THE PATH OF LIFE

Man’s search for identity has been endless, mostly because we keep looking in the wrong place. So many seek for their identity in their work or position, but it is not to be found there. Others seek to find themselves in sport or some other expertise, but we must know our true origin  the evidence of which remains within every man. That evidence is the Christ that dwells within every person born on this planet, and is the spirit that gives life to every man. In Luke 13:24 Jesus makes a statement that is most important for us to understand. He says, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”   an “ENTERING IN” which must be considered with regards to the Life Father wants us to live in this world. So many have not considered how we are to enter into this LIFE which is eternal.

        The first issue is that we all have been born into this world by a woman so we consider ourselves to be mortal human beings. Because our parents were mortal we therefore must also be mortal, because we are their offspring. To “Strive” to enter in, speaks of choices that have to be made that would be conducive to the outcome we desire. In Matt 3:3, John the Baptist quotes the words of the Prophet Isaiah saying, “Prepare ye the WAY OF THE LORD, make his paths straight.”  This is serious business for we are involved in a preparation of a LIFE in which Christ will be able to walk in us in holiness and righteousness. Many people have been deflected from the reality of what this involves, because it has been taught that this is a simple choice that we must make to determine where we will spend eternity. The truth is that it has nothing to do with anything other than providing a suitable habitation for the Lord himself living HIS LIFE in YOU on the earth. It is only Christ Living and Reigning in you that can make you holy. Religion has distorted this reality by supplying a formula by which we believe we can make ourselves to be Holy and a suitable dwelling place for God, which says, “Give your heart to Jesus and believing that he died for your sins on the cross, and ask Jesus Christ to come and dwell in us.” This concept is not to be found anywhere in the Bible, and has caused millions to stumble over this most important issue.

        This is exactly what Jesus told us when he said, “Many will seek to enter in , but shall not be able.”  The Lord said in the days before the Flood, Gen 6:3 “My spirit will not always STRIVE with man, for that he also IS FLESH.” The word “Strive” used here means to contend with, or to plead a cause, and teaches us that this challenge will come to every man at some time in his life, but it will not be an ongoing process over this issue. I want you to note what God is concerned about for it is not SIN, but is the fact that man has become FLESH.  This word “Strive” used in Gen 6:3 means according to Strong’s concordance, to judge, contend with or to plead a cause, or to be at strife. In verse 5, God continues saying, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only EVIL CONTINUALLY.” The word evil here means, bad, disagreeable, unpleasant, giving pain, unhappiness, misery and displeasing. So we begin to understand that man was no longer living in the same state in which he was created.

        In the Garden of Eden Adam lived in perfect harmony with God, walking in sweet fellowship every day sharing his life intimately with him. There was no thought in the heart of Adam that was contrary to God’s thoughts, or desires that were not compatible with him. But God expressed his thoughts concerning the earth as it was at that time, in Genesis 6:11 “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”  The word “Corrupt” used here means, to destroy, to be marred or spoiled. Then we read God’s assessment of the situation by saying to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through man, and I will destroy them with the earth.” If only we could read the very heart of God expressed here we would understand so much of what is happening today in the world.

        Let us look carefully at this statement to see if we can grasp what is in the heart of our heavenly Father and revealed to Noah at that time. God always has a man in every situation whose heart resonates with the heart of God and who can bring about man’s reconciliation with God. Babylon has so muddied the waters that mankind generally has become confused with what is the reality of life on the earth today. How can we believe in the God of Love, when Christians are suffering and dying of sickness and disease together with wars and accidents affecting those who we regard as GOOD CHRISTIANS. Where is God while the world seems to be consumed with the desire to destroy itself? These are the thoughts I hear from many Christians today. I am putting these thoughts down on paper today not because I am better than another person, but Father has been gracious in opening my understanding to see the reality in which mankind is walking today.

        God is not mad with the world as many suppose, but it is following a course set down in the very beginning of creation. Everything that God created was designed to function in harmony with the creator. He did not just create man, but determined how that man would function and what would be his responsibility and function on the earth. Most people do not see that they have any real responsibility for what happens on this earth but this is because of ignorance on our part. In Gen 1:26 God said, “Let us make man IN OUR IMAGE and after OUR LIKENESS. So God and the MAN were linked together in creation because the nature and the character of God were built into his being. So few Christians understand the divine connection between God and the creature MAN that he created. The general concept is that God spoke a word and the man appeared, and God simply tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Be good and try and not sin and know that if you do sin, my Son Jesus Christ will die instead of you and so you will be forgiven and you can return to heaven after your life on earth is finished.”

        That is just about the general consensus from mankind today. But you see there is much more that is included in creation that applies to us today. God continued saying, “LET THEM HAVE DOMINION, over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over everything that creeps upon the earth.”  The word dominion has to do with the authority and right to rule over and subjugate the earth, and all the works of God’s hands. Adam was expressly told to SUBDUE THE EARTH. So we understand that man was not just created to do whatever he wanted to do on this earth but that we do have a responsibility to God to exercise a divine authority over the earth and everything that lives on this earth. This is our divine assignment given by God himself to the creature he created in the beginning. Now if we would seek to divest ourselves of such a responsibility, saying that was the task of that FIRST MAN but not for us, we need to know the truth. That first man was the only son God ever created, Christ Jesus. But Paul tells us that all of mankind was CREATED IN THAT ONE MAN CHRIST JESUS. Eph 2:10. In Isaiah 42:7 the prophet said, “I have called thee in righteousness and will hold thy hand and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, and for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners out from the prison, and from the darkness of their mind.

        So man was delegated to have dominion over the earth and over all the works of God’s hands. What has man done as far as the earth is concerned. We have polluted the rivers and oceans with toxins and other things that has reduced the fish stocks and damaged the ecology. Man has worked the earth without replacing what he has taken out of the earth producing arid soil and in some cases deserts. Man has destroyed many animals and other creatures by removing forests to build cities, and so restricting their habitat. Then in a quest for power and resources man has waged war on other countries to steal their resources and their wealth. In all we have not only failed to fulfill our assignment under God’s direction towards the earth, the animals and mankind, but we have plundered the earth’s resources with each nation laying claim to the earths resources and denying others of the right to also have a share in what God has provided. Greed and lust have produced an inequality on this earth  dividing the world into those that HAVE and the HAVE NOTS many of whom live in dire poverty.

        We may lay this problem at the feet of the multitude of people that do not recognize God in their life, but I do not believe that any of us can escape the fact that very few of mankind have even tried to fulfill their divine assignment according to the mandate of Gen 1:26. The Church in the world today has divided the people in every nation where it functions.  We have the Baptists and the Methodists, Pentecostals and a host of others of every Christian persuasion competing with each other for the expansion of their own group. Each Church has its own King whose authority is directed to all those who belong to that Church. This competition is contrary to the scriptural concept of the Church being ONE BODY. The truth is that all of mankind on this earth constitute only ONE FAMILY because there is only ONE FATHER. Paul tells us that God has made of ONE, all the nations on the earth to dwell. If all the nations came out of the O-N-E which is God then every man must be your brother and every woman must be your sister. So Christians are not without blame in fulfilling the will and purpose of God any more than others.

        I travel the world every year and minister in 10 countries, but I do not minister in those countries to set up a sectarian group of people that are separated from everyone else. The fancy name over the door of a building means nothing to me as I see all men as the children of God because there is only ONE FATHER. Unless you are different to me, I can tell you that none of us had any say in our birthing into this world. Neither did anyone have any say in their being created in Christ Jesus, for that was totally God’s prerogative, so we cannot escape the fact that as there is only ONE FATHER, so all of mankind must be brothers and sisters. To violate that assumption sets us in opposition to God and his will and purpose on this earth today. Now it has been necessary for us to understand the above so we can continue to search for the truth in the New Testament.

        Luke 13:24, “Strive to enter in at the strait Gate, for many I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.” The entry into a life of surrender to the will and purpose of God is “Strait.” This means that there are fixed prerogatives that must be adhered to before we can enter that highway of God. This is not speaking about getting saved in the religious sense, but to enter this “Gate,” allows us access to a pathway that has been prepared by God for a chosen people. Jesus was asked a question by someone during his ministry in Luke 13:23. “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?” This word, “Saved” is the translation of the Greek word sozo {sode'-zo} and means: to save, keep safe and sound, and to save from injury or to save a suffering one from perishing. This includes one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health. To sum up the meaning of this word it means TO BE MADE WHOLE. There is nothing in this word “SAVED” about heaven of hell or JUDGEMENT.

To find the answer to this question in Luke 13:23 we must consider what Jesus taught the people in the previous chapter, for the answer could not be a simple “YES or NO.” The reason why we must consider what Jesus was teaching the people here, is because Babylon has taught its own concept of what is salvation, and what evidence should there be in the lives of those who profess to have obtained it. Today if a person goes to Church he would be regarded as a Christian, or if someone fulfills some function connected with the Church that would qualify them as a Christian. If a person does not consume alcohol and refrains from sport on Sunday this also would be considered a reason to believe that he is a Christian.

        So the first thing Jesus mentions in Luke 12:1 is to “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is HYPOCRISY.” The word “Leaven” is translated from a Greek word that is a metaphor of inveterate mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect others. The word “Hypocrisy” means, the acting of a stage player. So here is the first issue to consider when seeking to answer the question, “Are there few that be saved.” It would appear that the mental and moral corruption of the Pharisees is alive and well in the world today, as Christianity has produced a large percentage of what Jesus would call Hypocrites. What we are speaking about here does not represent the judgment of a MAN, for if it did then we could reject it as simply human judgment, but this is the word of Jesus Christ the Son of God. So he continues to say to the people on this matter, that there is nothing covered in our lives that shall not be revealed, nor anything hid that shall not become known by others. So we are not speaking here about that which could be hidden or concealed in the life of those who claim to be “SAVED.”

        Jesus continues in this very revealing chapter 12, saying in verse 4 and 5 that we are not to fear anything that can kill the body, such as sickness or disease because such things have no true reality, for God never created them. But we look at Jesus Christ who was nailed to a cross and laid down his mortal life willingly. WHY, because he had the power to lay down his life, and also to take up his true eternal life which he did on the third day, defeating death itself for all who would follow him. Remember Jesus said, “If anyone would follow him then he would have to take up HIS CROSS and follow him to Calvary for only as we personally pass through that death can we qualify for the benefits of being SAVED. But Jesus does say there is one we need to FEAR, and that is, the one who after he has killed the body, then has power to cast into hell or Gehenna, which is speaking about  the rubbish dump outside Jerusalem. But this imaginary “being” obviously did not have the power to go any further than to death in the case of Jesus Christ. This concept of going beyond where Jesus Christ went, can only be a MIND issue with no true reality. The word “Fear,” that is used here comes from the Greek “Phobia,” which speaks of a “Morbid dread of something, affecting our consciousness, with power to paralyze a person so that they cannot function properly.” The word “him” in this verse has been added by the translators who considered everything to be literal.

Babylon teaches that the “Him,” is a creature they call the “devil” who they claim has the power of death and to be able to cast people into (a Literal) “HELL,” but Jesus Christ who sets the pattern for us said, “No one takes my life from me for I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.” In any case, the word “Hell” referred to the rubbish dump in the valley of Hinnon. This was the place where King Ahaz introduced the worship of the “Fire Gods,” the Sun, Baal and Moloch. The Jews under Manasseh made their children to pass through the fire (2 Chr. 33:6), and offered them as burnt-offerings to these gods. So the Godly Josiah defiled the valley, making it a receptacle of criminals' corpses, in which worms were continually feeding. (Jer. 7:31; 19:2-6). So this is the fear that will not allow us to enter the Strait Gate.

        In Matt 10:33 Jesus says, “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the Father. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” .The word “Confess” that is used here means to express in our daily life our true identity which is Christ. To fail to do this will also hinder us also from entering in at the strait gate. Then he continues saying, “Take heed and beware of covetousness for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things that he possesses.” Our possessions do not constitute our LIFE so we should not be greedy and lust after things or possessions. This is a true word for God’s people today in which Christians seek to impress others concerning their Spirituality by the kind of house they own or the car they drive, which they feel is a true reflection of God’s blessing in their life. Such is the covetousness that Jesus spoke about that would make it very difficult to enter in at the strait gate.

        As we continue to ponder the question in hand, “Are there few that be saved,” we need to be reminded what that word SAVED means. Strong’s concordance says :- It is the Greek word “sozo” {sode'-zo} which means to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger, destruction or from injury or peril, to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health and to preserve one who is in danger of destruction. I am repeating this because the word “SAVED” for most Christians, means their sins are forgiven and they have given their hearts to Jesus and are bound for heaven when they die. This is Babylon speaking and not the word of the Lord. The word “SOZO” conveys the thought of BEING MADE WHOLE. It comes as a shock for Christians to know Jesus did not preach the Gospel of Salvation as the Church has done throughout the world, but he preached “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye (you need a new MIND) for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand or is here, because the KING HAS ARRIVED. Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

        It is important to notice that the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God was always associated with the HEALING OF THE SICK. Because God’s salvation means, TO BE MADE WHOLE. In my ministry travels everywhere I go, people are wanting to be healed. The world today is suffering from every known and some unknown diseases, but it is such a sad thing to notice that in the Church sickness and disease is just as prevalent. Many of us who know the Lord have friends who have died in recent times, people who lived good lives attended Church, read the Bible and prayed, but they died. I have heard Christians say, “Why are so many GOOD PEOPLE, that is people that love God and are active in the Church and even preachers, but they become sick and they die. In a sense they feel there is no difference between the wicked people of this world and God’s people for both die. Christians in active service for the Lord die in accidents and the cry from God’s people is WHY LORD, WHY ARE THESE THINGS HAPPENING. Could it be that many who “thought” they had entered the STRAIT GATE and the narrow way, had not entered it after all? For this is the question Jesus was asked, “ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED.” I trust that from all that I have share with you in this booklet we will go back and really H-E-A-R what Jesus Christ said to us, and has been recorded in the Bible.

In Luke 13:24 Jesus said, “I” say unto you,

MANY WILL SEEK TO ENTER IN, AND SHALL NOT BE ABLE.

        Perhaps we should be asking the question, “WHY are they not ABLE to enter in.” It must be because the GATE IS STRAIT which means that it is narrow and will not allow excess baggage to enter. Christians today are really only interested in “Going to heaven when they die,” but it is obvious that God has much more in store for those who do enter in through the strait gate. You will not be able to enter while there is covetousness in your heart, or if there is any sense of Hypocrisy in your Christian life which is simply “Play acting, “ or pretending outwardly to live for God but actually pleasing yourself instead. These issues if they are present in your life will keep you from entering the Strait Gate. Another problem that we must get rid of before we will be able to enter in is the EGO that is in man. The gate is too narrow to allow it to enter in. People who are trying to impress others about their Christian life, or those who are seeking to build a ministry such issues must be dealt with before they can gain access to the Strait Gate and the narrow way. Phobias or fears are another issue that we have to face before we can enter in, a morbid fear of something that has not only the power to kill, but to then be able to cast into hell. Such a fear cannot pass the strait gate. Then Jesus Christ continues by saying, “Take no thought for your life, or what you shall eat nor for your body or for what you will wear. Because just as God takes care of the birds of the air, and also the plant kingdom, so he is able to take care of you.

        Jesus then says, “All these things the nations of the world seek after, but we need to know that our HEAVENLY FATHER knows everything we have need of, and is more than able to supply our every need. So we no longer need to consider that we must work hard and wear out our body, to save enough money to live on this earth in our old age. This is part of the reason for the STRAIT GATE and the NARROW WAY. But what is God’s promise to us if we enter in through the strait gate, for this is important for us to know. However, to look at this issue of the strait Gate and the narrow way from a positive perspective here is what we discover. Jesus said in   Matthew 7:14 “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” So we know that if we do enter through the strait Gate on to the narrow way, then our path will lead to “LIFE” which is the life of God and is eternal, and whatever would seek to destroy that life will be robbed of its power, and be unable to affect us. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God for those who become citizens of the Kingdom, cannot be sick nor lack in any way, for the King Jesus Christ is responsible of them. If the citizens of his Kingdom suffered from every form of sickness and death, that would be an insult to the King. In the Kingdom of God, the King says:-

“Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be NO MORE DEATH, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away. Behold, I make all thing new.”

         The Tragedy is that Babylon has robbed God’s people by teaching that such scriptures have nothing to do with the reality of the Christian life today, making it the setting for an ethereal heaven that we can only know after we die. Babylon has taken over the mind of man by ignoring the Gospel that Jesus preached, which was the Gospel of the Kingdom, and substituted it with the Gospel of Salvation, we have become confused by the words Jesus spoke. The Strait Gate and the narrow path apply to the Gospel of the Kingdom, but cannot be a part of the Gospel of the Salvation, as it is taught today Therefore entry to that narrow way has been hidden to the world, by confusing it with other religious concepts, That other Gospel says,

Give your heart to Jesus and believe that he died on the cross for your sins, which you must confess, and then ask Jesus to come into your heart and you are now born again, and you will go to heaven when you die.

        This is then considered to be the entrance to the Strait Gate and the narrow path but Jesus Christ said if we entered into that narrow path it would lead to LIFE. However in reality that has not been the case, for sickness, pain and suffering, accidents, divorce and many other things rob God’s people of LIFE today. We must come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ did not lie but we have been deceived, for in Proverbs 14:12 we read, “There is a WAY that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the WAYS OF DEATH.” Perhaps the answer to the question, “Are  there few that be saved,” is yes, because of the confusion Babylon has caused.

The other question, concerning “Why many will seek to enter in but will not be able, is not because God has made the conditions of entry impossible, but the natural mind has been infected by the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and so many have not heard the voice of the Father. All that is required is for people to HEAR that still voice from WITHIN which is the voice of Father and we will have no problem to enter in and experience that LIFE that Jesus Christ expressed for us on this earth 2000 years ago.

