2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
The new creation reality is that, we are no only called to believe, but we are equipped to believe as well. Faith isn't an option, but a necessity for the new creation people that Jesus brought forth. Faith was also a requirement of God, in the old covenant. God was able to do awesome things, for those who would simply trust Him and He was likewise limited in the lives of those who wouldn't trust Him.
God not only requires faith in the new covenant, but it is an absolute necessity in the new birth. Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says, "But without faith it is impossible t please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out)."
Many in today's society look upon the belief of God's being able to do the super-natural as foolishness. Many have been mocked and ridiculed for believing God for the "impossible." Faith is required to become a new creation. We've been equipped with God's Word and His Spirit, We've been given all of His grace, in order to keep and guide us, but we've also been given His faith. Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) says, "For it is by grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And this (salvation) is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not through your own striving) but it is a Gift of God."
The salvation that we enjoy today, came not by any other way, but by believing and trusting in the impossible works of God. God performed even a greater miracle than the Red Sea for this new creation son-ship relation. Our Father has less patience with (more than anything else), is limiting Him from performing His Own Word in our lives. The same pattern of grieving the Holy Spirit and our Father, is our limiting Him by our unbelief.
Everything we need to know about how our Father feels when we remove limits from Him to do what He says, is by studying Abraham. We read about Abraham's having faith and trusting God in Romans 4:3 (Amplified) which says, "For what does the scriptures say? Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God)." Trusting God for Super-natural right standing came as a credit and reward to Abraham and for us too, because of the Promise that came through Abraham's Seed (Jesus). We have this same blessing bestowed on us, by faith.
There have been times when we grieved God, by not believing Him to do the same things He did in Abraham's life, He will do in our lives. Both Abraham and his wife Sarah were past child bearing age and were in no position to have a son. It was no simple thing for Abraham to believe he would have a son. But, the impossible things are what our Heavenly Father does best. We can accomplish the possible things on our own and think we don;t need the impossible any longer. Romans 4:18-20 (Amplified) says, "(For Abraham, human reasoning for) hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So (numberless) shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered the (utter) impotence of his own body, which was as good as deed because he was about a hundred years old, or (when he considered) the bareness of Sarah's (deadened) womb. No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God."
Abraham's "faith and trust" gave "glory to God." Our Heavenly Father doesn't only desire that we become born-again, but He wants us to believe Him to do the Super-natural (both through and for us) and He wants us to give Him glory in it. We seemingly believe (at least to some extent), that we are saved by faith, but when we begin speaking about the blessing of Abraham coming upon us, we fall back from our faith. Hebrews 3:7-10 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, as the (Holy Spirit says) Today, if you will hear His Voice Do not harden your hearts as (happened) in the rebellion (of Israel) and their provocation and embitterment (of Me) in the day of testing in the wilderness. Where your fathers tried (My patience) and tested (My forbearance) and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years. And so I was (provoked and surely grieved, displeased) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts."
We've always been taught that the wilderness is our "time of testing." When we reread the above scriptures, we discover that it was the people who were testing God, and not God Who was testing the people. In this present age, do we test God's willingness and ability to perform His desired will in our lives? God's will was to bless them in the wilderness, but they doubted Him. It wasn't that God failed to do as He said He would for them.
In this new creation, it's only man's idea of God that can stop His plan of blessing in our lives. It was never God's plan to leave us, like a deadbeat dad does. It was that we didn't believe God had the ability to work in our lives, that prevented the blessing. We have faith to receive salvation by believing in Jesus Christ, like the Israelites believed God to deliver them out of bondage, but then we stop trusting Him for our everyday needs, like they did. This is what "grieved the heart of God."
Those in today's Church, who believe for Manna from Heaven, or for writing on a rock, or for the parting of the Red Sea, or any other Super-natural thing that God did when He brought them out of Egypt, will run into the same unbelief that the Israelites had.
When we limit God in our lives, this displeases Him more than any other thing on the planet. God still wants to show Himself strong and glorified in (and through) His family. Ephesians 3:10 (Amplified) says, "(The purpose is) that through the Church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all it's infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the Heavenly sphere."
God wants to perform miracles and signs and wonders in our lives and the lives of others. This is His natural character and Life. He is Supernatural and works in the realm of His Spirit, in order to bring about the super-natural here. Perhaps, the greatest reason we do not see or experience the super-natural here, is that we "test and try" the patience of the Holy One. This is just like those in the wilderness asking, "Can the Lord supply meat and water here in the wilderness?" after God just parted the Red Sea for them to walk through on dry land.
Our cries have been, "Can the Lord supply healing, miracles and meet our needs here?" When did the God Who created the universe become so small in His ability, in the eyes of His children? When did we decide that all the things God did for those Moses led out of Egypt, have either passed away or were for another time? When did we learn to distrust God for His Promise and His blessing? We are a new creation, who were created to believe and walk in the Super-natural things of God on this earth!
No comments:
Post a Comment