us to have relationship with God. And in studying the kingdom of God, the rule and reign of God, we can't avoid the cross. In fact, it's central. The cross of Jesus is central to the message of those of us who have faith in him, those of us who have relationship with him, those of us who have a relationship with him, those of us who call ourselves Christ-like, born again, citizens of the kingdom of God. The cross carries with it a central part of our conversation, and not just our conversation our way of life, our thinking, our way of life, our doing, our way of life, our being.
Speaker 1:The cross, and the cross being the very tool that would cause anyone else to literally turn and go the other way. If that were the cost for them to have a relationship with me, if it were important for someone else, in order to have a relationship with me and me with them, that they would need to shed their blood and go through the crucifixion process on the cross, how many people do you think would do that. I know for one I wouldn't do that. On my own relationship with someone else. I would say see you when I see you. Wouldn't want to be you, unfortunate. I might not be that cavalier, but you get the point. But Jesus, jesus, jesus, jesus. Jesus, our Lord and our Savior.
Speaker 1:Jesus looked at the cross, that pool of torment, and said I'm going to demonstrate my strength through my weakest moment. And he did. God made an open spectacle of the powers of darkness when his son was at his weakest moment, the last drop of blood being shed and Jesus giving up his spirit. His body was at its absolute weakest, but it was at that point that his strength would become manifest. And in manifesting his strength, he was going to give that strength to us, and does give that strength to us, gives us identity, gives us the ability to see and know who we are.
Speaker 1:But the cross, that thing, the night in which he was betrayed betrayed literally, betrayed, betrayed Literally. Having someone who worked with him, ate with him, traveled with him, was part of his inner circle. He was going to betray him and have him handed over to the Roman government so that he could be then tried by a Jewish community, who handed him over again to the Roman government, who determined that he would be crucified. Who handed him over again to the Roman government, who determined that he would be crucified. An innocent, perfect man was going to be betrayed. What would you do if you knew it ahead of time that you were going to be betrayed by one of your close inner circle people and by then betraying you? You're going to be handed over and you're going to be found guilty in a mock trial, a mockery. What would you do? I don't know what I would do. I would be thinking of how do I get out of here as quickly as possible and into a safe place, or how many troops can I call in to put an end to this nonsense. But that wasn't it. That wasn't the purpose, that wasn't the plan, that wasn't part of the plan.
Speaker 1:But the cross was right there. The cross was there as an opportunity for Jesus to say everyone's got their limits and this is mine. I loved you up to that point, but there's got to be another way. But there was no other way, there was no other alternative. There was no other way. You see, I want to express in what I'm saying, I want to express the love that is just bursting out of my heart right now, the love that I feel from God, the willingness that I feel from God, the fact that he looked at it as being something that wasn't really even measurable. He had already counted the cost and said that I'm worth it, that I am worth it, that you're worth it, that we are worth it. He said you're worth it. So he was betrayed and then he was handed over Jesus, a man, a literal man in his 30s, in the prime of his life, a man who could have literally called upon the angels of heaven and had them come in military force and power and do some major damage to set him free. They were at his back and call, and he didn't, because that's not how he was going to demonstrate his power.
Speaker 1:You see, the kingdom of Israel, in its introduction, looks so small. It looks so insignificant, like a mustard seed, like a seed that you plant in the ground. It doesn't look that large, like a little bit of leaven that you put to leaven a big bunch of big batch of dough. That that's the kingdom, but the power that is within it, ha ha ha. Jesus dying on the cross looked like it was a defeat. I mean, like, really, that's what the that's what all the climactic event was all about was a man being falsely accused and his ministry came to an end because some people falsely accused him and had him annihilated. And a story right? And a story Rather like a mustard seed. It's rather small.
Speaker 1:Ah, come on Three days. Three days later, jesus rose from the dead, firstborn from among the dead of many who would follow, that's us. God now will demonstrate his kingdom in great power. Because of the cross, jesus said that if he would be lifted up he would draw all men unto him. Well, he definitely got lifted up on the cross. And now we lift him up in our praise, in our exaltation of him, in our proclamation of who he is the supremacy of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, who is dead and buried and on the third day rose again from the dead, who ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God, our Father, soon to come again. We have the cross to look at and say hey, even though our logical minds go tilt, go tilt, our inner man, who becomes the recipient of newness of life, says yes.
