Thursday, May 13, 2010

Esther - The Cause of Liberty

"And the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." [2Co 3:17]

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ...” Emma Lazarus
Is there anything sweeter than liberty? Does not every soul yearn for freedom?
One lesson of the book of Esther is that liberty exists in exact proportion to the extent to which Father restrains Haman (our Adamic nature, self, the flesh). Freedom is ENTIRELY and ONLY the product of Jesus' Life in the individual.
In Father's absence, Ahasueras chooses Haman. This is ALWAYS the case and it cannot be otherwise. Only as Haman is exposed AND restrained can the king make the right choice. Even though this is true, for now, we still sometimes choose Haman (to our own chagrin [Rom 7:9]). Father will ultimately remedy this for Esther teaches us that all of Haman's sons and all of the enemies of the Jews were completely defeated.
It is only through the agency of the Holy Spirit that self is exposed and restrained. This earnest of our future Hope points to a time when each will be entirely free from his sinful nature. We will one day live in the freedom found only in Christ.
This has profound implications for interpreting history and the world around us. Indeed, it will radically alter how we see even ourselves.
*Edmund Bourke was incorrect in believing that "men of intemperate minds cannot be free ...” He could not see that man is incapable of imposing "moral chains upon his own appetites". Indeed, man's fetters forge his passions. It is, in fact, men who have been made free that are made temperate of mind, whose appetites are chained. Rather than being the result of man's effort, liberty is the fruit of Father's work.
Some might label this manipulation. The truth is that Father is teaching in the only way we can learn without being destroyed. And Haman is certainly opposed to the outcome. There is only One who is capable of restraining evil. Our behavior is dictated by the relative amount of restraint imposed upon the flesh and the degree to which Father has finished His work in us. Father is thus illustrating to each, individually, and to all collectively, the fruit of the tyranny of self and its remedy.
The believer's life in Christ is a demonstration of Father's restraint of the flesh. Though far from complete, it is an earnest of what lies before us. Paul tells us the primary purpose of this demonstration...
"This grace is given to me (who am less than the least of all saints) to preach the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ among the nations, and to bring to light what is the fellowship of the mystery which from eternity has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; so that now to the rulers and powers in the heavenlies might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord; ..." [Eph 3:8-11]
In the Ecclesia, Father is providing for Himself a witness, a living testimony, of the purpose that has been hidden for most of mankind's history. Personal demonstrations of the tyranny of self exposed and eradicated. This is Father's great wisdom in providing for each and for all the only Life that is life, which will be received wholeheartedly by all at their appointed time. For we are His workmanship, as clay to the Potter.
One might ask 'does this apply to nations?’ The liberties which have been enjoyed here in the US were unprecedented in history. This nation was once the beacon of freedom to the rest of the world. In this there is the demonstration of what we have been discussing.
Those liberties were the product of the restraint of the flesh on an unprecedented scale. They were a priceless demonstration, a brief glimpse, of what Father has in store for His children. Our Constitution, rather than being the cause of freedom, was the result, the product, of minds that had been set free (to a degree). As we witness the loss of those precious liberties it is evidence that Father has been loosening those restraints. The explosion of regulations and proliferation of laws is a bellwether (addressing attendant behavioral issues) of same. As the individual goes, so goes the nation.
Liberty then is the direct result of Father's presence restraining the flesh. It is the end result of the process of Father gifting an individual with His Spirit which exposes and restrains self (Haman). This is the only true liberty and it is not dependent upon civil, political or physical circumstances. This will also be the heritage of all men - for this is Father's will. Father is the cause of Liberty!

*Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Irish Statesman. The above quotes are from a Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791). The section from which they derive is quoted in full below. (In the light of the discussion above, what Mr. Burke saw as cause was actually effect.)
"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites, — in proportion as their love to justice is above their rapacity, — in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption, — in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Esther - Oh Glorious Day

"I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me; and the life which I now live in the body I live through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up to death on my behalf." [Gal 2:20 WNT]
"... to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, who is Christ in you, the hope of glory; ..." [Col 1:27 LITV]
Esther is the story of Father's deliverance of His children. It is the divine revelation of the purpose of the creation. To understand and appreciate fully the glory of selflessness, that is Divine Love, we must experience the tyranny of complete selfishness, life apart from Father governed by flesh. Light has no meaning to us without darkness. The contrast between good and evil must be established. Father is doing this in a controlled environment where each must actually experience the horrors of self, yet be preserved to fulfill Father's purpose for him.
Each of us was born in Adam's image, under the tyranny of self. For most of our race it will have been their lot for their entire tenure in this life. For each, Father has designated a time and place when the gift of sight will be given. This was determined before Adam was created. For relatively few, that time and place will have occurred in this lifetime. It has absolutely nothing to do with merit, or intelligence, or talent, or anything else intrinsic to the individual. Out-calling is purely an act of Father's sovereign, Divine Grace. For those so blessed, it is given to believe without seeing. For the balance of Father's children, the gift of believing will coincide with their encounter with our risen Lord and Savior at the throne of Grace. While the out-called will have been there figuratively, most will receive their sight there actually.
The process of that gifting is revealed to us in the story of Esther. Father brings the Spirit into close proximity with the flesh and the exposure to Light reveals to the child both the overwhelming beauty of Divine Love and the true nature of self. In the power of the Spirit, self is put to death and new life is imparted through the indwelling of Christ Himself.
It is simple really. Our flesh would make us masters of our own destiny. It would have us believe that some, given the options, choose life while the rest go to some horrible end. This is utterly impossible, for flesh cannot see Divine Life and so choosing life is not an option. Only by the gift of the Holy Spirit is our soul made capable of perceiving Divine Life. Only in receiving Life are we made aware of it.
So life is a gift. Both our common bondage to flesh, and the universal gifting of Freedom in Christ. The outcome for all will be the same. Each will experience fully life apart from Father. Each will also receive the gift of the Spirit, which always imparts Father's life. The only question that remains is when. And that is in Father's most capable hands.

To be continued ...

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Esther - Haman's Children


"For Mordecai was great in the king's house and his fame went out into all the provinces, for this man Mordecai was going on and growing greater." [Est 9:4]
"And the king commanded it to be done so. And the order was given at Shushan, and they hanged Haman's ten sons." [Est 9:14]
"... when the king's command and his order came to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them; though it was turned around, so that the Jews had rule over the ones who hated them." [Est 9:1]
"I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." [Joh 16:33]
"... for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful to God to the demolishion of strongholds, the demolishing of arguments and every high thing lifting up itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ, ..." [2Co 10:4-5]
Even as Mordecai grows in power and influence in the kingdom, there remain enemies yet to be dealt with.
So the time for the final introduction has arrived. We find that Haman has left ten sons in Shushan and there are all the enemies of the Jews who reside within the kingdom. The malice of these is undiminished even in the face of Haman's demise and each must be dealt with in turn.
While the believer has received an earnest of the Spirit and is assured of his life in Christ, as long as we remain in the flesh, we will continue to deal with sinful self. Note however that in the end ALL enemies are vanquished. We have Father's assurance that He will finish the work He has begun. For the battle is the Lord's and not ours.
The outcome for Ahasueras, Esther, Mordecai and the kingdom is quite a happy one. To this day Jewish people celebrate the outcome of these events. The day is coming when we will also celebrate the complete vanquishing of self, the day we trade our terrestrial body for a celestial one. For he is truly free who has been freed from himself.
The life of the believer is a one of progressive change. Father works progressively to "form Christ" in us. We may have confidence that He will keep His promise to complete this work.

To be continued ...