Day 1 The Flaming Sword
“After banishing (Adam and Eve) from the garden, the Lord God stationed mighty angelic beings to the east of Eden. And a flaming sword flashed back and forth, guarding the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:24 NLT
For centuries mankind was trapped. Perfectly created and endowed with the enormous ability to think, to feel, and above all, to choose, man has wandered from one outpost to another in search of regaining that perfect relationship that was once so sweetly fulfilling. However, from the moment one little taste of a freshly picked fruit came between Man, Woman, a serpent and God the Creator of All Things, that perfect relationship became unattainable. God had to place a flaming sword before the entrance to that Place of Perfection, that earthly paradise that was once our home.
That is until a young Carpenter walked out of the village of Nazareth in Galilee, traveled the countryside surrounding the grand city of Jerusalem for three years, teaching, preaching, healing others and casting out sons of the serpent from human souls. This vibrant young man, who called Himself the Son of Man, chose to allow His enemies to nail Him to a cross as a public spectacle of cursed humiliation. That curse on a tree perfectly mirrored the curse before the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, the last outpost of perfection, where the protective, flaming sword stood guard.
Today, Easter - Resurrection Sunday - is the celebration of the breaking of that curse, the springing of the trap mankind walked into so long ago, the removal of that sword of flames, and the freeing of our souls. Today we rejoice in the glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who not only took all the sin from that garden and beyond to the cross with Him, but as He was physically laid in a borrowed, empty tomb, spiritually plunged His own soul and Spirit into the depths of all spiritual darkness to conquer Death once and for all time.
And yet, here we are, still feeble-minded people wondering who to follow, asking what is right and wrong, some caring only for their own desires, their own lusts, their own agendas, while others desperately seek the goodness that once was. In too many cases, people are still trapped, and they do not know how to escape as the jagged claws of the world sink deeper into the bleeding wound.
Over the next seven weeks - known in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks, or the Festival of the Harvest, and to the early New Testament church as Pentecost, fifty days from the resurrection of Jesus Christ (the first Sabbath after Passover) - to the blazing appearance of the Holy Spirit in the midst of a trapped, yet faithfully waiting, group of Christ’s followers, we will discover and uncover the fiery secret to walking in God’s perfect will, calling upon His angelic host in glorious and joyous boldness and power.
Physically, we hope to learn what the purity of prayer feels like, and how invigorated we can become when we spend time in a closet of prayer, His throne room, kneeling before Him, casting our prayers into the golden bowls of intercession and praise. We should also experience the joy of giving of ourselves in service to Him as we physically serve one another in mercy, grace, and love.
Mentally, we will gain the knowledge of the written word of God, adding to what we already know, but also gaining a deeper understanding of its fullest meaning and intent, and learning to walk in the wisdom God intended from that first moment of creation, before the trap was sprung.
Spiritually, we will know what it means to hold a flaming sword in our own hands and march valiantly and boldly into battle, fully prepared for the worst, yet expecting to conquer with God’s best. The experience of the spiritual realm is so much more exciting – and at times terrifying - than any physical or mental exercise or activity. It is in the spiritual realm of prayerful warfare, however, that we gain the physical desire and the mental capacity to accomplish the perfect will of God.
Why are we here? We are here to become equipped to walk in the power of Christ’s Holy Spirit, to understand the battle that is being fought, to experience the fullness of Pentecost, and to celebrate the redemption of all the trapped prisoners of the world. We are here to march confidently into the fire of judgment with our armor on, our swords drawn, and the fiery Presence of God and the Holy Spirit within us. We are going to fight fire with fire, and we are going to continue the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, for “if God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b KJV).
For the next fifty days – and beyond - we are going to learn what it means to be dancing in the Fire!
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