June 2023 Revealing Light Newsletter

Who can be in the presence of God? “Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place” (Ps 24:3)? Do you or I even stand a chance in the presence of God or would we be obliterated by our sinfulness in the presence of God’s Holiness? In the tabernacle and later the temple, there was a place called the Holy of Holies. Only a priest once a year -- after having gone through the ritual purification -- could enter into that room without being obliterated (Lev 16). So how could you or I even be in the presence of God? Even David in Psalm 24:3-4 says, the one who can stand in God’s holy place is “the one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not appealed to what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully.” I must say, I don’t qualify, and neither do you… no wonder we are sometimes afraid God will just strike us down right here, right now!

Isaiah was afraid of the same thing. One time when Isaiah found himself in the midst of God’s presence, he was afraid that he would be obliterated as well. But God did something for Isaiah that Isaiah could not do for himself. God had Isaiah ritually cleansed with a burning coal (Is 6:6), that in ways symbolically and ritually cleansed him from his iniquities (burned away his impurities). In this sense, Isaiah received “blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Ps 24:5). This was not of Isaiah but of what God was doing for Isaiah. God does this for us as well through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We can be in God’s presence not by the things we have done but the things Jesus Christ has done. We receive God’s righteousness by faith through Jesus Christ (Rom 3:25-26; 4:22; 5:18-19; 2 Cor 6:7; Phil 3:9; Titus 3:5). We die to ourselves so that Christ may live in us. “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains in him” (Jn 3:36).

- Daryl Struemph

John 12:24-25 Truly, truly, I say to you, that if the grain of wheat does not fall into the ground and die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life will lose it; and whoever hates his life in this world, he will keep it for eternal life.
“Spring Song” Youtube ("Primavera" - Santana)

Life does not come from nothing, as some believe. Everything in life has to come from someone who does something and then there is good or bad, beautiful and horrible. These acts that we produce, whether good or bad, also have a cycle, that it’s created or conceive, born, grows, reproduces and dies like a man or a woman.

Genesis 2; 7 says: "Then Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being."  The breath of life that God put into the man's spirit gave him life and the awareness of being alive.  I link the images of the song by Carlos Santana called "Primavera" Spring  (played at the beginning) "The images, as it’s say, “speak more than a thousand words". The seed in living beings, and plants, animals and the man himself,  function in the same way. That is, from a seed, we were born, we grew, we reproduce, and sooner or later we have to die.

It is interesting that when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, He again used the seed as an example: Genesis 3: 11-15:  “And God said to him: Who taught you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat? 12 And the man answered, The woman you gave me as a companion gave me from the tree, and I ate. 13 Then Jehovah God said to the woman: What have you done? And the woman said: The serpent deceived me, and I ate. 14 And Jehovah God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you among all the beasts and among all the animals of the field; on your chest you will walk, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will bruise you on your head, and you will bruise his heel."

The seed to which God refers, is nothing other than the seed or offspring that God had used to plant humanity, and this would bring good or bad consequences, which would undoubtedly be evaluated by God according to its own works. The same as the offspring of Adam and Eve would bring death and the end of “Satan, or the ancient serpent”, in Jesus Christ Life would come for those who accepted it. The rabbis in the time of Jesus, already believed in the resurrection of the dead, and spoke of; “die to live and then rise again”. That is to say died to yourself to bear fruit, in order to live.

Paul took advantage of this fact and in an assembly where two groups of them wanted to judge him to kill him, instead of letting them do this, Paul made them argue and fight, because some believed in the resurrection of the dead and others did not. In our era, we mistakenly believe that "it is enough for us to believe, to obtain eternal life, it is enough to have faith!" we say and preach! This makes us believe that we don't have to change how we are, nor that our life has to be shaped and sometimes broken, and if “you” are stubborn like me, "this happens more than once, and we need to go back to the step. Once again".

I am honest, and I don't like the idea of having to change or be broken to be Jesus’ disciple. Because we want to be as we have always been, and have its promises at the same time. As the American adage or saying says. “We want to have the piece of cake and eat it too” and not have it disappear.

So, I want to to do things our own way! sang Frank Sinatra, and his song is hailed as the best to date! But Christ tells us that if we do not carry our Cross, and allow God to break the hard shell that we have in our life, and that he has to transform us, other way, we cannot be his disciples. When Peter refused to have his feet washed, Jesus told him: “If you don't let me wash your feet, you will have no part in my kingdom. "As a “normal human being:" Peter replied: Well, you better, wash my whole body at once! No: the teacher replied, only the feet now!

You are proud? Yeah! Do you think you are smarter than others? Yeah! Do you think you deserve better things? Yeah! So “you are like me,” let's let God mold us into the image of his Son, so we can die and have eternal life!

- Enrique Muruato