Part 2 - The Sanctifying Work of Christ

Consecrated to a Relationship with God

The second part of day five concerns the realm of the firmament: "Then God said, '... let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.' So God created ... every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Gen. 1:20-21).

Day two of creation presents a model of the believer separated into the "heavenlies." Paul the Apostle says that God, "even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:5-6). In Christ, one is separated out of the world and put into the heavenly place where Christ sits on the right hand of the Father. Corresponding to this separation is a consecration: living life in the Spirit before the throne of God in the heavenly realm. This is the relationship the believer has with God and involves the spiritual dimension.

Jesus said, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). God is Spirit. It is the "heavenlies" that He inhabits. Physically, "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1:18). To enable a relationship with God, one that is in spirit and truth, Jesus has brought life to man's spirit.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:5-6). The realm where God exists is the spiritual realm. Man in his natural earthly existence cannot see or commune with God. He must be made alive in the spirit through the Holy Spirit in order to have a relationship with God. The accomplishment of this is part of the finished sanctifying work of Christ. He has made the believer alive in the Spirit and has delivered him before the throne of God.

Inhabitants of the spiritual realm

God created "every winged bird." Winged creatures are used in Scripture to represent spirit beings, both good and evil, that inhabit the spiritual realm. God the Father is presented to us in this way: "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by" (Psalm 57:1).

Jesus used a similar analogy concerning Himself: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matt. 23:37).

The Holy Spirit is portrayed in this way by the dove. When Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His public ministry, the Scripture records: "And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22). These are cases of winged creatures used to represent the spiritual nature of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Other instances are the angels. The angels are presented as having wings, showing that their habitation is the spiritual realm.

Jesus used birds to show how God takes care of His people: "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matt. 6:26). God's people are a spiritual people. This analogy to a winged creature shows how the "heavenly" Father takes care of his heavenly people.

Evil spirits

The spiritual realm is also inhabited by evil spirits, Satan being chief of these, and so the analogy of birds applies to these also. Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). Paul the Apostle says that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12) (emphasis added). The realm of the sky and heaven is used here to show the spiritual realm where evil spirits dwell.

Jesus told a parable of a sower whose seed fell in various places. One of these places was the wayside: "And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them" (Matt. 13:4). Birds are evil in this parable, for the seed is the word of God which is being snatched away by the birds. Jesus gave the interpretation, showing that Satan was involved: "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside" (Matt. 13:19).

The book of Revelation gives a picture of birds as representing evil spirit beings in speaking of the fall of Babylon: "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!' " (Rev. 18:1-2).

Consecrated to life in the spiritual realm

These various scriptures show birds in both good and evil representations, with the spiritual realm being their dwelling place. When God created the birds in day five of creation, He saw that it was good. It is said that He made them according to their kind. Because good is only of God, the account on day five is a model of something good that is of God.

When Peter in his vision saw the sheet let down from heaven, "birds of the air" were among the creatures in it. When told to kill and eat, Peter replied, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean" (Acts 10:14). The voice replied, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." Peter went on to say about the gentiles that were saved, "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." These gentiles were ones whom God cleansed through the blood of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit. They had new life in the Spirit.

Paul teaches: "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1-3). The believer is sanctified to this heavenly calling. "Seek those things above" and "set your mind on things above," for "your life is hidden with Christ in God."

The creation account for day five is finished with this command: " 'and let birds multiply on the earth.' So the evening and the morning were the fifth day" (Gen. 1:21-22). It is the church, the body of Christ, that is the source of this host of people that praise and worship God. Thus it is the fruitful earth, a type of the church, which is the place where the birds multiply.

A royal priesthood

Christ set apart for God a heavenly people, and following this is the heavenly consecration of worshipping and glorifying God. Peter says of the church, "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" (1 Pet. 2:5). This is God's purpose for His people in the spiritual realm. They are being built up as a "spiritual house" to offer up "spiritual sacrifices" to God. As such, God's people are called a "holy priesthood." The heavenly ministry of the church before the throne of God is to offer up praise and to glorify God. Revelation 1:6 says Jesus Christ has made the church "kings and priests to His God and Father."

Peter continues: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9). Christ separated His people out of darkness and brought them into the heavenly places that they might "proclaim the praises" of God. "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 13:15). The "sacrifice of praise" is the offering of this "royal priesthood."

Worthy of praise

Praise is befitting God due to the glory that He has in His being and in His works. His very nature is glorious, and as such, Jesus prayed to the Father, "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:4-5). Before the creation, before God's works toward mankind, His nature was glorious and praiseworthy. The psalmist declares, "Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary" (Psalm 96:6).

God also has glory in being the Creator. He is praised in heaven as such by His creation: "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created" (Rev. 4:11). There is a dividing line that cannot be crossed. This is the difference in glory between the Creator and the creation. As is written of Jesus, "For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house" (Heb. 3:3). God is worthy of praise because of His glory in being the creator of all things.

God is further worthy of praise because of His glorious works toward mankind. Jeremiah writes: "But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord" (Jer. 9:24). He is worthy of glory and praise not only because of His right judgments and perfect standards, but also because of His lovingkindness, grace, and mercy. God's grace shown through Jesus Christ brings Him glory and praise. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God; and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord' " (1 Cor. 1:30-31). Paul speaks of this glorious grace: "to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6).

The work of Christ

The ascension of Christ to the Father enabled the Holy Spirit to be given, that people might know God. Jesus said, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth ... He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:13-14). Those who worship God "must worship in spirit and truth." Life in the Holy Spirit brings about the truth that enables one to truly worship God.

This separation and consecration to such a heavenly calling is the sanctifying work of Christ. The second aspect of the separation that Christ wrought was the placing of the believer with Himself in the heavenly places. The second aspect of consecration, seen here in day five, is the consecration of the believer to live in the spiritual realm before the throne of God, fellowshipping with and worshipping Him. This is a calling to life in the Spirit and is aptly modeled by the birds flying "above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens."