Jesus tells us in John17:3(Amp), "And this is Eternal Life (it means) to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the Only True and Real God, and (likewise) to know Him, Jesus (as the) Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah) Whom You have sent."
The greatest honor, privilege and expectation any human could possibly hope for, has now been made available through our salvation and Jesus. Knowing God our Father, the Creator and Eternal Being, is more than we've dared to believe. We've been taught through the years that no one can really know Him, His will, His Voice or even His Word.
God and His son Adam, walked together and Adam explored all that God made, according to Gen.2:19-20(Amp) and the Father brought all the beasts, birds, and every living creature to Adam, so Adam could name them. Adam and the Father walked in perfect fellowship before Adam's transgression in Gen.3. They walked in "unbroken fellowship from the beginning of man."
We are now not just forgiven, but have been created new in Jesus Christ, according to 2Cor.5:17, which says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and Spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
We still see our old selves, instead of the new creations we've become in Christ. In God's eyes, the old persons no longer exist and we have no past. We couldn't be new creations, if we were left like we once were. Jesus prayed in John17:17(Amp), "Sanctify them (purify them, consecration, separate them for Yourself, make them holy) by the Truth; Your Word is Truth." Malachi 2:6(Amp) tells us that, "The Law of Truth was in Levi's mouth" and he "spoke only God's Word." God's Word isn't only "a Truth," but is THE TRUTH. God's Word tells us that speaking contrary to His Word is "perverse and twisted speech."
God's Word is more Truth than what we feel or think. It's absolute Truth. Jesus tells us to Matt.6:33(Amp), "Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where God resides and the Kingdom of Heaven operates by God's way of doing and being right.
When God's new creation people ask Him about His way of doing, He will always bring us back to His Word, because this is how His Kingdom must work. God's way of doing is based on the Truth of His Word, which is the Law of His Kingdom. John3:34(Amp) says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the the Gift God makes of His Spirit."
If we lined our words with God's Word, then do you suppose the Holy Spirit could use us more? Instead of speaking what men say, you must speak Truth after what God says, so things would work differently in our walk with Him. God watches over His Word "to perform it," so our words should line-up with the Word.
We need to put aside many of man's ideas about God and accept what God says to and about us. We need to learn to know Him as "Father." We need to live in the new and Last covenant God has made through Christ, instead of expecting God to deal with us like He did with those in the old covenant. We are new creation beings and God deals with us in the Spirit.
We cannot and never will know Him by our flesh, because He is a Spiritual Being, according to John4:26(Amp), where Jesus says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (reality)." God considers it worship, when we approach Him in Spirit and in Truth. There are many ways to worship Him, but all must be in Spirit and Truth, in order to be received.
Tithing is a form of worship, when it is one in and by, the Spirit and Word (Truth). Offerings are a type of worship, when done in Spirit and Truth. Singing is a type of worship, when we do so in Spirit and Truth. When we do these things because taking up a collection and singing is just tradition, then we're not doing them in Spirit and Truth. Doing this is more of an individual act and not just as part of the congregation. God knows which is done by His Spirit and His Word.
This might upset some people, but God guides His people through His Word and His Spirit. We should put money in the offering plate and offer it as worship unto God. We mustn't just give ten percent of our income, but tithe by our words and His Words, as worship. You might ask, "Aren't they the same amount? Yes, but "those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." Jesus says in John4:23(Amp), "The Father is seeking just such people as these, as His worshippers."
Jesus told the people in the Temple, who were offering sacrifices, that "by their traditions, they made the Word of God of no effect." Many today are making God's Word of no effect, by their traditions and rituals. I seek to know God and not just know about Him by religion. I want to know Him like Jesus knew Him and as Adam knew Him before his transgression. I want to walk with God as my Father and hear Him when He speaks to me. I want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, instead of being in the dark about Who He really is in me. This is Eternal Life. It means to know God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. What an honor.
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