LOOKING AT WHO GOD HAS MADE US TO BE (cont. from last week)
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
WE ARE ALL INVOLVED IN A PLAN OF ADOPTION no matter if we like to view ourselves in that way or not. God's original intent was that we all would be children of the Father, but I believe that plan was put in harms way when we fell for the deception of Satan in the Garden. That was when we allowed SIN to creep into our relationship and caused a vast rip to form between us and God.
For a great many people that fact is not really understood. For mankind it meant that we must go through a process of change even after we accept the gift of reconciliation that Jesus died on the cross to provide for us. Jesus died so that we might have a chance to pursue after a relationship with God. When we say yes to Jesus Christ in belief that He is who He has said He is it is only the beginning of a series of life time changes that should be taking place within us, but frankly I am fearful that we are not getting the full truth of the Gospel past our acceptance of Christ. It is some of these things that I want to look at this week. You have heard me speak about the different types of followers that Jesus had during His ministry among us...Those who admired Him from a distance, those who followed Him because they felt that they could get something free from Him; and those who were really seeking after a relationship with God that Jesus spoke of. There are also different stages of adoption that we must go through in this life before we can be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven.
When we are a small child we do not have automatic ownership of the things of God any more than a small child would have complete control over their parent's bank account. According to the rights of a small child even though he may be in line for an inheritance he is to remain under the supervision of guardianship in some form until he becomes of age. We are in an adoption situation in that we are not blood kind of God and yet we are being grafted into that relationship through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. While as small children we are too under a guardianship of sorts as we receive instruction about our new family It is the beginning of any adoption process that a child is placed in a home for a time to see how well a bond develops between the parent and child. We have all heard stories of how well; or in some cases how not so well that period of time has shown conducive to a complete adoption in this life. Our adoption into the Kingdom of God is one in which God must know with a whole and complete heart that we want to be with Him and that we can be trusted to be in the Kingdom with Him with our free will to love and worship for who He is. That kind of trust and loyalty is rare for it requires a complete love and trust in God. This is the only way that we can have a complete belief in God's word, and in His promises to us.
In the same ways that we build relationships and trust in others God needs to be able to build a relationship and a trust in what we say to Him. God will test our resolve to love and obey His word above the things of this world, and for very good reason ( as we have said earlier); God has every right to question our intentions and to find out once and for all time who is truthful and who among us is lying. God allows the wheat and the tare to continue to grow together before harvesting them and then separating them during that harvest so that more good grain is not harmed than need be.
As we continue this discussion we will see that during this process of adoption there will be things that God will ask from us that show our loyalty and our willingness to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven above that of being a part of this world. While we all come to Christ as babies, we will also grow just as we do physically. Some will mature as a child who loves their parents should through love and grace, and yet there are those who re belle, and cause grief in the family; and while God may still love us Hee will not accept those who refuse to be transformed into new creatures that fit into a perfect Spiritual Kingdom. We will begin to discuss these areas next time. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
For a great many people that fact is not really understood. For mankind it meant that we must go through a process of change even after we accept the gift of reconciliation that Jesus died on the cross to provide for us. Jesus died so that we might have a chance to pursue after a relationship with God. When we say yes to Jesus Christ in belief that He is who He has said He is it is only the beginning of a series of life time changes that should be taking place within us, but frankly I am fearful that we are not getting the full truth of the Gospel past our acceptance of Christ. It is some of these things that I want to look at this week. You have heard me speak about the different types of followers that Jesus had during His ministry among us...Those who admired Him from a distance, those who followed Him because they felt that they could get something free from Him; and those who were really seeking after a relationship with God that Jesus spoke of. There are also different stages of adoption that we must go through in this life before we can be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven.
When we are a small child we do not have automatic ownership of the things of God any more than a small child would have complete control over their parent's bank account. According to the rights of a small child even though he may be in line for an inheritance he is to remain under the supervision of guardianship in some form until he becomes of age. We are in an adoption situation in that we are not blood kind of God and yet we are being grafted into that relationship through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. While as small children we are too under a guardianship of sorts as we receive instruction about our new family It is the beginning of any adoption process that a child is placed in a home for a time to see how well a bond develops between the parent and child. We have all heard stories of how well; or in some cases how not so well that period of time has shown conducive to a complete adoption in this life. Our adoption into the Kingdom of God is one in which God must know with a whole and complete heart that we want to be with Him and that we can be trusted to be in the Kingdom with Him with our free will to love and worship for who He is. That kind of trust and loyalty is rare for it requires a complete love and trust in God. This is the only way that we can have a complete belief in God's word, and in His promises to us.
In the same ways that we build relationships and trust in others God needs to be able to build a relationship and a trust in what we say to Him. God will test our resolve to love and obey His word above the things of this world, and for very good reason ( as we have said earlier); God has every right to question our intentions and to find out once and for all time who is truthful and who among us is lying. God allows the wheat and the tare to continue to grow together before harvesting them and then separating them during that harvest so that more good grain is not harmed than need be.
As we continue this discussion we will see that during this process of adoption there will be things that God will ask from us that show our loyalty and our willingness to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven above that of being a part of this world. While we all come to Christ as babies, we will also grow just as we do physically. Some will mature as a child who loves their parents should through love and grace, and yet there are those who re belle, and cause grief in the family; and while God may still love us Hee will not accept those who refuse to be transformed into new creatures that fit into a perfect Spiritual Kingdom. We will begin to discuss these areas next time. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Comments
Post a Comment