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there’s anything that we want in life, it is power. We always want to be on top
of our game, in the helm of affairs, make decisions for ourselves and if
possible make them for people. Man was designed to take charge and dominate,
Gen. 1:26-30 states this fact clearly. We are created in such a way as to
represent the power of God here on earth not by struggle or cajoling or
bargaining or diplomacy but by the sheer fact that we are like God.
The sad truth is we no longer
have that power as the mere men that we have become because of our fallen state
but there is hope and that hope is that we can become that which we once were
through JESUS! Our place of power was taken away by satan and Jesus took it
back from him by shedding his blood for us on the cross in the most beautiful
and swiftest exchange ever! God took the body of fallen man, turned ashes to
beauty, immortality took the place of mortality to give mortal man a place in
eternity. Divinity transformed into frailty just to bring man back to the place
of authority… SEATED IN HEAVENLY PLACES!
This year we shall run on this
theme as the Lord has provided, SEATED IN HEAVENLY PLACES! The book of
Ephesians chapter 1 tells us of our new place in Christ Jesus who has
predestined us to be his adopted children, receive an inheritance, and be. Meaning
that before we were born, we have been ordained to seat in the place of power
as children adopted by Christ through the blood, making us heirs of the kingdom
having inheritance in Him and then remaining as Him, (Be-ing).
You
need to get a load of this. Power can only be given to sons of a king and they
can exercise this authority when they remain hooked on to the source of power,
the king. Jesus said, “Abide in me and I in you… no more can ye except ye abide
in me… for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5). It is expressly clear
that only in Christ do we have this power! We’re going to run this as a series,
so let’s take this one step at a time.
THE DESIGN
Have you ever wondered why you always want to be your own boss? Or want to be free to make your own choices? We don’t think of this, not everyone does if you do. The simple answer is because, we were created that way, “no limits”. Like I said earlier, we were made in such a way that we by default want to be in control. God didn’t create robots but gave man the freewill to be whatever he wants to be, yet responsible and accountable for the consequences of our choices. The image of the first man was like God but when he fell from grace, he gave birth to himself, Gen. 5:3. Man still possessed the power of creation but only of himself. All that was subject to man now needed to be tamed simply because man had lost his authority over creation. Man needed to gain mastery of his environment which before now was at his beck and call.
Man had fellowship with God in the cool of the evening when he was in his former place of power, but as a result of the fall, he needed to make atonements, he had no place before God except by sacrifice. Man needed to call upon God, Gen. 4:26b. Evil was in man’s every move, Gen. 6:5-6 puts it in the most hurtful way, “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. That means, man lived everyday with nothing but evil in his heart. God regretted making man as verse 6 puts it. God destroyed that generation but for how long was he going to do that? God loved man, he was His best creation. There is more to man. This is not what he is. He’s become so limited that he can’t do more than I allow him to. God wanted man to come back to his default setting. Man on his own needed help to be able to please God but his fallen state limited him. On both sides there was a need…
...to be continued
THE DESIGN
Have you ever wondered why you always want to be your own boss? Or want to be free to make your own choices? We don’t think of this, not everyone does if you do. The simple answer is because, we were created that way, “no limits”. Like I said earlier, we were made in such a way that we by default want to be in control. God didn’t create robots but gave man the freewill to be whatever he wants to be, yet responsible and accountable for the consequences of our choices. The image of the first man was like God but when he fell from grace, he gave birth to himself, Gen. 5:3. Man still possessed the power of creation but only of himself. All that was subject to man now needed to be tamed simply because man had lost his authority over creation. Man needed to gain mastery of his environment which before now was at his beck and call.
Man had fellowship with God in the cool of the evening when he was in his former place of power, but as a result of the fall, he needed to make atonements, he had no place before God except by sacrifice. Man needed to call upon God, Gen. 4:26b. Evil was in man’s every move, Gen. 6:5-6 puts it in the most hurtful way, “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. That means, man lived everyday with nothing but evil in his heart. God regretted making man as verse 6 puts it. God destroyed that generation but for how long was he going to do that? God loved man, he was His best creation. There is more to man. This is not what he is. He’s become so limited that he can’t do more than I allow him to. God wanted man to come back to his default setting. Man on his own needed help to be able to please God but his fallen state limited him. On both sides there was a need…
...to be continued
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