Matthew Blewett – Heaven and Earth – Class 3 – Symbolic Synergy

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This is day three of the 2024
Ottawa Bible School.

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Our third period teacher is
Brother Matthew Blewett.

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His general topic is Heaven and
Earth and today’s topic is

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Symbolic Synergy.
Brother Matthew.

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Well good morning everyone, good
to be back with you all here for

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the third session.
Again, I don’t think I’ll be

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needing physio like John, but I
certainly was taught a lesson

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with my wife on the pickleball
court yesterday.

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So yeah, I think I got off just
before the physio would have

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been required.
But great to enjoy some sporting

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activities yesterday.
So we’re going to be continuing

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our series on heaven and earth
and trying to reveal this

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pattern and specifically in this
particular session, talk about

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symbols and how this relates to
symbols, how we use symbols in

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our worship and how symbols
actually appear all around us in

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the world that we live in if we
are activated.

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And so to a large extent, I
guess what we’ve been talking

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about up to now might seem quite
theoretical.

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We’re establishing some
principles.

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We’ve been talking about the the
overriding purpose and pattern

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which is found in Genesis one
verse one very simple answer to

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the purpose and meaning and
mission of all creation being

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the joining together of heaven
and earth.

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And that that pattern is
designed into all reality, both

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what we discover as we’ll see
over and over again in the word

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of God and what we see in the
world around us.

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And I think this is really
important.

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And what I really want to get to
is that even though the ultimate

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macrocosm fulfilment of heaven
and earth is the Kingdom is

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Revelation 21 verse one, this
purpose is real and present and

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it’s happening all the time
around us if we are aware to it

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and we can actually participate
in the joining of heaven and

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earth.
And so that’s what I mean.

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And hopefully I’ll be able to
give some pragmatic examples

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this morning about becoming
activated disciples.

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And we’re going to focus on on
three words that we’ll mention

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hopefully a few times.
And that is becoming more

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intentional in.
Our worship intentional in our

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discipleship, becoming more
present and becoming more

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curious.
So those are three principles, I

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think that are very helpful in
terms of becoming activated in

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the way our discipleship plays
itself at.

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So we ended yesterday by really
trying to, to, to open up the

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pattern of heaven and earth to
show that you have in these 3

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words, a whole bunch of ideas
associated with heaven that have

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to do with idea, that has to do
with word, light, meaning,

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order, understanding, name.
And then you have earth, which

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has to do with concreteness,
materiality, chaos, to a certain

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extent, darkness.
These are the words that we

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associated with, but also
fruitfulness and, and those kind

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of ideas.
And we show that in between

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there is this joining word vav
and that when heaven and earth

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are joined, which is the
ultimate purpose.

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But whenever they are joined,
this is when the real

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transformation takes place.
This is when something really

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important is going on because
this is the design of all

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reality.
So what we’re going to start

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with this morning is to
demonstrate that pattern that

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we’ve identified in Genesis one,
verse one.

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And now that we understand it
perhaps a bit more broadly, I

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want to show how it plays itself
out.

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If you haven’t seen throughout
the rest of the creation record,

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we’ve said that heaven and earth
is the mother of all dualities.

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In other words, we use that word
duality, the pair and, and that

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from that, all of these other
pairs or dualities that you see

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throughout Scripture are
actually an example or a

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repetition of that pattern.
And there’s no better place to

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actually demonstrate that to you
than actually in Genesis 1,

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because I’m sure you’ve noticed
when.

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You’re reading the.
Creation record.

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The creation is actually
presented to us with dualities.

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So if you haven’t, hopefully you
will see it right now.

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So there’s a slide and if you’re
sitting at the back that does

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not abide by the 34 point
principle.

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So you might find it difficult
to see.

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But hopefully you are able to
see that quite busy slide.

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And I want to just take you
through a part of that slide so

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that you can get this idea of
the repeating pattern of heaven

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and earth and it.
Helps really for us to begin to

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understand how.
First of all, how intrinsic this

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pattern is to the Scripture and
then also help us to understand

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why it’s useful in terms of the
lens that we look at Scripture

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and then the lens that we look
at the whole world.

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So obviously on the left hand
side, we’ve got Genesis one

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verse one establishes the
original duality, heaven and

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earth.
And then we see that for each

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day there is this, this, this
sort of flowing out, as I said,

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of duality.
So for day one, the key duality

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is represented in light and
dark, in day and night.

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And so we have this, this
understanding that you had the

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earth which was without.
Form.

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And void and you know, it’s this
idea of, of chaos, this idea of

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nothingness.
But but but it isn’t really

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that.
What we’re going to see from

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creation is that which looks
like it’s dark and nothing has

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potential if it can meet with
heaven.

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And so that’s what’s going on in
day one.

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You’ve got the light of heaven
meeting with the darkness, the

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chaos of earth.
And so you have in that meeting,

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day one, a meeting of heaven and
earth.

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And again, it’s, it’s teaching
us about how this operates in

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our daily lives.
We we, we can find ourselves in

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times where in our earthly
realm, in our earthly

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experiences, things feel
chaotic.

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There, there it.
Seems like things don’t have any

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meaning and in those times it
feels like we’re in the

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darkness, in the valley of the
shadow of death and and

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suddenly.
We, we, we, we’re.

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Able to connect with the
meaning.

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Often it may be by by by someone
connecting us back to the

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spiritual insights that we’ve
lost and the right chance.

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And suddenly there is all the
potential that can come out of

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that dark.
Situation.

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So that is a joining of heaven
and earth in that particular

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example.
And so we come to day two again.

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Day two presents us with the
idea of sky and earth.

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In fact, day two specifically
says it like this.

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It says there are the waters
above and the waters below.

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Remember we said we associate
heaven with above and we

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associate earth with below.
Really interesting.

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So waters above, think about
that waters above the waters

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that are are fresh, the waters
that give laugh or out that

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provide laugh.
It’s it’s because of the waters

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above that when we put a seed
into the earth, when the waters

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above come down, that the
potential.

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Of the seed.
Comes to laugh and the waters

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below, well again, that’s going
to be used a lot as a pattern

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throughout scripture.
The dark chaotic waters below

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the salt, the waters where there
is like the Dead Sea as an

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example.
So that’s the idea of chaos and

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used over and over again
throughout the pattern of

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Scripture to represent that, to
represent the nations, a place

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where there is no meaning, where
there is no order.

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So there.
We have it coming out again.

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Look at day three as well.
Really interesting.

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And you would have noticed this.
We’ve mentioned this before,

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seed and fruit.
Seed representing heaven.

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Why you might say, well, heaven
is about identity, it is about

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meaning, it is about purpose, it
is about a name.

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And from that seed, from that
meaning, from that purpose, then

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there’s a materialization of the
fruit.

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And this is beginning, beginning
to also.

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Show us that both heaven and
earth are playing a role in our

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experience of reality, in the
world that we live in, the way

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that God created it.
We’ve mentioned this before.

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A part of the role that Earth is
playing is it’s materializing

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the spiritual idea.
The seed that we can hardly

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experience or understand becomes
the fruit.

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And so we have seed and fruit.
Day four, sun and moon won’t go

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into that in detail, but you can
think about that as a heaven and

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earth duality.
Look at this one.

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In day five, you got birds
contrasted with fish in the day

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five creation record.
And again, if you think about

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this from what you know about
scripture, why would I say birds

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heaven?
Well, because they’re up above,

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they fly up above and then
you’ve got the fish down in the

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chaotic sea and just think about
how that rolls out.

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If you think we’re we’re
stretching it when the spirit is

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going to be.
Represented as an animal in the

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Word of God.
What have we got?

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A dove when we’re going to use
the word of God to use an animal

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to represent death in the.
Grave What are we going to use a

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big fish.
I can lip read you.

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Nobody said that a big fish
Jonah in the in in the.

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Belly of the whale.
So we have that same heaven and

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earth contrast coming up.
This is the part that I always

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get nervous with.
All right.

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Well, we’re not quite there.
Man and animals.

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And remember, This is why we
started by looking at the

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fractal patterns.
You’re going to start seeing

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that depending on the scale or
the zoom of the pattern,

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something when you’re looking at
it as a contrast, could

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sometimes be actually earth in,
in contrast, for example, man to

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God.
But in this example, we’ve got

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man in day six being contrasted
to the animals.

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All right, so we’re going to see
just now that man is a very

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special part of God’s creation.
Why?

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Because man is given
understanding, man is given the

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ability to name, to find
meaning.

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That’s the essential
differentiator of man.

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And as a result, he has that
heavenly quality.

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Remember when we looked at the
association words with heaven of

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authority, whereas the animals
are do not have that quality.

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And that’s why in in Genesis and
when, when the animals are

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created in day six, what does
God say to man?

