Inheriting Sonship
Unending Oceans of Timeless Liquid Love, Rolling and Bringing In God
What Is In A Name
Abraham’s Great Name
In the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, there is a character called Jack Dawkins. Jack was a thief and a pickpocket, the leader of a gang of child criminals who was better known as the “Artful Dodger“. Hebraically, he could have been named “the son of Dodger” because his dodging was how he behaved which came from the original “Artful Dodger” Adam who blamed Eve and God for his sin. In Hebrew culture a person’s breath or spirit was their life, and the expression of this breath was a person’s character or personality. A person’s character was an expression of the inspiration (from the Latin “inspirare”, in-breathe) of their spirit or breath displayed by what they did (their words). Their words collectively were called their “ways” and their ways were an expression of their “name“. A man of “name” or substance was a great achiever. A great achiever had a great character or strength of spirit and did great things (achieved great words) and as a result they had and developed a great “name” which resulted in fame or renown. God promised to make Abraham’s name great – he would do great things (do great words) and his name (the breath of his character) and his family or house or descendants which were part of his name would become great. Genesis 12:1-3 says “And Yehovah saith unto Abram, ‘Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.’” Someone’s name is who they really are and it is expressed or known by what they do. Someone who never does anything cannot have a great name. A name is not an identifier or appellation or label but it is something real. It was said of Moses that God knew him by name – meaning that God was in a personal relationship with him and knew in practice who he really was. In Genesis, Eve named her firstborn son Cain which means “acquired, got” as she probably imagined that Cain would crush the head of the serpent and get her back into Eden. His brother she named Abel which means “emptiness, vanity, nothingness“. For her, Cain had a purpose and a name, but Abel was pointless and so that is what she called him. In 2 Samuel 18, Ahimaaz (brother of uprightness) the son of Zadok (uprightness, righteousness) was seen running with a message for King David. So it says in 2 Samuel 18:27 “And the watchman saith, ‘I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.’ And the king saith, ‘This is a good man, and with good tidings he comes.’” The Hebrews saw things in totality and for them a good name, good character, right behaviour and bringer of good news went together. Jesus himself was good news, and when Jesus turned up and was received in a town or village there was great rejoicing because his name is “Yehovah is my salvation” and he showed them the love of his Father by saving them practically from everything that was distressing them. The same is true of all of the true sons of God.
People’s Names
In ancient Hebrew culture, children were usually named on the basis of their function or hoped-for purpose. The first child that was born in Genesis was Cain and the word means “got“. Eve said that she had got a man by Yehovah and she called him “Got” (Cain). Then she bore Abel, she said nothing about him because she had no idea why he was born. Abel means empty nothingness. Cain murdered Abel, and Eve bore another son to put in the place of Abel and he was called “Placed” (Seth). The parents of Noah (meaning comfort) were hoping that “Comfort” (Noah) would bring comfort and that is what they called him. Peleg (divided by water) was named “Divided” because in his day the nations were divided by rising sea levels and his name commemorated that significant event. The name Jacob means “tripper” and when he was born he grabbed his brother’s heel. This was seen as significant and his first act could have set a pattern for his life. God however changed his name from “Tripper” to Israel (Prince of God) because he behaved differently and had power with God and men and prevailed as a powerful prince. Hosea 12:3-4 states “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God, Yes, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcomes by weeping, And he makes supplication to Him, At Bethel he doth find him, And there he doth speak with us.” Jacob’s sons were named by his wives Leah and Rachael as they bickered amongst themselves for their husband’s love. Each son was to function as a help and strength in the battle between the sisters. Leah said of Reuben “See a son (Reuben), my husband will love me now“. His function was to bring his mother his father’s love. When Benjamin was born, Rachael died and she named him Benoni (son of my sorrow), however Jacob changed his name to Benjamin (son of my right hand). Saul’s son Ish-Baal (man of possession) was renamed by the people Ish-Bosheth (man of shame) when his father was defeated and killed by the Philistines. King David and his men protected Nabal’s flocks and asked for some food in return. Nabal refused and accused David of breaking away from Saul in rebellion. Nabal’s wife Abigail spoke to David to pacify his anger. In 1 Sam 25:25-26 she said “‘Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness [Belial], on Nabal [stupid, wicked, foolish], for as his name is so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send; and now, my lord, Yehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Yehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee – now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.”
Named After God
People also included the name of God in their children’s names in the hope that they would bring something of God into their lives. There were over 150 different names of God given to people in the Old Testament. In the Northern Kingdom of Israel the people tended to use the name of God “El” in their names. So Eleazor (Lazarus) means, God is my helper. Elisha means God is my treasure. Abiel means fathered by God. Uriel means flame of God. In the Southern Kingdom of Judah the people tended to use Yah. Yah was actually better because it was more specific. There were many so called gods (El) but only one Yehovah. Eliyah (Elijah) means my God is Yah. Obadyah means Yah is my worship. Neryah means Yah is my light. The expression and character or nature of God that is revealed in these names is all-encompassing. Their names declared that Yah or “He Who Is” is my – ornament, protector, giver, deliverer, redeemer, king, possessor, comforter, lifter, rock, gatherer, ransomer, friend, healer, light, eye-opener, hope, mercy-shower, defender, bosom-carrier, helper, creator, builder, blesser, strengthener, hearer, sustainer, establisher, enlightener, greatness, lover the list goes on and on. It was the blessing of Abraham or the anointing of Kings that enabled these “labels” that identified individual people to become actual “names” that expressed a change of character, behaviour and destiny. The name Jezebel (queen of King Ahab) in Hebrew means literally “where is Baal?” because Baal was often seen as a dying and rising god and this name was called in worship ceremonies to resurrect him from the darkness of the underworld.
If you would like to understand more about the ancient Hebrew culture of the people of the Bible, then click, here.
The Crown of The Anointing
Are You The Christ?
The art of communication is being understood, and words are a form of communication. However, there needs to be a common understanding of the meaning of the words used. In linguistics, when two words from different languages sound the same but have a different meaning, these words are called false friends. The religion of Christian tradition taught in modern churches is full of false friends but because the theologically trained teachers of religion believe that their tradition is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, no-one is any the wiser. Take for instance the word Christ. The word Christ is an untranslated Greek word that in most translations of the Bible is simply used as an identifier, something like a surname. It was originally one of the most important words in the Bible with a wealth of meaning. However, because of the religion of Church tradition, the original and practical meaning of the word Christ (or better, “Anointed One”) has been lost. The word Christ truly is a false friend.
The Anointing of Life-Changing Power
The word Christ in Greek means exactly the same as the word “Mashiyach” (Messiah, Anointed One) in Hebrew. The word “mashach” in Hebrew, and “chrio” in Greek means to smear or rub with oil. Within the ancient Hebrew culture of the Bible, the word “blessing” meant a gift brought upon bended knee. It had the same meaning as the word “grace” (in Greek “charis”). It meant benefit, favour, gift, joy, pleasure and the divine influence of God upon the heart to turn people from their wicked ways and bring the true heartfelt righteousness of living a life of both faith and love. It has as similar meaning as the word “anointed” (in Greek “chrio”), Yehovah’s anointed or “Christ” with similar names as “Blessed One” or “Chosen One” was gifted by Yehovah God with the fragrance of the anointing oil which represented the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God that gifted the anointed one to accomplish his or her purposes in God. In Psalm 105, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all described as the prophets and the “Anointed” (“Mashiyach” in Hebrew, “Christos” in Greek) of Yehovah. Within ancient Israel, Prophets, Priests and Kings were chosen by God to be anointed with the victor’s crown of fragrant anointing oil in the name of Yehovah to give them overcoming power to accomplish His purposes not their own. Prophets were anointed to speak the living word of God, priests were anointed to mediate and bring the blessing of God’s forgiveness and mercy, and kings were anointed to bring the salvation of God’s overcoming victory. Those who were anointed did not have the power within themselves to accomplish God’s purpose. Unlike spoken words that die in the ears of the listener, the fragrance of the anointing oil represented the crown of the authority of the blessing or grace of the continual presence and overcoming power of the sovereign word of the personality or almighty breath or Holy Spirit of Yehovah spoken over the anointed one that continually entered in to their personality to enable them to achieve their chosen purpose and destiny in God, not their own.
Crowns
In English, the word crown is from the Latin “corona” meaning to encircle like a garland or wreath. In Hebrew, the words for crown meant literally a surrounded or encircled head and the mark of a cupped palm or hand upon the head. It also symbolized something that was set apart as being different for a specific purpose or a sign of dedication. The wearing of a crown represented something that people could see and set the wearer apart or different or holy from or above the people. Crowns were generally worn by those who had the authority and power to wear them and they wore them in the presence of the people in order to display visibly the invested authority and power that was yielded by the wearer of the crown. It was commonly made of gold as a representation of condensed or divine sunlight or fire or the corona or halo of the sun symbolizing that the king was a representative of the gods or God. It was also worn as a symbol or wreath of victory. The crown was also associated with anointing, the people put a crown upon the head of the king but the priests anointed the king with fragrant oil as the reigning one over God’s inheritance. For someone who was unauthorized to put on the crown would have been considered to be an act of presumption at best and treason at worst punishable by beatings or even death. The crown of the king had to be treated with respect as it represented not only the person or name of the king but also his reign, rule and kingdom. In Isaiah 28 God speaks woe to the crowns of presumption and pride worn by the drunkards of Ephraim: Isaiah 28:1 “Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim. And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory“.
The Victor’s Crown
God wants to free you from the false-friend shackles of religious tradition and give you the victor’s crown of anointing that reunites within your own life God’s Word with his Holy Spirit to empower you to overcome in life and to ultimately obtain the fulfilment of God’s amazing purpose for you. Click here if you would like to find out how you yourself can become a son of God together with Jesus and through the presence of God’s indwelling fatherhood within your redeemed heart become the reflection and visible image of the invisible God just as He is. Through that and together with Jesus will you be qualified to eternally inherit all things.
Faith That Works
The Fantasy-Faith of Church Religion
The art of communication is being understood, and words are a form of communication. However, there needs to be a common understanding of the meaning of the words used. In linguistics, when two words from different languages sound the same but have a different meaning, these words are called false friends. False friends lead to confusion. The religion of Christian tradition taught in modern churches is full of false friends but because the theologically trained teachers of religion are so convinced that their orthodox belief system is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, no-one is any the wiser. Take for instance the word faith. The faith taught in many modern churches is doctrine, theology, the articles of religion, and of course creed. The word creed is from the Latin “credo” and means, “I believe”. The faith of religious tradition doesn’t work. It is faulty. It promises something great when people are dead. They find out when it is too late that their faith was merely fantasy faith, it wasn’t true.
What is Biblical Faith?
Within the ancient Hebrew culture of the Bible, the words commonly translated “believe” or “faith” meant to establish something practically, the words did not mean any form of intellectual belief in something religious, imaginary, or conceptual, concept was not part of their culture or way of thinking. The Hebrews lived from their hearts and not from their heads. True faith is how people live, not what they think or say they believe. The same Hebrew word for “faith” is often translated “truth” and it means the same thing, something built or established – something real like a pillar or support. Faith in God meant to respond in humility and obedience to the amazing grace of the unmerited favour of God by catching the breath of the word spoken personally by the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God into their grace-humbled hearts. Through this, they received the fulfillment of God’s great and precious promises in their experience.
