To Attain Union With Christ and Gain Immortality in the Body

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7—NIV)

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:54—NIV) Notice that the tree of life is still in the Paradise of God. Notice also that the "right" to eat from the tree of life is not granted because of our faith but because we overcome the enemy.

It is our point of view that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life. In order to gain eternal life and finally attain the immortality of our body we must continually eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ. Eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood is something we are to do at all times. We learn to live in this manner.

Notice the following, for it is one of the more important verses of the Scriptures: Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57—NIV)

Think about how Jesus lives because of the Father. Every part of Jesus, every breath He takes, every thought He thinks, comes from the Father. He and His Father are One, meaning that Christ is totally dependent on the Father for all He is and does.

The same is to be true of us. Every part of us, every breath we take, every thought we think, is to come from the Lord Jesus. We and Jesus are to become one just as He and the Father are One.

Now, how do we gain such oneness with Christ? By continually feeding on Him. By continually eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

How do we do this?

Each Christian each day is faced with choices, decisions concerning what to think, what to say, what to do. Because we have two separate natures, an adamic nature and a new born-again nature, we have to decide which nature will govern our thoughts, words and actions.

The world, our flesh, our self-will, Satan, and other forces pressure us to decide in a certain way. The Bible, the Spirit of the Lord, and other godly influences also seek to guide what we do. We are the one who makes the decision as to which force should be the one to make each decision. This is how the Christian life operates.

When we follow our fleshly desires we continue in spiritual death. When we follow the godly influences God has provided, we are given the body and blood of Christ in the spirit realm. The body and blood of Christ are eternal life, the Life from Heaven. In this manner we strengthen the eternal life within us.

If we choose to live by the body and blood of Christ we attain resurrection in our inward nature. When the Lord appears our body will be made alive with the Life of God because of what has been accomplished in our inward nature.

But if we choose to live according to our fleshly desires we do not attain resurrection in our inward nature. When the Lord appears our body will not be made alive with the Life of God because the prerequisite life has not been formed in us. It is as simple and straightforward as that. In this instance we will not attain immortality in our body. I am not clear what then takes place with the believer who has failed to choose to live in the Life of Christ, but the Scripture speaks of corruption and destruction.

Learning to live by the Life of Jesus Christ, to become one with Him in every aspect of life, is an area of our land of promise. It affects our entire existence.

While Satan does not seem to be overly concerned about our dying and going to Heaven, He is terribly anxious that we not become such an integral part of Christ. In so doing we become a threat to Satan's kingdom.

One device Satan uses successfully to prevent the believers from entering this area of their land of promise is to promote neglect, disinterest, and a casual approach to their salvation. This is particularly true in America where there are so many interesting diversions—things and situations that occupy our attention and time.

Satan deceives us into leaving our first love of Christ. We grow cool, not having the intense relationship to Christ that insures our partaking of His body and blood. We treat our salvation casually, only addressing the things of God when it is convenient. Many other enterprises become more important to us than our walk with Christ.

Soon we are occupied primarily with eating, sleeping, playing, working, and reproducing—the life of the animal. Eternal resurrection life begins to leave our inward nature, although we still regard ourselves as a Christian. We have been burned badly and we do not realize it.

The Lord mentions the "practices of the Nicolaitans." Some commentators have viewed these practices as that of dividing the one Body of Christ into priests and people.

Another scholar mentions a Nicholas of Antioch who sought to reconcile the churches to the ways of the local Roman community.

Still a third believes the practices of the Nicolaitans to be those of the Gnostics, who pursued either extreme asceticism or abandonment to fleshly lusts.

Since we do not know for certain, I think the Lord is telling us that any practice or doctrine that leads us away from the most intense, continual interaction with Himself is hated by Him and ought to be hated by us.

The Lord does not take a bland, casual attitude toward anything that would come between us and Himself. Neither are we to be casual or neutral about the distractions and temptations of our environment.

We may notice that Adam and Eve lost the right to eat of the Tree of Life because they did not overcome the challenge placed before them.

If we do not overcome the challenges place before us we will lose the right to partake on a daily basis of the body and blood of the Lord. Then, when the Lord returns, we will not be gathered to Him, because it is His body and blood in us that will raise us in that day. Satan has been successful in preventing us from entering our land of promise.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:54—NIV)

Do not suppose for one moment that grace, mercy, correct doctrine, or anything else will raise us to Christ in that Day! Only His body and blood will do that. We are in a state of apostasy in America and we need to get back to an intimate relationship with Jesus. We are not nearly ready for the coming of the Lord! We are not living in perfect oneness with Him.

To Gain Authority and Power To Rule Our Circumstances in the Person and Presence of Christ