Upon teaching a study and receiving some
questions, Joe McIntyre asked the Lord why many aspects of the faith life were
not so easily grasped by us and when he received his answer, it was that this
happens because we do not know that God loves us. In response, eager to resolve
the issue within the body, Joe asked if he should teach us about God’s love. To
his surprise, the Lord told him instead to teach us about who we are in Christ,
and then we will know that we are loved.
Until we understand what belongs to us as a
result of Christ’s finished work as well as who we are in Him, we will not be
able to see the love of God the Father, which is revealed in what He has done
for us. God selected us out for Himself, making us with love, as we are the
precious object of His heart’s desire, which He redeemed and obtained through
the agency of Jesus Christ.
Once we know who we are, we see our true
value, comprehending the treasure we are and realizing that to God, we are the
pearl of great price that the man gave everything for in order to obtain.
Because God already did and gave everything for me, He loves me more than I can
comprehend. It is that believing of my eternal identity, which produces
confidence and leads to faith through the understanding of His love. Likewise,
faith is also incomprehensible when we do not know who we are, our value, what
has been done for us, and how much we are truly loved.
Having an ongoing relationship with the Word,
causes the activation of truth in our lives and brings forth our deliverance,
setting us free. The power of this truth is released to us as we ascend through
the four levels of knowledge: faint recognition of truth, general knowledge of
truth, the ability to prove, illustrate, and apply truth, and finally acting
upon and having our conduct modified by the truth (level four), which sets us
free.
The church gets frustrated with the
promise that knowing the truth will set them free, when they feel that they
know the truth and they have yet to experience the freedom that they so
desperately desire. Realizing that it is possible for them to not know the
truth at the level that they need to in order to have its power be released in
them was an absolutely revelatory thought.
Also, there is the
illustration that when we see God as angry, we are seeing Him through a veil,
just like how there is a veil present whenever the law of Moses is read (and
that law leads to death, because none of us are capable of keeping all of it on
our own). This caused me to picture the veil that was torn as a result of Jesus
and to conclude that through Him, we are able to know and experience the love
of God, whereas outside of Jesus, there is only the feeling of condemnation and
guilt as we inevitably fail repetitively to measure up to God’s standards. It
is in this when we struggle on our own and are relying on our own efforts that
we tend to feel that God is upset with us. This is because we are seeing Him
though the veil instead of allowing Jesus to tear that veil away for us so that
we can experience the freedom and liberty of God’s love, grace, and mercy.
Although the
knowledge about there being two realms: the seen (natural) and the unseen
(spiritual) was not a new concept for me, there was something about the way it
was presented in this work that allowed the previous understanding I had to
travel from my head to my heart. Just understanding God’s heart toward me and
seeing the motivation behind the Holy Spirit revealing the knowledge and the
nature of God, so that we can be freed by this knowledge and have a
relationship with him, that was beautiful.
In the same way I
stated above, the following with which I was already aware of, became more than
just knowledge, but alive and meaningful to me as the material about our Father
wanting a Father-Son relationship with us instead of a Master-servant
relationship with us was covered. Again the same thing happened with our
identity being not in what we have done, will do, or can do, but that identity being
in Jesus’ finished and completed work.
My true identity is who I am as a new
creation in Christ. I don’t have to do anything, God already did everything,
not because I could earn or deserve it, but because of who He is and His grace.
(Talk about truth that sets you free, the sheer resting in this truth alone and
ceasing to struggle in works of the flesh is absolutely liberating and
empowering.)
In Christ I am
separated unto the Father, and that is what it means to be holy and set apart,
not anything I choose to do or to abstain from. Without knowing who I am, I
tried to do things so that I could become someone, not knowing that both
purpose and grace were given to me before I even existed, and that God’s works
were preordained for me, so I don’t have to fight and aimlessly try to make
them happen or accomplish them in my own strength, power, or efforts.
Through the
principal of spiritual headship, when it comes to how God sees me, I once was
represented by Adam, but now I am represented by Christ, and as a result, I now
get to share in His inheritance, instead of the inheritance of Satan and his
demons. Also, I am God’s inheritance, a new creation of God’s workmanship, a
temple of the Living God. I savor and marinate in every single word in that
sentence, letting that truth permeate my entire being.
There was an
illustration that Joe McIntyre used which really grabbed my attention and
impacted my thinking. He conveyed that if I saw him dressed as, talking like,
and acting like Napoleon, I would naturally think that he had lost touch with
reality. He then likened this unto being a new creation in Christ, but still
seeing myself as, as well as acting like, and talking like I used to be. From
God’s point of view, wouldn’t that look like I had lost touch with reality? Yet
so often this happens when we don’t know who we are.
I felt like this
concept represented perfectly the tension between both who I used to be and
what I remember doing, and who God says I am; the struggle between my old and
new nature. I would continue to call upon God to forgive me and make me more holy
and righteous, but He already did, when He hid me in Christ, and made me into a
new creation.
This allowed me to
implement dropping the old dead nature, and letting it go, as well as catching
myself whenever I am presented with thoughts the old one would think, and as a
new creation, casting them down and subjecting them to my Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Because of the
attitudes we embrace in our emotional life, we will either have joy or despair;
determining our internal realities. God loves me, He has made me new, holy,
righteous, and set apart for Him. I choose joy, I choose freedom, and I choose
life. Not some kind of making it through existing on earth while I wait for and
look forward to heaven kind of life, but the abundant life that Christ died to
give me. His kingdom is here and now among us and I am his ambassador and
friend who is dearly loved like a sister because of what God has done for me
through the agency of His beloved Son.
I carefully read all of the material, dissected it, researched it, prayed about
it, and filtered it through my discernment, as well as inviting the Holy Spirit
to speak to me about it. Not only do I not disagree with any of the material
presented here, but I am fully convinced that this is Biblical and that it is
God’s will for His children to understand this content.
It is because of this that I am paying some
of the girls I teach in our church youth group for their time to read this book
and write a report on it as I have. I also have inducting it with great pride,
joy, and hopefulness into my personal library. I look forward to each and every
opportunity that the Lord will provide to me where I can get this book into the
hands of someone else, and pass along the gift that was so graciously given to
me.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your Feedback is Appreciated! :)