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He says I want you to have
authority over all of these

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animals.
So again we see this, this

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division between heaven and
earth, each one slightly

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different, teaching us something
different.

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So this is.
The one that I get a bit nervous

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of, male and female.
All right now, it’s very

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important.
This is not about good and bad.

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If I can get that message over,
you know, it can be very simple

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to think, oh, you’ve got heaven
and you’ve got earth.

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The one is good and the one is
bad.

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The meeting of heaven and earth
is what it’s all about.

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Each is playing a.
Role in the creation as God has

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designed it and so you might say
well why is it like that one of

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it’s interesting even listening
to to to John’s talk in the

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session before this how he was
really starting to bring out the

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clear representations that then
are further.

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Patterns of this but but using
the heaven and earth lens.

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Here the man is providing the
seed.

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He’s providing the name, as it
were.

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He is providing the authority.
If you want to use that word,

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the woman is providing the
fruit.

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In a sense, she takes the seed
of the man and she materializes

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it in a womb.
So now you have a child.

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And so she is, as it were,
hosting the seed.

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That’s what the earth does it.
It hosts the meaning it.

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Hosts the seed of heaven and
that’s exactly what’s happening

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with a man, a male and a female
as we have in day six.

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And then just really interesting
just to really.

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Like try and and and and give
you as many examples of it.

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We also have that really
interesting contrast.

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I’m sure you’ve noticed it in
day six where it keeps talking

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about cattle and wild animals.
Cattle.

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And you think, well, you know,
you know, why not just say you

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just created all the animals?
Well, because there’s a

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distinction here, isn’t there?
Like there’s a distinction

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between cattle that are
domesticated and wild animals.

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I can tell you I’ve come from
from Africa, you know, I’m quite

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happy to walk around with a
couple of sheep and donkeys.

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But I’m not too keen to walk
around with lions and leopards

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and elephants because those guys
are wild, they’re chaotic.

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I don’t know what they’re going
to do next.

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So again, can you see the heaven
on earth split in that duality?

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The cattle is domesticating.
We’ve been able to to create

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some order around, we’ve been
able to understand it.

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There’s there’s a level of
understanding whilst the wild

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animal, well, that’s that.
Represents the the the chaos and

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the disorder that we associate
with Earth.

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And, and I hope your minds are
also now flicking and saying,

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00:12:53,600 –> 00:12:56,360
well, all these got to be
reconciled because heaven and

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earth is going to be joined and
all of these get reconciled.

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00:12:58,680 –> 00:13:01,360
And now you know why when you
you read certain Kingdom

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passages, these things are
brought together.

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Why is it that the lion must lie
down with her, the lamb?

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It’s the reconciliation of each
of these examples.

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The.
Fractal pattern playing itself

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00:13:15,960 –> 00:13:20,080
out over and over again.
So the intention of that, that’s

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00:13:20,080 –> 00:13:21,920
the end of the theory.
That’s just to try and like

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really give you lots of examples
and open your mind to start

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seeing this in many, many other
parts of Scripture because this

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is all over Scripture.
It’s just that Genesis 1

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00:13:29,720 –> 00:13:32,040
thankfully gives us a really
good starting point just to

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practice.
So The thing is, because God

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created reality like this.
And This is why, you know, this

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00:13:39,040 –> 00:13:42,720
moves from just being something
we learn and we understand, but

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00:13:42,720 –> 00:13:46,440
to something very pragmatic
because, you know, I don’t know,

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00:13:47,560 –> 00:13:49,040
this is just something that I
experience.

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00:13:49,040 –> 00:13:53,800
There’s always the risk that we,
we kind of reduce our

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00:13:53,800 –> 00:13:59,080
discipleship and we reduce the
spiritual to a bunch of ideas

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and concepts.
It becomes something academic.

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And I know that we’re as a
community often criticized that

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00:14:05,720 –> 00:14:09,840
that’s where we end up.
The reality is that the true

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transformation actually happens
in the meeting of.

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00:14:14,280 –> 00:14:17,920
The spiritual and the earthly.
And the reason that’s true is

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because the spiritual is not
just an idea.

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It’s Paul who says the Kingdom
of God is not words alone, but.

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00:14:25,920 –> 00:14:31,400
Power and a part of experiencing
that power and understanding it

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00:14:31,400 –> 00:14:34,840
is through our participation in
the real world, through the

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00:14:34,840 –> 00:14:38,040
earthly things that we practice
and do and the world that we

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00:14:38,040 –> 00:14:40,840
encounter.
It is not like we’re being

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00:14:40,840 –> 00:14:45,680
called to some sort of ethereal
religion where we just got to

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have a whole bunch of ideas
flying around in our minds.

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00:14:48,240 –> 00:14:50,000
That’s not the way it’s been
designed.

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00:14:50,320 –> 00:14:53,480
So let’s see how we see this in
the real world.

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Well, here’s the thing.
Like as we saw in the creation,

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00:14:57,360 –> 00:15:01,960
we have this beautiful idea that
that we are seeing examples of

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00:15:01,960 –> 00:15:04,600
heaven and earth all the time.
So there it was in Genesis in

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00:15:04,600 –> 00:15:08,560
the in the first day that the
light came and and it brought

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00:15:08,760 –> 00:15:14,400
this beautiful potential out of
the dark and and, and void of

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the earth.
But, but think about this every

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00:15:18,440 –> 00:15:22,920
single day.
God twice a day is giving the

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00:15:22,920 –> 00:15:27,520
world a demonstration of when
heaven kisses earth.

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00:15:28,600 –> 00:15:32,600
And we see this so beautifully
as an example, at sunset and

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00:15:32,600 –> 00:15:36,160
sunrise and, and, and So what
happens at sunrise?

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00:15:36,160 –> 00:15:39,360
If you think about it, it’s
nighttime and we know what it’s

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00:15:39,360 –> 00:15:41,000
like at nighttime.
Everything changes.

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00:15:41,280 –> 00:15:42,760
You know, nothing quite looks
the same.

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00:15:42,880 –> 00:15:45,280
It gets a bit confusing.
We trip over things if we don’t

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00:15:45,280 –> 00:15:49,640
have our, our, our lights.
And then as the sun rises as, as

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00:15:49,640 –> 00:15:52,120
it were, the light of heaven
rises every morning.

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00:15:52,280 –> 00:15:54,360
It begins first of all to reveal
the.

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00:15:54,360 –> 00:15:56,760
Forms.
And still we can’t make out

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00:15:56,760 –> 00:15:57,960
everything.
There isn’t quite all the

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00:15:57,960 –> 00:16:01,240
understanding and the meaning.
But as the sun completely rises,

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00:16:01,440 –> 00:16:04,400
suddenly things start to take
shape and meaning and

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00:16:04,400 –> 00:16:07,080
understanding.
And so we have as a

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00:16:07,080 –> 00:16:11,600
demonstration of the meeting of
heaven and earth, sunrise and

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00:16:11,600 –> 00:16:13,360
sunset.
But but that’s not all that’s

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00:16:13,360 –> 00:16:16,320
happening.
That’s the idea of heaven giving

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00:16:16,320 –> 00:16:19,920
out the potential or anointing,
as it were, the earth with

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00:16:20,080 –> 00:16:25,000
potential, with meaning.
But also at the same time, the

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00:16:25,000 –> 00:16:29,640
earth is responding to the, to,
to, to, to the, the, the heaven

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00:16:30,120 –> 00:16:32,600
it is.
It is in a way multiplying.

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00:16:32,600 –> 00:16:35,920
It is helping us to see that
light in a way that we may not

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00:16:35,920 –> 00:16:38,440
have been able to perceive it.
And you know, this is true

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00:16:39,200 –> 00:16:43,640
because if you go and watch a
beautiful sunset, what makes it

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00:16:43,680 –> 00:16:48,280
really beautiful is when there
are many elements of the earth

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00:16:48,640 –> 00:16:52,280
that are refracting the light.
So, for example, clouds, or

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00:16:52,440 –> 00:16:54,160
maybe you’re looking over a
mountainscape.

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00:16:54,160 –> 00:16:57,160
You can imagine the picture.
And what’s happening is that

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00:16:57,160 –> 00:17:00,960
light is, is, is in a sense
being multiplied.

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00:17:01,800 –> 00:17:05,800
It’s becoming abundant.
And we’re able to to perceive it

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00:17:05,800 –> 00:17:07,839
in a way that maybe we couldn’t
see it before.

