Life and Have it More Abundantly Part 2
It was stated in the first article that God works with us to eliminate the works and deeds of the flesh. At the same time we need to realize that God will not force, push or shove us to do anything. The first commandment of loving Him is for our good not His. If we do love Him and believe Him, He will be pleased.
Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
This was God’s purpose from the very beginning. We were created to give Him pleasure. He calls us His sons and daughters and He wouldn’t want any of His children to fail.
2 Corinthians, 6:18, “And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Why then is there so much conflict, disorder and unrest in man’s history? To get a better understanding we would need to go back and follow the story line as God worked with His creation, especially men.
The book of Genesis gives us an overview of God working with different individuals. We can also see the different types and shadows of men and women as we are led through the writings. Genesis gives us the giving of God’s Holy Spirit.
Genesis 2:7, “ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into His nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul”.
God imparted into Adam the very presence of Himself. Adam would have had life and had it more abundantly if he had believed God‘s instructions. This is the very purpose of God, that He (God ) would be glorified in the earth. Adam was as a microcosm of the earth itself being made of the dust of the ground, as all men and women are. We know how the first Adam sinned and was put out of the garden of Eden. He eventually lost the living soul that was his upon obedience.
Next came a man called Abram to whom God knew He could work with. God did not breath into Abram the breath of life as He did Adam but allowed Abram to prove himself through his natural character first.
Genesis, 14:12, “ And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom and departed. Verse 14,And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan”.
Abram didn’t have God’s presence in him, but what he did have is a sense of justice, mercy and compassion toward his next of kin, Lot.
Hosea 6:6, “ For I desired, mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
God at this time in Abram’s life knew He had someone He could work with, for we read of God’s promise to Abram.
Genesis 17:4,, “ As for Me, behold My covenant is with thee, and thou shall be a father of many nations. 5, Neither shall thy name be any more called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee”.
Inserting the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet (hey) and causing a name change from Abram to Abraham of the Hebrew alphabet is significant. Five is the number for grace and the “H” (hey) is adding the very presence of God within him. God is working with Abraham as He worked with Adam who was put out of the Garden because of disobedience. We can read of the next generations following Abraham, namely Isaac and then Jacob to whom was born twelve sons and one daughter.
The book of Exodus opens with the progeny of Jacob under bondage in the land of Egypt. These offspring had grown into a multitude and became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. We read in Genesis 32:28 how Jacob had his name changed from Jacob to Israel . Because of God’s promise to Abraham, God had concern for the nation of Israel and wanted to lead them out of bondage.
Exodus 3: 7, And the Lord said, “ I have surly seen the affliction of My People which are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. Verse 8, “ And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up to a land flowing with milk and honey.
At the time of the Exodus, Moses was the intercessor between the nation of Israel and God. God wanted to eliminate the middle man Moses and He wanted to speak to the people Himself. Israel heard the ten commandment spoken by God and that was all.
Exodus 20: 18, And the people saw the thundering and lightings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. 19, And they said to Moses, “Speak thou with us , and we will hear; but let not God speak to us lest we die”.
The people heard correctly, because God’s law destroys that which holds us in bondage. God’s law when understood, destroys the flesh so as to give life to the spirit. Moses wrote of God’s fiery
law.
Exodus 33:1, And this is the blessing, wherewith, Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2, And he said, “The Lord came from Sinai, ( where God’s law was given ) And rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, And He came with ten thousand of His saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them.
In verse one, Moses calls God’s fiery law a blessing. Why? When we as individuals submit to the laws of God, something of our human nature is eliminated and the real you can shine through. This is God’s way of forming us as His children. We then can over come the pulls of the flesh. It is the same procedure as when we discipline our children. We bring physical children into the world and then we, as parents, discipline or form them so as to be good citizens. We help them become responsible and not undisciplined thereby, having life and having it more abundantly even in a physical sense.
God then does the same on a different level. What we can’t do for ourselves, God’s spirit helps us overcome our weaknesses and infirmities.
Matthew8:17, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, “Himself took our infirmities, and bear our sickness”.
This scripture is talking about Jesus Christ, but when did He do this?
1st Corinthians 5:7, “ Purdge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
Jesus Christ had to bear His cross and He set the pattern for us. We need to bear our cross also.
Luke 9:23And He said to them all, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”. 24, For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it: but whoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.” 25, For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself and be cast away?”
Jesus’s death was to pay the penalty for all men’s sins. He put His flesh to death voluntarily and set the pattern for us, that through death of the flesh, the spirit might live. Our cross is to hear His voice, carry our own cross, and work to eliminate the deeds of the flesh that the spirit within us might live. The deeds of the flesh are flaws that will keep us from having life and having it more abundantly.
These character flaws are a drag on our character. God’s promise to Abraham was to be a father to many nations making us part of the seed of promise.
Acts 3:25, “Ye are the children of the prophets; and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed”.26, “Unto you first, God having raised up His son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning every one of you from his iniquities.
If we want life and have it more abundantly we need to submit to God”s fiery law so our spirit might live.