"GOD'S NATURAL RESOURCE"
February 7, 1999 am

Rev. MF Blume

Gene 2:19-24  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.


A natural resource is what a country contains within its boundaries that yields anything people are willing to pay for and the country is able to use for its own necessities. God is presently building. God is making something right now. In Revelation 21 we read of a Bride of Christ symbolically called the New Jerusalem. God looked throughout all the world for something suitable for Christ, but none of the world was holy enough but was too sinful. Thank God that we can leave this sinful human race and actually become new creatures by finding ourselves in Christ.

2Cor 5:17  Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The Bible speaks of people being "in Christ".

Roma 6:3-4   Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

There is only one means by which we can be part of what God is building.

The death of Jesus Christ is the entrance into Him. Peter said we must repent, be baptized in Jesus' name and receive the Holy Ghost if we want to be saved. Do e see the need of being rooted in Jesus' Christ's death in order to be part of God's natural resource? The death of Jesus Christ is our everything! Now it is not simply a rib God wants. Jesus spoke of developing and growing:

Matt 6:27-29   Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

We hear so much about growing closer to the Lord.

How does a lily grow? The branch bears fruit by drawing sap from the vine.

But people are toiling and spinning with all their good deeds and their separation, and are missing what God meant by separating ourselves.

2Cor 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you,

They have this all wrong.

2Cor 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

They are already the temple of God.

Get rooted in His death. Roma 7:4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Like women cradling dolls in hopes to have a child.

People are thinking they are joining the church and producing themselves plastic fruit and dolls and thinking they are providing God with fruit and a Bride for Christ. We miss the whole point of coming together for CHURCH by just spectating and watching a show. CHURCH is supposed to be a word like HUMANITY. There was the horse species and the buffalo species and the snake species. So it is with Christ. Gene 2:23  And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

WOMAN means TAKEN OUT OF MAN.

CHURCH means literally CALLED OUT ONES.

The lily drawing from the strength of the soil it is planted in is a picture of how we grow, by being planted into Christ's death, and drawing from His nature through our unions to His death.

Let close by explaining it like this:

There is only one thing we can have faith in if we want to be part of the church. We must direct all of our faith to the death of Christ. Some go to church and partly trust in that and reach out to have relationship with God only so much. We have trust in God along with mixed pride in self because we partly think we need to exert self-effort to please God without sourcing ourselves in Him totally. By their fruits you will know them. Let us enhance our relationships and allow God to transform us from ribs into the Body.
SERMONS