A Lesson from Judas

Many times we have wondered about the character and nature of Judas Iscariot. We like to tell our self that if we were with Jesus, we would be bowing down and worshiping Him. We would be in a state of constant awe as we gave Him praise for His great teachings, the miracles that we had seen with our own eyes, and the dead being raised to life. This includes Jesus himself!

Judas has shown us that we can be with the Word (also known as Jesus), have conversations with the Word, eat with the Word, hear the Word, and know who the Word is. However, if our hearts desire to be one with the Word is not done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in our lives, then greater works than He did can not be manifested through us. Being one with Him means knowing that we are each a part of His body connected to the life source of Jesus Christ who is the head. If we don't live our life in the position as a Christ One that was given to us at Calvary we will never know the fullness of our inheritance that is available to us NOW. Instead, we will continue to be people of double-minded ways living our life laced with justification and condemnation while calling ourselves Christians.

The Kingdom of God can be manifested NOW through our life when we speak the Word by faith and know in our hearts that we are one with Him. We must believe in our spirit that, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God." (Galatians 2:20-21).

When we know that we are in Christ, the existence of our time is replaced with His eternity. We live a life that is in this world, but not of this world. There is always a bigger picture in the Kingdom of God than can be understood with our natural minds. The Apostle Paul tried to explain this in a letter he wrote to the town of Colosse correcting them about their teachings on the preeminence of Christ. When we read the first chapter of this letter, Paul purposely uses the word "ALL" throughout to illustrate the difference of what Jesus Christ taught with unconditional love and what religion teaches so they wouldn't incorporate it into the Christian faith. With patience and love, all people will be gathered into His presence, but our faith must continue to press into believing that it is already done. With this kind of faith there is no room to judge or condemn because someone is not living as we think they should according to the way we have interpreted Scripture.

Scripture warns us that the power of Life and Death are in our tongue (Proverbs 18:21). When we continue to call Christ Ones "sinners saved by grace", we are illustrating the same concept of a woman that has been married for fifty years still being a virgin and still keeping her maiden name. She has refused to take accountability of being married because her husband is of a royal blood line and she doesn't consider herself worthy.

Jesus enjoyed teaching by giving us wonderful illustrations using life situations during His time on the earth to understand the Kingdom of God including the "sin" issue. The sin of Adam, which became our sin, was imparted into the blood of Jesus at the last supper when a covenant exchange took place between God and man. This is symbolic of the sin offerings being brought to the priest. At this same meal, Judas took part in this spiritual exchange of the body and blood of Jesus. When Judas hung himself, the contents of what was in his body was spilled out onto the ground. This was the covenant exchange of the body and blood of Jesus which the other disciples also received. His sinless ness was poured out upon the earth via the sinful man of Judas. Today, this place is known as the "Field of Blood" purchased with 30 pieces of silver that Judas was paid. When he betrayed Jesus he had the contents of the symbolism of the spiritual blood and body of Jesus in his own body, just as Peter did when he denied Jesus 3 times.

When the drops of blood were sweated from Jesus' brow to the earth in the Garden of Gethsemane, the curse of sin on man was released. This is symbolic of the sacrifices that took place in the outer court of the temple. The forgiveness and mercy of God which is found in the inner court was being manifested by Jesus with unconditional love. This is why He did not justify himself throughout His trials. If He had tried to explain Himself of His innocence, even once, in front of the religious leaders, high priest, and governmental authorities, He would have nullified the purpose of unconditional forgiveness for all mankind manifested on the cross. The Lamb's blood carrying the sin was being challenged of whether it had spot or blemish.

This event was an illustration of the Day of Atonement when the High Priest would go into the inner court where God resided once a year so that cleansing of sin could be obtained for all the people. He would first have to go into the inner court seeking mercy for him. Then, he would go in a second time as an intercessor to seek unconditional mercy and forgiveness for all the tribes. It didn't matter whether they thought they were forgiven or not, or if they took part in the religious rituals. If God accepted the intercession of the High Priest, then ALL the people were cleansed. Jesus is our intercessor who took on the sins of the world and cleansed us from all unrighteousness, forever. Peter was told by the Holy Spirit what God had cleaned is all the way clean. It is not our place to judge differently from God which Peter learned in Acts chapter 10. While Jesus hung on the cross, the blood that fell from his head, hands, and feet signified the four points on the Ark of the Covenant in the inner court where the High Priest would have placed the sacrificial blood of atonement. Jesus is our mercy seat. He took the sin of death and hung it on a tree, known as the cross, allowing men to be set free from sin and death forever. It was done once and for all. God was no longer residing in an inner court for a High Priest to come into His presence for the people, but was NOW outside the natural Holy temple ready to enter into the inner court of the hearts of all men.

When Jesus cried out, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani" in Matthew 27:46, we have a pointer to the Old Testament of when the Glory of God and mercy seat was removed doing the time of the High Priest named Eli. The Jews would have been sensitive to what was being spoken because they understood the history about Eli which included the lamb's blood, the Sabbath being the Holiest Day, the mercy seat, and what was necessary for the restoration of the Glory of God. Jesus was declaring that the ark is back and the mercy seat of God was there on the cross. The disciples understood this in their spirit, and so did the religious leaders at this time. When Judas realized he was taking part in killing innocent blood he tried to gain justification by forgiveness from religion. Instead, they gave him no mercy causing him to seek death and a field of blood (Matthew 27:3-5).

The religious leaders tried to cover up their lies by sewing up a torn curtain, and trying to destroy Jesus' body even after He was buried. For them to believe in what Jesus was telling them would be the end of their power, position, and control. Jesus took restoration a step further by bringing all things back to the beginning while on the cross. The "Eli" was for the Jewish people, but, afterwards He said, "Father, forgive them". This was for the Gentiles. They would not have grasped the connection with Jesus saying "Eli", but they would have understood the covenant connection when He used the term "Father". This identified Jesus as the Son of God. He brought the Old and New together creating a covenant relationship once and for ALL that God is the Heavenly Father of ALL.

People of the Old Testament covenant understood the blood needing to be applied to the outside of the house, but now, the New Testament covenant reveals to us that it is what is on the inside of the house that God desires relationship with. God is not a blood God. Blood life separates man from God for God is Spirit.

Today, we are one in Spirit with Him. The blood was removed when Jesus appeared in the Flesh as the Son of God resurrected from the dead for forty days to over 500 people. Matthew tells us in Chapter 27:52-53, that the graves were opened, the dead arose, and went into Jerusalem appearing unto many. They too were spirit beings in the flesh.

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ did not remove us from the law, but the curse of the law which also brought death and time. As Christ Ones today, we are one with Him able to utilized our life in a higher power than the law. We have the power of the Holy Spirit which has the ability to take us into the supernatural that is not bound by the law, but by unconditional love. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world, for whom the Son has set free we are today free indeed.

Only the unconditional Love of God is perfect. We have the ability to manifest that love when we live our lives knowing our identity is established and grounded in Him. When others see us, they should know they are in the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit which brings unity drawing ALL men unto the Father; our Father and their Father.

God chose us out of Himself before the foundation of the world (Genesis 1:1) that we would be Holy and blameless before Him in unconditional love. He predestined this for us to be His children by the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus Christ which brought forgiveness of all sin, and the manifestation of the richness of His grace and mercy. He has already made known to us the mystery of His will. It is not a choice of our will that is done, but His, for no one can resist the power of the unconditional love of God. It isn't possible. What is possible is that what Christians are calling the power of the Holy Spirit is self love laced with conditions to being a Christ One.

Many people that call themselves Christians are not reflecting the love of the Father. Instead, they are being drawn by fear and condemnation to make a choice or else God will send them to hell. However, the lesson of Judas teaches us that this is all part of His mystery. In the dispensation of the fullness of times, of every generation, He will gather together all as one in Christ; those that have gone before us, and those that are alive in the flesh today. It is God that unites all people after the counsel of His own will. Many people we may think don't know Christ as their personal Savior are just living the life that God has already assigned to them to bring unity to the whole body of Christ. (Ephesians 1:4-11)

We died 2000 years ago with Him and today we are new creatures in Christ. Old things are passed away; behold, ALL things are new, and ALL things are of God (II Corinthians 5:17-18).