THE CASE FOR BURIAL - Part 1

 People get ready for Christmas as early as July, not because they cannot wait to celebrate Christ, but to celebrate themselves for it is a joyful time for many.

People celebrate their birthdays for days and even months. It is the anniversary of their existence outside the womb. They even plan vacations and such for months in advance to celebrate themselves.

However, few plan for the greatest day ever for a few or perhaps the most terrible day for many. That day is death. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21), so said Paul because he had planned for his death and had the assurance of salvation. Death is the new “birthday” for those in Christ and with Christ in them in spiritual form.

Christ was not even born on Christmas, in fact, Jesus was never born. He is God manifested — God with us (Emmanuel), as He is called. Jesus was always with us as John wrote (John 1:1-14). As such, Jesus was transported from the invisible realm to the visible, and the womb of Mary was the “Ark” that delivered Him.

“Born again” (John 3:7) is a reversal of the process; the flesh is disposed of, and the material body of the Christian remains, as the Spirit is transported to another realm. That does not happen when someone first believes but at death. Rebirth is not even “regeneration,” but the “seed” planted that would develop into a new glorious being.

It struck me one day: thinking that there was only one “must be” that pertains to earthlings in the New Testament, there are two must be’s:

1.       “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7)

2.       “We must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

 There are only two: circumcision is not a must be and neither is baptism. Given that there are only two, then the two must have some commonality. Born again is literally, “engendered from above” ( (BLB 2021) and saved is preserved until the time of made whole (ibid). 

The question is exactly what is made whole? “Made whole” is used in many places and pertains to healing. One example is the woman with a blood issue (Mat 9:20) who was “made whole from that very hour,” as it says (Mat 9:22). She was “restored to health” (ibid) that very instant. Her blood issue was no longer an issue.

The woman had been hemorrhaging (haimorroeo) but the discharge of blood ceased. She was not born again but preserved until the day she would die. Jesus contained her blood, never to dry out unless the seal is broken. Only sin could swell so much as to break the seal:

⁷ Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: ⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:7-8)

 If any bad (old) leaven remains in the “preserves” then the whole lump is spoiled. With only good leaven — sincerity and truth — the lump (the person) cannot despoil.

Those preserved in sincerity and truth are those who endure to the end to finish the process of being made whole; the blood issue — the stain of sin — is cleaned up and the soul in Christ puts on new flesh, and the entire “lump” at that time is saved. Therefore, born again is a new beginning when the seed of God is planted in the theretofore depraved person, and it is by Divine Impulse as when Jesus experienced  the faith of the woman.

For the woman, the Divine Impulse was delivered because of her faith. She need only to reach out to contact Jesus (Mat 9:21). Jesus turned about. He would have felt virtue leave Himself as He had on so many other occasions. His virtue stopped the flow of her blood. He blood had become “good” from the good virtue (dynamis) of Jesus.

Jesus “planted” the woman to grow just as Yahweh planted Adam in the Garden (Gen 2:8). Adam grew, found grace, and then was rewarded with death. If anyone thinks that 930 years of conflicts with Satan is pleasurable, then think again. Every day, for Adam, was tribulation, even with the Garment of God on him!

In like manner as Adam, the blood issue of the woman was cleared up. She had put onto her, the Virtue of God; Jesus had shared the Spirit of God with the woman, and she became part of God’s “Garden” that He continues planting to this day! To be saved requires that the woman endure to the end (Mat 10:22).

The Divine Impulse is the start of the process of regeneration, and the first step would be for Jesus to preserve the blood. With that said, I have written two books on the sanctity of the blood, and primarily what is in the blood that is so precious; that is the identity with which God would mark each person, his or her DNA.

Rather than born again as made completely whole, that is reserved for the resurrection. God preserves the faithful until the end with a seal that only the “leaven” inside will disrupt. The part that the Christian would do is to avoid the leaven of malice and wickedness to keep the lump from breaking the seal as it puffs up itself, being “vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” (Col 2:18).

The point to this doctrine is that born again is not fully glorified — remade in the splendorous image of God — but the Divine Spark planted to grow into a glorious image.

Unfortunately, even though Adam was planted in the Garden, after sin when the blood was stained with malice and wickedness, forthwith it must have endured the world with all its malice and such.

Born again is the reason that to die is gain but it must be clarified to whom that applies — those in Christ. Once, the blood issue was sealed, the woman was in Christ, but if she was to follow a life of sin rather than Christ, then the blood would hemorrhage again, and the seal be broken.

By grace, God put a Garment on Adam, and by grace, Jesus did that with the woman. When she thought to touch Him, the Virtue within Jesus moved from Him to the woman and sealed the blood. What was not sealed was her strong will to pleasure the flesh.

The Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Ghost that He gave up, sealed the blood but her will remained hers. It is most certain that she was persuaded to be a Christian by that miracle, but as Paul often preached, she would need to be persuaded to “continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43). She surely did, because there is no scripture to indicate otherwise, but because of her will, she was still able to either accept or reject the Spirit from Jesus. Jesus preserved her but she sought preservation. That is the preparation of death that is our responsibility.

What did the woman do? She reached out to Jesus to touch Him. She never touched Him but only reached out to touch His Garment (Mat 9:21). She did nothing but reach to preserve her life, never even touching Him but willing to do so, just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac but did not perform the deed. To “touch” Jesus is no more than a willingness to trust Him for the dynamics to commence.

This is getting lengthy, but the woman was preparing for death. She was willing to be reseeded by the Divine Impulse from Jesus! Tomorrow, glorification will be explained and why death is gain.

(picture credit: "The Addiotnal Needs Blogfather")