Saturday, June 28, 2014

The Everlasting Father!!

One of the names given to Jesus by the Holy Spirit, even many, many hundreds of years before Jesus was born on this planet is Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus is the visible personification of the invisible God.

The concept of family and fatherhood is all God’s idea.  It is never a man’s idea.  When we read the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:38 it is mentioned that the first man on the face of the earth, Adam, is the son of God.  For all others, Luke gives the name of a human being as the father’s name, but for Adam he says the father name as “GOD.”  

Luke 3
37 The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
38 The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

The very purpose of Jesus coming into the world is to restore the relationship of Father and Son between God and Mankind, which Adam lost because of His disobedience.

Through Jesus we are brought into the family of God.  We have the Spirit of Adoption and the privilege to call the Creator of the Universe as our Father. 

Romans 8
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
16 The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.
17 And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.

So, to be the son and daughter of God, we need to come into Christ and have that Spirit of Adoption.  Having come into the family, our goal should be to be led by the Spirit of God, because Word of God says for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 

This post is intended to focus the attention on the Father and His character.  Two main characters that are prominent for a father are that a father always signifies protection and providence. 

Father Protects:
We see in the natural world a father always takes care and protects the family.  This is innate and natural.  How did it become natural? This is being incorporated into the human DNA from God’s DNA. Again, I am saying what we see in the natural setting is God originated.

Jesus says in John 10
27 The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all [else]; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are One.

Jesus who is the Everlasting Father gives us Everlasting life and He also protects us from the destruction of Eternal Life that He has given us.  He says you and I are safe in His Hands and His Father’s hands.  He also says that He and His Father are one and the same. What a great joy!!

Father Provides:
The concept of a man providing for the family as a father is again from God and not from man.  God the Father provided everything for His son Adam in the Garden of Eden.  There was nothing lacking.  God made sure that His son Adam was happy and comfortable.  Adam enjoyed all the provisions until He had the perfect relationship with His Father God.  Unfortunately, he lost it through the deception of the enemy.  God didn’t give up and He wanted to restore the relationship and the resultant blessings to Adam’s generation.  So, He came in the form of Jesus, the Everlasting Father, and got back all the lost blessings and made a way of restoration through Himself. 

So, if you are in Christ Jesus through the born-again experience of making Jesus the Lord and savior of your life, do not worry....your provision is taken care.  You are well-provided through Jesus as we read in Romans 8. 

Romans 8
17 And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.

So, we need to take our eyes off of the situations and people and focus our attention on this Everlasting Father who is our protector and our provider.  As we do it...the next thing is too see the manifestation of the wonderful character of this Great Everlasting Father in our lives.  Do you agree?  If you agree, pls share your thoughts and comments related to this post.

p.s. Actually, initially intended as a FB status post and eventually changed into a blog post...:-)

Friday, June 13, 2014

Walking in the Superabundant Grace of God

Christian life is a life of Grace.  Grace is unmerited favor of God to us the undeserving sinners.  We are chosen by God and set apart from the world by His Grace.

As Paul says in  
Galatians 1:
15 But when He, Who had chosen and set me apart [even] before I was born and had called me by His grace (His undeserved favor and blessing), saw fit and was pleased
16 To reveal (unveil, disclose) His Son within me so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles (the non-Jewish world) as the glad tidings (Gospel), immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood [did not consult or counsel with any frail human being or communicate with anyone].

Once Saul the persecutor of the followers of Jesus, Paul says that he obtained mercy and the superabundant grace that flowed out of him to do the Work of the Lord. This we read in the below verses. 
I Timothy 1:12-15
12 I give thanks to Him Who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able [for this], Christ Jesus our Lord, because He has judged and counted me faithful and trustworthy, appointing me to [this stewardship of] the ministry.
13 Though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and was shamefully and outrageously and aggressively insulting [to Him], nevertheless, I obtained mercy because I had acted out of ignorance in unbelief.
14 And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord [actually] flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are [to be realized] in Christ Jesus.

What is the source of this superabundant grace?

Let’s read...

Romans 5:17
17 For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

18 Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.

19 For just as by one man’s disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man’s obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him).

One Man’s offense that is Adam’s disobedience brought forth sin. 
One Man’s righteousness that is Jesus Christ’s obedience brought forth grace and life.

The source of this superabundant grace is Jesus Christ.  His obedience on the cross channelized the unmerited favor of God upon us.

A.W. Tozer  puts it as “The Cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God’s wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers.”

How to receive the grace of God?

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Bible says Jesus the only Son of the Father is full of grace.  So, when we receive the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives and submit our lives to Him we receive the grace of God.  In short, salvation is receiving the grace of God. 

So when we are washed by the Blood of Jesus Christ, we receive the grace and the next process is to continue in this grace.

Be humble to receive Grace:
James 4:6
But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).

Attribute everything to God and give Him the glory.  Humility is also complete obedience to God and His Word.  If you say you are humble, yet you do not follow His word, you are not humble before.  Just accept His Word for your life whatever it is and walk by it.  If He says "you are going to far lands and different nations shall serve you" you do not say, Lord I want to be humble and that cannot be.  Then you are not humble.  Just as the Mary who found favor and grace before God, said "be unto me according to thy word," we need to do the same.  If Bible say "By His stripes you are healed" believe and accept the word and walk in it.  Do not exalt your sickness and situation above God's Word.  Subject everything to God. Walk in His grace and the devil or satan cannot touch you.

Proverbs 3:34
He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.


How to Continue in Grace? 
Acts 13:43
And when the congregation of the synagogue dispersed, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to continue [to trust themselves to and to stand fast] in the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God.

Continuing in grace means not losing it. 

How to Grow in Grace?
Growing in grace is an everyday experience.  We are not only supposed to lose the grace but we are supposed to grow more and more in the grace of God.

II Peter 1
May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Grace is multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  This is not brain knowledge about Jesus.  To know Jesus is different from “know about Jesus.” Knowing Jesus is through experience and revelations.  Philip preached Jesus and not about Jesus. 

Acts 8
5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

If we actually know Jesus we will escape the pollutions of the world. Please read below.

II Peter 2
20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first.

II Peter 3
18 But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)!

Grace of God will be with all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible love.

Ephesians 6:24
Grace (God’s undeserved favor) be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible [love]. Amen (so let it be)

We must love the Lord fervently and devotedly.

Psalm 18:1
I love You fervently and devotedly, O Lord, my Strength.

God’s mercy and loving-kindness or the grace of God shall be to those who devise good.

Proverbs 14:22
Do they not err who devise evil and wander from the way of life? But loving-kindness and mercy, loyalty and faithfulness, shall be to those who devise good.

Be Strong in the Grace:
II Timothy 2:1

 So you, my son, be strong (strengthened inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus.

Through our personal walk with God, depending on God all the time and worshiping Him with reverential fear, we become strong in His grace.  With that superabundant grace overflowing in and through us we will bear witness to the resurrection Power of Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 4
33 And with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (loving-kindness and favor and goodwill) rested richly upon them all.

Acts 6
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Shall we start to walk in this superabundant grace of God? the First step is to receive Lord Jesus Christ...shall we begin? 

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