So far in this first fruit fasting exercise, we have shown that the Lord Jesus came to declare a lasting Jubilee (year of emancipation and restoration) and that the saint (just) is expected to flourish in joy (a quality enjoyed by the Father and produced by the Spirit).
Today, we want to inform that in order to ensure the joy of His people, the Lord does deploy an uncommon, incredible mechanism of eliciting the unnatural; hence our message.
From our texts: John the Baptist spoke of the possibility of procreation from rocks (inanimate), and the Lord Jesus spoke of stones crying out (Gk. Krozo means ‘to call aloud’, ‘to exclaim’ as in Jn.7:28,37; 12:44 – krozo suggests instinct).
Our message shall describe the inanimate; discuss and draw lessons from their instinct.
The Inanimate is simply ‘that, not endowed with life’. In Greek, there are 3 classes of life viz (i) Bios: covers life of the physical body, the present state of existence and by implication belongings, means of livelihood, etc (Lk.8:14; 2tim.2:4; 1Jn.2:16; 3:17), (ii) Psuche: the psychological life of the man. Soul, the sense of feelings, desires, affection, aversion, etc that came into operation when God breathed into Adam the breath of life (Gen.2:7; cp.Mt.16:25; 10:39; 20:28; Rom.11:3; 16:4), (iii) Zoe: the uncreated life that God possesses from eternity. It is eternal in nature and so indestructible but can be lost as did the fallen angels. (Jn.1:4; 3:15,36; 6:35; 10:10; Rom.8:2).
The inanimate does not respond to any natural stimulus because it doesn’t have life.
The Instinct is a specific complex pattern of responses by living organism which is independent of any thought processes; an automatic reaction to some stimulus that cannot be repressed.
The inanimate does not possess any of these forms of life, yet can manifest instinct, hence the words of the Lord (Lk.19:46); the action of the napkin, (Jn.20:7), automatic opening of the prison iron gates (Acts 12:3-10).
The creation automatically responds to the desire/will and word of God hence the events at the death of Jesus (Mt.27:50-54; Lk.23:44-47), the fall of Jericho’s wall (Jos.6:20), the dividing of the Red Sea (Exo.14:21-22). When God’s servant or heir speaks, the inanimate hears (Jos.10:12-14; Mk.11:22,23).
The Lord can deploy anything to serve His purpose (cons. Gen.6:17, 20:1-18, Exo.7-12; Num.22:21-31, Jos.10:10-11, 1Kgs.17:1-16). And if anyone is given to please the Lord, everything had been instructed to serve him, including the inanimate (Rom.8:28).
The Lord Jesus has paid the price for you to seamlessly enjoy the expressions of the power of the Almighty (Jn.15:10,16; 19:30; 20:21; Eph.1:16-20), so arise and act.
If stones can react to God’s bidding, which animate or spirit will not? (Rom.8:31)