From the Chicken Pen to the Eagle's Nest
From the Chicken Pen to the Eagle’s Nest
A Creative Paraphrase of Romans 6-8
Edward Keith Hassell
February 2003
Romans 6
(1) "Shall we continue to live like chickens as a way of celebrating our new life as eagles?”
(2) "That’s ridiculous! How shall we who died to our previous chicken master of sin continue to live as if he is still our master? Shall we who died as chickens continue to live like chickens, walking in the filth and stench of the chicken pen?"
(3) "Do you not know that when you were water baptized in identification with Jesus, our Eagle Lord, that your life as a chicken ended?"
(4) "Therefore we died as chickens during baptism and our old chicken nature was buried with our Eagle Lord Jesus and put away forever, so that just as our Eagle Lord was raised from the dead to soar----being no longer bound to the chicken pen---by the glory of the Father Eagle, even so we also should soar in our new life as eagles."
(5) "If we have been united together in the likeness of His death as chickens, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection as eagles."
(6) "Knowing that the old chicken nature was crucified with Him, that the old nature that was confined to the chicken pen might be done away with, so that we should no longer be held captive to the chicken pen by our former chicken master of sin."
(7) "For the chicken that has died is freed from the chicken master of sin."
(8) "Now if we died as chickens with our Eagle Lord Jesus, we believe that we shall also live with Him as eagles."
(9) "Knowing that our Eagle Lord having been raised from the dead as an eagle dies no more. Death has no more power over Him and can no longer hold Him down."
(10) "For the death that He died in identification with us as a chicken, He died to the old chicken master of sin once for all of us; but the life that He now lives, He lives as one owned by the Father Eagle, who is God."
(11) "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to your former chicken master called sin, but alive in our Eagle Lord Jesus to live for your Father Eagle, who is God."
(12) "Therefore no longer allow the old chicken master of sin to rule in your life. Don’t obey him by returning to the bondage of the chicken pen. If you do you will continue living in the same filth you once lived in as a chicken."
(13) "Do not allow the members of your body to be used to perform the low level acts of the chicken nature. But present yourself to your Father Eagle as one who has been resurrected as one of His eagle sons, and the members of your body to be God’s instruments to soar to new heights of righteousness."
(14) "For the old chicken master of sin shall not have authority and power over you, for you are no longer under the rules of the chicken pen but under the provision of the Father Eagle’s grace---His power working in us both to will and to do His good pleasure."
(15) "What then? Shall we continue to act like chickens since we are no longer bound to the rules of the chicken pen but are now free under the provision of God’s grace?"
(16) "That is ridiculous! Do you not know that whoever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose to return to the chicken pen you've been delivered from, but if you do then you willingly place yourself back under the authority of the old chicken master of sin and will ultimately receive the fate coming upon every chicken under his dominion. However, if you choose to obey our Father Eagle, then He will cause you to mount up on eagle's wings to leave the chicken pen life, and ride higher and higher out of the reach of the old chicken master."
(17) "But thanks be to our Father Eagle that though you were slaves of the old chicken master of sin, you listened to and obeyed from the heart the message of deliverance that was spoken to you through the fence by those who have escaped the chicken pen."
(18) "And having been set free from the old chicken master of sin, you became the property of the Father Eagle."
(19) "I speak to you in chicken terms because you still think like chickens. For just as when you were chickens you were slaves to the chicken master of sin and lived on the filth of the chicken pen (and in the process you added even more filth to it!), so now live and act like you are owned by the Father Eagle, who is God, who will confirm your distinction and nature as an eagle."
(20) "For when you were once owned by the chicken master of sin, you were free from the conviction to do what is right."
(21) "What benefit did you gain from the things in which you participated while still living in the chicken pen? Aren't you now ashamed of those fowl deeds? The outcome of that activity certainly leads to a chicken’s death."
(22) "But now having been set free from the old chicken master of sin, and having come under the ownership of the Father Eagle, who is God, you are experiencing a life that is different from the life you had in the chicken pen. You are now experiencing a distinct kind of life unto God which in the end brings everlasting life."
(23) "Now, the pay check you will receive for living according to the indulgences of the old chicken nature is death, but the gift of the Father Eagle is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Eagle Lord."
Romans 7
(1) “Or do you not know, fellow eagles, (for I speak to those who know the rules of the chicken pen), that the rules of the chicken pen apply to a chicken as long as he lives as a chicken?”
(2) “For the chicken who is owned by the chicken master of sin is bound by the rules of the chicken pen as long as he remains under his ownership. But if the chicken master of sin were to set the chicken free, then he would be released from the rules of the chicken pen.”
(3) “So then, if while the chicken master of sin lives, the chicken owned by the chicken master begins to escape out of the chicken pen, the chicken will be deemed a bad chicken and suffer its fate accordingly. But if the chicken master of sin dies and the chicken is free from his ownership. It is no longer considered a bad chicken even though it roams about freely.”
