Stages In The Christian Life

This is my first post regarding spiritually related material. I will be writing first on the journey of the Christian. Hopefully this will help some people understand the stages and determine where exactly they stand.
The Last Journey Elisha took with Elijah is the foundation of this article. Each of the four places mentioned that Elisha and Elijah stopped at are highly significant in Israel’s history and I believe they are highly symbolic of stages in the Christian life. At the time Elijah was going to be taken to heaven and Elisha to receive a double portion of the Holy Spirit, these two men travelled along a pathway which connected these four locations. From the physical and geographical we can derive a very important lesson- if we wish to rapture to heaven like Elijah or receive the Holy Spirit as a mantle like Elisha we must travel through these four stages of life as are typified for us by these four places 2 Kings 2:1-11.
GILGAL
The journey begins at Gilgal. Gilgal was a very important place in Israel’s history. It was a base where Joshua and the Israelites used to go out from. And it was also the very first place that they came to when they entered the Promised Land. Gilgal therefore means the ‘rolling’ or ‘rollaway’ and so it is called Gilgal because God was saying to them in Joshua 5:9 “I have rolled away the past. I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt, I have separated you from all those taunts that you had, that you would never get into the Promised Land’. They were now a separated people, separated from the past, but also separated unto a living God - which is what circumcision speaks of. It was a sign that they had made a covenant with God. And so, if we were going to boil it down to one word, Gilgal symbolically stands for ‘separation’ - being separated from the past and being separated unto God.

Now there are two important things in Gilgal. The first are these stones that were set up as a monument and a reminder so that anyone that looked at them would remember that God is alive and well. God wanted it known and remembered that He is a living God and that He acts on behalf of His people. That is why the stones were there. It is, of course, something that we need to be reminded about repeatedly! So often we think and act as if God was not even alive. We act like He doesn’t even know about the situation that we are going through. We need to be reminded that God is a living God and that He acts on behalf of His people. It is so important to not just talk the talk, but to actually walk the walk in the Christian life. We should, in our lives, be separated from that which would seek to draw us away from God, and be separated, as living sacrifices, unto the living God. None can work acceptably in the kingdom of God until his soul is acquainted with what that place stands for. Gilgal, then, is where the path of God’s servant must necessarily begin. Not until he unsparingly mortifies the flesh, separates from the world, and consecrates himself unreservedly to God is he prepared to journey further. Flesh is the uttermost tripartite being, whatever we have by birth is of the flesh and this includes sin and uncleanliness, corruption and natural goodness, ability, zeal, wisdom and power. Those who do not know how to deny the flesh do not know what true spiritual life is.

Bethel
Bethel is where God appeared to Abraham and he built an altar signifying the absolute consecration to God and intimate communion and fellowship with God and he called it the ‘House of God’ because he’d had this amazing time with the Lord. He had been in the very presence of the Lord. Later in Israel’s history, during the time of Judges, Bethel was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. So people always used to go to Bethel to enquire of the Lord. It was known as the House of God.

For us Bethel speaks to us about the Lord’s presence. It is where He is! It is the desire that we should have to be in His presence. The second stage is to do with a desire for God and a desire for His presence. As we have seen, it was originally the place of hallowed memories, but in the course of time it had been grievously defiled. Bethel had been horribly polluted; for it was there that Jeroboam set up one of his golden calves, appointed an idolatrous priesthood, and led the people into terrible sin (1 Kings 12:28, 33). Elisha must visit this place so that he might be suitably affected with the dishonor done unto the Lord. History has repeated itself. The house of God, the professing church, is defiled, and the servant of Christ must take to heart the apostate condition of Christendom today if his ministry is to be effective.

Jericho

Jericho signifies Gods enemy and it means curse. Josh 6;26.As we stand with the Lord, eventualy the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet The servant of God needs to enter deeply into the solemn fact that this world is under the curse of a holy God. And what is that "curse"? Death (Rom. 6:23). It's easy to talk about it, but it's more than likely that you've got problems. I know this because things are seldom easy on this planet. When you’re in the midst of a problem, it's very hard to simply trust that God is adequate for your situation and to walk by faith, even though it sounds great and is so, so, so biblical! But it means that you are not walking by sight. It means that you are actually going through a situation where you cannot see how things are going to turn out. And that can be dreadful at times. But we need, obviously, to trust. We need to trust our Father

River Jordan

The River Jordan signifies death. When the Lord was baptised declaring the whole universe that as a man in the flesh He was good for nothing but death and burial, the heaven were open, the Spirit descended and the Father spoke a word of acknowledgment. It is the same with us, we need to live a life in the reality of our baptism, overcoming death by the power of resurrection. When we deny ourselves and live by the divine life we have the heavens open up to us and the Father speaks to us and through us confirming all that we are His sent one The Jordan, as I’m sure you remember, is what the Israelites had to cross to pass into the Promised Land. The Jordan separated the land of Canaan from their wanderings in the wilderness and was a highly significant place in the Israelites history. You will remember that God miraculously separated the waters as the Israelites passed through on dry ground. In fact, God even commanded Joshua to take 12 stones from the midst of the Jordan and to set them as a memorial for the sons of Israel forever so that no one would forget what God had performed there. Notice that Jesus, while thinking of the cross, said that ‘where I am, my servant will be also.’ This eternal principle of the wheat falling to the ground and dying was not just for Jesus! No, Jesus clearly said that to be His servant would mean that the same principle applied. Elisha knew this, and when the call of God came his way, he readily let go of his own life, his own hopes and dreams, and followed the call of God to wherever that would lead him! What a fantastic attitude and a great picture for our lives.

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