LIFE IN THE SON (Part IV)

LIFE IN THE SON (Part IV)

Think seriously about this.  It is mission critical that we recognize, reverence and receive JESUS CHRIST, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE.  Why?  Because whoever takes THE SON…GETS EVERYTHING! 

I John 5:11-12  

And this is the record…that GOD has given to us eternal life, and this life is in HIS SON.  He who has THE SON has life; and he who has not the Son of God has not life.

Ephesians 4:13-15  

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love may GROW UP INTO HIM in all things, which is the head, even CHRIST.

What is the contemporary dilemma of the institutional church, in contrast with the predicament of those who fully embrace the standards of the world?  Consider this.  Most UN-believers are unfulfilled [they sustain lost and empty feelings] because, perhaps unknowingly, they long for the Christ-Word to be poured into their souls.  On the other hand, many believers also appear to be unfulfilled.  But in our case, it is not the empty feeling that is derived from being full of the world.  Ironically, it is a bloated feeling that we have; because, although we are full of the Word, we somehow fail to empty ourselves into this generation!  We are pregnant with divine purpose and destiny; but instead of giving birth, we go through an endless gestation period, and relatively few spiritual babies are being birthed!  That’s why WE BELIEVERS sometimes feel listless or restless and out-of-sorts!  Are you ready for this?

In the Garden of Eden, God came looking for Adam – not because God did not know where Adam was – but because ADAM did not know where ADAM was!  And what is our current state of affairs?  Today, a large number of men and women are LOST, both outside and inside the church!  When GOD cried out, “Adam, where art thou?”…He did not mean which BUSH are you hiding behind?  Quite the contrary.  He meant…there IS a PLACE BY ME that you once occupied…and now I am painfully aware that you have departed from MY PRESENCE.  And only in My Presence is there fullness of joy.  Only at My right hand are there pleasures forevermore!

After Satan launched his same primal temptations against THE SECOND ADAM, JESUS CHRIST, the Bible says “he [Satan] departed for a season,” which simply means he went away for a while, but he certainly came back.   He returned – to attempt again – to tempt again.  That old boy just won’t quit, will he?  Consider this: If Satan was bodacious enough to come again to tempt JESUS CHRIST, don’t you think (after the fall), that he came again to Adam in an attempt to tempt him again and to solidify his HOLD over him?  I can just imagine the KIND of things Satan must have been trying to speak into Adam’s life, even after his fall from grace:  “I told you God was lying!  He said the DAY that you eat of the tree you would die.  Yeah, you and Eve are lookin' pretty good for ‘dead folks!’  You’re 800-years-plus now – and you ain’t dead yet!  And if God lied about that, how can you believe what He says about anything else?   That old ungrateful Creator!  You and your old lady are working your fingers to the bone…pruning His trees…picking His fruit…work-work-work…that’s all you do…and do you mean to tell me that GOD-JUST-THREW-YOU-OUT…just like that?   After all you’ve done for God - you mean God dissed you…just like that?”

Ephesians 2:1 says: “And you has He quickened [made alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins.”  We were not physically present in our fore-parents’ day.  But when Adam fell, WE WERE VERY MUCH ALIVE - LIVING [INSIDE] THE FIRST ADAM.  Indeed, we were TRAPPED-IN-ADAM; and as such, we became partakers of his fallen nature.  That’s why the Bible says that MAN is born IN sin…not born TO sin…but born IN sin! (Psalm 51:5)  That is, when God told Adam “The day that you eat of the tree, you shall die,” God was simultaneously speaking to ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS THAT WERE LOCKED-UP-INSIDE-ADAM.  Yes, Adam, the day that you decide to eat of the tree…you ARE spiritually dead…but THANK GOD FOR CALVARY!  Thank God for THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, without which there is absolutely NO remission of sin! (Matthew 26:28)  Do you know what THE CROSS OF CALVARY actually means?  Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, freed us from the curse that we were LIVING under (and DYING under).  And today, because of His shed blood, “IN HIM WE LIVE, and move, and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)  Henceforth, we are alive, liberated and we have become covenant “PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE.” (II Peter 1:4)  You better believe it!   You and I are WINNER-BELIEVERS and our victory is assured!

Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!