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00:17:08,720 –> 00:17:11,400
Can you see the exchange that’s
happening between heaven and

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00:17:11,400 –> 00:17:12,800
earth?
And you know, it’s so

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00:17:12,800 –> 00:17:16,880
interesting because it, even if
you don’t have any, any

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00:17:16,880 –> 00:17:20,280
spiritual bone in your body, if
you’ve got a friend who’s

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00:17:20,280 –> 00:17:23,839
secular, you take them to a
beautiful sunset, you sit them

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00:17:23,839 –> 00:17:27,160
down with you and you watch that
sunset and everybody goes quiet.

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00:17:28,160 –> 00:17:30,120
It’s just that inner sense of
awe.

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00:17:30,120 –> 00:17:34,280
It’s like it’s it’s designed
into us that this is a moment

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00:17:34,920 –> 00:17:38,240
when all of the the design and
purpose of creation is being

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00:17:38,240 –> 00:17:42,040
demonstrated.
As the as the as heaven kisses

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00:17:42,040 –> 00:17:45,040
earth, as I like to describe it.
And you know, there are many

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00:17:45,040 –> 00:17:48,160
other examples of this that we
get to experience in nature.

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00:17:49,640 –> 00:17:51,560
Here’s a great example.
That picture’s actually taken

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00:17:51,560 –> 00:17:54,760
from the town in which I live,
which we’ll talk about for a few

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00:17:54,760 –> 00:17:58,840
minutes this evening.
The town of Franchuk, which most

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00:17:58,840 –> 00:18:02,120
of you will battle to pronounce.
But here’s this beautiful.

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00:18:02,120 –> 00:18:06,080
Idea that we know that when
light comes onto the earth, when

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00:18:06,080 –> 00:18:09,880
there’s that moment at which the
light of heaven touches earth at

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00:18:09,880 –> 00:18:13,880
just the right angle, really
interesting 42° and and with

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00:18:13,880 –> 00:18:17,800
everything just at the right
positioning in terms of the rain

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00:18:17,800 –> 00:18:21,640
that has been showering upon the
land, suddenly the light is

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00:18:21,880 –> 00:18:24,800
amplified.
So here’s the earth

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00:18:24,800 –> 00:18:28,760
materializing, as it were, the
spiritual idea and, and, and,

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00:18:28,760 –> 00:18:31,880
and I like to call it, it’s the,
the harvest of the light, the

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00:18:31,880 –> 00:18:33,320
rainbow.
That’s what it is.

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00:18:33,520 –> 00:18:37,080
It’s showing you all the
different elements of the

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00:18:37,080 –> 00:18:42,280
spiritual truth.
And and it’s another example of

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00:18:42,280 –> 00:18:46,920
when heaven meets earth and you
know, so, so cool because when

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00:18:46,920 –> 00:18:51,880
the rainbow was actually put
into heaven by God after the

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00:18:51,880 –> 00:18:53,520
flood.
These are the words.

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00:18:53,800 –> 00:18:55,480
If you want to, maybe it’s
better just to look it up.

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00:18:55,480 –> 00:19:01,240
Genesis Chapter 9 and we’re at
the record of Noah and at verse.

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00:19:01,240 –> 00:19:03,640
We’ll just read the one verse
because I think now that you’ve

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00:19:03,640 –> 00:19:05,280
got your heaven and earth lenses
on.

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00:19:05,960 –> 00:19:08,560
You’ll see how this is the
language of heaven and earth.

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00:19:09,080 –> 00:19:18,680
So Genesis 9, verse 13, I set my
rainbow in the cloud and it

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00:19:18,680 –> 00:19:22,080
shall be for the sign of the
covenant between me and the

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00:19:22,080 –> 00:19:24,880
earth.
So this is the meeting point.

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00:19:25,280 –> 00:19:29,240
So I’m showing you, I’m showing
you that this pattern will not

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00:19:29,280 –> 00:19:34,000
ever end, that we are going to
have a union between heaven and

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00:19:34,000 –> 00:19:36,120
earth.
And this this beautiful meeting

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00:19:36,120 –> 00:19:39,720
that you’re seeing in the.
Harvest of Light is a covenant

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00:19:39,720 –> 00:19:46,920
is a token is a symbol to show
you that this is being fulfilled

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00:19:46,920 –> 00:19:50,920
now and will be fulfilled
continuously until it’s

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00:19:50,960 –> 00:19:54,120
ultimately fulfilled in the
macrocosm of the purpose of all

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00:19:54,120 –> 00:19:57,960
creation.
Well, other examples.

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00:19:58,360 –> 00:19:59,640
Well, let’s bring it closer to
home.

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00:20:02,600 –> 00:20:07,480
The creation, arguably of the
the most important being or

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00:20:07,480 –> 00:20:12,320
creature that was created by God
in Genesis 2 verse seven reads

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00:20:12,320 –> 00:20:16,760
like this and the Lord God.
Formed man of the dust of the

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00:20:16,760 –> 00:20:20,640
ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life and

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00:20:20,640 –> 00:20:25,120
man became a living being.
And so we can now see that

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00:20:25,160 –> 00:20:29,720
absolutely we as the unique
creation of.

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00:20:29,720 –> 00:20:33,480
God are the.
Union of heaven and earth that

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00:20:33,480 –> 00:20:40,520
breath that that Ruach that
spirit is put into the clay, the

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00:20:40,520 –> 00:20:44,640
soil.
And this is this unique, unique

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00:20:44,640 –> 00:20:49,480
position that we were put into
by God so that like he joined

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00:20:49,480 –> 00:20:52,760
heaven and earth and has as his
purpose to continue to join

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00:20:52,760 –> 00:20:56,080
heaven and earth.
We were designed with a unique

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00:20:56,080 –> 00:21:00,120
ability to do that.
That spirit, that thing that

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00:21:00,120 –> 00:21:04,600
makes us in the image of God,
that word that’s implanted in

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00:21:04,600 –> 00:21:06,960
every one of you, that actually
allows you to sit in this room

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00:21:07,120 –> 00:21:09,080
and hopefully make some sense of
what I’m saying.

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00:21:09,080 –> 00:21:13,800
Because you can, you can, you
can understand, you can see

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00:21:13,800 –> 00:21:16,600
meaning and purpose, which
separates you from the rest of

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00:21:16,600 –> 00:21:18,760
everything else out there.
And that’s why you can walk

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00:21:18,760 –> 00:21:20,160
around and join heaven and
earth.

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00:21:21,160 –> 00:21:25,760
And this is in our very
construction of who we are as

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00:21:25,800 –> 00:21:29,920
living beings.
And then of course, perhaps the

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00:21:29,920 –> 00:21:34,200
ultimate example of the joining
of heaven and earth in the Lord

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00:21:34,200 –> 00:21:38,200
Jesus Christ.
We have these words in Luke one

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00:21:39,120 –> 00:21:44,320
and the Angel said to Mary.
The Holy Spirit will come upon

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00:21:44,320 –> 00:21:46,880
you and the.
Power of the highest will over

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00:21:46,880 –> 00:21:50,200
shadow you.
Therefore also the Holy One who

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00:21:50,200 –> 00:21:52,760
is born will be called the Son
of God.

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00:21:53,400 –> 00:21:56,000
Beautiful.
Just think of the imagery, the

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00:21:56,000 –> 00:21:58,520
Spirit of God.
Coming down into the womb of the

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00:21:58,520 –> 00:22:03,120
woman, the idea of heaven and
earth meeting in this man in a

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00:22:03,120 –> 00:22:07,600
way like it had never happened
before in a macro version of the

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00:22:07,600 –> 00:22:10,000
Adamic creation with the second
Adam.

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00:22:10,640 –> 00:22:11,800
As a meeting of heaven and
earth.

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00:22:11,800 –> 00:22:14,880
And that’s why John, you know,
he just pulls all these ideas

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00:22:14,880 –> 00:22:17,280
together.
He says, look, I mean you, you

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00:22:17,280 –> 00:22:20,520
know that, that the Genesis
record, Genesis 1 teaches you

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00:22:20,520 –> 00:22:24,960
that it was all made with words
and and spiritual ideas.

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00:22:25,800 –> 00:22:28,280
And he says that in the
beginning was the word.

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00:22:28,960 –> 00:22:30,800
So that’s that’s, that’s the
seed.

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00:22:30,800 –> 00:22:35,160
It’s all wisdom, everything in
this dense seed of word.

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00:22:36,000 –> 00:22:38,280
There it all.
Is meaning, purpose,

397
00:22:38,280 –> 00:22:42,280
understanding all in in the word
and then what happens?

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00:22:42,400 –> 00:22:46,160
Well, we know verse 14 and the
word became flesh.

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00:22:47,080 –> 00:22:51,480
The word meets the earth.
The heaven meets the earth and

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00:22:51,480 –> 00:22:52,920
dwelled among us and what
happens?

401
00:22:53,520 –> 00:22:54,760
What happens when heaven meets
earth?

