2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) into 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 deeds we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
Romans 4:20-22 (Amplified) says, "No unbelief or distrust made him (Abraham) 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. Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and to do what He had promised That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."
Abraham was a natural man, who wasn't born-again and hadn't received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but trusted God would keep the Promise He made to Abraham. His faith put him in right standing with God. God considered him to be right before Him, because of His faith in God's Word to him. Our right standing comes from the same faith as Abraham's faith. In Christianity today, we still struggle with the Truth of our being righteous or in right standing with God.
Our lack of faith in God's Promises, has placed the Church in a double-minded position with our Father and has made it difficult for Him to fulfill His Promises, in our lives. Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) says, "Now faith is the assurance (the conformation, the title deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses)."
God 's Promise to Abraham (who was 100 years old) that he would not only have a son, but a multitude of children, must have seemed staggering to him and his wife Sarah, The Word says that, "Abraham staggered not at the Promise, but believed that God was not only able to it, but that He would perform that which He had promised." Today, we have all of the Promises of God, freely given to us through our union with Christ Jesus. These Promises are even greater than the one He made to Abraham. Our Promises aren't based on a covenant of the blood of bulls and goats, but on the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Himself.
We've not only entered into and have a Blood covenant with Jesus, the this covenant was made between God the Father and God the Son and was fulfilled by God the Holy Spirit. God made this covenant with Himself and it didn't depend on man, in order to keep it and make it valid. God sword by Himself and this makes the covenant unbreakable, according to Hebrew 8:6-7 (Amplified) which says, "But as it now is, He (Christ) has acquired a (Priestly) ministry which is as much superior and made excellent (than the old) as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is Superior and more excellent, (because) it is enacted and rests upon a more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises. For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one." Hebrews 7:22 (Amplified) says, "In keeping with (the oath's greater strength and force) Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better (stronger) agreement (a more excellent and more advantageous covenant)"
The covenant that has been enacted between Jesus and the Father, has brought us into an "unbreakable covenant" between God and the Man Jesus. And, through His resurrection, this covenant has made us family and heirs, according to the Promise. Hebrews 9:15-17 (Amplified) says, "Christ (the Messiah) is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an (entirely) new agreement (testament, covenant) so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the Promised everlasting inheritance since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgression committed under the (old) first agreement For where there is a (last) will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will and Testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive."
If I wrote out my will and testament and left all my possessions to you, then when would you expect to receive them? Of course, you receive them when I die, right? Well, did Jesus die and validate His will? We are to receive our inheritance at His death, not our deaths. We've been waiting until we die, in order to receive what He has left us.
Through Jesus, God made a will and has left everything to us through the death of Jesus, according to Hebrews 10:10 (Amplified), which says, "And in accordance with this will (of God) we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the Body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One)." Romans 8:16-17 (Amplified) says, "The Spirit Himself (thus) testifies, together with our own spirit, (assuring us) that we are children of God. 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."
Jesus' "suffering" was not from sickness, disease or being the tail and not the head. His suffering is the rejection and persecution from the world and the strategies of the evil one, who tries to undermine our place here on earth. Jesus even "faced down" the devil on our behalf, to prove His authority in Matthew 4:1-10 (Amplified). Jesus describes the authority given as part of our inheritance in Luke 10:9 (Amplified) saying, "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and (physical and mental strength and ability) over all the power that the enemy (possesses) and nothing shall in any way harm you."
Paul spoke about the Last Will and Testament of Jesus, in Galatians 3:14-16 (Amplified) saying, "To the end that through (their receiving) Christ Jesus, the Blessing (promised) to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might (all) (receive the realization of) the Promise of the Holy Spirit To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, (if) even a man makes a last will and testament (a merely human covenant) no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed) Now the Promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his offspring, his Heir)." God didn't refer to "seeds, heirs, descendants," as if referring to many persons, but says, "And to your Seed (his offspring, his Heir)," which refers to One Individual, Who is Christ (the Messiah).
This Promise is also for us, who are "fellow heirs with Christ Jesus" and was left to us by the Last Will and Testament of Jesus Himself. These Promises are to be received by faith, just like the "Father of Faith" Abraham received them. We should be just as persuaded by our faith, to receive the great and precious Promises, as Abraham was in receiving his Promise for a son and inheritance.
All of the Promises made to Abraham, are now made ours through Jesus, but we must receive them by faith and nothing else. We've been trying to "deserve" the Blessing and "make it work." We are only required to believe His Promises and trust that He is well able to perform them. Hebrews 8:8 (Amplified) says, "But as it now is He (Christ) has acquired a (Priestly) ministry, which is as much Superior and more Excellent (than the old) as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is Superior and more Excellent, (because) it is enacted and rests upon more important (superior, higher and nobler) Promises."
The Promises made to us in this new covenant, are much greater and more assuring, than that which was made to Abraham, it was made to Jesus. As His fellow heirs (or joint heirs), we share in these Promises through Jesus, as surely as Jesus Himself share in in His inheritance from the Father. Romans 4:16 (Amplified) says, "Therefore (inheriting) the Promise is the outcome of faith, and depends (entirely) on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace."
We must read the Will, discover ourselves in it and receive what Jesus has bequeathed to us, by His death. "All of these Promises are Yes and So be it in Christ Jesus," but they must be appropriated by faith. Healing, long life, peace, and answered prayer are all part of our inheritance, by our faith in our Testator and His Last Will and Testament. Many don't know that these Promises were left to us, in His will. Some don't know that they are "even in the Will." As the Holy Spirit reads the Will to you, then you must by faith, accept and receive all that Jesus left us, when He ratified the Will with His Own death.
Jesus told His followers in John 16:14-15 (Amplified), "He (the Holy Spirit) will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine, and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. Everything that the Father has is Mine, that is what I meant when I said that He (the Holy Spirit) will take the things that are Mine, and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you." The Holy Spirit has now become the Executor of the Will and will reveal to us, what our inheritance truly is.
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