CLEANSING UNDER THE LIVING FLOW
“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.” (Isaiah 44:3, BSB)
“And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. (9) Wherever the river flows, there will be swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish, because it flows there and makes the waters fresh; so wherever the river flows, everything will flourish.” (Ezekiel 44:8,9, BSB)
An Eternal Sacrifice
The requirements of the Old Covenant served their purposes under the Mosaic Tabernacle. Although it was a signpost of what was to come under the New Covenant, the Law of the Spirit. The external rituals and scrupulous cleansing routines became obsolete in the fullness of God’s time. “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.” (Hebrews 9:13, NIV). The Levitical observances were intended as sacred holiness, inherently divine coming from God. Holiness cannot be achieved by one’s efforts, therefore the act of externalised cleansing is futile and an empty gesture since man is of the dust. We are a deteriorating entity from the time of our birth. Change and decay typifies our organic composition but under the blood of Jesus we can be raised up in His eternal state.. Under the blood of our LORD JESUS there is grace for our fallen corrupt being. ‘God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” (Romans 5:20, NLT). The law served to direct one to Christ. Further, it revealed our sinfulness but was ineffective to justify us before the Father. Under grace of the New Covenant we would experience the pure cleansing of the inner temple. The internalised works of purification would come under the intense heat of introspection of the Holy Spirit.
Searching of the Spirit
The seven eyes of the Spirit, a perfect and complete vision exposes the rottenness of the flesh and its carnal works. The Spirit discerns and searches into the deep crevices and compartments of the inner being. The nuances and long held inaccurate presumptions are revealed as the Word, like a chisel burrows away into the dead layers of issues and tissues, to heal the chronic festering wounds of our faulty cerebral processing system. “What then shall we say? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the Law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the Law had not said, “Do not covet.”(Romans 7:7, ESV)
Transformation comes from the release of internalised scars and pains, a legacy of bondage, derived from holding onto a life time’s negative emotions. Religion lets one hold on to these yokes of oppression as they remain in its bondage. Our Lord became our burden bearer at the Cross. He carried all the pain, shame, oppression, depression, fears and doubts. The list is endless, but He carried them up Galgotha’s Hill and they were nailed to the Cross. We are truly released from the law of sin as its hidden works were laid bare on the Cross. There is no further need to abase one’s self in a futile emotional externalising of cleansing. These rituals could not wash away the indelible marks and stain of sin.
The burden, pain, shame, guilt and feelings of ‘not good enough’ to overcome the challenges of life would remain a facet of the ineffectiveness of the Mosaic law. A poignant reminder of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities in this house of clay. The cycle of defeat, being broken and disfigured by the guilt-prodding of the accuser, Satan would continue to be perpetuated without divine grace.
Unceasing Flow
“For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt purification offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh running water over them.” (Numbers 19:7). The fresh running water to cleanse the impure person is a veiled reference being made of Jesus the Living Water. ‘Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’ (John 7:38, BSB). The time would come when that which was spoken of Him in scripture would be fulfilled, 16) Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, (17) the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written: (18) The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,” (19) to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:16-19, BSB). The mandate of our Lord did away with the need for the obsolete Old Levitical Covenant. No longer was there a need of cleansing for sin by the blood of animals to set the guilty sinner free. The Living Water flowing forth from JESUS’ mouth at the annual Feast of Tabernacle was the promise of its ceaseless flow, poured out from the living temple in the hearts of jars of clay. Vessels cleansed under the living flow.
Our Lord is more than enough for His people. One can be raised up from self-limiting behaviour by being Christ-focussed. The New Covenant of JESUS is defined by internal works of righteousness. The Spirit is the internal light that shines in a dark place. Illuminating works are undertaken to reveal the state of the heart. The daily spiritually cleansing routines of prayer and self-examination by the reading of the Word is the anecdote for sin. This is a far more excellent and superior way of cleansing the inner being that is hidden, secretive and unresponsive to spiritual cleansing from dead works without the urging of the Spirit. The Spirit is at work to refresh the thirsty soul, to give life in the Word. This has been made possible through the New Covenant of our LORD. “And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.’ (John 6:63, BSB)
Gwendolyn Smith : #NEWPENTECOST : 14 AUGUST 2020