Volume 2, Chapter 2
The Cell
DNA - Building The House
By Bob Torango
John 1:1‑5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (KJV)
John 1:14
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (KJV)
As we have stated in past articles, DNA is the central intelligence of the cell, and hence the body. It is the mind, or intellect, of the whole organism that over 30 trillion cells depend upon to grow and develop and to reproduce. One of the most important things for us to understand in this study concerning DNA is that it does nothing outside of the cellular holiest of all, the nucleus. It does not work or toil, it gives information and passes hereditary traits along to each new cell. It is a vast library of instructions, filled with minute details and blueprints of each and every part of your body.
Just as God created the heavens and the earth in six cycles and on the seventh cycle rested from all of His labor, DNA is in a similar state of being. Just as God made all that was to be made in this creation in the beginning, in one cyclical period of time, and spoke all things into existence out of the Logos of His being, and henceforth He is now in a state of “expectation” to see the fulfillment of the process of redemption He has set in motion since the genesis, so it is with our DNA. It is a living Logos in the body, a book of life that is read over and over again by each cell. It is the same book of instruction that each one of the trillions of cells access, because the Creator God instituted a marvelous method of replication of the book that ensures each cell an astounding rate of accuracy of duplication of each word in this vast library of complex directions.
Is it not a wonder that each one of us has the same amount of God in our being and we are all able to access His Word written on the tables of our heart without fear that something was left out of our book? I can assure you that you have the same Christ in you that I have in me, in all of His fullness and completeness, and not one of us has any more resident power and glory than any of God’s children. But, you say, how can that be? Look at the darkness in the world and how some are without doubt more spiritual than others and some serve God and others curse Him and still others are “spirit-filled” and others are obviously “spirit-empty.” Yes, I can see how you might say this, according to what you have heard from the religious systems today. But I do believe that we are not seeing the whole picture when we come to that conclusion. After all, the carnal actions of men and their devious ways are not signs that they don’t have the wholeness of God in them, it is just that they have not “read the book” that is written on their hearts! Others that seem more filled with God, in keeping with the scriptural reality of God living in every man, are not living with more amount of Christ than others, but they are accessing more of His book, reading more of the instructions that give them understanding and put them into a position of having more power and glory in their outward walk. This is not a result of having more or less of God residing in you. It is rather a result of having more availability and knowledge of His will in your life.
So it is, that each cell has the whole book of life within it, but of those trillions of cells there is a great diversity of structure and function, some more readily seen and enjoyed and others that are more obscure and hidden. In our body there are liver cells, brain cells, muscle cells, blood cells, skin cells, big cells, little cells, cells that do little, cells that do a lot, cells that are seen externally, cells that are never seen by the naked eye. They all, in the beginning of their existence, read from the same book, but in order to have this diversity there has to be a way for the book to “hold back” some of its instructions to create different and distinct types of cells to carry out the cellular economy of this vast organism, the human body. Can we not also see, how God has hidden from some the total Logos of His revelation so that He could let His plan work out in the past ages, choosing to have periods of explosions of glory and power in one age and letting only a few rays of His light shine in others, always working out a harmony of the scriptural prophecy and the unfolding of it in the world, from the glorious and miraculous time of the early church to the dark ages to the times of reformation to the period of humanism to the time of Holy Ghost outpouring and so on. All of the ages operated under the same heavens, the same throne, the same spirit of Christ, but to some it was given and to others it was not. “And the Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.” The Light is where? It shines IN darkness, and the darkness has no perception or availability to it. None of us have read the whole book of God, only portions of it that have brought us to this place, but we will!! In the ages to come we will eventually know Him as the ALL in the all and we will be just like Him! Praise the Lord.
DNA is kept isolated inside the nucleus of the cell because it is not to be touched, or read, by anything other than the “priesthood of the cell”, a molecule known as “messenger RNA”. As I have said before, I am constantly amazed at the way that science has adopted some terms in their description of the workings of the cell that are very familiar and relevant to us in this kingdom word. “Messenger” is a scientific word used in all the textbooks and in everyday scientific communication concerning this specific molecule, RNA. The word “messenger” has a great meaning for us also, as it is one of the translations from the Greek where the word, “angellos” is used, which is translated “angel” in the King James Version. The word Angel can mean both heavenly beings or earthly beings, but specifically refers to something that bears a message, or instruction, from God.
The cell can only survive and continue to function if it has a way of communicating with the DNA in the nucleus, which is a very protected area of the cell, and has a direct correspondence with the holy place of the Tabernacle. Just as Israel could not communicate with God directly, even so, the cell cannot communicate directly with the DNA. In Israel’s situation, the Lord called Moses and spoke to him face to face and then he spoke to the people. After Moses was taken from the scene there remained a Levitical priesthood of Aaron’s lineage that were instructed to serve the Lord in the tabernacle and to have the high priest come before the ark of the covenant, and to communicate with the presence of the Lord. Because the Lord could not communicate with Aaron or his sons like He did with Moses, He gave them a urim and thummim to at least have a yea or nay communication. The problem with this is that the priesthood had to think like one does when playing the popular game show, Jeopardy. In other words you had to already know the answer you wanted, but you had to ask it in the form of a question. What a way to communicate with God! Talking about frustrating! Think about it. The urim and the thummim could only give answers in a “yes” or “no” format, so one could only communicate in questions. Such as, “Are we to go up and fight the Philistines?”, would be the limit of your inquiry, an inquiry that mandates that you had to have a reason to ask the question in the first place. Instead of asking the great theological questions that you and I would love to ask, the kind of questions concerning where God came from, are there other creations out there, what will I look like when He’s done with me, etc. etc., the Levitical priesthood were limited by the amount of Logos they could read from.
However crude and limited this method was, it did perform the job. Man did have a method of talking with God and getting instructions. The priesthood was the “messenger” and the Logos was the Book from which they read. In the cell, “Messenger RNA”, which we will refer to as, mRNA from this point on, fulfills this mission also. It is, however, a much more profound and accurate way of the cell to communicate with the DNA than the levitical priesthood, although it is limited with certain restraints which we will discuss.
DNA is used by the cell to give forth blueprints for constructing proteins. Just as every builder can take a blueprint of a certain kind of house and build an exact replica of that model of home, the DNA contains all the blueprints of every protein in your body. Your body contains an estimated amount of 30,000 different proteins, of which, only about 2 percent are completely mapped out by scientists today. Proteins are a vital part of the cell and of the human body and make up a large part of our mass, accounting for about 50% of the dry weight of our bodies.
Proteins were first discovered in the early 19th century and derived their name from the Greek word, “proteios”, meaning “holding first place”. They are large molecules made up of Amino Acids, called the building blocks of the body, strung together end to end to form a chain. Just as a block layer builds a wall by collecting blocks of material at the site of construction and then starts laying each block one at a time next to each other and than on top of each other until he constructs the specified wall, even so, the proteins are built in the cytoplasm of the cell, which we refer to as the “outer court” of the cell, by connecting “blocks” of amino acids in certain sequences, dictated by the DNA, which when done makes up a specific protein that is needed by the body.
There are 20 standard or alpha amino acids that are used as building blocks in the human body to form the 30,000 different proteins. By putting the 20 different blocks together in different sequences, the body is able to build an enormous array of differentiated proteins. Of the 20 basic amino acids used in protein synthesis, 10 cannot be synthesized within your body in sufficient amounts and must come from your diet. For this reason, they are termed, “essential amino acids”. The following is a list of the amino acids that are “non-essential”. You may recognize some of the names as familiar to products you have seen or use on an every day basis.
Alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, isoleucine, proline, serine, and tyrosine.
The essential amino acids are: lysine, methionine, valine, tryptophan, threonine, histidine, leucine, phenylalanine, arginine, cystine. Unless you are getting a sufficient amount of these essential amino acids in the food you eat, you will experience some sort of breakdown in your optimum health and your body will not develop properly. The “wall” will be missing some vital “blocks” and will fail to hold up.
On the molecular level, the proper amount of amino acids is needed to build all of the tissues and organs of the body that are composed of molecules of protein. Each protein is made with a specific function and structure in mind. The DNA “ladder” of the cell is coded with segments of the ladder containing the prescribed sequence of amino acids to be put together for each variety of protein. It involves the construction of specific organs, such as liver, heart, lungs, brain, and also tissues and muscles along with skin and bones. Proteins are also used to make up hormones, antibodies, enzymes, lipids, and many other essential parts of your body. As you can see, proteins are the most crucial part of the living organism and without a sufficient supply of all the needed amino acids the proteins will be built wrong and the body will become malnourished and weak and start to deteriorate.
