Hi Loretta,
The understanding I have from this teaching is that our 'first love' is in the church... we come to know and believe in Christ while in the church.
Yes, when we fall on Christ we are broken, we are wounded (by the "sword" of God—Rev. 13:14 vs. Heb. 4:12). This is our human attempt at salvation. But then we fall, and our "deadly wound [which we received by the Word of God] was healed" (Rev. 13:3), we went back into the world, back into Babylon, thus leaving our first love. When the wound of the Sword of God’s Word that had slain us, is healed, we fall from the love of God, and we again turn our love to the world from which we came.[/i]
The church does have a big emotional show of being 'saved' or 'born again,' I believe many are sincere in their desire to repent and change, to serve God. "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken" (Luke 20:18), yes there can be a feeling of being emotionally wounded by the Sword of truth, revealing the knowledge of our sinful nature. So we set out on our new Christian life.
At first (for a very little while anyway), we make an attempt to live righteously... we think that we have freely determined what we will do. It's a real desire, but quite an impossibility. Soon "the deadly wound is healed" and our carnal human nature continues unabated... whether we remain in the church or we go back out in the world the beast within us all will run amuck and our sinful lusts will be satisfied. That's
our human attempt at salvation, as Ray put it. It's pretty short lived, then we serve our beast, our church, the world, certainly not our God, it's our losing the simple truth that Jesus is Lord... we have left our first love.
But here’s the good news concerning this stone. If we are among the chosen that overcome, then the Stone falls ON US, and our spiritual house built upon the sand comes crashing down. And when Jesus falls on us, He GRINDS US [along with all of our idols of the heart] TO POWDER!
So how do we know for sure if our spiritual house has fallen? Some of us haven't yet gone back into the world.
Mat 7:26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine,
and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
v. 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
When we try to do/obey the sayings of Jesus Christ we fail miserably... and we do what comes natural and go the way of the world and follow man made doctrines of man and build our house on the sand. Whether we develop our beliefs from the church or the world we still are "tossed to and for" gaining much false knowledge from our experiences.
Eph 4:14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Not until we are drawn to Christ to receive His Spirit indwelling and shown that we are beasts, repent, then does our house built on sand" finally come crashing down, "and great was its fall" indeed.
Mat 21:44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."
Yes our carnal human nature is ground to powder as we die daily.
1Cor 15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
v. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
v. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
v. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
v. 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
v. 33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
v. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
v. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
v. 36 As it is written:
"For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
mercy, peace and love
Kat