402
00:22:54,760 –> 00:22:57,920
Why do we want to see it today
and why are we hoping to see it

403
00:22:57,920 –> 00:22:59,200
in the future?
Well, that’s the.

404
00:22:59,200 –> 00:23:02,160
Moment of transformation.
Choose your word.

405
00:23:02,160 –> 00:23:06,800
Beauty, glory, these these very
high level words, that’s what

406
00:23:06,800 –> 00:23:09,360
happens.
And that’s why he says in John

407
00:23:09,360 –> 00:23:14,320
one, when flesh word became
flesh and dwelt among us, we

408
00:23:14,320 –> 00:23:18,920
beheld his glory, the glory of
the one and only.

409
00:23:19,480 –> 00:23:21,080
And so that’s what.
Happened.

410
00:23:21,520 –> 00:23:26,760
Jesus hosted the purpose, he
hosted the word, everything that

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00:23:26,760 –> 00:23:30,640
God ever intended, and he was
able to manifest and live it

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00:23:30,640 –> 00:23:33,960
out.
And for us, it is through his

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00:23:33,960 –> 00:23:37,160
life that we gain a better
understanding of that word.

414
00:23:38,240 –> 00:23:43,400
Without it, we’re all the worse
because we can, we can get into

415
00:23:43,440 –> 00:23:45,640
his life.
We, we, we, we think, you know,

416
00:23:45,640 –> 00:23:50,680
I can tell you that God is love.
Or you can can enter in as best

417
00:23:50,680 –> 00:23:55,200
you can, into the story of a man
who’s pulled up on a cross,

418
00:23:55,200 –> 00:23:58,880
whose hands are nailed to it
with a crown of thorns thrust

419
00:23:58,880 –> 00:24:02,320
upon his head.
And it’s full of physical

420
00:24:02,320 –> 00:24:06,440
reality.
And he’s sweating and the blood

421
00:24:06,440 –> 00:24:11,000
is pouring from his brow.
And the barbaric soldiers are

422
00:24:11,080 –> 00:24:16,480
hurling insults at him, and
there’s pain in his face and

423
00:24:16,480 –> 00:24:19,640
there’s dust.
And in the midst of all of it.

424
00:24:21,120 –> 00:24:25,480
He says, Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do,

425
00:24:26,800 –> 00:24:30,720
and heaven meets earth.
And now we know that when Paul

426
00:24:30,720 –> 00:24:36,840
says in Romans, it is only when
we perceive love through the

427
00:24:36,840 –> 00:24:40,160
Lord Jesus Christ, through the
reality of that meeting, that we

428
00:24:40,160 –> 00:24:43,200
can begin to comprehend the
length and the width and the

429
00:24:43,200 –> 00:24:47,160
heart and the breadth of this
thing that is incomprehensible

430
00:24:47,160 –> 00:24:50,400
other than through experiences
such as this that we can enter

431
00:24:50,400 –> 00:24:53,440
into.
So those are some really clear

432
00:24:53,440 –> 00:24:56,120
examples and.
What I’d like to do now is to,

433
00:24:56,760 –> 00:24:58,840
like a university lecturer, give
you a.

434
00:24:58,880 –> 00:25:01,960
Worked example.
I think there’s no better, more

435
00:25:01,960 –> 00:25:06,160
pragmatic way to show the the
the joining of heaven and earth

436
00:25:06,160 –> 00:25:09,360
together and some of the ideas
related to that than the story

437
00:25:09,360 –> 00:25:11,880
of Jacob’s letter.
So if you’d like to go there.

438
00:25:12,560 –> 00:25:16,720
It’s in Genesis 28 and we’re
just going to spend a few

439
00:25:16,720 –> 00:25:18,760
minutes in this well known
story.

440
00:25:18,760 –> 00:25:22,160
You know it well, but I’m going
to try and pick out a few points

441
00:25:22,160 –> 00:25:24,400
there that.
Just maybe you haven’t seen it

442
00:25:24,400 –> 00:25:27,760
through this lens, because this
is a classic joining of heaven

443
00:25:27,760 –> 00:25:30,880
and earth, Verse 10 of Genesis
28.

444
00:25:31,720 –> 00:25:35,240
Now, Jacob went out from
Beersheba and went toward Heyro.

445
00:25:35,240 –> 00:25:38,360
And by the way, every detail.
Yeah, man, we could spend a

446
00:25:38,360 –> 00:25:41,680
whole day on this.
Just very briefly, when Jacob

447
00:25:42,080 –> 00:25:44,800
has caused trouble and there’s
chaos because his brother now

448
00:25:44,800 –> 00:25:47,120
wants to kill him and he’s got
to run.

449
00:25:47,640 –> 00:25:51,480
It’s very interesting that his
mother points him to family,

450
00:25:52,000 –> 00:25:55,400
points them to identity, points
them, as it were, in brackets.

451
00:25:55,400 –> 00:25:57,760
Even though we might say, well,
going away from Israel, you’re

452
00:25:57,760 –> 00:26:00,600
going now to Heiran.
All right, That doesn’t look

453
00:26:00,600 –> 00:26:01,760
like he’s going in the right
direction.

454
00:26:01,760 –> 00:26:03,680
But in that sense, it was the
right direction.

455
00:26:03,840 –> 00:26:07,280
He’s got to go back from chaos
to find his identity, to find

456
00:26:07,280 –> 00:26:10,040
his purpose.
And that’s why she sends them to

457
00:26:10,040 –> 00:26:12,920
to Laban.
He came in verse 11 to a certain

458
00:26:12,920 –> 00:26:14,040
place.
I love the way the Scripture

459
00:26:14,040 –> 00:26:16,360
does that because, you know,
it’s kind of like this is just

460
00:26:16,360 –> 00:26:19,480
some random place, some
arbitrary place suddenly looks

461
00:26:19,480 –> 00:26:20,880
pretty good.
I can spend the night.

462
00:26:21,000 –> 00:26:23,920
In fact, the text kind of
implies that he, he had to rush

463
00:26:23,920 –> 00:26:26,280
to make a decision because the
sun was setting and he doesn’t

464
00:26:26,280 –> 00:26:28,640
want to be out in the dark.
He was obviously in a big rush

465
00:26:28,640 –> 00:26:30,280
because he decides to use a
stone as a pillow.

466
00:26:30,600 –> 00:26:34,080
So things are happening here.
And of course, we know what

467
00:26:34,080 –> 00:26:36,160
happens.
He, he has a, a decent night’s

468
00:26:36,160 –> 00:26:39,360
sleep, it appears.
But then he has a dream and

469
00:26:39,360 –> 00:26:41,240
there’s a ladder.
And look at the detail with the

470
00:26:41,240 –> 00:26:45,960
heaven and earth lens set up on
earth and its top reaches to

471
00:26:46,200 –> 00:26:48,560
heaven.
And the angels of God are

472
00:26:48,800 –> 00:26:52,960
ascending and descending on it.
Oh wow, this is Genesis one

473
00:26:52,960 –> 00:26:57,200
verse one heaven and earth
connected.

474
00:26:57,560 –> 00:26:59,240
That’s what he’s having revealed
to him.

475
00:26:59,320 –> 00:27:03,120
This is what it’s about Jacob.
And behold, the Lord stood above

476
00:27:03,120 –> 00:27:04,720
it.
Look at what the Lord says to

477
00:27:04,720 –> 00:27:06,120
him.
What’s heaven going to offer

478
00:27:06,120 –> 00:27:08,240
him?
So you might think we’re

479
00:27:08,240 –> 00:27:09,480
stretching all these
associations.

480
00:27:09,480 –> 00:27:10,520
What’s heaven going to offer
him?

481
00:27:10,760 –> 00:27:11,760
This is what it’s going to offer
him.

482
00:27:12,080 –> 00:27:14,880
I am the Lord God of your
father, Abraham, the God of

483
00:27:14,880 –> 00:27:16,360
Isaac.
The land in which I will give

484
00:27:16,360 –> 00:27:17,960
you, I will give to you and your
descendants.

485
00:27:18,160 –> 00:27:20,800
Your descendants shall be as the
dust of the earth.

486
00:27:21,000 –> 00:27:23,080
You shall spread abroad to the
West, to the east, to the north

487
00:27:23,080 –> 00:27:25,040
and the South.
And you, you, and in all your

488
00:27:25,040 –> 00:27:27,760
seed, all the families of the
earth shall be blessed.

489
00:27:28,160 –> 00:27:30,920
Behold, I am with you and will
keep you wherever you go, and

490
00:27:30,920 –> 00:27:33,600
we’ll bring you back to this
land, for I will not leave you

491
00:27:33,840 –> 00:27:35,320
until I’ve done what I’ve spoken
to you.

492
00:27:36,320 –> 00:27:39,680
He gives him identity, He gives
him purpose.

493
00:27:40,240 –> 00:27:46,520
He says here’s promises, here’s
direction, here’s a name and and

494
00:27:46,520 –> 00:27:50,360
here’s a seed.
And as a result, you are going

495
00:27:50,360 –> 00:27:52,560
to be fruitful.
You’re going to host this,

496
00:27:52,840 –> 00:27:55,560
you’re going to have and you see
how he describes the the

497
00:27:55,560 –> 00:27:57,680
families of the earth as the
dust.

498
00:27:58,320 –> 00:28:01,040
Of the earth.
That’s not that’s not just used

499
00:28:01,040 –> 00:28:04,920
as a metaphor, that’s absolutely
in keeping with the pattern.

500
00:28:05,400 –> 00:28:08,440
Your families will be as the
dust of the earth.

501
00:28:10,200 –> 00:28:15,840
You see Jacob heaven and earth
will be connected and here is an

502
00:28:15,840 –> 00:28:19,880
example of that pattern and
Jacob gets it says verse 16, he

503
00:28:19,880 –> 00:28:22,480
woke up from his sleep.
He said surely the Lord is in

504
00:28:22,480 –> 00:28:24,640
this place and I did not know
it.

505
00:28:25,680 –> 00:28:28,480
He was afraid and said how
awesome is this place?

506
00:28:28,680 –> 00:28:29,760
This is None.
Other than the.

507
00:28:29,760 –> 00:28:33,040
House of God, this is the gate
of heaven.

508
00:28:34,160 –> 00:28:36,960
So this is this is where the
rubber hits the sand because you

509
00:28:36,960 –> 00:28:38,880
know.
The place that he came to, we

510
00:28:38,880 –> 00:28:40,880
were told a bit later on, was
named Laz.

511
00:28:40,880 –> 00:28:43,240
You all know that.
And he renames it Bethel, the

512
00:28:43,240 –> 00:28:46,480
House of God.
Now the word Laz actually comes

513
00:28:46,480 –> 00:28:50,680
from the, the, the origin is an
almond tree or, or a similar

514
00:28:50,680 –> 00:28:54,000
type of, of nut tree.
And really the, the etymology of

515
00:28:54,000 –> 00:28:56,640
the word is the idea of those
trees that were twisted.

516
00:28:57,360 –> 00:29:00,160
So in a, in a sense, you’ve got
this place that was twisted.

517
00:29:01,360 –> 00:29:03,760
Maybe the idea is a little bit
to do with chaotic.

518
00:29:03,760 –> 00:29:06,000
Maybe I’m stretching it.
And then he says but.

519
00:29:06,400 –> 00:29:10,040
Now I’ve discovered this is the
House of God.

520
00:29:10,840 –> 00:29:13,520
This is the place of the ladder,
the place of connection.

521
00:29:14,560 –> 00:29:19,040
And why?
Because He had a moment where he

522
00:29:19,040 –> 00:29:22,360
was intentional, He was present
and he.

523
00:29:22,360 –> 00:29:25,520
Was able to realize that
connection between heaven and

524
00:29:25,520 –> 00:29:27,280
earth.
And so the question is, you

525
00:29:27,280 –> 00:29:31,440
know, how many times, how many
places, how many spaces do we go

526
00:29:31,440 –> 00:29:37,440
to that are just certain places?
And we miss the opportunity for

527
00:29:37,440 –> 00:29:40,640
the House of God.
We miss the opportunity to make

528
00:29:40,640 –> 00:29:44,280
that place a place where heaven
and earth meet.

529
00:29:44,280 –> 00:29:48,920
And what’s really interesting
just to bring this together is,

530
00:29:49,320 –> 00:29:50,920
I mean, whether Jacob got all of
this.

531
00:29:50,920 –> 00:29:53,840
The point is that the patent
plays it out itself out over and

532
00:29:53,840 –> 00:29:55,960
over again.
But Jacob actually does two

533
00:29:55,960 –> 00:29:59,480
things in response to this dream
that he has.

534
00:29:59,920 –> 00:30:02,240
And they both really interesting
because they haven’t really

535
00:30:02,240 –> 00:30:04,800
happened before.
The first is he does something

536
00:30:04,800 –> 00:30:06,160
which I’ve always thought is
rather crazy.

537
00:30:06,360 –> 00:30:08,680
He takes some very precious oil.
Didn’t didn’t look like he had

538
00:30:08,680 –> 00:30:12,240
much, didn’t even have a pillow,
but he had some oil and he takes

539
00:30:12,240 –> 00:30:14,720
it and he pours it over the rock
that he was sleeping on.

540
00:30:15,560 –> 00:30:19,800
It’s the first occasion we have
anointing, so he institutes the

541
00:30:19,800 –> 00:30:22,240
idea of anointing.
Why would you do that?

542
00:30:22,800 –> 00:30:25,120
Now there’s some beautiful
echoes all the way to the

543
00:30:25,120 –> 00:30:27,960
Messiah, to Christ, absolutely.
But why would you do that?

544
00:30:28,960 –> 00:30:32,080
I put it to you.
He’s understanding the exchange

545
00:30:32,080 –> 00:30:35,840
between heaven and earth.
And the first is that earth will

546
00:30:35,840 –> 00:30:40,640
host the meaning, the meaning of
heaven that this pillar comes to

547
00:30:40,640 –> 00:30:43,440
represent the fact that you’ve
made these promises and it’s my

548
00:30:43,440 –> 00:30:47,680
responsibility to host it.
And so in a sense that the oil

549
00:30:47,680 –> 00:30:50,280
is is is the.
Spirit, as we will see later on

550
00:30:50,280 –> 00:30:53,440
in the Tabernacle, in the temple
that is poured out on the earth,

551
00:30:53,440 –> 00:30:57,120
it’s heaven poured on earth, it
makes something holy.

552
00:30:57,760 –> 00:31:00,320
That’s what’s going on there.
We receive.

553
00:31:00,440 –> 00:31:02,200
The purpose and the meaning from
heaven.

554
00:31:03,160 –> 00:31:06,600
And then what does he do?
He says what I’ll do is I’ll

555
00:31:06,600 –> 00:31:09,600
take the power that I have and I
will make an offering.

556
00:31:11,280 –> 00:31:13,160
In this specific example, he
says, I’ll give you a 10th of

557
00:31:13,160 –> 00:31:15,600
everything I’ve got.
You want to understand where the

558
00:31:15,600 –> 00:31:17,560
basis for offering and sacrifice
is.

559
00:31:18,720 –> 00:31:21,840
Well, you see, once once I
understand that I’m hosting a

560
00:31:21,840 –> 00:31:25,320
purpose, I will give up what I
have towards that purpose.

561
00:31:26,280 –> 00:31:28,920
My life completely, that the
things that I do now are

562
00:31:29,040 –> 00:31:33,720
oriented towards that purpose
and things must be given up so

563
00:31:33,720 –> 00:31:36,840
that I can be refined towards
that purpose.

564
00:31:37,560 –> 00:31:40,360
That’s the principle of
sacrifice, and we know that to

565
00:31:40,360 –> 00:31:43,960
be true at all layers when we
have a purpose.

566
00:31:44,160 –> 00:31:47,760
We refine ourselves towards that
purpose and those principles I

567
00:31:47,760 –> 00:31:51,000
hope are being demonstrated in
my little picture here and and

568
00:31:51,000 –> 00:31:53,880
we know that just to put it all
together, as we were saying

569
00:31:53,880 –> 00:31:58,240
yesterday, the true way in which
that comes together is through

570
00:31:58,240 –> 00:32:00,720
the Lord Jesus Christ.
He’s the one that that truly

571
00:32:01,080 –> 00:32:04,560
made that connection possible,
certainly for us.

572
00:32:05,120 –> 00:32:09,720
And so it is that Jesus says in
John one in verse 51 at the very

573
00:32:09,720 –> 00:32:12,280
end when he’s talking to
Nathaniel and he says, you think

574
00:32:12,280 –> 00:32:14,600
it was amazing.
That I could tell you that you

575
00:32:14,600 –> 00:32:16,720
were sitting under the fig tree.
You’re going to see greater

576
00:32:16,720 –> 00:32:21,760
things coming.
You will see the angels going up

577
00:32:21,760 –> 00:32:26,720
and down the Son of Man.
He pulls back from Genesis 28

578
00:32:26,920 –> 00:32:28,720
and says, actually, I’m the
latter.

579
00:32:29,600 –> 00:32:33,400
I’m the VAV.
I’m the true ultimate connector

580
00:32:33,600 –> 00:32:36,480
between heaven and earth.
So really so many of the ideas

581
00:32:36,480 –> 00:32:38,840
we’re trying to share with are
are in that space.

582
00:32:41,840 –> 00:32:44,760
We’ve caught this section
symbolic synergy, and we are

583
00:32:44,760 –> 00:32:48,840
there at last.
So we talk a lot about symbols

584
00:32:49,400 –> 00:32:52,520
in our public or conversations,
our spiritual conversations.

585
00:32:52,520 –> 00:32:57,440
But of course, symbols are are
used throughout language and,

586
00:32:57,440 –> 00:33:00,440
and, and I want to spend a bit
of time maybe just using the

587
00:33:00,440 –> 00:33:04,080
heaven and earth lens to show
you the value that symbols can

588
00:33:04,080 –> 00:33:06,120
have when we approach them
correctly.

589
00:33:06,840 –> 00:33:10,920
So we’re specifically wanting to
focus on symbols as they relate

590
00:33:11,200 –> 00:33:14,520
to heavenly things because
symbols can be used in all sorts

591
00:33:14,520 –> 00:33:16,080
of areas.
Although many of the principles

592
00:33:16,080 –> 00:33:18,080
actually that we talk about
apply as well.

593
00:33:18,520 –> 00:33:23,160
So here’s a very sort of generic
definition for a symbol.

594
00:33:23,680 –> 00:33:28,360
A symbol is a mark, a sign, a
word or object that represents

595
00:33:28,360 –> 00:33:31,840
or stands for something else,
typically an idea, an object, a

596
00:33:31,840 –> 00:33:35,600
concept or relationship.
Symbols can be visual, verbal,

597
00:33:35,840 –> 00:33:37,920
behavioural and they often
carry.

598
00:33:37,920 –> 00:33:40,840
Specific meanings or convey
particular messages that go

599
00:33:40,840 –> 00:33:44,080
beyond their literal sense.
So here’s an interesting thing.

600
00:33:44,640 –> 00:33:48,080
If you look at that definition,
we see that that’s exactly what

601
00:33:48,080 –> 00:33:49,920
we’re encountering with the
duality of heaven and earth,

602
00:33:50,560 –> 00:33:53,840
that what we have in a symbol is
something that is.

603
00:33:54,280 –> 00:33:58,240
Physical in the sense that it
might be visual, it might be

604
00:33:58,240 –> 00:34:01,880
something we can hear, it might
be a behaviour that we practice

605
00:34:02,840 –> 00:34:07,920
that is connected to a more
important idea or message or, or

606
00:34:07,920 –> 00:34:11,719
concept.
And when those two things come

607
00:34:11,719 –> 00:34:16,760
together, there is a, a power,
something more than they are

608
00:34:16,760 –> 00:34:19,239
apart, as it were.
I, I like to call that a

609
00:34:19,239 –> 00:34:20,960
synergy.
That’s why we’re calling this

610
00:34:20,960 –> 00:34:23,800
symbolic synergy.
And it’s really important to

611
00:34:23,800 –> 00:34:26,840
have that framework because, you
know, sometimes you hear people

612
00:34:26,840 –> 00:34:30,639
saying, well, it’s only a
symbol, like as if symbols don’t

613
00:34:30,639 –> 00:34:34,000
really matter.
We, we have this idea that a

614
00:34:34,000 –> 00:34:36,159
symbol is just a visual aid or a
metaphor.

615
00:34:36,159 –> 00:34:38,719
Well, that would be a mistake.
It can be both of.

616
00:34:38,719 –> 00:34:40,520
Those.
But it’s something more than

617
00:34:40,520 –> 00:34:42,120
that.
It’s the idea.

618
00:34:42,280 –> 00:34:45,239
That if we can keep the symbol
and understand all of its

619
00:34:45,239 –> 00:34:49,120
physical attributes and can be
sensitized towards them whilst

620
00:34:49,120 –> 00:34:53,320
at the same time joining it.
With the heavenly that we can

621
00:34:53,320 –> 00:34:57,000
experience the true transform
formation that is intended in

622
00:34:57,000 –> 00:35:01,160
symbols.
Now as we know in the old

623
00:35:01,160 –> 00:35:04,880
covenant there were many more
symbols that God actually put in

624
00:35:04,880 –> 00:35:08,360
place to help with this very
thing, to help people on a

625
00:35:08,360 –> 00:35:11,160
constant basis to be joining
heaven and earth.

626
00:35:12,080 –> 00:35:15,960
And we know that what happened
to a large extent is they

627
00:35:15,960 –> 00:35:19,520
failed.
They failed to to work with the

628
00:35:19,560 –> 00:35:24,200
earth, the object or practice in
a way that it was joining the

629
00:35:24,200 –> 00:35:27,360
heavenly.
And so eventually you had these

630
00:35:27,360 –> 00:35:29,240
kind of verdicts like we have in
Amos.

631
00:35:29,480 –> 00:35:31,960
I hate, I despise your religious
festivals.

632
00:35:32,120 –> 00:35:33,840
Your assemblies are a stench to
me.

633
00:35:34,040 –> 00:35:36,160
Even though you bring me burnt
offerings and grain offerings, I

634
00:35:36,160 –> 00:35:38,200
will not accept them.
Though you bring choice

635
00:35:38,200 –> 00:35:40,840
fellowship offerings, I will
have no regard for them.

636
00:35:41,160 –> 00:35:44,160
Away with the noise of your
songs, I will not listen to the

637
00:35:44,160 –> 00:35:48,320
music of your hops.
But let justice roll on like a

638
00:35:48,320 –> 00:35:52,640
river, righteousness like a
never failing stream.

639
00:35:53,400 –> 00:35:55,520
So what’s happened there?
Well, of course.

640
00:35:56,400 –> 00:36:00,720
As is, is something that we’re
all at risk of doing when that

641
00:36:00,880 –> 00:36:06,760
earthly practice or that earthly
thing no longer is working

642
00:36:06,760 –> 00:36:12,560
together to amplify and to host
the heavenly idea well, it just

643
00:36:12,560 –> 00:36:15,920
becomes an object.
Or at worst, it becomes an idol,

644
00:36:16,000 –> 00:36:19,240
something that we’re addicted
to, to, to being with because we

645
00:36:19,240 –> 00:36:22,000
think it has some value in and
of itself.

646
00:36:23,040 –> 00:36:26,000
When the ritual is something
we’re just going through the

647
00:36:26,000 –> 00:36:28,440
motions and we’ve lost its
connection and its ability to

648
00:36:28,440 –> 00:36:30,720
connect us with heaven, it just
becomes a ritual In the

649
00:36:30,720 –> 00:36:32,360
practice.
I should rather say it becomes a

650
00:36:32,360 –> 00:36:34,920
ritual.
And so it’s no longer actually a

651
00:36:34,920 –> 00:36:36,160
symbol.
By definition.

652
00:36:37,480 –> 00:36:39,720
The connection is lost.
It’s a ritual.

653
00:36:39,720 –> 00:36:43,840
It’s an idol, it’s an object.
But when they are merged

654
00:36:43,840 –> 00:36:48,880
together, there is this power of
symbolic synergy.

655
00:36:49,920 –> 00:36:52,680
So these symbols all around, and
we’re going to talk about them

656
00:36:52,680 –> 00:36:56,040
for a moment.
In the time that remains, as

657
00:36:56,040 –> 00:36:58,640
I’ve said, I think there’s
something way more powerful than

658
00:36:58,640 –> 00:37:03,480
perhaps we perhaps traditionally
as a community put to these

659
00:37:03,480 –> 00:37:06,280
symbols.
And, and really it’s this idea

660
00:37:06,280 –> 00:37:09,680
of participating in a more
activated way to being

661
00:37:09,680 –> 00:37:13,960
intentional, present and curious
when you are working with

662
00:37:13,960 –> 00:37:15,920
symbols.
So the new covenant, we know

663
00:37:15,920 –> 00:37:20,600
that many of the symbols of the
old covenant are, well, you

664
00:37:20,600 –> 00:37:23,840
might argue removed, but
certainly they are certainly not

665
00:37:23,840 –> 00:37:26,080
required.
And I would say to you that

666
00:37:26,080 –> 00:37:29,760
actually the idea of any symbol
being required as something you

667
00:37:29,760 –> 00:37:32,280
have to do for salvation.
Well, that doesn’t work.

668
00:37:32,320 –> 00:37:34,240
And we’ll talk a bit more about
that tomorrow because we’re

669
00:37:34,240 –> 00:37:36,800
saved by grace.
So we’re, we’re looking at it

670
00:37:36,800 –> 00:37:39,120
from the wrong angle, but
certainly when we come to the

671
00:37:39,120 –> 00:37:41,640
New covenant, I want to focus on
some of the symbols that we’re

672
00:37:41,640 –> 00:37:45,920
all familiar with and some of
them you might not think of

673
00:37:45,920 –> 00:37:47,000
symbols.
One of the.

674
00:37:47,000 –> 00:37:50,440
Symbols, that is, by our
definition, a symbol is the fact

675
00:37:50,440 –> 00:37:53,480
that we practice music and and
singing as worship.

676
00:37:53,760 –> 00:37:56,280
You’ll see that was one of the
examples given by Amos.

677
00:37:56,520 –> 00:37:59,320
So that’s an earthly activity,
all right.

678
00:37:59,520 –> 00:38:03,320
You can hear the music, you hear
everybody else singing.

679
00:38:03,400 –> 00:38:05,480
You can actually watch them
singing, which is often a lot

680
00:38:05,480 –> 00:38:08,240
more fun.
It’s a material activity, but

681
00:38:08,480 –> 00:38:13,440
what we do is we try and connect
that with heavenly ideas and so.

682
00:38:13,680 –> 00:38:16,960
It’s the right symbol when the
two things come together

683
00:38:17,000 –> 00:38:18,920
beautifully.
And of course, this has been

684
00:38:18,920 –> 00:38:21,720
something that’s that’s been,
you know, around for a long

685
00:38:21,720 –> 00:38:24,280
time.
The first song that we actually

686
00:38:24,280 –> 00:38:27,080
have recorded in the Bible is
when Moses and the children of

687
00:38:27,080 –> 00:38:30,920
Israel go to the Red Sea and
Moses comes through successfully

688
00:38:31,120 –> 00:38:35,520
and in Exodus. 15 We read Moses,
and the Israelites sang this

689
00:38:35,520 –> 00:38:37,840
song to the Lord, and we’ve got
all the words of the song, we

690
00:38:37,840 –> 00:38:39,160
just don’t have the music.
Pity.

691
00:38:39,560 –> 00:38:43,880
So we’ve got the first song
there, and this symbol of

692
00:38:43,880 –> 00:38:47,280
singing and praising goes all
the way through to this ultimate

693
00:38:47,440 –> 00:38:48,960
example we have here in
Revelation.

694
00:38:48,960 –> 00:38:51,720
Five of this beautiful song.
That we’re going to be able to

695
00:38:51,720 –> 00:38:54,960
participate in with a, with a
choir and with musical

696
00:38:54,960 –> 00:38:58,360
instruments like we can’t even
begin to imagine.

697
00:38:59,160 –> 00:39:04,800
But the beauty is like now and
later on today we are going to

698
00:39:04,800 –> 00:39:07,200
be able to have a moment to try
and experience.

699
00:39:07,200 –> 00:39:09,160
It.
And that’s what’s happening when

700
00:39:09,160 –> 00:39:13,160
we are engaging in singing and
musical worship.

701
00:39:14,600 –> 00:39:16,680
And so when someone says to me,
well, all that matters is the

702
00:39:16,680 –> 00:39:19,160
words, well, they don’t
understand heaven and earth,

703
00:39:19,760 –> 00:39:22,320
then we might as well just put
the music off and let someone

704
00:39:22,320 –> 00:39:25,520
just read the words.
No, that’s not what’s going on.

705
00:39:25,520 –> 00:39:28,160
Yet something else is happening.
The earthly element is

706
00:39:28,160 –> 00:39:30,360
amplifying the message we know.
This is true.

707
00:39:31,120 –> 00:39:33,640
You, you know that you’ve been
in the circumstance in your life

708
00:39:33,640 –> 00:39:37,520
where suddenly there’s been some
music or a song and you’re able

709
00:39:37,520 –> 00:39:39,920
to connect with it, meaning that
perhaps because of the

710
00:39:39,920 –> 00:39:41,840
circumstance of your life or
whatever that’s going through,

711
00:39:41,840 –> 00:39:44,640
you’ve never been able to do
before and you will move deeply.

712
00:39:46,120 –> 00:39:49,440
This is what’s going on this.
Is the the, the, the power of a

713
00:39:49,440 –> 00:39:53,960
symbol when it’s approached in
the correct way kind of running

714
00:39:53,960 –> 00:39:55,080
out of time, but I want to do
this.

715
00:39:55,840 –> 00:39:59,560
You know, Handel, he wrote that
beautiful Handel’s Messiah.

716
00:39:59,560 –> 00:40:02,240
He was actually inspired, I
didn’t know this, but that

717
00:40:02,240 –> 00:40:04,320
passage there to write Handel’s
Messiah.

718
00:40:04,320 –> 00:40:06,640
So I thought he would have been
an Isaiah, but that’s actually

719
00:40:06,640 –> 00:40:11,600
the original passage that
inspired him to use music to to

720
00:40:11,600 –> 00:40:15,040
try and join all of these ideas
together with the earth.

721
00:40:15,600 –> 00:40:18,320
And he wrote that, that that
whole, is it called a concerto,

722
00:40:18,960 –> 00:40:21,720
the whole thing.
What do you call that?

723
00:40:21,720 –> 00:40:24,040
I don’t know why I’m looking at
you, but she’s got experience

724
00:40:24,440 –> 00:40:27,160
handles oratorio.
There we go.

725
00:40:27,160 –> 00:40:28,160
I knew it was something like
that.

726
00:40:28,160 –> 00:40:30,400
He wrote the whole oratorio in
24 days.

727
00:40:31,400 –> 00:40:32,760
He kind of.
Locked himself up.

728
00:40:32,760 –> 00:40:35,680
He just like he was just so
moved and and I’m sure you you

729
00:40:35,680 –> 00:40:41,760
would be able to to remember
this part of it if it works.

730
00:40:57,480 –> 00:41:26,120
None.
Sorry you got to hear my voice

731
00:41:26,120 –> 00:41:30,760
again, but like, how do we how
do we activate that more?

732
00:41:30,760 –> 00:41:33,600
How do we participate with it?
Are we just going to be passive

733
00:41:33,600 –> 00:41:36,800
in our music, or are we going to
listen as clearly as we can to

734
00:41:36,800 –> 00:41:38,520
all the elements of the
instruments?

735
00:41:38,920 –> 00:41:41,960
Are we going to be intentional
when we stand up to sing?

736
00:41:42,160 –> 00:41:44,480
You know, some of us don’t quite
have the voices of others, but

737
00:41:44,480 –> 00:41:46,200
then we’ll try and make a joyful
noise to the Lord.

738
00:41:46,360 –> 00:41:48,960
Or we’re going to activate in
the hope that the more we

739
00:41:48,960 –> 00:41:54,040
participate in the music, in
listening carefully, using all

740
00:41:54,040 –> 00:41:56,360
of our senses whilst at the same
time.

741
00:41:57,360 –> 00:42:00,840
Joining it to the heavenly
concepts and ideas that that’s

742
00:42:00,840 –> 00:42:02,840
the moment of transformation
available for us.

743
00:42:03,040 –> 00:42:06,520
That is how the symbol can bold
the experience of our

744
00:42:06,520 –> 00:42:08,600
relationship with God in our
lives.

745
00:42:09,040 –> 00:42:11,760
And that’s an example in
singing.

746
00:42:14,920 –> 00:42:19,160
He’s going to start singing.
What about another one?

747
00:42:19,880 –> 00:42:25,760
Here’s a symbol, baptism.
Now we we know that the physical

748
00:42:25,760 –> 00:42:30,160
act of baptism cannot be saving
us, but yet we as a community

749
00:42:30,160 –> 00:42:32,080
will say that you should be
baptized.

750
00:42:32,640 –> 00:42:36,000
Well, again, it’s because we’re
practicing the idea of the power

751
00:42:36,000 –> 00:42:38,920
of the symbol.
If there was no power in the

752
00:42:38,920 –> 00:42:42,760
earthly aspect of that, in other
words, going down into the

753
00:42:42,760 –> 00:42:45,440
water, taking the first breath
when you come out of the water,

754
00:42:45,640 –> 00:42:49,000
if there was no, no value in
that, then we might as well call

755
00:42:49,000 –> 00:42:51,840
those who want to be baptized
together, show them a picture

756
00:42:51,920 –> 00:42:54,120
and say, let me use this as a
visual aid to show you what

757
00:42:54,120 –> 00:42:57,680
really you’re coming to do,
which is just, you know, this is

758
00:42:57,680 –> 00:43:01,000
the spiritual idea that you are
having your sins washed away.

759
00:43:01,800 –> 00:43:04,680
That you are going to become a
new creation, that you’re going

760
00:43:04,680 –> 00:43:07,080
to be associated with the death
and resurrection of Jesus.

761
00:43:07,200 –> 00:43:08,480
Have you got it?
Yes, you’ve got it.

762
00:43:08,600 –> 00:43:11,880
Well, that’s fine, but that’s
not the way it works.

