Like God in Life and Nature by Ron Brubacher

Like God in Life and Nature Translated from Portuguese with permission of Editora Árvore da Vida All rights reserved by Jasper Life Publications Inc. Jasper Life Publications Inc. 725 Viscount Road London, Ontario, Canada N6J 4G9 Phone: (519) 472-6620 www.jasperlife.com info@jasperlife.com ISBN 978-1-926970-01-1 All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version® is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.

CONTENTS Preface.................................................................................... 5 1 God’s Life and Nature............................................................ 7 2 Peter’s Experiences (1)......................................................... 17 3 Peter’s Experiences (2)......................................................... 27 4 Job – A Perfect and Upright Man......................................... 37 5 The Bountiful Entrance into the Eternal Kingdom ............ 49

Reading Suggestion .............................................................. 59

PREFACE This book is composed of messages given by Brother Dong Yu Lan in June, 2008. In this book you will know the difference between the Peter portrayed in the gospels and in Acts of the Apostles and the Peter who wrote his two Epistles. That impulsive Peter passed through a long process of discipline of the Lord, matured, and was perfected to the point that he left so simple but so profound words that reveal his discernment of the Lord and His purpose. In his first epistle, he writes concerning the divine life and in the second epistle, he writes concerning God’s nature. Regarding the divine life, he begins by regeneration (1 Pet. 1:3)—the new birth—in which we receive the divine life as an incorruptible seed that gradually grows in us (vv. 23, 25). Besides this, according to Peter’s experience, this life must grow unto maturity to the point that we would be like God (1 John 3:2) in life and nature and in this way be able to reign with Him during the millennial kingdom. We encourage you to read this book carefully. Do it with a spirit of prayer, emptying yourself and asking the Lord to reveal more of His riches to you. In the last pages, you will find one innovation. We felt that the words of this publication are so important that we took the liberty to suggest a small daily reading outline. We subdivided 5

each chapter into seven little portions in a way that each week you would have the rich opportunity to enjoy the biblical texts mentioned throughout the book and its content. Enjoy your reading! Good enjoyment! The editors Sao Paulo, August, 2008. This book was originally published in Portuguese by Ă rvore da Vida with the title Ser como Deus em vida e natureza. It has been translated into English by Jasper Life Publications. The translation has not been reviewed by the speaker.

CHAPTER ONE GOD’S LIFE AND NATURE

Introduction The apostle Peter is not well regarded by most of the Bible’s readers. The first impression about him, mainly in the gospels, is not that good. He was exposed in many biblical passages as someone hasty and impulsive in his speaking and in his leading the other disciples in many different situations. To our surprise, when we read his two epistles we find a mature man, full of experiences and with a very practical vision of the complete salvation of God. In the past, we used to give too much heed to the revealed truths of the apostle Paul. After all, of the twenty-seven books that compose the New Testament, fourteen were written by Paul (the great majority of Bible students consider that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by Paul as well). We ended up neglecting the truths presented by Peter in his epistles. To some extent we have excessively treasured the letters Paul wrote rather than Peter’s. When we come back to Peter’s writings, we can see the importance that he gave to the truth, for he speaks about the 7

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obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22). He also says that he would be ready to remind his readers regarding the truth already presented and confirmed in his epistles (2 Pet. 1:12). We have already mentioned on other occasions that Peter was very traditional, a fact that was revealed mainly in the episode of the vision of the great sheet containing all sort of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven. He refused to eat all those animals which he considered common and unclean, even though the order was given by God (Acts 10:10-16). God was trying to show with this episode that He loves men and He desires that His salvation would reach not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles, who were considered by the Jews as unclean. Even though Peter had cooperated with God to open the door of the gospel with his visit and his words to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius (vv. 30-48), his concept regarding the Jewish tradition was so rooted in him that it hindered him from being a channel to bring the gospel to the other Gentiles. Faced with this situation, the Lord had to raise the apostle Paul for this mission (Gal. 2:7-9). The High Peak of the Divine Revelation The difference is noteworthy between the Peter portrayed in the gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles and the Peter that wrote his two Epistles. The impulsive Peter, without a doubt, passed through the discipline of the Lord, matured and was perfected to the point that he could write words so simple yet so profound that reveal his discernment concerning the Lord and His purpose. In his first epistle, he writes regarding the divine life and in the second regarding the divine nature. 8

God’s Life and Nature

Regarding the divine life, Peter begins with regeneration (1 Peter 1:3), that is, we are born of God, which means that by the new birth we receive the divine life as an incorruptible seed which gradually grows in us (vv. 23, 25). Besides this, according to Peter’s experience, this life must grow in us until maturity to the point that we can reign with the Lord in the millennial kingdom and be like the Lord Jesus (1 John 3:2) in the life and nature of God. In his second epistle, Peter makes us clear that by having the divine life we are co-partakers of the divine nature and that the more the life of God grows in us, the more His divine nature grows in our being. And in this way, our human nature is uplifted to live according to the nature of God. Praise the Lord! In these simple and profound words is the high peak of the divine revelation. God became a man for men to become like God in life and nature. It is evident that we will never be like God Himself in His Godhead, but Psalms 82:6 says, “I said, ‘You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High.’ ” The Most High is the only one worthy to be worshiped and we are all His sons having His life and nature. When His life with His nature grows in us until fullness, we will be like He is but not in the Godhead. When an animal is born with the life of a dog, it is a dog. Whoever is born with the human life is a human being. Thus, whoever is born of God is a god, as Psalms 86 affirms that we are gods. However, it is prudent to highlight that we will not be the Most High Himself, we will be His sons full of His life and nature. Life and Godliness Peter describes this high truth with much wisdom. In his second letter, chapter one, we read, “as His divine power 9

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has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (v. 3). God has given His life which has an expression. Godliness means to be like God, look like God, and express Him. Each life has its own expression. The life of God within us expresses the image of God through our living; thus we are like God, we express Him. This is the high truth. Hallelujah! Because of this, we need to grow to the point that we would be full of God’s life inwardly. Thus, we would spontaneously have the expression of God outwardly. With this explanation, we understand that God became a man in order for men to have His life and He wants this life to grow in us until we express His nature. Then we will become like Him in life and expression. Praise the Lord! Transformed from Clay to Stones All of us are like the apostle Peter. Peter’s experiences speak intimately to us because they are very much the same as ours. There was only one Peter but now we found out that there are many Peters, because all of us are like him. Let us take a look at the history of Peter’s call. “One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas’ (which is translated, A Stone).” (John 1:40-42). Both Cephas in Hebrew and Peter in Greek mean stone. Before salvation, we like Peter were only clay because we were formed from the dust of the ground. 10

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After being saved the Lord transformed us into stones, but at first we are rough stones. Thus we need transformation to be useful in the building of the house of God. When we consider Peter’s experiences, we see how rough, natural and tough he was. This is exactly our situation! We are as hard as a rough stone; we need the transformation work of the Spirit to eliminate our impurities and transform us into living and precious stones. Therefore, when we study Peter’s writings, we have the impression that we are studying ourselves. Peter’s experience became ours! Women are not as strong as men. They themselves feel that they are not like Peter for they are affectionate and sweet, softer than he was. But if they receive the light of the word of God, they will see, as in a mirror, that in their sweetness is hidden their determined nature and their strong opinion, their hardness. Our great difficulty is that we cannot see ourselves. Praise the Lord that through Peter’s experiences recorded in the New Testament we can be enlightened and we are able to see! Stones Dealt With to Be a Spiritual House The Lord reserved a special portion for Peter. He worked Himself carefully into him because he was natural and hard and could not be useful to God. In Matthew 16, the Lord Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock1 I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (v. 18). All stones need to be built upon the rock, the cornerstone. Therefore, all Peters must be transformed. For this reason, Peter himself wrote in chapter two of his first Epistle that we need to grow, “as newborn babes, desire the 1

Rock: according to Greek Petra 11

Like God in Life and Nature

pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (v. 2). And more, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (vv. 4-5). The meaning of these words is that since we are rough stones, we need to be transformed. Transformation only occurs through the growth of the divine life in us. On the other hand, the natural elements of this rough stone need to be eliminated through fire (1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12). Jesus is a living stone, a stone that has the life of God. Thus we need to be like Him, full of the divine life that grows in us as more of the impurities are eliminated by fire through trials. The more we grow, the more useful we will be for the building up of the church, the spiritual house of God (2:5). Lose to Gain Every human being needs food to grow. The plants need water and nutrients of the earth; the animals’ offspring only grow if they are fed. A baby can only grow if he is breast fed and later on he needs solid food to continue growing. God’s life in us will only grow if something in us is reduced. This was Peter’s experience. His natural life had to be reduced little by little in order for God’s life to expand and grow. In the spiritual aspect, in order for it to grow, something needs to decrease. In Matthew 16, Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (vv. 24-25). Life here refers to the life of the soul and 12

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can be translated as soul-life.If we renounce our soul-life and deny ourselves, the divine life will find space to grow in us. Therefore, the soul-life must be subtracted and our self, our natural life, must be renounced. This is like breathing: first, we exhale the carbon dioxide that is in our lungs in order to create space for the oxygen to come in. The growth of God’s life will occur in us firstly by the subtraction of our natural life. With this light, we can better understand how Peter was led by the Lord. Peter had a great position among the apostles, even though he was very natural, a rough stone, overly hasty, impulsive, and always the first one to give opinions. In Matthew 16, we can also see that Peter received the revelation from God the Father concerning Christ. The mystery of God is Christ. This mystery was hidden for ages and generations and God was the One who revealed it. Nobody knew Him until God gave the revelation to Peter. On that occasion, “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’ ” (vv. 16-17). It was God Himself who revealed it to Peter. And Jesus revealed His own mystery, which is the church, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (v. 18). After revealing the church, Jesus began to show that for the church to be produced, He needed to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised (v. 21). Peter, in his natural kindness, began to reproach Him saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to 13

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You!” (v. 22). Peter could not bear to see his master suffering in the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes and be killed. But if Jesus wouldn’t suffer and die on the cross, the church would not be generated, the redeeming work would not be accomplished, and no one could be saved. Behind the Natural Goodness Do not think that we can serve the Lord in our natural goodness. Satan uses our natural goodness to hinder God’s work. That’s why Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matt. 16:23). There are sisters among us who are very nice, very sweet, and incapable of doing something bad to someone. This seems to be very proper but we cannot say that this goodness comes from the divine life. We need to see that if our goodness and kindness come from our natural man (as happened with Peter), it can be joined with Satan. That’s why our natural life needs to pass through the discipline of God. The same Peter who was used by God to reveal the church, after a short period of time was also used by Satan to try to hinder Jesus from going to the cross. The Lord exposed Peter’s mistake to unveil the natural man that each one of us has. Without God’s shining, we still exalt our natural goodness and other natural good qualities. Peter was rebuked by the Lord before everyone. This was like a fire burning his inward being to remove the impurities. Experiences like these made Peter understand that it is necessary to pass through trials in order that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation 14

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of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:6-7). Peter was bothered at that moment but the fire made him realize that he needed to be purified. Gold is only refined in high temperatures with the goal of removing all the impurities. That’s why the Lord Jesus said that if anyone wants to come after Him, he must deny himself and take up his cross. Our soul-life needs to be rejected in order for us to reach the salvation of our souls. Our self is our natural person, the life of the self is our soul-life, and the ego expresses itself through opinions and thoughts. Therefore, to live a genuine church life we need to deny our self with its many opinions. If we stop feeding our soul-life by rejecting it, our ego decreases but if we are feeding our soul-life all the time, our ego gets bigger and bigger. In the church we follow the Lord. To follow the Lord we need to deny ourselves, that is to deny our own natural person, our opinions, and renounce the soul-life. The problem is that because of the lack of light we protect our self, we treasure our good heart, and we do not see any reason to deny it. The more we receive the Lord’s light, the more our natural self is exposed and we no longer want to live by our soul-life. Thus it will gradually be saved. God’s Complete Salvation Man is formed of three parts: spirit, soul and body. The complete salvation God had prepared for man is also of three parts. The day that we receive the Lord Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are saved and regenerated, in other words we are born again. By believing, we receive the salvation of our spirit and the life of God enters into us. Thus, all the redeeming work that the 15

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Lord accomplished on the cross becomes our reality. The salvation of our body will occur at Christ’s second coming. He will transform our corrupted and dishonored body into an incorruptible and glorified body (1 Cor. 15:42-44). The salvation of the soul depends on our cooperation with God—it is our responsibility—and occurs while we are alive. Peter’s failures were very much exposed and he recognized that he needed many trials with fire to burn his many natural elements. In the same way, we need the Lord’s light to expose our fallen person in order for us to recognize that we need the sanctifying fire to purify us. Thus, the salvation of the soul occurs little by little every time we renounce our soul-life. In this way we are opening up a way for the life of God to grow in our soul and saturate us with His holy nature. When our oldness is exposed by the Lord, we should not argue with Him. We must learn with Peter not to protect our soul-life because when we do it gets bigger, and our self, which is already big enough, will get even bigger. What we need to do is take up the cross and put our soul-life to death. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26). As soon we are enlightened, we must repent in order for God to operate His salvation in our soul. This is the complete salvation that God wants to give to us. If we allow the Lord to save our soul, when He comes back we will be full of life and full of God’s nature, we will be approved before the judgment seat of Christ, we will be introduced into glory, and we will receive the honor to reign with Christ for a thousand years. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for so great and complete a salvation! 16