(4) “Therefore, my fellow eagles, you also have become dead to the chicken master of sin through the body of our Eagle Lord, so that you may come under the ownership of Another Master---Our Eagle Lord who was raised from the dead---so that we might bear unto our Father Eagle the fruit of a new life as eagles.”
(5) “For when we were still chickens, our activities in the chicken pen were in accordance with the nature of a chicken and were at work in our body to bear fruit unto death.”
(6) “But now, we have been delivered from the rules of the chicken pen, having died as chickens, so that we should soar with our Father Eagle with the wings of the Spirit rather than being confined under the old mindset of chicken pen rules.”
(7) “What shall we say then? Were the rules of the chicken pen wrong? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have understood my natural tendencies as a chicken to roam about except through these rules. I would not have known my tendency to stray if the rule did not state, “You shall not leave the chicken pen!”
(8) “But my chicken nature, being made obvious by its conflict with the rules of the chicken pen, produced in me the desire to look for an escape. The truth is, I would never know my tendencies to stray if there had been no rule or boundary.”
(9) “I once felt free inside and innocent concerning the rules of the chicken pen as long as I was still a chick and followed by mother’s lead. I did not know I was bound for I followed my mother freely. But when the independent side of my chicken nature was awakened that wanted to follow its own leading, it was then that I saw the rules of the chicken pen as a restriction on my life. It was then that my sense of freedom ended and I realized I was a prisoner in this pen.”
(10) “And the rules and boundaries which was meant for my protection from outside predators, I found to be bondage and restriction.”
(11) “For the independent side of my chicken nature, being awakened by the rules of the chicken pen, deceived me into thinking that the rule represented bondage rather than protection, and it killed the freedom and joy I once knew in the pen as an innocent chick.”
(12) “Therefore the rules of the chicken pen were established to set me apart from outside predators, and the boundary lines were fair and good for me.”
(13) “Has then what is good become my bondage? Certainly not! But through the rules of the chicken pen, my chicken nature---so that it might be revealed to be my chicken nature---was producing in me a desire to escape what I considered to be a prison. What I saw in myself was something very bad indeed!”
(14) “For we know that the rules of the chicken pen are of a higher order, far above what chickens can understand. But I am a chicken, under the ownership and control of the chicken master of Sin.”
(15) “For my actions I do not understand. For I know that there is plenty of food and water inside the pen, but I continually want to escape. It is a frustrating thing for me to continually be consumed with the desire to act like a chicken.”
(16) “If I know that my attempts to escape the chicken pen are the wrong thing to do, then I agree that the rules of the chicken pen are good.”
(17) “So it is evident that it is no longer I, but the chicken nature inside of me, that wants to do what is wrong.”
(18) “For I know that in me, that is in my chicken nature, there dwells nothing good. For I determine to be happy within the boundaries of the chicken pen, but somehow I can’t seem to stop looking for a way of escape around the boundaries of the pen.”
(19) “My intention is to stop acting like a chicken, but then something else seems to take over and there I go acting like a chicken again.”
(20) “Now if I—the one who doesn’t want to act like a chicken----ends up acting like a chicken, then it is no longer the real me who is doing it, but the chicken nature that dwells in me.”
(21) “I find then a truth, that a stubborn chicken nature is present with me, the one who desires not to act like a chicken.”
(22) “For my inward self---my conscience---delights in keeping the rules of the chicken pen.”
(23) “But I see another nature opposing me, fighting against the law of my mind that agrees with the rules. This opposing nature seems to take me prisoner to carry out the chicken nature.”
(24) “O wretched chicken that I am! Who will set me free from this chicken nature that is intent on self-destruction?
(25) “I thank my God----through Jesus Christ our Eagle Lord! So then, with the mind I myself agree with the eagle nature. But the old chicken nature carries in it an allegiance to perform the desires of the chicken nature.”
Romans 8
(1) “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are eagles in Christ Jesus our Eagle Lord, who determine not to live like chickens but like eagles.”
(2) “For the law of the Spirit of life in our Eagle Lord Jesus Christ has made me free from the law of the chicken pen and all of its death.”
(3) “For what the law of the chicken pen could not accomplish in changing my chicken nature, the Father Eagle did by sending His own Eagle Son in the likeness of a corrupt chicken in order to break the hold of the chicken master of sin. In doing so, he condemned the chicken master of sin while He was still in the form of a chicken.
(4) “That the righteous requirement of the law of the chicken pen might be fulfilled in us who do not live like chickens but like eagles.”
(5) “For those who live according to the chicken nature continue to think like chickens, but those who live according to the Spirit have learned to think like eagles.”
(6) “For to be chicken minded is death, but to be eagle minded is true life and peace.”
