John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
We've been studying the Glory that God, by His Grace, has given us as part of our inheritance in Jesus. Jesus was the Firstborn from the dead and He is the One Who inherited the Promise that is now ours as fellow heirs. The Promise was made to and through Him and because we are in Christ Jesus, we now also have the Promise in and for us. Jesus prayed in John 17:22 (Amplified), "I have given to them the Glory and honor which You have given Me, that they should be one even as We are One."
The Glory is a Person and that Person is the Holy Spirit, Who Jesus received from the Father, when He was baptized. In John 1:33 (Amplified) John the Baptist says, "And I did not know Him nor recognize Him, but He Who sent me to baptize in and with water said to me, Upon Him Whom you shall see the Spirit descend and remain, that One is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the very same Glory, that was on and in Jesus Paul writes about the Promise of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 3:14 (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."
The Holy Spirit is the Glory of God in manifestation and being in Christ Jesus, we've receive the same Glory and honor that God bestowed on Jesus, making us all one in Him, like Jesus prayed. Many believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit only means speaking in other tongues and the Gifts of the Spirit. He is much more than these manifestations, in the lives of those who are in Christ Jesus. He is the Glory that Jesus provided us, at His Resurrection. 2Corinthians 3:7-8 (Amplified) says, "For if the dispensation of death engraved in letters on stone (the ministration of the Law), was inaugurated with such Glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses, because of it's brilliance, a Glory that was to fade and pass away. Why should not the dispensation of the Spirit (this Spiritual ministry whose task it is to cause men to obtain and be governed by the Holy Spirit), be attended with much greater and more splendid Glory?"
Paul isn't only writing about the Presence of Glory that came down upon the tablets of stone, but about the indwelling of this Glory, by His Presence living now and abiding in us. This is the Promise of the Holy Spirit God gave to Abraham, for the Seed. Galatians 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Now the Promises (covenants, agreements), were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir)." God doesn't say, "and to his seeds, descendants, and heirs," as if referring to many persons, but says, "and to your Seed, your Descendant and your Heir," obviously referring to One Individual, Who is none other than Christ Jesus, the Messiah.
The Promise of the Spirit, was made to Jesus, as the Seed and Heir of the Promise. The above scripture tells us that, "If you belong to Christ, are in Him, Who is Abraham's Seed, then you are Abraham's offspring and Spiritual heirs according to Promise." We are Spiritual heirs and these Promises aren't only true when we go to Heaven, but are for here on earth, by the Presence of Heaven coming into us, on this earth. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are even here and now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when he comes and is manifested, we shall, as God's children, resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is."
Adam lost the crowned Glory that was on and in him, removing the privileges and Promises God made to him, from all mankind. Through the Last Adam Jesus, we've been restored back to what God's will and purpose was for us, from the beginning. Psalm 8:4-6 (Amplified) says,, "What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of earth born man that You care for him? Yet You have made him but a little lower than God, or Heavenly beings and You have crowned him with Glory and honor." Remember Jesus' prayer from John 17:22, where He told the Father, "I have given to them the Glory and honor which You have given Me, that they should be one even as We are One." We are again, "one in Him," as in the beginning. The Psalmist continues in Verse 6, saying, "You made him [man] to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet."
Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His followers in Acts 1:8 (Amplified), "You shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might), when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends, the very bounds of the earth." This was the Promise that was to come in Acts 2:1-4, when they all received the Promise of the Seed and were made new creation beings, born of God, filled with the Glory of God and once again, had the Life of God and His crowning Glory residing in them, and in those who believe even today.
Those under the old covenant, couldn't enter into the Holy of Holies, because the Presence of the Lord's Glory would destroy them. We've now become the temple and the Holy of Holies. The same Glory abides within us, as the Seed of Abraham's.
1Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified) says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you), Whom you have received as a Gift from God? You are not your own." This Glory wasn't given so that we could clean up our lives. By faith, we realize that Jesus already did that and now we're to reflect His Glory through us, by the Holy Spirit, Who is the Glory.
We must listen to the Truth of God's Word and realize what God has really done, then the Church wouldn't have so much foolishness we have today. When we don't understand and listen to the Holy Spirit, we establish man-made laws, that restrict the Glory and honor we've inherited through Christ Jesus. We haven't heard many teachings about how we are the temple and that we've been crowned with Glory and honor, in Him. We keep waiting for the Promise to come, when it's already here!
The only thing that will change when we arrive in God's Presence, is the mortal bodies we now live in. 1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are even here and NOW God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be hereafter, but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall, as God's children, resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He really is." Our physical, mortal bodies will be changed into immortal and Glorified bodies, like Jesus now is. John said in this scripture that, "We don't yet know what that will be like, but it will be as His real body is now." The real you, is the one that now lives in your earthly body, which is to be directed by the Glory of the Holy Spirit Who is infused with your new creation spirit, born again by God's Own Word.
Paul said in 2Corinthians 3:18 (Amplified) that, "We are changed and transfigured from one Glory to another and an ever increasing splendor by observing ourselves in the mirror of God's Word. When we see the Glory of the Lord in His Word, we are transfigured into that Image, for this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit." 1Corinthians 15:49 (Amplified) says, "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the Image of the Man of Heaven."
We've never dared to push our faith and receive what God's Grace has really done for us, through Jesus. Religion has held us back from Truth and kept us under the world's bondage. Let's look into the mirror of God's Word and let is reflect who we really are, now and forever. John 1:16 (Amplified) tells us that we "have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with what Jesus has done." No one is left out. We are all joint heirs together with Him. What He has, you have, through the restoration of God's Grace and Truth, that came through Jesus Christ.
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