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 us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
How many of us previously thought of ourselves as new creations? We've mostly thought of ourselves as being forgiven and saved, but we still believed we were unrighteous and outside the righteousness of God. We read in God's Word that we've been made, "the righteousness of God in Jesus," but we still fail to accept it as "real."
We've been trained by the world and it's way of thinking and this makes it difficult for us to think differently. We've had scriptures quoted to us for such a long time telling us, "None are righteous," and makes it's hard for us to think differently, as well. Just like those in the Wilderness, we have limited God, by not being obedient to "believe" what He says. God wasn't testing the Israelites in the Wilderness, but the people were testing God by their unbelief.
Our Heavenly Father only asks that we believe that what He says in His Word is Truth and that He Himself will bring what His Word says, come to pass. God's Word says that we are "new creations." Ephesians 2:6 (Amplified) says that we have "Been raised together with Christ Jesus, and seated together with Him in Heavenly places." We find God's plan for our lives, after we are born-again into His Kingdom in Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified) which says, "For we are God's (Own) handiwork (His workmanship) recreated in Christ Jesus (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time) that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live)."
Ephesians 2:19 (Amplified) says, "Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens); but you now share citizenship with the saints (God's Own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself) and you belong to God's (Own) household."
For many, the above scriptures share only religious content and not revelation. We've read what God says, but then won't allow ourselves to believe it. We've somehow thought these scriptures (along with many others) pertain to when come (spirit, soul, and body) into God's Presence. Similarly, we've accepted Jesus as our Savior, but have struggled to allow Him to be Lord. We can believe that we'll go to the Father when we die, but don't believe He Himself already lives inside us. We direct most of our prayers, to a God Who is millions of light years away, instead of as close as our next breath.
We've been so conditioned throughout the years, that it seems sacrilegious to think of ourselves in any other way. We are afraid to believe we are what God's Word says we are. Just like those in the wilderness, we have limited God, by not believing He can ,and will do, the things He said He would do. In Hebrews 3:8-9 (Amplified) God says, "Do not harden your hearts as (happened) in the rebellion (of Israel) and their provocation and embitterment (of Me) in the day of testing; Where your fathers tried (My patience) and tested (My forbearance) and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years."
Even after witnessing miracle after miracle that God had performed, whenever any new situation presented itself, the Israelites who were led out of Egypt by Moses, forgot those things and failed to believe God could (and would) care for them. They tested and doubted Him and His covenant and truth, on every count. They grumbled and asked, "Can God do this?" and "Can God take care of us now?"
Hebrews 3:15 (Amplified) says, "Then while it is (still) called Today, if you would hear His Voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion (in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them)." The world's idea of Christianity has trained us to "harden our hearts" against the Truth. We believe God can no longer do, everything He wants to do in our lives, because of these teachings. It seems like everything in the Spirit realm, has either "passed away" or "reserved for when we get to Heaven."
According to God's Word, we are already spirit and citizens of Heaven and the sole purpose for our remaining here on earth (in our natural body), is to further God's Kingdom as ambassadors for Christ Jesus. 2Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified) says, "So we are Christ's Ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us; We (as Christ's personal representatives) beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor (now offered you) and be reconciled to God."
We are now to be part of a Royal family and act as personal representatives of God and His Kingdom. We've been endowed with all the things in His Kingdom, in order to reveal Him to the world. We're not supposed to be like those in the Wilderness, who wouldn't believe God would (and could) do what He said. The problem has never lied with Him, but always with us. Ever time we encounter another problem, we begin acting like those in the wilderness, and complain, murmur and doubt. We ask, "Can our God get water, food, or manna, here in the Wilderness?"
God can still heal, still speak, still perform miracles, still cast out demons, still speak in tongues, still overcome sickness, still send angels, still use His Blood to cause the destroyer to pass over us and still have "His Word performed on earth, as it is in Heaven" for us. God can still work in this 21st century. Have we become so intelligent, that we've made His Word "foolishness?" We have so limited the Super-natural ability of who we've been created to be, that the Church has become carnal in their thinking, like the world is.
Why would we allow the world to determined who we are, instead of the Word? We are what God has made us to be. You might never walk in it, you may never believe in it, and you may do like those in the Wilderness who tempted and tried God with their unbelief, but you are still what God made you to be.
Paul writes in 1Corinthians 13:12 (Amplified), "For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection (of reality as in a riddle or enigma), but then (when perfection comes) we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly) but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood (by God)."
The above scripture is a promise that we will know Him just like He knows us, in the fullness of this age. All of the doubt and unbelief that we've walked in here, will be revealed to us in that time. We don't need to wait until we get to Heaven, in order to know these things. We will all have many things to learn when we get there, but many of these things are meant for us to know and experience here, so we can represent Him and His Kingdom in the True Light of Who and What He is here.
2Corinthians 2:9-10 (Amplified) says, "But on the contrary, as the scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, (all that) God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him (who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed. Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny)."
There are things that will remain unlearned while we're here on earth, but the Holy Spirit will reveal and unveil things to us, that we seek out to know and walk in. Not knowing is no excuse for unbelief, because we are all called into fellowship and the full wisdom of His will and purpose. We might not know it all, but we should always be learning and receiving from the Holy Spirit. Some might say, "I tried, but that didn't work." My answer is, "I tried and it did work." The first time you tried to walk as a toddler, you probably didn't succeed, but you kept trying to walk and probably do walk now. Don't give up on God just because someone says something, trying to cause you to not believe. Remember, the Word says that "whosoever will" believe. If you will believe it will work, then it will work. If you don't believe it will work, then it won't work. Whether or not we believe it, IT IS TRUTH. We've been created new creations, in order to believe.
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