(7) “Because a chicken mentality is at odds with the Father Eagle. For it is not living in submission to standards of the Father Eagle, nor is it able to do so.”
(8) “So then, those who live as chickens cannot please the Father Eagle.”
(9) “But you do not have a chicken nature but an eagle nature, if indeed the Spirit of the Father Eagle lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Eagle Lord, then he does not belong to the Father Eagle. He is still a chicken.”
(10) “And if the Spirit of the Eagle Lord lives inside of you, although you may still seem to others to be a chicken on the outside, on the inside you are not a chicken at all, but an eagle!”
(11) “And if the same Spirit that raised our Eagle Lord from the dead dwells in you, He who raised our Eagle Lord from the dead will also give life to your mortal body through the Spirit of the Eagle Lord who dwells in you.”
(12) “Therefore, fellow eagles, we are debtors---not to the chicken nature, to live like a chicken.”
(13) “For if you live according to the chicken nature, then you will die like a chicken. But if through the Spirit of the Eagle Lord you put to death the old chicken nature, you will live as an eagle.”
(14) “For as many as are led by the Spirit of the Eagle Lord are the sons of the Father Eagle.”
(15) “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage that draws away in fear of the Father Eagle, but you received the spirit of sonship so that you can naturally cry out to Him with expressions such as “Daddy! Father!”
(16) “The Spirit of the Eagle Lord himself who dwells in us bears witness with our own spirit that we are children of the Father Eagle.”
(17) “And if we are children then we are heirs by virtue of that relationship---heirs of the Father Eagle and joint heirs with our Eagle Lord Jesus Christ---that is, if we indeed share in His sufferings among the chickens so that we may share in His glory among the eagles.”
(18) “For I consider that the sufferings that we experience while still living among the chickens are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us among the eagles.”
(19) “For this present creation eagerly longs to see the revealing of the sons of the Father Eagle.”
(20) “For this present creation has been reeling under the pollutions of the chicken nature on this earth, not of its own choice, but because the Father Eagle has ordained it to be so at this time in order that the hope of liberation might be experienced together by all.”
(21) “This present creation will also be delivered from its bondage to corruption and experience the same glorious liberty that is coming to the children of the Father Eagle.”
(22) “For we know that this whole creation has experienced a groaning travail for deliverance right up until this present time.”
(23) “Not only that, but we also who have received the down payment guarantee----the Spirit of the Eagle Lord---even we ourselves groan within ourselves like a woman in travail, eagerly awaiting the outward manifestation of our adoption, which is the obtaining of our eagle body.”
(24) “For we were saved in hope of this final manifestation, but hope that has become reality is no longer hope; for why would we still hope for what we have already received?”
(25) “But if we hope for what we do not yet possess (our eagle body), then we eagerly wait for it with steadfast perseverance.”
(26) “Likewise the Spirit of the Eagle Lord helps in our times of limitations in this life. For we do not know how to pray as we ought since our vision is limited and we cannot yet see things from the vantage point of the Father Eagle who is in heaven, but the Spirit of the Eagle Lord who dwells within us makes intercessions for us in ways that cannot be expressed out of an earthly mindset.”
(27) “Now the Father Eagle, whose keen eyes searches the hearts of men from the vantage point of heaven, knows the mind of Spirit of our Eagle Lord. Thus the Spirit of our Eagle Lord who dwells in us is able to make intercessions for the eagle saints according to the will of the Father Eagle who sees from heaven.”
(28) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love the Father Eagle, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
(29) “For whom the Father Eagle foreknew from before time began would be His eagle sons, these He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Eagle Son, that the Eagle Son might be the firstborn among many eagle sons.”
(30) “In addition to this, those whom He predestined as eagle sons, these the Father Eagle also called; whom He called, these the Father Eagle also justified; and whom He justified, these the Father Eagle also glorified.”
(31) “What then shall we say to these things? If the Father Eagle is for us, then who can successfully stand against us?”
(32) “Now if the Father Eagle did not spare His own Eagle Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall the Father Eagle not also freely give us all things through His Eagle Son?”
(33) “Who shall bring an accusation against these chosen eagle sons of the Father Eagle as if they were still chickens? It is the Father Eagle who has made them to stand justified as eagles before Him.”
(34) “Who is he who condemns these eagle sons? It is Christ our Eagle Lord who has died to pay the price for their sin and has risen to enforce it Yes, and He is now at the right hand of the Father Eagle as their defense attorney.”
(35) “Who shall separate us from the love of our Eagle Lord? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
(36) “As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long. W e are accounted by this world as chickens for the slaughter.’”
(37) “Yet in all these things we are more than conquering eagles through the Father Eagle who loved us.”
(38) “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of the Father Eagle which is ours through Christ Jesus, our Eagle Lord.”
