LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Search for the Treasure
The overcomers are, historically, the searchers of treasures.
Rodrigo Abarca
In chapter 13 of Matthew we find the parables of the Kingdom. They use a seemingly simple language, and tell common stories, well known by all. However, below the surface, they hold a deep spiritual meaning. They truly contain "the mysteries of the Kingdom of the heavens"; "things hidden from the foundation of the world".
These "things" are related to the mystery of God's will. This mystery, according to Paul in Ephesians rests in "summing up all things in Christ, the things that are in the heavens, and the things that are on the earth". The will of God is completely bound to the fulfillment of this purpose. This is the supreme design that governs all divine acts from eternity to eternity. Nevertheless, this mystery remained hidden from the foundation of the world, because its fulfillment is vitally bound to man and his future.
Let us remember that in the beginning God created man and put him in the garden of Eden. But, in the center of the garden He planted the tree of life. The meaning of this tree was not revealed to Adam at that time, because Adam fell and was cast out of the garden. Then God hid the way to the tree of life and also its meaning from Adam and his descendants. Nothing more would be said about the tree until the Lord Jesus Christ came.
The mystery revealed
In Daniel chapter 7 we find the vision of the ancient of Days and the Son of man. We are told that with the clouds of heaven there came one like unto a Son of man, who they brought near to the ancient of days " And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him...". Next, in verses 18 and 27, the angel explains the meaning of his vision to Daniel: " But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever ", thus identifying the Son of man with the " the people of the saints of the Most High ". In Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus began by saying: "Behold, the sower went forth to sow..." However, later on he explained to his disciples in private that the one who sows the seed is "the Son of man". This means that the manifestation of the Kingdom of God begins with the coming of the Son of Man. Because the throne of the universe is destined for Him, in accordance with God's will. Let us note that He is the "the Son of man". Without a doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God and the Son of God. But in this group of parables He prefers to call Himself "the Son of man", thus being identified with the human race.
The above-mentioned immediately takes us back to the prophecy mentioned in Daniel where he saw one like the Son of man receiving the supreme authority over the universe, from the Father's hands. And this speaks to us of man's place in God's purpose.
Thanks to the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians, today we can know that man was created to become Christ's body. Yes, Christ is called to be the center and the head of all things. But, God's plan also shows that that preeminent place and that supremacy were granted to Him as the Head of the body which is the Church. That is to say, as "the Son of man". And to become the head of the church, Christ had to be transformed into the likeness of his brothers and sisters, but without sin, who would conform His body. Then the Son of God would become the Son of man.
Here we find the heart of the divine purpose and the meaning of the tree of life. This tree represented the divine life that, in Christ, would become the ruling center of human life. Then, by means of that life, man could be lifted up to participate, in union with Christ who would be his head, in the eternal purpose of God. That is to say that together with Christ, the Son of man, " the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever".
Therefore, the Kingdom of the heavens contains the entirety of all created things which God prepared as the Son's possession and inheritance. And the church is in a supreme position, above them all, destined first to be His body and then His wife and partner for all eternity.
The attack of the darkness
This is the background which is hidden behind the parables of the Kingdom in Matthew chapter 13. However, if we look carefully, we will discover that these parables speak to us fundamentally about the growth and development of the Kingdom of God upon the earth. That is, of the mystery of His will. Everything begins with the Son of man sowing the seed of the gospel. But this is only the starting point. Because in between the moment in which Christ received supreme authority in the universe from God the Father and the moment in which the saints of the Most High shall receive the Kingdom, we have the whole present dispensation. In order for this end to be achieved, it is necessary for the church to take complete hold of Christ and express Him on the earth. The parables in Matthew 13 give us the principles by which the church will be able to reach its destiny, but they also warn the church of the dangers which it will face throughout its history.
We don't have the time or the space to develop the meaning of each one of the parables. They all speak of growth and development, sometimes in the correct sense and, others, in a mistaken sense. There is a hostile and wicked will which exists in this world, set on frustrating, impeding and, twisting and deforming, and ultimately destroying the work of God on the earth. On the long road toward the full possession of the Kingdom of God, it must face Satan and his hosts of wickedness.