 I know that many people will read this and consider that the writer must live on another planet, but the truth that I have discovered has come out of my own personal search for reality, and is not to prove others wrong, but to satisfy my own heart. Anyone who is honest must surely question teachings that do not line up with the Words Jesus Christ spoke.  If he said that entrance at the Strait Gate and the narrow way would lead to life, then surely that must be so or we have missed something along the way. The rationale behind religious thinking is that the spirit in MAN is eternal, so therefore we must have eternal life and will go to heaven at death, so sickness, suffering and death in this life are not a issue, because it is only eternity that is at stake.

        Christian’s pre-occupation with going to heaven has warped their understanding of the Kingdom of God. In Psalm 115:16 the Psalmist says, “The heavens, even the heavens are the Lords. But the earth he has given to the children of men.”  We are to inherit the earth and not heaven according to the word of Jesus Christ in Matt 5:5  In 1Cor 15:20 Paul says, “But now is Christ risen from the dead and has become, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THEM THAT SLEPT.1 Corinthians 15:24 Then cometh the end, or the completion of that part of his assignment, when he THE King, Jesus Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all Authority and Power that has been set up in opposition to God from the beginning. Christ is set forth to us as the firstfruits, which was taught through the Old Testament, that the whole harvest, which includes all of mankind is sanctified in the firstfruits. Paul teaches us in Eph 2:10 that all of mankind was created IN CHRIST JESUS who was that first man God created in Gen 1:26. He was created as pure spirit and so we must also be spirit in the reality of our being but that spirit now lives in a body.

        Entry into the Strait Gate and the narrow way, involves a recognition of our true identity, for the false identity that most people hold, that we are Mortal Human Beings will never find access at that gate. There is only ONE SOURCE LIFE and that is God so the spirit that dwells in us must be GOD, for there is no other life. Jesus tells us that we must DENY OUR “SELF,” which God never created. This means that we have believed that we are something different from what God created us in Gen 1:26. This is one of the main reasons why many have never been able to enter in at the strait Gate. God is the only source of LIFE therefore all life must come from God. Every man born on this earth came from the ONE SOURCE which is God. So to speak of a SELF which is separate from God makes no sense. Jesus Christ said, “I AM THE WAY, I AM THE TRUTH, AND I AM THE L-I-F-E.” There is no other life apart from him for All mankind was created IN HIM and in the image and likeness of God. To consider that when we say “I,” we are speaking about something totally separate from God is foolishness for it is impossible.

        First of all your BODY is not Y-O-U, for the body has no life resident in itself, but also your body was not CREATED. It was FORMED in your mother’s womb by the loving hands of your heavenly Father. Psalm 139:13-16. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Cor 6:19, Don’t you know that your body is the TEMPLE OF GOD, and it does not belong to you for it was purchased at Calvary. So the body is not who we are, it is a vessel through which the Christ who is the spirit of your true identity can express himself to the world in which we live. Jesus said, “In the volume of the Book it is written of me, I COME TO DO THY WILL O GOD.” Jesus was in fact the BODY OF THE CHRIST through which the CHRIST that is SPIRIT could manifest himself. The truth is that we today are really no different to what Jesus Christ was 2000 years ago. In Matt 16:16 Peter had received revelation from heaven and made an amazing statement. He looked into the eyes of Jesus the man and said, “You are the CHRIST (SPIRIT) the son of the living God.” Notice that Jesus did not tell him that he was wrong, for he told the truth, but he needed to be reminded that he could never have know the truth if God had not revealed it to him. HE HAD HEARD THE VOICE and it was TRUTH. !

You are I today are assigned the same task of being the body for the Christ dwelling in us today, allowing him to express himself and to do what he has come to do. The very same CHRIST that was in Jesus, dwells in every man today with the same power and ability to do what he did then, but religion has convinced us that we are simply MORTAL HUMAN BEINGS, but this is a lie. God created M-A-N and that man was, SPIRIT IN THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD. Gen 1:26. The Body was supplied in Gen 2:7 giving the man Adam who was put into the Garden of Eden, a FORM made from the dust of the earth which also came out of God, just like everything else.

The strait Gate and the narrow path are designed for the man God created in his likeness and image and not for any other creature.

 It is for this reason that I have written this book to help and encourage those whose heart is open to hear what the spirit is saying to us today. May the divine teacher, the Holy Spirit dwelling in you give you light and understanding in these things so you can enjoy the L-I-F-E that has been promised to God’s people today.

Written by Des Walter    August 2009