Amazing Faith
At the time of Jesus, the Jews hated the Romans who amongst other things forced them to pay taxes and carry their bags which made them feel small, and full of resentment. However, the Romans represented outwardly the slavery of being imprisoned by pride and selfishness that, apart from the sovereign blessing of Abraham, naturally subjected them to the curse of being enslaved by the father of lies. In Luke 7, there was a Roman centurion who, although he was a gentile, loved the Jews and showed it practically by establishing or building their synagogue. The centurion did not suddenly say in his heart one day “I am going to love the Jews, I will build their synagogue, I have got great faith”. God had sovereignly chosen the centurion by the election of grace to receive the blessing of Abraham, the life’s breath, or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood. Within ancient Hebrew culture, sons are the reflection of the behaviour or name of their father. As a reflection or Son of God, the centurion loved the Jews because God loves them. He wanted to be a blessing to the Jews because God wanted to bless them, and in Genesis 12:3 God promised to bless those who blessed Abraham. God chose the centurion to be a blessing to the Jews but also to stand as a testimony against those who imagined that God considered them righteous. This was because they were descendants of Abraham and because they believed that they kept the Law of Moses. They considered themselves in covenant with God, God’s “special”, holy, or favoured people, and therefore superior to everyone else. The centurion had received the blessing of a grace-humbled heart. Although in the natural world he was someone important, he knew by supernatural revelation the truth that in reality he was nothing in himself and that all of his power and authority came from above and not from him. His servant who was possibly a Jew, whom he loved, was sick and at the point of death. In humility he sent the elders of the people, who had to humble themselves, to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. It says in Luke 7: 6-10 (KJV) “Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou should enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick”. Hebraically, the “amazing faith” that Jesus found within the centurion could be better described as a “believing response to grace”. The centurion’s faith was a response to the amazing grace of God and not the cause of it. It was truly remarkable, but what was really significant was the work of the amazing grace of God in the centurion’s heart. The centurion’s faith was not a “work” because a “work” of faith that merits the gift of grace cannot receive it because it is no longer a gift but an obligation. He did not work up a religious “I believe” sweat that obliged Jesus to heal his servant. His faith was the blessing of grace, and he simply responded to Jesus with a grace-humbled heart. The centurion knew how faith in grace really worked. Natural words are spoken with natural breath, but natural words even scriptural words, have little effect without the personal manifestation of the breath or Holy Spirit of God’s life. The centurion was a man who by God-given grace lived in obedient submission to authority and as such knew by revelation that Jesus was a man who lived by faith in submission and perfect obedience to the truth of the living word of the supernatural authority of God. He also knew that unless Jesus spoke the word of grace, a man under authority like himself, a man of truth who spoke living words with the divine power of supernatural breath, a man within whom by faith (or establishing) the word of God and the life’s breath, personality or Spirit of God were one and the same, nothing would happen. Within ancient Hebrew culture, to believe or to have faith meant to establish. The time to believe was when Jesus spoke the unmerited grace-inspired living words of God for him personally. That is why it says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. Real faith is an obedient response to the amazing life-changing grace-filled blessing of the God-inbreathed immediate present tense living word of God. Real faith is not an intellectual agreement with religious tradition, dogma or creed. Real faith is not something that “merits” a miracle or earns a work of grace. It is not a “believing” stick used to prod God out of a presumed persistent vegetative state. When Jesus freely spoke the word of unmerited grace, as a man under authority with a divine mandate to release the power of God’s grace, that was the time that by faith everything changed. The centurion’s servant was of course healed the moment Jesus spoke the word of truth. For the centurion, his “after the fact of grace” amazing faith was the victory
Amazing Grace
God offers unlimited revival power. He is willing to open the floodgates of heaven and pour himself out upon hungry hearts but so often the grace of God is hindered because people are already filled with the unbelieving words of natural breath, religious tradition or doctrine no matter how noble or sincere. So often, people put their natural trust in the religion of tradition in the place of grace-inspired faith in the living God. Religion teaches people to believe; people can believe until the cows come home, but the cows never will. When the amazing and unmerited grace of God sends the cows home, faith simply responds to the unmerited grace of God by opening the door to welcome them. Grace is not God’s response to faith but amazing faith is the heart’s response to grace. Grace activates faith, faith does not merit grace. That is why Paul says in Romans 10:17 “… faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the [living, inbreathed, active] Word of God”. Within ancient Hebrew culture, to hear meant to “see the name”, to establish or obey, the disobedient were too proud to listen. True faith has got nothing to do with the affirmation or creed of the tradition of religion. The goodness and unmerited grace of God activates faith, an amazing and limitless faith that responds to amazing grace. As such, true faith is the effect of grace, not its cause. True faith is an inspired response to the dynamite of the almighty power of the living word of God that surges through the hearts and personalities of God’s Sons. True faith is the restoration of the absolute sovereign authority and power of the word of God lost by Adam and Eve at the Fall.
The True Faith of Relationship
Jesus did not come to establish the faith of the Christian religion of tradition but rather relationship, a Father-Son relationship with God that all peoples everywhere can enjoy. If you would like to know how to escape the false-friend shackles of the Christian religion of tradition, experience the mountain-moving power of God-inspired faith that prevails, and enjoy a Father-Son relationship with Almighty God that lasts forever, then click here. Those whose hope is truly in the Lord, will not be disappointed.
Inheriting Sonship 