In order for us to all understand the economy of how each cell of the body functions in building and maintaining the various parts of this glorious House, I will attempt to explain how the construction of the trillions of cells and their diverse structures and functions is accomplished. First, let us contemplate the thermodynamic laws concerning energy and work. As you know, building is work, whether it is a man or woman building an addition on their home, or a squirrel building its nest for the winter, or a spider building a web, or an ant building a home in the earth, or even a cell building protein molecules. It is all classified as work and when work of any kind is done, it requires energy to do the work. Energy can be defined as the ability to do work. Work cannot be done without energy, and the amount of work to be done dictates the amount of energy that will be needed. This is true whether you are plowing a field with a horse or plowing a field with a tractor. Both horse and tractor have to have a supply of energy, although one is a living organism and the other is a machine, both need a supply of energy to do the prescribed work. In this case, the horse depends on the food he eats, the tractor depends on the fuel it burns.
All living things, such as our horse, depend on the sun for energy. The first law of thermodynamics states living organisms cannot create or destroy energy, only transform it from one form to another. Energy is a constant, and is constantly being transferred from one level of the world ecology to another level. All living things must have an ability to synthesize and store energy. The sun is the source of our energy which we receive in an indirect way through our diet. Our ecology is set up with 4 or 5 levels of energy transfer, with the green plant kingdom being the primary source of energy gathered from the sun. The chlorophyll of the green plants store energy from the sun through a process of photosynthesis and that energy is stored in the cells of the plant. Some of the energy is used in the work of the metabolism of the plant and some is released through heat in respiration and what is left over is stored in the fiber of the plant. The second level of energy transfer is present when the plant is eaten by an herbivore, such as a cow. The energy that is in the fiber of the plant is transferred to the body of the cow. This is a secondary source of energy, with the plant being the primary. Most of the energy from the plant is used by the cow to perform the work of metabolism enabling the cow to stay strong and continue to gain weight and perhaps make more milk. Some of the energy is used up in heat and respiration and what is left over is stored in cells of fat and muscle in the flesh of the cow. The next level of energy transfer is present when a carnivore eats the cow, as some of us do several times a week. When the cow is eaten, the energy that is stored in the flesh of the cow is transferred to the consumer and is used to provide energy to perform the work of metabolism. What energy is left over is released as heat in the form of respiration, or is stored in the cells of the body for a back up system of energy that is accessible whenever the body needs it. As you can imagine, the energy that is available drops significantly from one level to the other, so that by the time the energy that is in the plant reaches the carnivore stage, it is significantly reduced.
We, as humans, are classified as both herbivore and carnivore due to the presence of enzymes that can break down both plant and animal food. Generally speaking, most herbivores must eat plants because they lack the needed enzymes to break down the elements that are found in meat. At the same time, a lion, the ultimate carnivore, is not to be found grazing on plant life, because of the lack of enzymes for plant food.
In this ecology of energy transfer, only one concern is on the minds of the inhabitants. “To eat, or to be eaten, that is the question.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist. It really is a wondrous thing that God has created. Each level is a supply to the next, and without the supporting levels, the most fiercest of the predators would have no hope of existence. Without the rays of the sun, earth and all of its inhabitants would perish. It is interesting how much Hollywood is involved in this doomsday scenario of the earth without the sun. Two movies come to mind, “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon”, both having the scenario of a gigantic asteroid hitting the earth. This is a well known theory that tries to explain the relatively sudden demise of the dinosaurs, which some scientists have attributed to a similar event thousands of years ago, where they surmise a huge asteroid hit the earth with such an impact that dust was kicked up into the atmosphere and choked the light of the sun from off the surface of the earth until the ecological system was in such disarray that the dinosaurs starved to death, along with other prehistoric herbivores and carnivores. Could be. In fact, it could happen again, or so they say. At any rate, the ecology is a particularly fragile system and is one that is made up of many levels of consumption, all dependent upon the other.
The gist of all this is, you are what you eat. The energy you receive every day as you eat your meals comes from the sun, to the plants and grains and seeds, to the chicken and cow and pig, to the plate on your dinner table. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that by consuming more green, leafy plants and wholesome grains we can get a more direct source of energy than going strictly carnivorous. Remember, energy levels deteriorate through each level of transfer. So, the next time you order a steak, have a try at the salad too, since the steak you eat is just a recycled salad in meat form. Yuck! Believe it or not, I do eat my fair share of red meat, but I am trying to eat more of a balance of green things to go along with it. Remember, the 10 essential amino acids that you must have are supplied to you by your diet. One of the more fascinating diets that has become so popular is the protein diet, which has you consume more protein than carbohydrates, which I am still undecided about, although it does seem to work for most people. A couple of my minister friends are on it and they are getting rid of their “built in pulpit”, otherwise known as their belly. I do think one needs to pay close attention to a balanced ingestion of food stuffs and mix it all in with common sense and strenuous exercise.
Let us continue with the transfer of energy. The main use for energy in our bodies is to perform the process of metabolism. It is a very interesting process. There are 2 kinds of metabolism that take place in our body, and they are constantly fighting for space. One is called, “anabolism”, and the other is called, “catabolism”. Anabolism is termed, “constructive metabolism”, and catabolism is termed, “destructive metabolism.”
Anabolism involves the use of energy to build, maintain, and repair the cells of the entire body. It is involved in protein synthesis, which is the process by which the cells manufacture other cell parts and replace old, dead cells with new living ones. Our body is constantly removing old cells and replacing them with new ones, a process that continues until the day the body dies. Anabolism is particularly in high gear during the fetal stage and during our childhood and growth period. At this time, our body demands a hyperactive growth to take place, so we can reach maturity at the most effective point of our life. As we get older, these processes diminish and slow down. As we age, our cells start dying faster than they are replenished, our skin starts to wrinkle and dry out, our energy level reduces, our anabolic metabolism slows down, and we eventually become more susceptible to disease and eventually succumb to death in the flesh.
Catabolism involves the use of energy to break down complex molecules to more simple forms for our cells to use. It is involved in providing the energy to do work, both externally and internally. Catabolism controls the temperature of the body and is involved in the degradation of complex molecules into waste material that in turn is removed from the body. It helps to control the temperature of the body by either using the skin as a third kidney and causing the body to perspire, thus cooling us off, or it warms the body when it is too cold, by causing an involuntary shivering to take place in the muscles, which is one of the methods the body uses to create heat through work. It is also involved in the recovery of energy from the stored fats of the body, and in digestion and all chemical reactions.
Both processes of metabolism follow pathways, although opposite from each other, that lead to producing end products that are vital to the existence of the body. During the growth periods of our life, anabolism is predominant and we gain weight and mass. When catabolism is dominant, such as when we are starving or have a disease, we lose weight and become weak. When both processes of metabolism are equally operating, anabolism building and replenishing, catabolism breaking down foods and providing energy, the organism is said to have reached, “dynamic equilibrium.” This is optimum heath, where both dynamics of metabolism is working and the organism is building and removing at an equal pace. A scripture comes to mind when talking about the building and breaking down that takes place in our body each minute of our life.
Jer 31:27‑28
27
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.28
And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. (KJV)Jer 1:10
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.(KJV)
One can see, by reading these scriptures, that God has been just as faithful over the tearing down as He is over the building up. Indeed, the tearing down of the old is necessary for the arrival of the new. In fact, the arrival of the new initiates the removal of the old.
2 Cor 3:9‑11
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.(KJV)
The glory of the old ministration of condemnation lost its glory, by reason of the glory that excelleth. When is the present light not sufficient? When a greater light appears. The greater causes all other lights to become dim, by reason of the brightness of its shining. Until then, the lesser was more than enough. So it is, that the truths that we pass through, those precious truths that at one time was the light of our city, no matter that in reality they were mere shadows of perception, to us they were glorious rays of hope. But, when the greater appeared, our eyes were enlightened and we could never view the old things in the same way. They lost their glory, by reason of the arrival of the greater.
At one time, the old, classic song, “I’ll Fly Away”, brought great joy to my heart, and saw me through some sad times in this world, and brought me hope for a better day to come. Heaven awaited me, the rapture was coming, and I was going home! At that time of my development in God, there was a glory that filled my heart each time I sang it, and as Paul says in the above scripture, even though it was not a lasting truth and it was done away with, it was glorious. However, the truth that took its place, the truth that took my eyes off the sky and made me look inward to see heaven and the throne of God, the truth that made me to know that I was not put on this earth to live my life in a semi-comatic state of mind, but I was put here by my heavenly Father to be the answer to the ills of the world, the truth that lets me be in the world, but not of it, the truth that remains today and will be ever with me, allowing me to see God in everything and everywhere, that gives me peace in the midst of the storm and has set my feet upon the Rock to stay, the glory of that truth outshines the truth of the old and I can’t imagine singing that song with any kind of a glory again. But I do like the old tune!! I guess I’ll have to pray my wife writes new words to that great little tune! Ha!
Let me comment on the comparison between what we have said about energy and what we know about God. Some would say that the words energy and spirit can be interchangeable, that energy is a fit description of the spirit of God. I would agree to a certain degree, but do not lump me in with those that vibrate and absorb all different kinds of energy in the air through crystals and pyramids and auras and such. Having said that, let me say that I believe God to be the purest form of energy that exists, and that all other energy has to come from Him. He has the same properties of the energy that we are talking about that inhabits all things living. Scientists have come to the conclusion that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only take on other forms. Sounds like God, doesn’t it?
Heb 13:8
8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (KJV)He is the I AM, the constant One, with no variations or fluctuations. He is light, and there is no darkness in Him. He does not grow or shrink, He is complete. He does allow Himself to be seen and experienced in different forms, however. He showed His hinder parts to Moses, covering the lowly man with His hand, lying down in the cleft of a rock, as the presence of the Most High God passed closely by. One can only imagine what that experience was like. At other times He appears as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, as dense smoke in the temple, as a shining, blinding light to Paul, as a man to John the Revelator. All of these forms are degraded forms of His true essence, as no man can see God in the purest form of His energy and live to tell about it.
Energy has the capacity to do work, and, boy oh boy, can God ever do some work. In the beginning, God worked, and created the lesser energy fields that give life to the earth and it’s inhabitants. He filled everything living with these lesser forms of energy and set up this fantastic ecosystem of checks and balances that has produced life for millions of years. From the aforementioned levels of consumption and energy transfer to the interaction of the waters and the atmospheric pressures that allow the waters of the oceans to be gathered in clouds of precipitation that are moved by varying temperatures over land to release their moisture to those areas that would otherwise be without water, with the great forests of the world providing life-giving oxygen to the planet, to the interplanetary pulls of gravity that play a part in our seasons and tides, all of this was put into motion by a God that was pure, unbound energy. It is all a mind boggling display of complete balance of nature, from the microscopic to the macroscopic.
When God put in motion the world’s manifold variety of different life forms, the Creator designed the organic world with a system of energy transfer that forms a food chain that feeds upon itself in a perpetual action of consumption. The plants and the trees and grasses all get their energy from the sun, the plant eating species all get their energy from the plants, the meat eating species all get their energy from the plant eating species, and so on. Death figures into the process also. When the different life forms cease to live, then the lower class of consumers take care of the dead mass, decomposing the mass and using the energy that remains in the materials to break down the large molecules into smaller, microscopic molecules. The entire ecosystem is provided for even after life gives out. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the decomposers the world would be a very crowded place!
It all returns back to the higher levels of consumption in one way or another. Rotting leaves decompose and are eaten by worms, which are then eaten by birds and grub eaters, which are then eaten by carnivorous predators, who are then eaten by other, bigger and more fierce predators, and so on, until decomposition takes place at the end of the food chain. Then, the cycle repeats itself. Through all of this, energy is passed on by the materials that are consumed. It is of special interest to us to note that in none of this was energy created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another, constantly passed on and transferred to the next level of life form that used it.
So it is, that the scripture explains many elements of the indwelling spirit (energy) of the Father God in us, His offspring, and indeed, in all living things, that coincide with what we have wrote about concerning the metabolism of the organic, natural world. Notice the language of a very familiar part of the scriptures, penned by the Apostle Paul, to the Corinthians, having to do with what remains after the decomposition of our earthly body.
2 Cor 5:1-4
1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (KJV)Now, if we have within this earthly house, an ETERNAL building of God, then this eternal house is not affected at all by the dissolving of this outer house. Nothing is added to it, and nothing is taken away. In other words, if we were to go through our whole life without any “clothing upon”, we would still have a house. Why are we groaning then? Because we are in need of a transfer of energy, our spirits are groaning and our hearts are burdened for a “swallowing up” of mortality, a consumption of an energy, which, although, is a lower energy, it is still needed for our entire transformation from the old life into the new life. Without a doubt, Paul is referring to an ingestion of mortality by the life of God in us, that will ADD to the eternal house. Properly spoken in the language of metabolism, this would be an act of catabolism. Let me explain how this is related to what we have described in the natural process of metabolism. When you ingest food, it is in macro form. It is a bunch of microscopic molecules joined together by chemical bonds that make the small elements all one large lump of matter. Doesn’t sound appetizing, but that is the way it is. When eaten, beginning at the moment the food hits your mouth, a process of metabolism takes place, and it is catabolic in action, or, it is going through a process of deconstruction, or breaking down, to its smaller elements. As you chew, the process is helped in getting this large mass broken down, so your stomach can work quicker and easier on the catabolic change. Enzymes present in the saliva in the mouth perform a pre-digestive work on the food and when finally swallowed the food is in a much different form than when you forked it off your plate. The process of catabolism continues in the stomach and small intestine, with different stages of digestion taking place, with acids and enzymes working away at the large molecules of material, using the energy stored in some of the molecules to perform the work of deconstruction. Eventually, the work of metabolism has separated molecules of the food into its base molecules, the amino acids having been shuttled off to the cells, along with the different vitamins and minerals. Whatever is not digestible, meaning, whatever is left for which there is no enzyme to break down, such as fibers, is then carried on through the digestive tract, into the colon, and is passed from the body, hopefully on a regular basis.
The point I want to make from this very simplified expository on digestion, is that mass-wise, very little of the actual mass is used by the body. The mass is actually just a vessel to introduce the really essential things into your body. Mortality is the same way. Although it is not pure life, and we know and understand that it is a limited, age-lasting life, it is still a life, a form of energy, that is designed to keep this mortal body alive. The third, and last salvation for us to experience is the salvation of the body, the “clothing upon” of this temporal, natural body with the Life that lives within it. Obviously, it is important to God to redeem this third part of us, otherwise He would not stress the need for the “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” So then, we see a mystery, that we shall all go through a change, but we shall not all sleep, or lay this body down, but this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal, immortality. How? By the transfer of energy produced by a catabolic swallowing up of the old life. This process will be accomplished whether in this world or the other, this side of the river, or the other side, there will be a redeeming of the life of all creation by one company that is victorious over all the past unclothing, by one ultimate CLOTHING UPON!! Glory to God
What happens when one lays this mortal life down? I have pondered this question many times. I have had both the privilege and the horrendous burden to perform far too many funerals of my friends and family in the Lord over the years. What happens to their spirit (energy) and where do they go? To heaven to be with Jesus? Yes, I would agree with that, but then we must ask, where is heaven, and where is Jesus? Is heaven off in outer space somewhere, a gigantic natural city heading toward earth to be set up in the holy land? Not hardly. Heaven and Jesus and all that makes up heaven can only be found in one place, and that place is in our hearts. Yes, it is a place that is UP, but only in the sense of higher forms of energy versus lower forms of energy. Just as I would get one form of energy by lighting a match and watching the match burn, which would be a relatively small demonstration of the release of energy, versus if I was to perform an act of nuclear fission upon an atom, which would be a very BIG demonstration of the release of energy.
