IN THE BEGINNING
IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH. AND THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID; AND DARKNESS WAS UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP. AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS. AND GOD SAID LET THERE BE LIGHT: AND THERE WAS LIGHT. AND GOD SAW THE LIGHT THAT IT WAS GOOD: AND GOD DIVIDED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS. Genesis 1:1-4.
The story of Creation is a spiritual paradigm of a soul without Christ. For the unsaved soul life is spiritually barren and void of the Life and Light of Christ. Darkness permeates the “deepest dungeons” in the soul that is bound by sin and under the spell of Spiritual Babylon. Babylon means “City of Confusion.” Souls that do not possess the “Light of Christ” dwell in darkness and are “confused.” They lack the “spiritual understanding” that Light of Christ produces.
The soul without Christ will continue to remain “confused” and in spiritual darkness until and unless the Light of Christ finds its way into the wayward vagabond soul. When the “seed of righteousness” which is the Spirit of Christ, is planted into the vagabond soul and “germinates” the Life of Christ is imparted to them. In the Bible this process is called being “born again.”
At the moment the soul becomes “born again,” the Life and Light of Christ enters into the heart of the individual. The Kingdom of God which in the Bible is also called the “Kingdom of Light” formulates a “New Creation” in the heart of the individual. Old things have passed away, and all things become new in the individual through the “born again” experience. (2 Corinthians 5:17).
IN THE BEGINNING God said “let there be light,” and the Bride of Christ was conceived in the matrix of Creation. She had been envisioned in the heart and mind of God in eternity long before her conception. Creation would “bring forth” a man child that would “rule the nations.” (Revelation 12:5). That man child was Christ who is our Redeemer. His future Bride would be those He redeemed by His blood from every tongue and nation.
THE WOMAN CALLED THE PITTS
One night I had a dream about a woman called “The Pitts.” I was in a building where a few people had gathered together and were talking with one another. The Lord walked up to me and told me He was sending me to minister to a beautiful woman. He pointed to a woman on the other side of the room and told me “that is the woman.” I asked the Lord what was the woman’s name, and He said to me “THEY call her “the pitts.” I walked over to the other side of the room where the woman stood and introduced myself to her. I told her the Lord had sent me to minister to her. The woman was not very attractive. Both her clothing and her hair were very unkempt and disheveled, and she did not look beautiful to me at all. Her dress was wrinkled and somewhat soiled. In some ways she looked rather homely, and was unpleasant to look at. However, looking closer at the woman I saw that in a way she did seem to have a somewhat “pleasing beauty” in her countenance. She wore a pleasant smile and was very friendly and amiable as I talked with her.
I decided to ask the Lord what the word “pitts” meant. The phrase “it is the pitts” is an idiom which means to be “unpleasant and offensive.” The “pitts” is a reference to the “armpits” which can be offensive and unpleasant at times, especially when people sweat a lot and do not use an antiperspirant or deodorant. I knew what the term “the pitts” meant, but I did not understand why the Lord said this woman was called “the pitts.” Although at first she was unpleasant to look at, I did not see her as offensive and repulsive.
I saw the Lord talking with some people on the other side of the room. I walked over and asked the Lord what the definition of “the pitts” was. He looked at me very sternly and said “it means pleasant and beautiful.” At first I was a little set back and confused about the Lord’s definition of “the pitts.” However, I knew the Lord was trying to convey a message to me about how He desired the woman to look. In other words, He was saying she may not look much to you right now, but to Me she is pleasant and beautiful. She just needs some changing and re-arranging. The Lord was giving me the task of helping to change the woman into His Beautiful Bride.
The Lord does not always look at us the way we are, but the way He wishes us to be. He looks at “Christ in us” the hope of glory for us, and pictures us as a Bride which will become without “spot or wrinkle.” In other words, He looks at us through the eyes of faith, not at us in our present condition. The Lord sees the “potential” in us to become without spot or blemish through the Spirit of Christ which dwells within us. The “old man” is dead, and the “new man” within us is Christ.
The Lord clothes us with His “garment of grace” and places upon our hearts a “mantle of mercy.” He washes and cleanses our hearts with His blood and the washing of water by His word. The Lord “irons” out the wrinkles in our garments with His “rod of iron.”
