The Cycle of Life

 

The Cycle of Life

We know that the planets in our galaxy were created to “revolve” around the sun by the Creator in a continuous cyclical pattern. We can observe this fact on a daily basis.

What would happen if the Earth which “revolves” around the sun were to break free from the law of gravity and leave it’s orbit moving further and further away from the sun? And how would the “path” of the Earth change if that were to happen?

The Earth’s revolving “cycle” would turn into a straight line, and the earth’s “path” would go from being cyclical to linear and the Earth would continue to move further and further away from the sun until it would no longer sustain life!

Atoms are one of the smallest particles known to exist. Every living being is made up of atoms. The life sustaining cycle of an atom is similar to the movement and “path” of the planets in our galaxy, as the electrons “revolve” around the nucleus. Just like our galaxy, the cycle of an atom follows a preset law that God put into place from the very beginning in order to sustain life.

What is one of the most powerful weapons of mass destruction to date and how was it made by man?

The answer is an atom bomb! This is the result of man learning how to “split” the atom by manipulating what God originally created in order to maintain a cycle of life. By splitting the atom and breaking the cycle that sustains life man brought forth death and destruction.

We can see within our own bodies God’s created cycle of life, God states in His Word that life is in the blood (Deuteronomy 12:23) and it is the “circulatory” system of our bodies that keeps blood moving through our veins which protects and sustains life. Life on Earth is sustained by continuous cycles. I find it very interesting that the very definition of “evolution” as the world defines it today has something beginning at a certain point and then it continues to move (ie. evolve) further and further away from it’s point of origin, never to return. This is the exact opposite of a cycle and the very definition of death and destruction as we can see in everyday life and with creation! This is called continuous observable science that can be tested and always manifests the same outcome, it is a fact and not a theory!

Our Creator identifies His ways through His creation. He made the universe and all life to function on a reoccurring cycle to protect and preserve life just as I believe He has done in and through His Word. When man tries to manipulate, modify or remove the laws that protects and sustains life our Creator has put in place he brings forth chaos, death and destruction. I believe satan is very well aware of this and is using this same process to bring chaos, death and destruction by leading man to manipulate, modify or remove the laws of God in creation as well as in His Word.

Scripture clearly tells us that eternal life is only found in the Son who we are to revolve our mind, heart and life around to receive that eternal life. This is the Son of God, He is Word made flesh and the center of our cycle of life. Just as God’s Word testifies, life is in the blood and we have found life by and in Yeshua’s blood that was shed for us! Yeshua is the heart and the life sustaining force of His body and His bride is like the blood cells that will remain alive and healthy and if not polluted by foreign matters and remains in the cycle that always brings them back to the heart. I will bring up this analogy again later on so keep this in mind.

We read in Psalm 23:1-6, “1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

 

The word “restores” in verse 3, is the Hebrew word “shuv“, which means to turn back, return or come back. The word “shuv” is the root word for the Hebrew word “teshuva” which means repentance. The very act of repentance is to turn away from sin and to turn back to God. The process of restoration begins when we turn away from sin and turn back to God by and through His Word that was made flesh and submit to His law as sin is transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4)

 

According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon the word “paths” in verse 3 is translated from the Hebrew word “ma’gal“, which is defined as:

“entrenchment” (a position of strength);

“track” (a rough path or minor road, typically one beaten by use rather than constructed, a path made by or as if by repeated footfalls);

“circumvallation” (To surround with or as if with a rampart, lines of circumvallation generally consist of earthen ramparts and entrenchments that encircle the besieged city)

*The origin of this Hebrew word is the word “agol” meaning “round or circular” from an unused root meaning to “revolve“. Does that sound familiar?

Based on the definition of this Hebrew word “ma’gal” that is translated in the English as “paths” in verse 3 we see that it is referring to a “cyclical” path that brings about righteousness.