763
00:43:12,960 –> 00:43:15,560
We, we, we, we intrinsically
believe.

764
00:43:15,920 –> 00:43:19,160
And I believe we are right when
we look at all of this, this

765
00:43:19,160 –> 00:43:23,840
pattern of heaven and earth,
that the participation in this

766
00:43:23,840 –> 00:43:28,320
symbol is incredibly valuable.
So that’s baptism.

767
00:43:28,560 –> 00:43:32,920
Well, let’s move it to one
further step, the breaking of

768
00:43:32,920 –> 00:43:37,880
bread and wine.
So yes, again, if I had to ask

769
00:43:37,880 –> 00:43:40,280
you what’s going on here, lots
of spiritual ideas, lots of

770
00:43:40,280 –> 00:43:46,040
heavenly ideas, forgiveness,
unity, sacrifice, remembering

771
00:43:46,040 –> 00:43:49,680
the Lord Jesus Christ, all of
those are heavenly principles

772
00:43:49,680 –> 00:43:53,480
ideas.
So again, if the symbol is just

773
00:43:53,480 –> 00:43:56,680
a visual aid, just put a picture
up there, or maybe just put it

774
00:43:56,680 –> 00:43:58,680
on the front and you can look at
it and that can remind you.

775
00:43:59,480 –> 00:44:03,160
But we don’t do that.
We want to I love the way Paul

776
00:44:03,160 –> 00:44:05,200
says it.
Perhaps I’m I’m cheating a bit

777
00:44:05,200 –> 00:44:07,480
with the use of the word in this
particular content, But he says

778
00:44:08,120 –> 00:44:10,720
is not the cup of Thanksgiving
for which we give thanks a

779
00:44:10,720 –> 00:44:13,760
participation in the blood of
Christ and is not the bread that

780
00:44:13,760 –> 00:44:16,800
we break a participation.
There’s this invitation to

781
00:44:16,800 –> 00:44:19,240
participate.
There’s an earthly element to

782
00:44:19,240 –> 00:44:22,160
it.
There’s, there’s the opportunity

783
00:44:22,160 –> 00:44:24,400
for you to raise all of your
senses.

784
00:44:24,640 –> 00:44:27,800
And you know, if you think about
it as as a symbol that Jesus

785
00:44:27,800 –> 00:44:32,520
instituted, it’s very sensory.
There’s the visual element of

786
00:44:32,520 –> 00:44:36,760
the bread and wine.
There’s the texture in your

787
00:44:36,760 –> 00:44:41,400
mouth or in your hands.
There’s the taste, there’s the

788
00:44:41,400 –> 00:44:45,200
smell, all of those elements of
earth.

789
00:44:45,200 –> 00:44:48,480
And, and, and what do we do?
Are we heartening those?

790
00:44:48,480 –> 00:44:52,720
Are we thinking about them as we
as we eat the bread and as we

791
00:44:52,720 –> 00:44:56,240
taste the wine and as we’re
doing that and we’re heartening

792
00:44:56,240 –> 00:45:00,440
our physical senses, we’re
joining that as much as we can

793
00:45:00,440 –> 00:45:02,720
with all of the ideas that are
represented by it.

794
00:45:02,840 –> 00:45:05,400
And in that moment, there’s a
moment of transformation.

795
00:45:06,760 –> 00:45:09,760
You don’t need me to tell you
that some of you have had 2500

796
00:45:09,960 –> 00:45:13,520
opportunities or more.
I was seeing a calculation to.

797
00:45:13,680 –> 00:45:16,720
To break bread and drink wine.
But you know that there have

798
00:45:16,720 –> 00:45:19,320
been those moments when just
everything has come together,

799
00:45:19,520 –> 00:45:23,720
and in the very act of the
participation, something moved

800
00:45:23,720 –> 00:45:27,000
deep within you.
And you never think to yourself,

801
00:45:27,000 –> 00:45:29,280
well, I’ve done it 2500 times
up.

802
00:45:29,520 –> 00:45:32,160
I won’t bother to do it the 2500
and first time because I know

803
00:45:32,160 –> 00:45:33,200
what it’s, I know what it’s
like.

804
00:45:34,440 –> 00:45:38,440
No, we’re intentional.
We’re present and we’re.

805
00:45:38,440 –> 00:45:42,880
Curious, we expect there to be
an opportunity for something to

806
00:45:42,880 –> 00:45:47,040
surprise us, something to to be
new to be revealed to us in a

807
00:45:47,040 –> 00:45:50,640
way that we haven’t seen it
before and you know, sometimes

808
00:45:50,640 –> 00:45:54,280
I, I do get a bit concerned
because, you know, we come to

809
00:45:54,280 –> 00:45:57,000
the breaking of bread and, and.
Of course, there’s so many

810
00:45:57,000 –> 00:46:00,720
things going on here.
Yes, yes, it’s about reminding

811
00:46:00,720 –> 00:46:02,320
us about the death and
resurrection of Jesus.

812
00:46:02,320 –> 00:46:05,280
And yes, there’s an element of
the breaking of bread that says

813
00:46:05,280 –> 00:46:07,640
that Jesus is going to do it
again with us in the Kingdom.

814
00:46:08,760 –> 00:46:11,360
And, and we use the term, I
don’t know about you, but, but

815
00:46:11,360 –> 00:46:13,680
over in South Africa, we call it
the memorial service.

816
00:46:15,440 –> 00:46:18,560
I don’t like it.
I know it has some basis because

817
00:46:18,560 –> 00:46:21,200
Jesus said Remember Me.
And so we take the word remember

818
00:46:21,200 –> 00:46:23,080
and we say memorial.
But you know, the problem is in

819
00:46:23,080 –> 00:46:25,520
today’s language we have
memorial services for dead

820
00:46:25,520 –> 00:46:29,160
people.
We put up memorial plots for

821
00:46:29,160 –> 00:46:32,400
dead people.
What is going on?

822
00:46:32,800 –> 00:46:36,360
What makes this particular
participation so powerful?

823
00:46:36,360 –> 00:46:40,960
Jesus says this is my body, this
is my blood.

824
00:46:41,320 –> 00:46:46,560
I am your living Saviour.
I’m alive and present and so as

825
00:46:46,560 –> 00:46:50,880
you’re participating in that, in
that eating of the bread and the

826
00:46:50,880 –> 00:46:53,440
drinking of the wine, you’re
participating in adjoining of

827
00:46:53,440 –> 00:46:57,840
heaven and earth in the most
powerful way, the very one who

828
00:46:57,880 –> 00:47:03,400
is the bar, the very nail
present and wanting to enter

829
00:47:03,400 –> 00:47:06,400
into you.
You know, I heard it once

830
00:47:06,400 –> 00:47:08,520
controversial.
He said that the most.

831
00:47:08,520 –> 00:47:12,240
Useless thing we do is to break
bread and drink wine.

832
00:47:13,160 –> 00:47:14,800
I thought I’d say that to see if
anybody’s still awake.

833
00:47:15,000 –> 00:47:18,120
The most useless thing we do is
to break bread and drink wine

834
00:47:18,120 –> 00:47:19,480
now you might say.
Why do you say that?

835
00:47:19,480 –> 00:47:24,440
Well, because we use the word
use to mean that we have

836
00:47:24,440 –> 00:47:26,200
something that has another
purpose.

837
00:47:26,400 –> 00:47:30,960
Like scissors are useful.
I use them so that I can cut a

838
00:47:30,960 –> 00:47:33,240
piece of paper or do whatever I
want with them.

839
00:47:33,240 –> 00:47:36,120
The scissors of themselves, I
mean they are there for a use.

840
00:47:37,120 –> 00:47:39,160
The breaking of bread and the
drinking of wine.

841
00:47:39,840 –> 00:47:42,400
Yes, it can have a lot of uses.
We can come and we can learn and

842
00:47:42,400 –> 00:47:47,080
we can we can praise.
But it is in of itself a

843
00:47:47,080 –> 00:47:51,160
powerful moment for the joining
of heaven and earth, for your

844
00:47:51,160 –> 00:47:56,560
faith, for your relationship.
It is in and of itself the

845
00:47:56,560 –> 00:48:00,160
moment that you can experience
heaven and earth joining.

846
00:48:02,200 –> 00:48:04,520
I’m ready. 5 minutes over.
So we’ve got some exciting stuff

847
00:48:04,520 –> 00:48:07,520
to talk about how Jesus
interacted with symbols and I

848
00:48:07,560 –> 00:48:09,080
don’t think I’m going to do that
now.

849
00:48:09,240 –> 00:48:12,240
So thank you for your diligent
attention and for not walking

850
00:48:12,240 –> 00:48:12,640
out on me.