In several parables we find how Satan tries to frustrate or to deform the church. In the parable of the grain of mustard and the woman with the three measures of flour, we find the abnormal and disproportionate growth of Christianity throughout the centuries. Many human things have been mixed with the church and have made it "develop" in an unnatural way through time. When we study the history of the church on the earth, we discover that at the end of the first century some merely human elements were introduced into it.
At the beginning they seemed innocent and innocuous, but in time they were developed to the point of contaminating and completely transforming the face of "the church". What emerged at the end was an immense, powerful and human organized institution to even the most minor details. The Christ centered, simple, flexible, pure and persecuted church of the first century gave way to an immense and powerful, human organization, which was totally accommodated to and subdued by the interests of this world.
Also, in the parable of the wheat and its teaching, the Lord completes the previous picture by explaining to us how Satan advances his destruction work by mixing his children with the children of God. History tells us that starting from the VI century the limits between the church and the world faded completely, when Christianity was first declared the official, and then the exclusive religion of the Roman Empire. Starting from that moment, it was no longer possible to distinguish the believers from the non believers. They were all mixed in the field of the world. And even in our days, it has continued in this way throughout large areas of Christianity. However, let us remember that God wants His saints to embody and express the mystery of His will on the earth. At this point, the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price come to our aid.
The recovery of the testimony
What was the secret of the first church? The parables mentioned above can explain it. The Kingdom of the heavens is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Those who seek it must make an effort to find it; and those who find it must abandon everything to possess it. These parables don't therefore refer to salvation. We don't look for, nor do we make an effort to obtain the salvation of our souls. It was granted to us purely by grace. " I was found of them that sought me not ", the Lord tells us. It was He who first looked for us. We were lost and we were found; we had wandered astray and were brought back; dead and brought to life by the working of the undeserved and beautiful grace of God.
However God has something much greater than our salvation in His heart. He has an eternal purpose in which we, as the body of Christ, are called to complete a fundamental role. Consequently, salvation is only the starting point. Jesus the Lord said: "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it". That is to say that on the one hand the Lord will obtain the church which He designed since eternity, as a holy bride without stain or blemish, from which, all that is merely human will have been excluded; and on the other hand that this church will prevail and will definitively cast Satan from this earth. Does that seem too difficult to us? When looking at the current state of Christianity it will surely look that way. The believers of today seem to be so far from the testimony recorded in the inspired pages of the New Testament. That united, bold, simple and powerful church seems to have been left forever in the past.
However the Lord has not changed. The treasure is still there, available for all those who want to find it. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; all the grace, the power and the life; all the spiritual blessings; the fullness of the divine purpose, they are all there, hidden in Christ, waiting for those that have a heart willing to search until finding it; and, then, not to leave it alone until possessing it in fullness. Without caring about the price. In the book of Revelation, they receive the name of overcomers.
They are men and women who are determined to look for the treasure until finding, even amid the times of ruin and apostasy. They make the eternal purpose of God and His will their own even to the final consequences. They don't therefore conform to the situation that prevails around them. They simply want to know Christ; beyond the creeds, theologies, doctrines, rituals and ceremonies that surround them. Since the end of the first century they have been there. Sometimes alone, sometimes in small groups (although from time to time they have ended up constituting a wider testimony). Persecuted, rejected, misunderstood and distorted, they have nevertheless remained constant in the front line of the battle for God's testimony on the earth. Thanks to them and their testimony in favor of Christ, the Kingdom of God has continued advancing and growing, until the edification of Christ's church is completed. Because they have heard the voice of the Spirit throughout the centuries to return to Christ and to leave behind all that man and Satan have built to add to Christ's church.
But we must not make a mistake on this point. It is not about this movement or that one in particular. It is something much greater that transcends the ages. It is a sovereign work that the Holy Spirit has been carrying out since the beginning. However, toward the end time, the voice of the Spirit, the scripture tells us, will become clearer and more powerful. The weight of glory that has been accumulating through the saints because of those that have overcome, will give its fruit in the end time. A vast company of believers, everywhere, will begin to wake up to return to the testimony that is from the beginning and to face the final battle that will put an end to the Kingdom of this world and its prince. And, it is very possible that we are witnessing the beginning of those days. Because, today just like yesterday, the word of God resonates in our minds and in our hearts: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches".