Ro 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Years back, part of my spiritual journey found camp in the tents of the Catholic greats. I have been a practicing protestant since giving my life to Christ some thirty years back. But in the 80’s I found little spirituality among the Protestants which could quench my thirst for the deeper life.
Apart from my protestant spiritual father, Watchman Nee, all that I found were “self-help” books.
In my search, I found a book entitled “The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi.” The spirituality of Francis, his wish to die with Christ, and become inflamed with God, split open the rocks of living water in my thirsty spirit.
From there, a journey which lasted for years to come, instigated. The teachings of Catholic saint and monk became part of my bread and wine.
Theresa Davila, Therese of the Little Flower, Mother Theresa, John of the Cross, Madame Jean Guyone, Charles Fenelon, Pierre De Caussade, The Desert Fathers, Thomas Merton, Benedict of Nursia , the Cistercian Monks, to name a few, guided me to die with Christ so that I could live with Him again.
For some of these greats, dying with Christ meant union with Him. Union with Christ meant death to my old identity, who Jose was. It signified becoming lost in, and one with, the infinite flowing waters of the Spirit’s river in me.
Others said that our fellowship is with the Godhead in us. The Godhead, is our participation in, and witness of the unending relationship of perfect love, the sublime embrace, between the Father and Son, manifested by the Holy Spirit, as it transacts within the Godhead in me.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
I asked God to give me a revelation of this Godhead since the fullness of it, or Him, dwells in Christ, who dwells in me.
I had a vision of our galaxy as it hangs in the universe. Then God showed me hurricanes, sunspots and other potent deeds of nature.
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Colossians says these hurricanes, galaxies, earthquakes, all of nature, are created in, and by Christ. He exists eternally. These feats of nature were created by Him who has no creation. Their origin, realities and accomplishments are all inside of Christ and managed by Him.
What about the release of power in a solar flare, or the devastating winds of a hurricane, or the gravitational pull of the black hole?
Ro 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
All things which are created, Paul tells us, define God’s eternal power and who the Godhead is. All these things invisibly dwell in, and are managed by the Godhead. The sublime interactions between Father and the Son manifested by the Holy Spirit, is part of the Godhead’s activity in managing the universe.
All this power first lives invisibly in the Godhead , to then be manifested by the Holy Spirit in nature.
Not only does this power live in us, but nature’s very deeds do too.
Suffice it to say that I understand little, but I know that am on the right track.
Dying to self, is entering into the life of the Godhead. For indeed the Father and the Son live their lives in me as separate Persons, but as one in the union of perfect love and intimacy within the Godhead. In the intimacy of perfect relationship they manage nature’s events, the universe, and eternity’s ages.
Dying to self, means that the life of the Godhead becomes stronger than my way of living. What I live, is what the Godhead lives in me.
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
If the power of nature lives in me and if all has been freely given to me in Christ, what then is accessible to me? What can I appropriate, what can I get from this Godhead?
If all the healing power of Jesus dwells in the Godhead, how much can I receive for myself?
If all of God’s creative power dwells in the Godhead, how much can I access and take part with?
1Jo 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
Our fellowship then is with the Godhead, not just with the Father and or the Son, but with both of them as they manage the entire universe from the Godhead.
How much participation do you want with the activities within the Godhead?
How much are you willing to die to self to enter into the life of the Godhead?
This friend, is Christianity! If we think that Christianity is simply church, we are sadly missing much of what God has in store for you within the Godhead.
Jose and Mary Alvarez 