When chemical reactions take place to break down elements and they go through a chemical change, the energy that is resident in them is released and CHANGES FORM, sometimes in heat or combustion or other forms of change. Thus, when you turn the key in your car, a circuit is opened from your battery to the starter on your engine, which transfers the energy from the battery to the spark plug, which transfers the energy into a spark, which is introduced to a minute amount of gasoline, which causes a chemical explosion, which pushes the piston in the engine that interacts with the other engine parts and transfers the energy into work, in this case, the work of getting you to work. No gasoline, no energy. No energy, no worky. We all leave something behind when we depart from one realm into another. Each and every heaven that we have passed through, we left a part of our energy force behind, to keep the spiritual ecosystem alive. I would like you to read the following scriptures and see if you can see the principle of what I just said in them.
I King 19:9‑13
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. (KJV)
I King 19:19‑21
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. (KJV)
II Ki 2:8‑15
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. (KJV)
As you can readily see, the catalyst throughout this exchange between Elijah and Elisha was the mantle, the same mantle that Elijah clothed his human face in when he went out of the cave to meet the presence of God. The humanity of Elijah was wrapped in an energy of life. A catalyst, in biological terms, is something that initiates chemical reactions, and when that happens, energy is transferred. You are the catalyst of the Lord in the earth. Wherever you go, whatever you do in the name of the Lord, a change takes place that transfers energy, spirit, from one element to another. If we could only walk in this knowledge, we would never shake hands with someone with empty hands again, but we would “lay hands upon them”, and the touching of our hands to theirs would be a catalyst that would break down all the walls of their life. Isn’t this what happened in the early church? Peter passing by and in his proximity, without words, without preaching, without an offering taken up, people were healed, simply because of the energy, spirit, that flowed from Peter to them. Even more so than the mantle, what is especially intriguing is that the scripture says the sons of the prophets saw the spirit (energy) of Elijah resting upon Elisha, a further witness that energy remains, even after the house is gone. Another scriptural reference to this phenomenon is one that involves Elijah once again, this time found on John the Baptist.
Matt 11:11‑14
11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. (KJV)
Matt 17:10‑13
10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. (KJV)
Matt 16:13‑16
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (KJV)
Let me give you another scripture concerning Jesus and His statement that smacks of catabolism.
John 14:12
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (KJV)
The pattern that I am attempting to reveal in these scriptures is that although some things are taken out of this dimension, there is something of them that stays behind and lives in others. Not they themselves, in some form of reincarnation, as some would preach. We know that we keep our individual identity even with all heaven inside of us. That is why John could answer “no” to those that pointedly asked him if he was Elijah, (see John 1:19-23), or if he was “that prophet” or if he was the Christ, and each time John answered “no”. What did John say he was? A VOICE! A sound, a catalyst, a forerunner, in the wilderness. The mantle was still falling, and this time it fell upon John, the one that once again smote the waters of humanity and walked through it untouched! Glory to God! John and Elijah were entwined together in the destinies of God’s plan, the same spirit, the same anointing, the same energy, and that energy came from the SON, the true source of all energy in the spirit realm. He is the light of the city, He is the light that lightens every man, He is the shining light that springs up in the shadows of death, and without His light we would all perish, for His light gives us LIFE!! Praise His holy Name!
The departure of Jesus was necessary so that the energy that He was, as Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, might be released and transformed into an energy that would fill the whole earth and all time immemorial. The Son of man went through a deconstruction, a breaking down of His parts, and what was earthly remained earthly and what was heavenly became even more heavenly. The carpenter’s son did not die for us, the Son of God died for us, the blood of a mere man does not save us, it is the blood of the Son of God that saves us. Jesus shut the door on His earthly existence, starting at the temple when He found out who He was at the age of 12, and continuing on through the times when He refused to give Mary priority over His disciples, and in a final act of release, from the cross, when, bleeding and dying, He spoke to Mary in a final discourse of the change of relationship between the Son of God and Mary the mother of Jesus.
John 19:25‑27
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. (KJV)
Then, the end. With a great cry, “It is finished”, once and for all, with far more power than the splitting of an atom, Christ Jesus, our Lord, split an Adam, and in so doing, He brought an end to death and corruption. The energy that was contained within His solitary life on earth was released into all of humanity, and once again the mantle of anointed life fell on the sea of humanity, and we are walking over on dry ground, untouched by our carnal nature, and living by reason of that catabolic act of the death of one man, the shame and humility of that solitary life, and the resurrection of that Life in a new, divine form, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
To Be Continued:
Written by Bob Torango
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