Wednesday – March 30, 2016
We are back to hump day already, how the time seems to fly. You and I brother and sister must practice not thinking in time for in reality although we are in a temporal realm we are eternal creatures, new creations like none before or ever to follow in Him. Our Arabian camel (one hump) is proclaiming his love for Jesus. Are you and I proclaiming our love for Jesus? Are we proclaiming our love in words only or in word and deed?
John 14:21 (KJV)
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
So let each of us ask ourselves; do I love Jesus, do I keep His commandments? Remember Bible love, Godly love, is not a warm fuzzy feeling, it is obedience to the Word of God, it is observance of The Blood Covenant, and it is a selfless attitude, thoughts, words, and actions. Now back to our text.
Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
I have been talking about the fact that we receive Jesus, we are saved, we are born again, and by the way everything else to do with the Kingdom, by faith, and we walk in Him by faith.
Ephesians 2:4-8 (KJV)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Bold added)
Our focus in the preceding passage is verse eight but I will briefly, as brief as I get, review the verses leading up to verse eight. So let us lift up our eyes and focus on verse four. Once sin entered the earth, the world, we needed God to have mercy and our God is full of mercy. We are told in Scripture that the plan to redeem man in the eventuality he would sin was in place before or at Genesis 1:2.
1 Peter 1:18-20 (KJV)
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (Bold added)
Man was not designed to fail, it was a choice just as it is with each one of us. Our success in the Kingdom of God and everywhere else in line with the will of God is up to us, God has provided all He is going to provide so like tools in our work shop or kitchen we must use them properly. Before we move on I want us to notice the word ‘foundation’ in verse twenty. The root word for ‘foundation’ means to throw down or cast down according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. Now recall Genesis 1:2.
Genesis 1:1-3 (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
There are those who believe that the three preceding verses are contiguous in time but that is not the case. There is not physical or spiritual evidence to support that thought. God, Elohim, does not create messes, it is not His nature. There was an upheaval that took place between verse one and two and that upheaval was the casting down of Satan, the Serpent, and the one who was known as Lucifer. And then in verse three we see the beginning of this present creation for us. Peter described this false doctrine as being willingly ignorant.
2 Peter 3:5 (KJV)
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
This is well outside the scope of what we are covering with our study of walking in faith in Him. However it will be worth your time to look at the larger scope of the verse from 2nd Peter. Okay let’s get back to our text in Ephesians focusing on verse four.
Ephesians 2:4 (KJV)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
We know from Scripture and from the overall Truth of Scripture that God is love (1 John 4:8). Now remember that spiritual law does not just apply to us it applies to Him as well. The capacity for Godly love, Bible love, came from Him, it is at its origin His love and arrives in us as baby undeveloped love. This love is selflessness, adherence to The Blood Covenant, and obedience to the Word. God, our Heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus, and The Holy Spirit certainly practice selflessness, honor The Blood Covenant, and obey their Word for our benefit.
By Pastor David R. Wood