Speaker 1:Charles Wesley said in his hymn, amazing Love. Thine eye speaking of God's eye, thine eye diffused a quickening ray. All of a sudden, my dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off and I was free. I rose, went forth to follow thee. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? In the next few episodes concerning the passion of Jesus, concerning him facing the cross, concerning him dying on the cross, concerning his resurrection from the dead and his ascension, they're going to become central to the kingdom of God, teachings that we have been looking at over the course of the past few weeks. We're going to be focusing in on the cross of Christ. In fact, it's going to find a very central place to all that we say and do.
Speaker 1:The Apostle Paul said at one point he said I took a group of people. He goes. When I came, I didn't come with eloquence of speech, but I came in the demonstration of the spirit and power and the message that I had was this Christ and him crucified. That's all I knew, that's all I could say, that's all I could talk about was Christ and him crucified. Something happens when we do that. Something happens. Something happened to me, something happened to me.
Speaker 1:Well, I really heard that message and the Spirit of God made that alive and I realized how lost I was at the age of 13. I mean, how lost could you get at the age of 13? No, I saw the lostness of mankind and I was part of mankind. And I saw my lostness of mankind and I was part of mankind and I saw my loss. I saw that I was on a course that was literally. The end result was going to be death, the world of the dead, hades. I saw it, I knew it, and then I was offered a free gift that was eternal life. Eternal life as a result of what Jesus did on the cross, and if I could believe that he did that for me, it would be counted unto me as righteousness and I would be saved. That has taken place and that produced an experience within my life that no one can take away. That experience is that I am born again. I was transformed from the inside out. I was once a citizen of death, a citizen of this world system, and now I'm a citizen of the kingdom of God, a son of righteousness, part of the bride of Christ. Hallelujah, free at last, free at last, free at last. Thank God, thank God, I'm free at last. So we're going to be focusing on the cross Now.
Speaker 1:I know that perhaps some of us have heard dismal messages concerning it and spoken in the wrong way. Without the power of the Spirit of God, they can be absolutely dismal, but with the anointing that comes upon men, women and children who express the message of the cross and the good news concerning the kingdom, involving what took place on the cross and the resurrection, there's a power that's released, that is unsurpassed and for us to focus our attention and to appreciate, to appreciate exactly what Jesus did and what it was that he faced. Sometimes we have to see. I know I saw. I saw in a vision, the first time I really saw.
Speaker 1:In a vision. I saw the face of a man who was so marred, his beard was pulled out in so many different directions. His face was so swollen it wasn't black or blue, it was purple, not black, not blue, purple, not even purple and his passion, the passion that was in his eyes when he looked at me and said I love you, I did this for you. It so moved me, it reduced me to a man who couldn't stand up. It wasn't until I tried to kneel down. I just fell down at his feet like I was dead, and then he said get up. And it's filled me with the spirit.
Speaker 1:And now, here I am, claiming the good news of Jesus Christ and of him crucified, and we're going to focus on this because it's part of the message, the good news of the kingdom of God that's come to earth. Let's pray. That's come to earth was free. Father, father, father, god, thank you. Thank you for who you are, for what you're doing, how you've done things, why you've done things, why you're doing things, how you have reached into our lives and are transforming them from the inside out. Holy Spirit, continue to fix our eyes upon Jesus so we can look full in his wonderful face and that the things of this world would grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. And we stand here in his name. We declare to be so in Jesus' name. Amen, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:All right, folks, I love you. If you have any other thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at theliferonthefire at gmailcom. That's liferondthefire. All one word, all lowercase letters liferondthefire at gmailcom. We would love to hear from you. Type your name or, excuse me, type liferondthefire in on the web and look us up, drop us a note. We would love to hear from you again. As I said in the meantime, god bless you. Adios amigos.