His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. – 2Peter 1:3-4.
We introduced this subject last GraceNotes stressing that “not to be” is non-existent for the person born new in Christ Jesus.
This is a person created with their spirit joined to God’s divine Spirit. The primary issue for this born-again person, becomes the resurrected Jesus living within them. We are now learning how to absorb and consume their new Divine Life while walking here on earth’s crusty soil. Already gifted, walking in God’s grace, a born-again person has God’s “treasure” of Life within their own fleshly jar of clay, our physical and fleshly body.
This new eternal identity is not of this world because Jesus is not of the world. Jesus actually gifts His eternal identity into us.
This new eternal identity will replace our finite humanity if we allow Him to do so! This is the work He has begun in us with His new birth creation in us. We are no longer our own, we are bought with blood Jesus shed on His cross which becomes ours also. This is what Peter means when he instructs us to grow in grace and knowledge of the person of Jesus Himself, 2Peter 3:18.
Once we have this precious gift of Jesus’ life within us, we learn to appreciate more and more the deep love our Father God has for His created persons. The missing part, every natural person feels inside of themselves, is gone! The Living Presence within our newly created alive soul delivers a wholesomeness in our person, making us complete in Him.
We still deal with temporal issues in our life daily which distract us. But the tremendous love our Lord Jesus places within us with resurrection power overcomes these temporal distractions. It is our faith releasing His power, making us an “overcomer.” Whatever is not of faith is sin!
This is part two of “to be or not to be.” We are directing our focus on growing His Spiritual life so we can be who He has created us new to be, in Him! We walk our path in His way by trusting completely His work in us. This is what our faith is all about, His work in us!
Jesus is God in both the Old Testament and the New. He illustrates this to the Pharisees of His day in John 8:56cf with His I AM declaration dating Him existing before Abraham, Moses and earth’s creation.
By the sacrifice of Jesus’s blood for our redemption and His resurrection life conquering death in us, we become a sweet smelling sacrifice in our daily life as we glorify His life in our jar of clay in this worldly system.
Jesus makes seven “I AM” declarations picturing our personal grace relationship. Each “I AM” speaks to an aspect of our relationship within His great “I AM.”
I AM the Bread of Life: John 6:35.
I AM the Light of the world: John 8:12.
I AM the Door: John 10:7.
I AM the Good Shepherd: John 10:11.
I AM the Resurrection and the Life: John 11:25.
I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life: John14:6.
I AM the True Vine: John 15:15.
It would be appropriate to explore each “I AM” we find here in John, as well as, the wonder of God as a literal Person, even while at the same time, He is Spirit.
The quality of God is Love, yet at the same time, He is absolute in righteousness.
He not only hates sin but must destroy sin and darkness at the cost of human life. These are questions and queries we come to understand and respect when entering into His fellowship as both friend and family. His creation of new life within a believer makes us His family within His own body.
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His son to be the savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world. –1John 4:13-17.
“As He is so also are we in this world.” This single statement contains the hope of what we are attempting to express. Within our own soul, we have the totality of who God is through Jesus. He is love and His love has been placed within our own living jar of clay by His new creation in us.
Now it is up to us to bring our soulish person into subjection, so that, we live in the new being that has been created within us!
Our Spiritual training requires us to discern our own temporal, worldly values against the holy, absolute pure truth of our righteous eternal Father. Jesus came to earth from the Father showing us the difference between our finite, worldly sense of righteousness compared to His eternal purity. This is one of the reasons He provides us the law of Moses in the Old Testament. It compares law to grace which now reigns over us in our new covenant in Him. Paul summarizes this in Romans 5 by showing how grace is “so much better” than the law of Moses.
The first Old Testament offering was the burnt offering. This offering was taken from a person’s own herd or flock. It was a blood sacrifice. The choicest animal in our possession was slain on the alter. The next offering was the meal offering of very fine flour. It was mixed heavily with oil and frankincense making a sweet aroma which rose upward when burned on the alter. The flour was then baked for bread.
The burnt offering is the blood of an innocent, pure animal representing the death of Jesus for our redemption. The meal offering is Jesus as our bread of life. As we consume God’s grace, our life becomes a continuous sweet smelling sacrifice offering. This is how we accomplish His sanctification within our soul.
Our first-hand knowledge of God’s glory and power is in us because we are in our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. The witness of His working presence within our own soul is certifying in us His wonderous love. What a glorious, spectacular and astonishing miracle has occurred by our new birth!!! We are now standing in His grace; there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. The grace of our Creator God enables us to be whom He created us new to be!
The power of God is limitless. Jesus Himself suggests the power we have. If we have the faith the size of a mustard seed we could say to a mulberry tree “Be uprooted and planted in the sea” and it would obey. But our faith is deficient making us spiritually limited and lacking. We have Spiritual capacity to “move mountains” but it requires more faith than we experience! Why is that? We are limited and lacking even if moving mulberry trees and mountains is not literal!
The major inhibitor to our faith is actually our belief, or should we say unbelief? We say we believe, and we do, but the nature of our own new identity requires us to take our believing faith to new levels. Already in our mind, accepting deeper within our heart is mandatory. We need to expand in our understanding His truth deeper and deeper, penetrating our being, so that, our eternal reality pierces each daily decision in our jar of clay. Our believing faith, needs to extend so deep, we are compelled to be who we are really created to be within the totality of our being! We need to desire Him with our soul! And why do we not? Because we need to seek Him in our new Spiritual being!
We need to know HIM, spiritually! Complete submission into the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ should be our desire! We are nothing without the working of His grace and mercy. Our faith depends upon the intimacy of our relationship in His grace! We now have His Spiritual Life in us!
We have two fundamental Spiritual capacities equipping us to grow our experience in His grace.
1. Life itself. Grace is a relationship. “Rooting” our personal relationship in God our Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit with intimacy is crucial. This is the organic side of our super-natural relationship. It is personal and totally germane to our Spiritual identity.
2. Knowledge is fundamental. The Word of God is given to us for our instruction; it grounds us in the righteousness of Jesus. God has given, via His new creation, the Spiritual capacity to see with Spiritual eyes and hear with Spiritual ears. Our knowledge of Him is in our structure.
Paul prays for the Ephesians that they be “rooted” and “grounded” in love. Being rooted is “organic” and “grounded” is like building on a foundation, it is “structural.” Our grace relationship has these two components, the dynamic of Life itself upon the structure on which we train our growth. He is our Structure!
Our faith is also limited by boundaries! Boundaries created by our lack of faith? Yes, but we are accustomed to understanding things that are measured by form, fit and function. Everything we do and think is within the natural limits of our physical world. Faith is not; it has no limits since faith is sourced in God Himself and God has no limits within creation. He is outside of it!
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
–2Corinthians 4:7.
When we experience something outside our measured perspective, we begin to imagine what could be, and then, like Daniel, ask what is beyond our own understanding. The truth for those in Christ Jesus is: everything is possible! We are in the love and mercy of our living God who is also creator of Life. His Life is our TREASURE alive within us, teaching us who He is and who we are because we are in Him! In Christ Jesus everything is possible; it is within our faith’s capacity because we are in the Creator God but the “surpassing power belongs to God and not to us!” We need to humble ourselves in His power.
We become so narrow in our thinking and faith because we live within the boundaries of a finite natural existence. When we actually touch and feel life outside these boundaries, then our life is quickened and made alive! The reality of who we are in Jesus also becomes more vivid when we open the door of our heart into His reality instead of simply drawing within the natural reality of flesh. Read Revelation 3:20 again. Our Lord Jesus is in us, knocking on our heart’s door! He agape Loves us!