My text is taken from, Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
This is an unveiling of what we are before the father, and how the father (eternal spirit) looks upon us in Christ. Jesus tells us, in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” He then states in John 16:28, “I came forth from the Father (Spirit), and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father (Spirit).” And inJohn 3:3-5 he was telling Nicodemus that we also must be born from above to see or enter the kingdom of God, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
The believer is born of God, who is the Spirit. He comes forth from the womb of God. 1 John 5:4 states, “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” Paul tells us in Corinthians 12:13, “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.” Just as truly as Jesus came out from the Father, so we have come out from God also, through the energy of the Spirit. We are born of God. John admonishing the church states in 1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Not only is God our Creator, but now, through His Spirit, we have the very life of God within us. God has poured His nature into our spirits, and we are of God. On this side of Calvary, we can understand how the confession of Jesus staggered the Jews and startled the disciples that we read in John 16:28.
Jesus said in John 8:23, “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.” Speaking of the spiritual man, versus the physical man, because he had no earthly father as we do. Jesus was ever conscious of his heavenly origin and his heavenly relationship. The concept of his physical being came from God as well, however, the flesh of Mary provided the seed to facilitate his humanity. Now through the infilling of His Spirit now, we are also from above though we are still in our earthly bodies. Just as we have come from the Father in our spiritual birth, we will also return to him in a glorified state just as he is glorified, because as 1 John 3:2 states, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Nothing would assist us more in this life than for us to be aware of our heavenly relationship and know that we are not of this world. Though we are on the earth, our citizenship is in heaven. Satan rules this world, but we are born from above. We have the nature of the Father when we are in Christ.
Christians are in danger of being drawn and attracted to earthly things, such as wealth, fame, and the pleasure of this life, however, if we know we are not of this world, we can know that true joy only comes through Jesus Christ, from above, which would make all the difference in our earthly walk. 1 John 3:7-11, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remained in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
In Matthew 12:42 Jesus stated, “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” Though he was held at arm’s length, and in suspicion, jealousy, and hatred, he dared to tell that generation who he really was. I wonder if the children really know who they are in Christ? I wonder if Christians know they are of another place, nation, and race? 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 states, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” We must come to the realization that the least in the kingdom of God is ‘Greater than Solomon.’ He was but a servant, and all the wisdom he had, was given to him by God. He was just a natural man, who could only live withing the realm of his five senses, he had no concept of the divine life outside of that. We are the sons of God and have been filled with the very essence of God, through his Spirit, and have therefore, superseded even Solomon.
We as Christians live below the status that we have attained through Christ’s work on Calvary. He bought for us redemption, grace, mercy, and freedom. We have not yet realized our position in Christ and the family of God. Solomon was the son of David, yes, he was a king, but a mere mortal, we are the sons and daughters of the Almighty God. John 8:12 tells us, “Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” This could be considered one of the greatest sentences spoken by the master. He was daring to say, that he represented a new order, a new covenant, a new type of man, that in Him was the light of life itself. This is the wisdom that comes from above, which now we also partake in. Those following Christ should never have to be caught in a realm or state of darkness where they cannot find their way, because we have the light within us. Colossians 1:12-17 says, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” We have been taken out of the realm of darkness where men walk by their senses only and have been translated into the kingdom of the Son by His love, into the very family of God. We have become partakers of His divine nature. The same life that was in the son of God, now dwells in us. The same light that he had; we now have.
We can now understand scriptures like 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Paul states in Philippians 2:15, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” Jesus told his disciples inMatthew 5:14-16, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” He was the light, now we have carried this on in his absence in the world. Light shows wisdom and the ability to get things done. We have light and are light because He lives within us. This places a tremendous responsibility upon our shoulders to be the light to the world, as he was.
If we have life, His life within us, then we have light, according to John 1:4, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” We must continue in the light, because to step out of the light, also denotes stepping back into darkness, which comes from a broken relationship with God. It means to step away from light, love, and wisdom. Others see the light shining through us in our attitudes, conduct and words, but if we walk away from Him, there is no light ‘shed abroad in our hearts’ and we will be walking in darkness and shame. Romans 5:5 states, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The adversary will try to lure us into the night, but we must remain in constant communion with God, and in relationship with one another in the body of Christ, to remain in the love and light of our heavenly father. 1 John 2:9-11 says, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” We lose all knowledge, direction, and purpose when we walk in hate, because the light cannot shine within us with hatred there.
As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”, we too must carry the same message to our world. Follow us as we follow the Master, because there is no good thing in us, without the light and love which comes from above. We must remember that we are in Christ, and He in us. We must remember as we walk through this life, that we are the only light that the world can see, so that we can lead others away from darkness into His light.
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