Living Under an Open Fountain
About 500 years before Jesus birth, Zechariah prophesied that there would be “A fountain opened in the house of David….” (Zechariah 13.1) I am pulled in by this beautiful imagery of an open fountain pouring forth from the House of David, perched high on the precipice of Mount Zion; Waters of life running downstream; cleansing, healing and refreshing the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
But time, routine, choices, wounds and practical necessities have created in me a caution against leaving my known reality and abandoning myself to the beautiful, lofty, poetic imagery contained in such a passage. I am no longer an easily influenced, idealist, immortal, adolescent whose eyes easily move to imagery of an untarnished future of prosperity, ease and comfort. I have children, grandchildren, and friends with struggles; Mortgages, cars that need tires, and a demonic gopher residing somewhere under my front lawn.
So today, when I read, “There is a fountain opened in the House of David,” I tend to ask myself the following questions:
“Is there a fountain opened in the House of David?
“What is the fountain?
“Does the fountain make a real difference in my life?”
While my idealism has lost its edge, my faith has not. God has been faithful to His promise to never leave. His mercy endures forever and “0..” (I John 5:4)
So when I ask the first question, “Is there a fountain opened in the House of David?” and the third question, “Does the fountain make a difference in my life?” there is a resounding YES that emerges from deep within my spirit. However, the focus of this entry will be upon the second question. “What is the Fountain?
“What is the Fountain?
I first “Saw” the scripture with my inner eye when listening to a Bob Mumford tape in 1976 entitled, Reigning in life, and recently, I heard a powerful message on the passage from Harold Eberle. (I am including a link where you can access two of his messages on the passage-Grace, the power to reign Pt. I and II)
http://worldcastministries.com/online_bible_study.asp
… Go to the link and then click on online bible studies.
Here is the scripture: For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)
This scripture initially refers to what came to us through Adam. Death and all of its pollutant streams came through Adam’s offence. In chapter 6 of Romans, the word “flesh” is used to describe the conduit that carries the power of sin and death introduced into our lives through Adam.
In previous blogs I have used the word, “Stuff” to help broaden the scope of what needs to be brought to the Table of Surrender. “Stuff” “Flesh” “Power of Sin” may surface through angers, fears, lusts, pride, strivings, depressions, anxieties, self-absorption, self-protection, addictions, physical, somatic, and mental illnesses, along with a multitude of other symptomatic manifestations of our brokenness… We are in need of a savior.
But in this verse, what Jesus introduced at the Table trumped that which was introduced by Adam. “MUCH MORE” If what Adam opened to humanity can rule or reign over us, how much more power comes from what Jesus opened unto us.
… And what did He open to us?
He opened to us a fountain in the house of David for sin and uncleanness. It is the fountain opened at Calvary when Jesus flesh was ripped and His side was pierced. It is a FOUNTAIN POURING FORTH GIFTS OF GRACE AND GIFTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! It is a real fountain, with real gifts that influence the reality of our lives. These gifts of grace and righteousness are unseen to the natural eye, but attentive and spiritually discerning eyes of the heart can see them flowing from Golgotha with ever increasing frequency.
Freedom comes to me with the understanding that righteousness is a gift to be received, and not a mountain to be climbed. I understood that my salvation came to me through grace, but righteousness seemed to be my part of the equation. It was often marked by willfulness, frustration, failure, condemnation, confession, forgiveness, renewed hope and another restart.
But the truth of this scripture changes things. In my experience, it was not a magical cure that immediately altered my life course, but it left a seed that has grown in the soil of my heart for the last 35 years. A seed that now has roots in the garden of my heart. If I could put words to what some of these roots are, it would go as follows:
1. I will not reign over what Adam introduced in me through WILLFULNESS; I am rather called to present to the Lord a heart of WILLINGNESS.
I cannot walk in His wholeness without his abundant gifts of grace and righteousness. If my Will were sufficient, I could secure righteousness for myself. It is not. My initial posture as a Christian is not as a doer, but as a receiver. “To as many as receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.” Even Paul the apostle, in all his devotion and strength had a place in his flesh “Thorn” he could not overcome. It was the place where he became a receiver, not a doer. It was the place where grace poured forth in his life…. When I come to the Table I am first challenged with the condition of my heart. An unwilling heart is uncomfortable at the Table; A willing heart finds
its home there.
2. Unidentified weakness is more likely to turn to wickedness.
Pretending the pollution introduced by Adam does not exist in our lives does not make it go away. In fact, things denied and or hidden tend to gather more energy in secret. It is a good thing to identify and speak forth our weakness. It is those very weaknesses that Jesus intercedes for at the throne of grace. Recognition of our need is still the entrance into the Kingdom (Matt. 5:3) His strength is made perfect in weakness; One day at a time; one offering at a time, at His Table.
3. Grace appears to those who recognize it and affirm its reality.
Romans 5:17 says that there is an abundance of grace. When we look for it we develop eyes to see it. “Barnabas SAW the grace of God. He was looking for it when he went to Antioch. (Acts 11:23) Jesus gives grace UPON grace. (John 1:16) When you see the grace of God and speak it out in gratitude to the Lord, it becomes the foundation for the next manifestation of grace in your life… A fountain of grace was opened at the Table.
4. The Table of sacrifice is the place of transference from standing under death’s reign through Adam into life’s reign through Jesus.
I don’t come to the Table of sacrifice and surrender to beat myself up and enter a cycle of condemnation to somehow balance the scale of justice. I come to the Table, because He who meets me at the Table loves me. OH HOW HE LOVES ME. He loved me when He and I were enemies and still, He gave everything for me. So I come to the Table and I give Him the things of Adam that are trying to reign in my life. When I do, as I do, he consumes the sacrifice of my Adamic “Stuff” and pours forth an abundance of grace and gifts of righteousness and I am able to live under an open fountain.
“There is a fountain opened in the house of David…”
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