John 10:10 (Amplified) says that, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
I've noted before, how strange Jesus' statement must have seemed to the people He was speaking to. I'm sure they thought they were alive. Because we have misunderstood the importance and the truth of spiritual life and death, many in today's Church still have a problem with this statement.
The life we were living before receiving Jesus, was simply the life of the flesh and not the life of the spirit. We could only love to a point and do only the things that the flesh knew how to do. Only the life of God, through the Holy Spirit, could allow us to love and live like God intended for us. We were limited by the death that was in our spirit because of the fall of Adam.
We've mostly believed that the new life held just the forgiveness of sin that came when we were saved. Now though, we understand that once the sin was dealt with and that it wasn't simply forgiveness of our sin, but the removal of that sin, death had no more dominion over and in our spirit. Now, God Himself could enter into our spirit and intertwine His life into our very spirit. And, the life we're living is actually His life within us.
Paul said in Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) that, "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion) it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
So, the life we're now living is actually God's very life itself. When Jesus said that, "He came that we should have life," He meant His life lived through us. Again, you must be born again.
John 3:6 (Amplified) says, "What is born (from) the flesh is flesh (of the physical is physical); what is born of the Spirit is spirit." By misunderstanding spiritual death, we misunderstood what Jesus was talking about. We're like Nicodemus who couldn't understand how someone could be born a second time. We ask Jesus to come into our hearts, we ask Him to forgive our sins, and we ask Him to be our Lord, but we still don't understand what happened to us when we did these things.
Because we failed to learn how to live from the life within, we went on living the same life we lived before (which was the life of the flesh). We still tried ruling over our body with willpower and rules and laws from the religious foundation we served. We bound ourselves with more laws about wearing make-up, jewelry, certain clothes and cleaving to behavioral modifications. We made the "Liberty" in Christ, so hard to follow that we had no joy left in our walk with Him.
We never learned to live the new life we have received because we never recognized it as actually being a new life. We tried to stop sinning after we were saved, but for the most part, we still did sin. Perhaps we didn't commit the same old sins we used to, but nonetheless, we found that we weren't perfect. We tried walking in obedience to God, but we were still disobedient.
And, because we continued making the same dumb mistakes, we walked in condemnation most of the time and always felt unworthy and lowly. This is far from what Jesus promised in John 10:10 (Amplified) which says, "I came that they may have and enjoy life; and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
Most of the time, our new life was a constant struggle. Since we never learned (by the Holy Spirit) how to live, we continued walking in the death that was in the world we were born in and not in the world we were now born out of, even though we no longer had death in us. It was the only "life" we had known. Like a child learning to walk, we were afraid to turn loose of the support we held onto. So now, we are full of life, but we're still living in death instead of being free from sin and still walking in condemnation and still struggling with sickness even though we've been healed.
We write sermons about how hard it is to walk with God, how weak we are and how we need to just hold on until the end. We put off ever having victory in this life and have resigned ourselves to "someday everything will be alright." We tried consoling ourselves by identifying with such men as the Apostle Paul and his struggles. We patterned our lives after Job and other men in the Word. We forgot that Job didn't have the life that Jesus gave the Church. The life he had was just the flesh.
Paul and the men of the early Church, were pioneers of the Gospel we read today. Paul wrote in 2Corinthians 12:7 (Amplified), "And to keep me from being puffed up and to much elated by the exceeding greatness (pre-eminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh, a messenger of satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted."
We've allowed religion to use this man's experiences with God, to be twisted into a pattern of defeat to pattern our lives after. We said that "God kept Paul knocked down because of his pride." This isn't what the scripture says. Paul said that the revelations came from God and that the thorn in the flesh (the pain in the neck) was a messenger of satan sent to stop Paul from revealing this new birth.
God exalted the Apostle Paul above almost all other New Testament preachers. So, he was afterall, exalted. Despite all the persecution Paul suffered, he went on to victory in this world and glory when he left. If you wish to conform to what Paul suffered, then walk the walk he walked. Don't identify with his trials if you don't identify with his mission.
Paul learned how to live by learning how to die unto himself. Jesus met with much persecution of His Own. It wasn't because God didn't want Him exalted, but because the devil didn't want Him to be exalted. Jesus' Own thorns in His flesh, was demons who constantly buffeted Him, but who could not stop Him. When they thought they had finally defeated Jesus and had Him crucified, He was lifted up and exalted above all Names, Kingdoms and Thrones.
We need to stop looking for excuses to fail and living in the old way of death. We must enter into the victory of the new walk in life. If it is His life we're now living, then how can it fail? The religions Scribes and Pharisees of our day are always telling us what we cannot do, just the way they did with Jesus. The Holy Spirit and the Word of God are always telling us that, "With God, all things are possible."
We are finally learning how to live for Him and live in Him and live from Him. Afterall, it is His life. The enemy would like us to believe that there is no way we can measure up to God's standards. You know, he's right. The Good News is that you don't need to worry about measuring up to God's standards because your life is in Christ Jesus and it's His place with God that now measures your standing with God. If Jesus is righteous, then you, in Him, are also righteous. If Jesus is pure before God, then you are, in Him, also pure before God.
When learning how to live this "God kind of life," always be mindful to put your faith in Jesus' sacrifice and not in your performance. The Priest already knew you were messed up and that's why we brought the lamb for them to sacrifice. He doesn't see your mistakes, but He only sees the Lamb. Never return to judging yourself by your own efforts. Always judge yourself by the Holiness of the Sacrifice Lamb, Jesus.
Even though you might mess up, your Lamb did not or will not. God only sees the Lamb and not you. As long as you live the life of the Lamb, you will learn how to live.
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