We see in verse 4 that it says “You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”. God’s rod and staff represents His authority. Who was all authority given to by God? It was given to Yeshua! Yeshua (Jesus) also promised not to leave us comfortless.

We see in verse 5 that it says “You have anointed my head with oil”. The anointing of God is by and through the receiving of His Holy Spirit and we can only receive the Holy Spirit if we receive His anointed, which is the meaning of the word Messiah or Mashiach in Hebrew.

We see in verse 6 that it says “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever”. The body of Messiah is the house of God and if we abide in God’s house we will remain in the cycle of everlasting life.

This life giving cyclical path begins the moment we receive and profess with our mouth that Yeshua, that Jesus is our Lord and Savior from a heart moved by belief and having repented from our sinful ways and base our life around Him, He is the entry and the sustainer of the cycle of life. Only God Himself can do and be all these things that brings forth this cycle of everlasting life!

 

What hope do we have to remain in this life sustaining cycle knowing that we are imperfect in our walk with our Messiah because we continue to struggle with sin which is breaking God’s law?

We read in Romans 7:12-25, “12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

 

The Apostle Paul is comparing 2 different “laws” at work in our lives as believers that are still in our fleshly bodies and have yet to be perfected by Yeshua when He returns. The 1st “law” Paul refers to in these verses is the “law of God” and Paul goes on to share the other “law” which is in direct opposition to the law of God that dwells in us when he refers to the “law of sin” caused by our flesh. When we are in our flesh we are serving the law of sin that breaks God’s law but when we are walking according to the Spirit we are walking in agreement (obedience) with the law of God as is confirmed later in this same letter written by Paul in Romans 8:4-8.

What I want to point out and what I believe is the most important thing to understand from this section of Scripture is that this is the Apostle Paul writing this under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he is writing this letter and he is referring to himself! There are not too many men in the Bible that sacrificed as much as Paul sacrificed and still remained a loyal and dedicated servant to God and Yeshua (Jesus) to the very end when he literally gave his life and forsook everything else. There are not too many people in the Bible that would be considered by most to be as holy (meaning set-apart to God) of a man as the Apostle Paul was!

Why am I saying this is the most important thing to understand from this section of Scripture as it relates to this message?

The Apostle Paul being one of the holiest and Godliest men to serve and follow after our Savior is admitting that even he continued to struggle against his flesh and failed at times! Even he continued to falter and break the law of God even though he strived to do his best and hated, to the point of disgust, to break God’s law! Paul was so disgusted with his continued sin nature of his flesh that he referred to himself as a “wretched man“!

Was Paul saying this about himself because he felt defeated and wanted to justify giving up because what is the point if he just keeps sinning no matter how much he wants to be holy and faithful to God? Is Paul saying why keep trying if he is only going to fail anyways?

Absolutely not! Paul is revealing the right heart condition and the hope that we have because of the covering of our Bridegroom, of Yeshua, the only One that can deliver us! The right heart condition exhibited by Paul here recognizes even his weakness and inability to be perfect in his obedience to God’s law while he still was in his fleshly body and that without the covering of Yeshua to protect him from the penalty (death) of breaking God’s law and the Holy Spirit within him to help guide him to deny his flesh and walk according to God’s law he would have no hope! But by receiving the love offering of the blood of the spotless Lamb of our Savior that covers our sin and by the power of the Holy Spirit that we receive because of our faith in the perfect Lamb we have access to the ability to become more faithful in our walk and to be comforted in our struggles knowing the mercy and grace that we are granted by our Heavenly Father by and through our Messiah Yeshua by the receiving of the Holy Spirit! Paul emphatically says in verse 25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”, because we are not able to do what Yeshua has done perfectly and what He will continue to do to guide us and cover our sin if we will just have the right heart for Him and for our Heavenly Father. The person who has this kind of heart is willing and desires to follow after Yeshua learning to crucify the desires of their flesh and obey God’s law as best as they understand it, knowing they are not able to do it perfectly or in their own strength but still continues to do their best out of faith and love.

