No Longer a Sinner - Accepted in Christ

 

Jesus is the picture of humanity at its finest, devoid of the depravity of sin and filled with the power of God. What Satan stole from humanity in Genesis 1-3, Jesus - the Sacrificial Lamb and the soon and coming King - restores to us in Revelation 20-22.

As authentic Believers, we see God's glory with an unveiled face as He transforms us into the appearance of Christ by His Spirit. We are changed into His image from one stage of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Christ abides within us and redeems us from sin, as God writes His laws on our heart and adopts us as His children (Hebrews 8:10-13; Ephesians 1:5). God's Spirit gives us liberty from the flesh and fills us with His fruit (1 Peter 1:19; Galatians 5:22-23).

This is an experience common to every Believer, with no respect to one person above another. It is a free gift, just as Salvation is free (Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:1-3). We all see the face of Christ reflected in us and in one another (1 Corinthians 15:48-53; Romans 8:17; 1 John 3:2).

Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:4). We gaze upon His face in our private moments with Him, and feel His Spirit and His presence filling us to overflowing throughout the day.

Sin no longer claims our attention; its debauchery is disgusting to us; we have no desire to continue to reap the destructive consequences of its power. We abide in Christ and He in us (1 John 4:15).

We come to know God, and Jesus whom He sent, which provides us with eternal life now as well as for eternity (John 17:3). We see His glory in us, which comes from God and fills us (John 1:14, 17:24). Sin has no part in our life.

Prayer:

Father God, it is Your plan that all of humanity enjoy the benefits of Christ's death on Calvary, the glory of His resurrection from the grave, and the proximity to You from His vantage point on His throne in Heaven as we walk in the ever-increasing glory of holiness.

We are accepted through Christ into Your beloved family (Ephesians 2:19-22), pure, as He is pure; and our life reflects His perfect image. You provide us with every good thing that we need to fulfill Your will for our life (1 Timothy 6:17); and You sustain us through every trial that we encounter in life. For this we give You all of the praise and glory that is due to Your name.

Thought for the Day:

Through the processes of Justification, Sanctification and Glorification, we move from obscure sinner to sacred Saint in Christ, as we are filled with an increasing measure of the fullness of Christ through God's Spirit who abides within us. 

- Ephesians 3:16-19

Freed from Bondage

 

As we contemplate the Lord’s glory, which comes from the Spirit of the Lord, we are transformed with ever increasing glory into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). In Him we live and move and have our existence (Acts 17:28).

He dwells in us and lives through us (2 Corinthians 6:16), being glorified in us (John 17:10). We are freed from the chains of bondage to this earth into the glorious liberty of the children of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:19-21).

Since we abide in Him, we now walk just as He walked (1 John 2:1-6). In our flesh, we are still able to fall into temptation; but in Christ all the fullness of the triune God dwells in us.

Nothing this world has to offer has any appeal to us any more (Titus 2:11-14). If we take the time to walk in the Spirit, we can enjoy the same spirit-led existence that Jesus and the Biblical characters and writers did (Luke 6:40).

We have fellowship with the triune God all of the time, just as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). There is an unbroken tie that transcends barriers of time and space.

As we walk in the Spirit, Jesus lives through us. We follow God's will for us in the smallest details of our life, seeing His Spirit's power and anointing lived out in our lives.

It is not a matter of legalism or dead works, but of abiding in the Spirit in our every waking moment. We listen and we obey and we see the salvation of our God played out in our life and in the world around us.

Prayer:

Father God, Christ, who dwells in us, is Your exact image, even though You are our invisible God. Jesus contains all of Your attributes and character, and since Jesus dwells within us by Your Spirit, then all of Your attributes and character dwell within us as well (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

Your Holy Spirit sanctifies us throughout our lifetime until we are perfected according to the fullest measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in us (Ephesians 4:13). We can walk in Your holiness and abide in Your Spirit every moment of every day.

Thought for the Day:

We are adopted sons of God (Ephesians 1:5), joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17) and one with our triune God (John 17:22).

The Glory of the Lord

 

Each person of the Trinity is unique, with a special function and purpose; yet, equal in divinity and power. The Father is the personification of the Deity, the Son is the manifestation and the Spirit is the inspiration.

God's Word describes Him manifesting His glory through thunder, lightning, loud trumpet blasts, angelic encounters, a cloud, flame of fire, dew, manna, and even a mighty rushing wind and other miracles (Exodus 16, 19:9, 16; 40:36, 38; Judges 6:37-38; 1 Kings 19:5-7; Acts 2:2, 12:7-11, John 5:1-15; Matthew 17:27).

Jesus is the radiance of God's glory (Hebrews 1:3). I am told that this Hebrew word for glory is "kabod", and literally means the tangible presence of the abundant riches, glory, splendor and honor of God.

Through Jesus, this multi-faceted glory abides within every authentic Believer (2 Corinthians 3:7-10). As we grow in our understanding of the reality of God's glory, it helps us to enter His rest as it heals our soul (Hebrews 4:10). 

The glory of the Lord depends upon holiness in order to manifest, and is the only entity, which will truly quench our spiritual hunger and thirst and increases our intimacy with our God and Savior (Psalm 92:12-14).

When, like Moses, we cry out to see God's glory, He reveals to us His nature and character, personified in Jesus (Exodus 33:18, 34:6-7). Experiencing the glory of the Lord transforms our life into the precise image of His Son (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 1:17-18; Galatians 1:15-16).

We repent of our sinful lifestyle (Romans 1:16, 3:23, 6:23; Ephesians 2:4-5), we depend on God to change us from one level of holiness to the next,  and we draw nearer to God each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Prayer:

Father God, Your Spirit brings us liberty from the presence, practice and power of sin through Your glory within us (2 Corinthians 3:17). As Your children, we are led by Your Spirit daily (Romans 8:14) and destined to future, eternal glory when we are like Jesus in every way (Romans 8:29-30).

We want our nature and countenance to reflect Your glory here on earth as well. Change us from the inside out, and make us clean so that we can be fitting vessels for Your glory (Matthew 23:25-26). We rest on your promises and look to You to create in us a clean heart and to fill us with Your divine nature (Psalm 51:10; 2 Peter 1:4).

Thought for the Day:
Experiencing the glory of the Lord causes us to get on our face before the Lord and to worship Him in spontaneous praise and humble thanksgiving throughout the day. - Exodus 34:8