- araratchurch
- Apr 2, 2024
- 4 min read
“See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].”
1 John 3:1-2 AMP
Over the last few days we have considered three lenses through which we must look at our Lord in order to truly see and know Him.
Let’s look at these again:
1 - See Him suffering in your place.
2 - See Him resurrected so that you can be raised to new life.
3 - See Him glorified and at the right hand of the Father as the One Who is calling you upward to share in His glory.
In terms of His suffering, the Lord does not need or want our sympathy. Rather, He wants us to see how much He loves us that He would suffer in our place to redeem us out of the clutches of sin and death. As well, we must recognize the depth of our depravity, that such a terrible penalty had to be paid to deliver us out.
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
“But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:22-23 NLT
In terms of His resurrection, He wants us to see that as He was raised by the Holy Spirit of God to newness of life, just so, we are raised by the Holy Spirit to become a new creation, created in His image, and prepared for good works.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
“And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Romans 8:10-11 NLT
In terms of His glorification, and being seated at the right hand of the Father, He wants us to see our future wherein we will rule and reign with Him forever.
“This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us.”
2 Timothy 2:11-12 NLT
“Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.”
Revelation 3:21 NLT
Now do you understand it? When we look at Christ’s suffering, His resurrection, and His glorification, we are seeing the process God has provided through which we can become sons of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ!
“For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”
Romans 8:16-17 NLT
Child of God, you should not be able to look at Jesus Christ without seeing what God has done for us, what God has made us to be, and what God has provided for us in terms of a glorious future in the ages to come.
Remember, if you look at Christ, all He has done, all that He is, without seeing what this means for you, then you have missed the point of His suffering on the cross, underestimated the power of His resurrection, and disregarded the glory of His exaltation. This was all done for us to be able to receive the upward call.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.“
Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV
The Lord didn’t need to do any of this to be Who He Is. He did it all so that we can be who He made us to be: His children!
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.“
Hebrews 3:1-2 NKJV
See Him now! Believe it now! Answer the upward call!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 1, 2024
- 4 min read
“And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”
Hebrews 2:5-10 NLT
I think most of us are intrigued by stories of common people finding out that they are actually royalty, or somehow or another, very rich and powerful. The causes of not knowing about their actual position, and the means through which it was found out vary; but the bottom line is—in a moment—they go from commoner to royalty, from rags to riches.
Sadly, many Christians are living as though they have no idea of their actual position made possible through Jesus Christ. Indeed, to hear them talk, you would think that they are the lowliest of all humanity, devoid of power and hope and forsaken by God.
Now, I am in no way castigating Christians finding themselves caught in Satan’s propaganda machine. In fact, I believe that one of the main goals of the enemy of our souls is to keep us ignorant of who God made us to be, ignorant of the authority we have been given through Jesus Christ.
I remember my father singing a song that went: “Oh yes, oh yes, I’m a child of the King; His royal blood now flows in my veins; and I who was wretched and poor now can sing, “Praise God! Praise God! I’m a child of the King!” I remember with what joy he sang those words. He knew that the Lord had snatched him from the jaws of hell and placed him on a high place, a place where he could share in the authority of our Lord!
The psalmist speaks prophetically of the King Who God would place over all things. That King is Jesus.
“For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.” The king proclaims the Lord’s decree: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’””
Psalms 2:6-9 NLT
Indeed, it was God’s plan that through the work of Jesus Christ, we could be rescued from our bondage and our lowly estate, to be adopted as heirs of God!
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.“
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV
Just imagine: God wants us to share the glory of Jesus Christ!
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Romans 8:29-30 NLT
Understand, God did not need to exert or extend His authority; He is already above all things. What He did through Jesus Christ, was for our benefit, that we could become sons of God!
Our opening scripture tells a story: God—through Jesus Christ—is leading us to glory. Indeed, the writer of Hebrews is referencing a prophetic word in Psalm 8.
“what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.”
Psalms 8:4-8 NLT
Further on in Hebrews 2 we see this stunning proclamation:
“So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.”
Hebrews 2:11 NLT
The Lord calls us His brothers and sisters! The upward call of God through Jesus Christ is that we rule and reign with our Lord forever, sharing in His glory!
The last couple of days we have been discussing the lenses through which we must see Jesus to see Him as He truly is.
Today we have looked through the third lens: We look at Jesus in His glory knowing that He was glorified as a Man so that we can be glorified with Him!
Again, the Lord God did not need to add to His glory; but there was a need for us to be brought into His glory.
For now, we only see glimpses of what we will be when Christ rules and reigns on the earth. But for now, we must recognize who God wants us to be and the price He paid to restore us to the path leading to sharing in His glory.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Mar 31, 2024
- 4 min read
“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
Romans 6:4-6 NLT
Legend has it that Florida was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon as he was searching for the Fountain of Youth. Now, the concept of a fountain of youth (a source of life-extending water) is found in literature going back centuries.
Better than that, references to a source of living water go back to Old Testament times.
In the book of Jeremiah we see references to the true source of living water.
“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”
Jeremiah 2:13 NLT
“O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you will be disgraced. They will be buried in the dust of the earth, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.”
Jeremiah 17:13 NLT
These prophetic scriptures spoke of the life-giving Source that would only be made accessible through the work of Jesus Christ.
As we have recently discussed, the true fountain of youth (living, or life-giving water) was spoken of by Jesus as coming from believing on Him and receiving the Holy Spirit.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.“
John 7:37-39 NKJV
Jesus, as the perfect Lamb of God, died for our sins. His precious blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and filthiness of the flesh. With that, His sacrifice made it possible for us to be connected to His never-ending life by way of His Holy Spirit!
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Romans 8:11 NLT
But, in order to share in His never-ending life, we must believe in Him and come to Him.
Sadly, some will not come; rather, resisting Him, even as some did when Jesus walked among us.
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.“
John 5:39-40 NKJV
Those who do believe in Jesus
and come to Him, don’t have to worry anymore about what will happen to them after exiting this life! The same new life (the Holy Spirit of God) in us now, will afford us a smooth transition from this world of mortality to the never-ending Day of an eternity with God.
But make no mistake, by the Holy Spirit of God, we can live a new life while still in this present world.
Indeed, our opening scripture explains that we can live a new life free from the bondage of sin, NOW!
Yesterday we discussed that in order to truly see the Lord, we must see Him suffering to atone for OUR sins.
Today, we look at Him through the lens of His bodily resurrection. Yes, His resurrection that makes it possible for us to forever live a new life as a new creation.
Child of God, those who are in Christ have been set free from sin and the fear of death that comes with it.
See our resurrected Savior. See that He will raise you to new life now AND raise you up at the Last Day!
“And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.”
Romans 6:8-9
“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:40 NKJV
“And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 6:14 NLT
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!