The Lord sees the potential within His Bride to become Christ-like. When He sees Christ in us He sees something worthwhile and pleasant to His eyes. Christ sees within us the “beauty of holiness” that He imparted to us with the power of His blood which He shed at Calvary.
Before the Church became what she is today, there was darkness upon the “deep dungeons” of her soul. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and the “Living Water” cleansed her heart. God said “let there be Light, understanding was imparted to her soul, and the Church became a “New Creation.” The New Creation was washed in “living waters” and exposed to the Light of “spiritual understanding.” The Light (Christ) that shined in the dark dungeons of her soul can never and will never be extinguished. The fire that burns within her heart to “give her light” now will remain ablaze throughout eternity.
A SWEET SMELLING SAVOR
FOR WE ARE UNTO GOD A SWEET SMELLING SAVOUR OF CHRIST, IN THEM THAT ARE SAVED, AND IN THEM THAT PERISH, TO THE ONE WE ARE THE SAVOUR OF DEATH. 2 Corinthians 2:15- 16.
AS CHRISTIANS, WE ARE A SWEET SMELLING SAVOR THROUGH CHRIST OUR SAVIOR. To most of the world today the Church is unpleasant and offensive, especially in her present state. To the Lord the Church is a “sweet smelling savor” in Christ. She has been bought and paid for with the precious blood of Christ which He shed at Calvary in order to cleanse her and make her “pleasantly and perfectly whole.”
When we are born again it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all unrighteousness at the moment of the “rebirth. It is the “living water” which is the word of God that transforms us into the image of Christ. It is the truth that makes us free and sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is the fullness of Christ in His Bride that gives us the power to become the Sons of God. Creation is patiently but earnestly awaiting to embrace the manifestation of the Sons of God.
The Bride of Christ is the object of Christ’s deepest affections. It is for the Bride Christ suffered, bled, and died. The Bride is the apple of His eye. Next to the Father the Bride is the love of His life. He bought and paid for her with His life. She belongs to Him now. She will never love another. She does not love this world or the things in this world. Being with the Groom is all she thinks about. The Groom paid a “great ransom” to redeem her from those who kept her in captivity since she was first imprisoned in the Garden of Eden.
The Bride found that the Groom was offering her more than just “eternal life.” She realized that the treasures He offered her if they were to become “united together” in Holy Matrimony” were more than she could ever dream. In her “wildest dreams” she could have never imagined the feelings she could have toward the One who stole her heart.
The Groom offered His Bride His greatest virtues. He demonstrated to her His amazing love which was “truthfully” and “sincerely” rooted and grounded in His “amazing grace.” He poured His grace and mercy out upon her at Calvary as He shed His blood to redeem her from her captivity. The Groom embellishes His Bride with all the treasures of Heaven as He washes her with the water of His word.
The Groom pours out the fragrance of His love into the heart of the Bride. He “wisely” embellishes her heart with spiritual gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold represents the divine nature of Christ. The frankincense represents the oil of the Holy Spirit, and the myrrh represents the sweet smelling fragrance of His undying love.
When the Groom said “it is finished” as He was dying upon the cross, the womb of Creation opened up once again to receive the “seed of promise.” Darkness no longer permeated the face of the deep, and the living waters brought forth “new life” for all who would drink of the “Living Water.”
A Roman soldier pierced the side of the Groom with a spear as He hung upon the cross. Water and blood flowed out of the Groom to wash and cleanse His future Bride of her sins and make her holy just as He is holy. The water and the blood which flowed from the side of the Groom became the Bride’s salvation. He continues to wash and cleanse her with the water of His word and the power of His “precious blood.”
The Bible says “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). When we dwell and worship together in unity as one in Christ, we become a “pleasant sweet smelling savor” to our Lord. As the Bride we dwell together in unity to form a “perfect union” with Christ.
The Bride is a “sweet smelling savor” to our Sweet Savior.” He cleanses her with the washing of the water of His word. The Groom teaches and trains her to fight against the Forces of Darkness with His word which He wrote upon her heart. His word becomes more powerful than a “two-edged sword” when the Bride receives, believes, and exercises her authority over her spiritual enemies.
At present the Bride is a “Boot Camp Bride” because many in the Army of the Groom are in a “spiritual boot camp” learning the art of “spiritual warfare” in order to defeat her “spiritual enemies.” The Boot Camp Bride must put on the “whole armor of God” in order to stand against ALL the wiles and schemes of the Devil she is currently fighting.