By Deb
Position
“Position is everything in life”, so the saying goes.
Ephesians 1:17-2
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms”
So what
is our position now that we are “in Christ”? It is interesting to
note that Paul begins these passages not by telling us who we are in
Christ. But by praying for us. Asking that God give each one of us a
“Spirit of wisdom and revelation” so that we can “know Him better”.
Here in lies the first key. That being that we will never be able to comprehend the “hope” of our calling. Nor the “riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints”. Or “His incomparably great power for us who believe”. Until we bend our hearts and our minds to truly know Him.
This word “know” is an interesting one. It comes from the Greek word “eido” (Strong’s #1492) which means to be aware of something. To behold and see it clearly. To have seen this ‘thing’ with your own eyes (literally) and heart (figuratively) so that you can accurately tell of it to others.
The second truth we learn from Paul is that such a knowledge of Christ far outstrips our own ability to reason and comprehend (Isaiah 55:8-9). Paul’s prayer emphasizes that we must rely on the Holy Spirit’s assistance in these matters (John 14:26, 16:13-14; 1 John 2:27). For without God’s assistance, our vision is stunted and distorted by our own inadequacies and inability to see past the physical presence of our lives. Simply put, we need God’s help to see God’s truths!
Somehow, in some way the Word of truth has touched each of us. That same Word is the one that called the world’s into existence and made something out of nothing (Genesis 1:3). We should never run from God or from His Word. For by His truth we are set free. That to me is what God has done in me personally and to the fellowship here at this website.
1 Peter 1:3-4 (emphasis in bold face are mine)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you.”
In his book “Victory Over The Darkness” (Regal publishing), a very great read, Neil Anderson explains and encourages each believer to get a handle on our identity in Christ Jesus and what our position in Christ really means to us individually and together, corporately. Anderson says he is convinced, “that understanding our spiritual inheritance is the key to resolving our daily conflicts.” It’s quite a handful because the listing of our inheritance and new birth is comprehensive. Intellectually much of it is not possible to understand entirely. But then, if I understood it all what need would I have for faith? This is how I take Christ’s explanation of two men building a house, one on the rock that cannot fall and the one who built his house upon shifting sands that was certain to fall once the foundation moved.
Matthew 7:24-27
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
A building’s foundation is paramount to its longevity. The same can be said of our faith. Have we built our faith upon a strong foundation that cannot be moved in times of crises? Or is our faith built on a “shifting sand” that is easily blown about? Have we built our faith upon anything but The Rock Himself, Christ Jesus?
Another preacher Watchman Nee a Chinese fellow in the 1920’s, coined the phrase, “revelation in the intuition”. This phrase turns me yet again to “Christ in you the hope of glory” Colossians 1:27. My best practice, my greatest participation is to receive the faith and believe what God has said and done and know that what is yet to come is very real in every way; the hope that purifies found in (2 Peter 1:1-4; 1 John 3:1-3.)
In Anderson’s book he comprises a list that will blow you away and then bring you right back. Its very difficult to take it all in at once so we’ll take them in, one article at a time. We will start off by discussing our inheritance rights and explaining who we are in Christ. After all, salvation is a distinct event and it is a process all at the same time.
I encourage you during this journey to note which points fill your heart with joy and which ones seem to be a sticking point. These then can be shared with others here in this safe place. I will be adding mine as well for an example and to be honest.
First and foremost we must understand our true identity – “And that is what we are!” For without this understanding the rest of Anderson’s book with have little meaning for us.
Romans 8:16-17
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”
1 John 3:1
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.”
Christianos in the Greek, “little Christ’s”, we are Gods’ children after the fashion of His own dear Son Jesus.
John 1:13
“Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”
We will explore the rest of Anderson’s list in upcoming articles. Until then –
Deb, Be Real - Just as real as I can be in Christ Jesus