BREAKING THE SEALS OF OUR SELF-LIFE

We have heard it said: " You must die to self or self effort." Many a sermon had been preached on this. But what does this mean?

SELF-EFFORT IS satan-EFFORT. We are all forms of God's self, the self of infinite desire, made in His image and likeness. But God, by the begetting of His Son, transmuted His self which is eternally the self of Love. satan, however, turned his self of fiery desires into the consuming love of self-for-self, and imparted his own fallen nature to us as though it were ours.

So all self-effort is actually satan-effort, whether good or bad in appearance. 

In all intense and purposes your "self" is finished on the Cross of Jesus. Your independent self is finished on the Cross of Jesus. The same as your sins are finished in the blood of Jesus, your self also was finished.

Thus we enter into Galatians 2:20.

(Gal 2:20)  I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.

Now I am a crucified person so far as that independant ego is concerned. Inside lives the Ego, the Self of all selves--Christ within. Now I live my life...

In this I  come to the place of my  killing  ( killing of self-effort), then I will know the Mystery of God which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

(Col 1:24-29)  who now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and I fill up the things lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the church;  of which I became a minister, according to the administration of God given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God; the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  For to them God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect (mature) in Christ Jesus.  For which I also labor, striving according to the working of Him who works in me in power.

Paul said that he was dead, yet he lived. But it was not him that lived, it was Christ living in him. When people see you do, they see Christ. The answer to that is simple; the more of you the less of Him or the more of Him the less (dead) of you. Yet this is not a one time event as seen by Paul's declaration of dying daily. That tells me that I must decrease but I know that I cannot "kill" myself when it comes to Spiritual maturity. Therefore, how can I decrease or die to self?

The Word says that He must increase and I must decrease. Notice He must increase first and then I WILL DECREASE as I grow closer to Him. The Glory of this process is why men will seek death (to self)  but will not find it. They want the Glory of a dead-to-self life but are unwilling to seek Christ that they may find it.

The more I focus on Him, the less self becomes.

THIS is our divine destiny as the seals of the self-life are broken and the mystery is revealed, "this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ IN YOU (plural, the Corporate Man), the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) 

Truly, it is THROUGH this people that have been 'beheaded' of the carnal mind,  that have allowed the 'breaking of the seals', that "The kingdoms of this world (kosmos in Greek) ARE BECOME the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ..." (Revelation 11:15) THIS is the REVELATION of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1) as He takes His rightful place as HEAD of the many-membered Body of Christ.

Seals of our self life:

1. Giving up control; gaining dominion

2. Giving up strife; taking on servanthood

3. Giving up judgment; giving grace and mercy, resting in the finished work of Jesus, true justice

4. Giving up speaking words of death; speaking words of life, releasing life

5. Giving up what we think, feel etc; taking on His Zoe Life, living by the Spirit

6. Quit relying on earthly government (in the world); rely on the government of God knowing the kingdoms of this world ARE become the Kingdom of the Lord and His Christ.

7. Giving up Fleshly Activities and entering into His Rest