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Robert Houk Hitchcock |
In order to be God's best, we have two things to do: Believe that God is Who He says He is, and Believe that we are who God says we are. The Christian walk is not about doing works to obtain, but about walking in what God has already worked in us in the new birth.
We can trust God's Word completely, and it reveals to us the Nature of God, and what He says He can and will do for His people. This is our starting point. God's Word also reveals to us, especially in the 7 Church Epistles, our new Nature in Christ, and what God says we can and should do in order to live in fellowship with Him and our family.
Malachi 3:6
For I am the LORD, I change
not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
God has always been Who He says He has been. God is Love: He has always been Love. God is Good: He has always been Good (and always will be Good.) God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all: God is not capable of darkness. God is righteous. God is just. God is merciful. God is peace. God is not a man that He should lie. What He says about Himself in His Word reveals to us His nature, and that nature cannot change.
Jeremiah 32:27
Behold, I am the LORD,
the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
God's ability is unquestionable. He Created the heavens and the earth. He made, formed and created man. He put the stars and planets in their courses. He made all life and by Him all things exist.
He delivered Israel out of Egypt with the parting of the Red Sea. He delivered Jericho into the hands of Israel when He caused the wall to fall down. He discomfitted the enemies of Israel with insects and the sounds of horses. He delivered a large army to Gideon, a single man leading a handful of men. Record after record in God's Word records His ability and His willingness to fight for His people.
Isaiah 48:17
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee
to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
God is personally interested in Blessing His people. He is the One Who teaches us to profit and that leads us in the right paths. How important is it to believe that and to see it happen in our lives?
Jeremiah 9:24
But let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD
which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
The greatest knowledge on earth is the knowledge of God by His Word. When one obtains this knowledge, then they become aware of God's Goodness and Grace and they begin to understand and to know God who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness. It's that knowledge and that understanding that are the true riches of life.
Psalm 3:3
But thou, O LORD, art
a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psalm 18:35
Thou hast also given me the shield
of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness
hath made me great.
Psalm 91:4
He shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy
shield and buckler.
God is our Shield and our Buckler. He lifts up our heads when we are down. He holds us up, and His gentleness has made us great! He covers us with His feathers and under His wings do we trust!
There are so many, many scriptures that reveal to us the Nature of God. His Word tells us Who He is, and what we can expect from Him.
Romans 2:4
Or despisest thou the riches
of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
God's Goodness is never something to be underestimated. No man will ever be good enough to be able to earn his salvation. No man will ever be good enough to even approach the Throne of God, much less have his petitions granted because of his own works.
The Goodness of God is appropriated by one thing only, and that is believing God's Word.
What does God's Word say about our New Nature and our abilities in Christ?
Ephesians 1:1-7
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful
in Christ Jesus:
Grace be to you, and peace,
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
We have received Grace and we have received Peace. We are at peace with God (we were at odds.)
We have already been blessed with all spiritual blessings. That is all anyone is ever going to receive and we have it already! These spiritual blessings include our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. These spiritual blessings include our sonship rights, our access to God, our ability to operate the power of the gift of holy spirit. These spiritual blessings include our guarantee of the inheritance in Christ and our gathering together unto him. We certainly have no lack of blessings, do we?
We have been chosen. We are holy and without blame before Him in love. We are accepted in the beloved. This is Why we are God's best. How do we operate these in our lives? Simply by believing that we are what God says we are and that we can do what God says we can do. We are who God says we are. There is nothing more to receive, and there is nothing more for us to do in order to obtain more blessings. What is left to do is to walk in all that God has made us to be. To believe God's Word- that's how we see it all come into fruition.
Ephesians 2:6
And hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them.
We are seated in the heavenlies. Some important individuals have a seat on the NYSE or perhaps have a seat in parliament, Congress or the Presidential Cabinet. We have a seat at the Right Hand of God in Christ Jesus. Pretty impressive nameplate on your door and desk!
Colossians 2:10
And ye are complete in him, which
is the head of all principality and power:
Complete is, of course, complete. Something is not complete until it is 100% done. I have projects at my home that I have been working on for 5 years, and they are still not 100% done! God did a complete job in the new nature, and we are completely, completely, absolutely complete in Christ spiritually.
Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Life may have its ups, and life may have its downs, but through it all the hand of God will sustain us. Remember the shield? Remember the buckler? We have more ability and greater access in the new birth than Israel ever even imagined. We are more than conquerors.
1 John 3:1-2
Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is.
We are complete now, but it does not yet appear what we Shall be. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more... When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there! We are the sons of God NOW. But something even GREATER is coming, and that is the Gathering Together when all who have believed will be changed and we will begin our Eternal life together in the heavenlies. What a joy and what a hope we have in Christ!
1 John 4:17
Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so
are we in this world.
This is our call to live in this world: that AS HE IS, so are we in this world. We can walk like he walked. We can talk like he talked. We can serve like he served. We can do what he did: it's Christ in us the hope of Glory.
We can believe God's Word concerning our Father and
His nature and His promises to us. We can believe God's Word concerning
our new Nature and what we have been blessed by. We can do what God's
Word says we can do.
Cortright
Fellowship