This right heart condition that Paul exhibits and that God seeks for is the heart that desires to serve God and walk in His law because His law is “holy and righteous and good” as revealed by Paul in verse 12 and because God tells us in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” Our faith in God’s Word which reveals His law to us should cause us to have a strong desire to do what is holy, righteous and good. Our love for Him will drive us to obey His law with all our heart while knowing that we will always come up short and that He still receives us and sees those with this kind of heart as His faithful bride who desires to love Him in return! May it be so!

The Apostle Paul further reveals this right heart condition in 1 Timothy 6:11-12, where he says “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses”. The right heart condition is encouraged by God’s love, mercy and faithfulness by and through our Messiah knowing and trusting in God’s promises and His covenant to deliver His people. This trust in His love and promises motivates us to continue fighting this good fight of faith against our flesh and against the attacks of the enemy who wants us to be discouraged, to feel defeated, unworthy, without hope in order to lead us to serve the desires of our flesh and walk in defiance of God’s law and to fall away from our faith and leave His cycle of life.

May we always continue to fight against these lies, turn away from our defiant sin (repentance) and cling to God through Yeshua continuing to rededicate and resubmit our lives to His Word and resist any further lies and temptations of satan so that he will flee from us!

Human nature or our flesh looks at the act of becoming more “holy” as “attaining” or “earning” a higher level and this kind of thinking causes one to “raise up” themselves and/or others onto “levels” of worthiness. Meaning that those that are thought or seen to be on higher levels are “better” than those that are “below” them. This type of thinking is wrong and destructive, leading one to think to highly of oneself (pride) or to lead one to feel completely defeated, discouraged and not worthy because they are so bad that God wants nothing to do with them because they are not as “good” as the others “above” them! Both of these opposite ends of fleshly thinking and looking at this walk with God are wrong and will cause one to not remain in a life sustaining relationship with Him, in His cycle of life, because they will no longer have the right heart toward Him and His Word.

Remember what the Apostle Paul said of himself in regards to “his level” with God according to God’s standards?

He said “Wretched man that I am!”. This is the level we should all see ourselves on which will keep us humble and always completely reliant on the Lord to sustain us and allow Him to be the One to lift us up!

 

Just as we see with the circulatory system of our bodies sometimes certain blood cells (meaning us) are close to our heart (Yeshua) and other times they (meaning we) are further away from our heart (Yeshua) but if we have the right heart condition toward Him by not giving up or allowing ourselves to being led away by our flesh (a picture of foreign ruler/substance allowed in) no matter how ugly our cycle may look or how far we may go away at times in our walk He will always lead us back around to Himself in order to keep us safe and alive.

 

If we will just hold on and abide “in Yeshua” (Jesus) by having the right heart toward Him and our Heavenly Father even though we will not be perfect in our walk He will perfect us if we will just hold on with all our heart! He is the One that leads us into the “cycles of righteousness” and it is He who allows for us to enter into God’s “cycle of life”, everlasting life! He is our hope and our help in our distress. “Hope” in the Bible doesn’t mean a possibility, it is a definite statement of what will be, a guarantee! Don’t give up, hold on to Him and not the things of this world, knowing that God just desires for us to do our best with His help and He takes care of the rest, pun intended!

In Christ we have true hope because He has done and will do what we are not able to do, perfect us into everlasting life! There is no hope outside of Him. Praise the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for our Yeshua (Jesus), our salvation, our sustainer and soon coming deliverer!

May this truth greatly encourage all of us, fill us with undying hope and strengthen us to continue fighting the good fight of faith to take hold of the eternal life to which we were called into this cycle of life, into our Yeshua! Amen! Amen! and Amen!

Until next time, the Lord bless you and guard you.

 

 

 

 

Scripture references:

“Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.” (Deuteronomy 12:23)

 

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4)

 

“4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:4-8)