Daily Archives: October 4, 2012

Names of God Series, Proven Path Ministries

Names of God: Xulon Zoe

So far in our study of the names of Christ we have looked at Huios and Eschatos Adam. Today we are going to look at a few names of Christ . Our main focus will be on one name, but there are two names that we will look at that relate to our focus name.

We find our name of Christ today in the book of Revelation…

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 

To him who overcomes,

I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God

Revelation 2:7

Now last week as we looked at Eschatos Adam I used the illustration of the family tree… and here’s the thing our Jesus is indeed the Tree of Life, the Xulon Zoe. We will dig a little deeper into Xulon Zoe later in this post.

Now there are two things that help make a tree a tree.  For one a tree has branches…

  In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2-3)

Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. (Zechariah 6:12)

Jesus is our Xulon Zoe and  He is our Tsemach, our Branch, He is the One who reaches out from where He is and builds the temple of the Lord.

Now another thing that makes a tree a tree is that it has roots. You see not only is He our Xulon Zoe and our Tsemach, He is also our Rhiza.

and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5) 

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Revelation 22:16

Here’s the awesome thing about our Jesus,: He is the whole tree! He is the Branch and He is the Root. He is not just the descendant of David, He is also the root of him. He is the Tree of Life. He is the One who builds the temple of the Lord.

Now there was a descendant of David who built a temple to the Lord long ago. His name was Solomon. We read in 1 Kings 6 how Solomon also used branches and trees to build this temple. These were trees from this earth. These were trees that gave their life to build the temple. They were cut down and used to lay the foundations and build the walls and all the furniture and the altars and all else that was in the temple. These trees were strong, but they were not eternal. They were of this earth and this temple was destroyed.

The temple built by the Branch from the Tree of Life however will never be destroyed…

With this in mind lets dig a little deeper into Xulon Zoe…

Xulon  is Greek for tree, but this tree is not just any tree, this word xulon in Revelation 2:7 means: wood, that which is made of wood, as a beam from which any one is suspended, a gibbet, a cross, a log or timber with holes in which the feet, hands, neck of prisoners were inserted and fastened with thongs, a fetter, or shackle for the feet

Zoe is Greek for life, and this word zoe in Revelation 2:7 means: life, the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate, every living soul, of the absolute fullness of life

You see my friend the Tree of Life is the Cross of Christ…

You see this son of David, the Root of David, this Branch, this Tree of Life, our Christ also gave His life to build a temple of the Lord. He however did not cut another down, but He Himself was cut down. This Tree of Life was cut down and laid, but He has risen… and the Branch of this Tree just keeps going out from where He is and building the temple of the Lord. And where is this temple? Who is this temple?

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
(1 Corinthians 3:16)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
(1 Corinthians 6:20)

The temple that is built from Xulon Zoe can never be destroyed… not even the gates of hell can prevail against it.

 

Proven Path Ministries

October Heart

Today is October 4th and so today I will focus on Psalm 101:4…

 

A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will know no evil.

Psalm 101:4

A perverse heart shall depart from me… now for something to depart from you it had to first be with you.

And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (Mark 7:20-23)

Perverse in this verse is `iqqesh and it means twisted, distorted, crooked, perverse, perverted. 

A perverse heart takes God’s truth and twists it and distorts it and makes it crooked.

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Acts 13:9-10

This has been the problem since the beginning…

Satan was the first to pervert it and he has been helping man do it since the fall. If we look at the bottom line there is always only one reason to pervert the truth of God… selfish gain. It was the reason Satan did it… it’s the reason man does it. It’s the reason men do it from the pulpit, it’s the reason politicians do it from the podium… to get their own way, to be their own god, to get people to follow them and do their will… not God’s.

‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. (Ezekiel 33:30-31)

Our God calls out to us to be saved from this perverse generation… He desperately wants us to walk in His truth.

For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:39-41)

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:29-31)

God has called out to us through His law, through His prophets, and through His Son to give us the truth, so that this perverse heart of ours might depart from us. He had made the way for a new heart to be given us… a heart that desires to walk the straight and clear path to our God.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

In the NASB the phrase “know that I am the LORD” is used seventy-seven times. The phrase “know Me” is used sixteen times. The phrase “the name of the LORD” is used one hundred and four times.

Do you think God wants you to know Him?

God wants you to know HIM. He wants you to know Him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. He wants your spirit to be one with His Spirit. He want you to know Him and all that He is. All His majesty. All His glory. All His grace. All His love. All His ways.

He does not want you to know evil.

The word know in this verse is yada and it means to know, to learn to know, to know by experience, to be acquainted with, to be skillful in, to be or become known, to make known…

The perverse heart gets to know evil. The perverse heart makes evil known. The perverse heart knows evil by experience and it is well acquainted with it.

God wants you to be well acquainted with Him. He wants you to make Him known. He wants you to know Him by experience. He wants you to learn to know Him more. He wants you to grow in knowledge of Him every minute of every day…

He wants you to prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. (Philippians 2:14-16)

We live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation… but it does not have to live in us.

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Romans 16:17-20)