When we ask Jesus to be Lord in our life, and continue in the faith, being water baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we become members of the body of Christ! As Jesus references, we are no longer servants but His friends, knowledgeable of all things pertaining to the kingdom. Let me say here that the Lord is not a respecter of persons, but that He would have us all -- each and every one of us -- come into His knowledge and truth. (Acts 2:36)
Indeed, Jesus said, "I have called and ordained you ..."
Thus, within the body of Christ, each believing member exercises a particular function according to the operational gifts imparted to them by His holy Spirit. But this includes, on our part, a heart's desire for spiritual gifts. Then, to each one of us, He divides the gifts severally as He wills. In this context, the Holy Ghost bestows gifts to each member so that they - through the exercise of these given gifts - can operate effectively for the ministry of the gospel. So that the whole body of the Christ (which is the temple of the Spirit of God) may remain vibrant.
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues -- but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (I Corinthians 12:1-11)
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.
As well, the body of the Christ can be recognized by unbelievers (or those outsiders among us who are not yet saved) as being the offspring of JESUS. So that they too can declare the body of the Christ to be JESUS people, reporting that the God of truth is in the midst of them. The Light of the world dwells within them.
Certainly, we saw the apostles and the 120 followers of the Lord Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost become world changers -- and, similarly, how the gifts can edify and instruct -- are able to transform those who believe this same Jesus -- whom ye/we have crucified to be both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:1-47) Given this same prophecy was revealed in Joel 2, this scriptural package is instrumental in showing us how the promises of the Lord God can be revealed in our lives.
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." (Joel 2:28-32)
But I digress. Getting back to the original point -- We are the offspring of JESUS who has SEEDED us and fathered us in His death. JESUS is likened to a corn of wheat that has fallen into the ground and died and by reason of the kernel flesh dying, the SEED within the kernel (flesh) exposes the SEED of LIFE. From that SEED brings forth a harvest of new wheat - or in this analogy, JESUS PEOPLE. The same life that was in the original SEED now indwells the offspring who also now within themselves carry the SEED of Christ!
So it is not really the "old" you that is the driving force working within you. Rather, it is the power of the Holy Ghost which was in the man JESUS the Christ. [Note that when we believe and are baptized the Holy Ghost now completely dwells in you.] We believed in the sacrificial offering of the body of Christ, who we repeatedly declare is the very SEED of the Holy Ghost. We having sincerely believed, having called upon His name JESUS, being baptized in water after the likeness of His burial, and having willingly obeyed, we arose from the water a new spiritual creation. Now we are alive to the awareness that it was God in the man Christ JESUS who loved us and laid down His life for each believer’s personal redemption. (Acts 2:36-38; Romans 6:3-4; Acts 10:44-48)
Therefore, we are the offspring of the SEED of the Holy Ghost, the kernel covering the SEED of the Holy Ghost that died in order to permit the SEED of life within the kernel to multiply. Thus, we are now many offspring of that one SEED body whose body is the Christ. And as such, the work of the Holy Ghost that brought forth redemption is finished. Moreover, the keys to the Kingdom of God we have received and JESUS has commissioned believers to go into all the world and preach this redemption - salvation - good news gospel message to one and all.
"As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, "Ye are not My people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." (Romans 9:25)
We should be so thankful for the work that the Lord Jesus has begun in us. Stand in the offering plate.
Certainly, we saw the apostles and the 120 followers of the Lord Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost become world changers -- and, similarly, how the gifts can edify and instruct -- are able to transform those who believe this same Jesus -- whom ye/we have crucified to be both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:1-47) Given this same prophecy was revealed in Joel 2, this scriptural package is instrumental in showing us how the promises of the Lord God can be revealed in our lives.
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." (Joel 2:28-32)
But I digress. Getting back to the original point -- We are the offspring of JESUS who has SEEDED us and fathered us in His death. JESUS is likened to a corn of wheat that has fallen into the ground and died and by reason of the kernel flesh dying, the SEED within the kernel (flesh) exposes the SEED of LIFE. From that SEED brings forth a harvest of new wheat - or in this analogy, JESUS PEOPLE. The same life that was in the original SEED now indwells the offspring who also now within themselves carry the SEED of Christ!
So it is not really the "old" you that is the driving force working within you. Rather, it is the power of the Holy Ghost which was in the man JESUS the Christ. [Note that when we believe and are baptized the Holy Ghost now completely dwells in you.] We believed in the sacrificial offering of the body of Christ, who we repeatedly declare is the very SEED of the Holy Ghost. We having sincerely believed, having called upon His name JESUS, being baptized in water after the likeness of His burial, and having willingly obeyed, we arose from the water a new spiritual creation. Now we are alive to the awareness that it was God in the man Christ JESUS who loved us and laid down His life for each believer’s personal redemption. (Acts 2:36-38; Romans 6:3-4; Acts 10:44-48)
Therefore, we are the offspring of the SEED of the Holy Ghost, the kernel covering the SEED of the Holy Ghost that died in order to permit the SEED of life within the kernel to multiply. Thus, we are now many offspring of that one SEED body whose body is the Christ. And as such, the work of the Holy Ghost that brought forth redemption is finished. Moreover, the keys to the Kingdom of God we have received and JESUS has commissioned believers to go into all the world and preach this redemption - salvation - good news gospel message to one and all.
"As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, "Ye are not My people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." (Romans 9:25)
We should be so thankful for the work that the Lord Jesus has begun in us. Stand in the offering plate.
No comments:
Post a Comment