He Himself is the I Am of
everything. He doesn’t just give us things, He is everything unto us.
• Jesus said to them, I
am the Bread of life. John6:35
• I am the Bread coming
down out of Heaven. John6:41
• I am the Light of the
world. John8:12
• For if you do not
believe that I AM, you will die in your sins. John8:24
• Then Jesus said to
them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM; John8:28
• Jesus said to them,
Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham came to be, I AM! John8:58
• I am the Light of the
world. John8:12
• Truly, truly, I say to
you that I am the door of the sheep. John10:7
• I am the door. John10:9
• I am the Good Shepherd!
John10:11
• Jesus said to her, I am
the Resurrection and the Life. John11:25
• Jesus said to him, I am
the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me. John14:6
• I am the True Vine
John15:1
If you are looking for
life, He is your life. If you are looking for light, He is your light. If you
are looking for wisdom, He is your wisdom. If you are looking for
righteousness, He is your righteousness. If you are looking for sanctification,
He is your sanctification. If you are looking for resurrection, He is your
resurrection. If you are looking for truth, He is the truth.
·
He is Jehovah
Tsidkenu. The Lord our righteousness Jer23:6, 1Cor1:30
·
He is Jehovah
Mkaddesh. The Lord who sanctifies and who is our sanctification. Lev22:32,
1Cor1:30
·
He is Jehovah
Shalom. The Lord our peace. Jdg6:23-24, Eph2:14
·
He is Jehovah
Shammah. God is present. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Heb13:5, Jn14:16
·
He is Jehovah
Rophe. The Lord God who heals. Exo15:26, Isa53:5, 1Pet2:24
·
He is Jehovah
Jireh. The provision of the Lord shall be seen. Gen22:14, 2Pet1:3
·
He is Jehovah
Rohi. The Lord my shepherd. Psa23:1, Jn10:11
·
He is Jehovah
Nissi. The Lord our banner (of victory). Exo17:15, 1Cor15:57, 2Cor2:14
Jesus (salvation) is I
AM. It is not I will give you. He doesn’t give, He is. He is not I will be. He
is. He is not I was. He is.
And as you acknowledge
and experience Him in your soul, you experience salvation. As you identify with
the Cross and with what He accomplished at the Cross, you experience more of
this great salvation that God has provided.
Salvation is not
something that Christ gives you. Salvation is Christ Himself being given to
you. Salvation is the very person of Christ living in your soul, being made
unto you all that He is through His death, burial, and resurrection.
And so if you want to
experience salvation, you must start to know and experience Christ. He is
salvation. And this is not just knowing things about him – what he’s like, what
he did, etc.
You have to know and experience
Him with all of your soul. You have to come into a close intimate personal
relationship with Him. You have to come into koinonia with Him. Into a
mingling, an intercourse, a mixture with Him where you are swallowed up in Him.
Galatians1:6 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel”
John17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
1Cor1:9 “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto
the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1John1 “That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life,
which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and
truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
Therefore, if we are not
experiencing the abundance that Jesus provided for us in any area of our lives
then we are having a problem understanding and/or believing the gospel. If you
need healing, it's in the gospel. If you need deliverance, it's in the gospel.
Prosperity, answered prayer, joy, peace, love; they are all found through
understanding and believing the gospel.
Paul the apostle was
writing some last words to his dear son in the faith Timothy before his death.
At this time Timothy was already pastoring a church. However look at what Paul
told him;
“But continue thou in the
things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto
all good works.” 2Tim3:14-17
Paul admonishes timothy
to continue in the scriptures which are ‘able to make thee wise unto
salvation…”. Now why would Paul say this to Timothy well knowing that
Timothy was already saved and was in fact pastoring a church at this time?
Didn’t Paul know this? Of course he did. But
Paul also knew that salvation
meant much more than getting born again and going to heaven. He knew that
salvation meant being safe, healed, delivered, healthy, prosperous, and
victorious and every other good work that Jesus has accomplished. He knew that
whatever Timothy needed or lacked physically, emotionally and any other way was
contained within salvation. All he needed was to continue in the scriptures
(including the gospel) which would enable him receive and partake of all of
this. The gospel would be unto Timothy the power of God unto salvation. The
good news is unto you today the power of God unto salvation.
“And now, brethren, I
commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you
up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”
Acts20:32
What is this ‘word of
his grace’ that Paul was speaking about? It is the gospel. It is the one
which is able to build us up and to give us an inheritance among the sanctified
of the Lord.
“Wherefore lay apart all
filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a
doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” Jam1:21-25
What is this ‘engrafted
word’ which he also calls the ‘perfect law of liberty’ and which he
encourages us to receive with meekness and to do? It is the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Grace therefore is that
which empowers us to live this salvation. It is that which empowers us to
experience this salvation and to experience Jesus as the life of our soul.
Grace is now living in
and by Christ. Grace is not the promise of life one day. Not the hope of an
afterlife. It is not waiting on God to do something.
In order for me to truly
start walking in this salvation my heart must grasp the fact that I am complete
in Christ and I lack nothing.
The more I attempt to be
like God by working, the further away from God I feel. The more I attempt to
minimize fear, shame and condemnation by working, the more I disconnect my
heart from the grace of God. I become more powerless.
The grace of God works
out of knowing who you are. It works when you stop doing and start saying I am.
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power” Col2:9-10
If I am not persuaded
that I have what I have because of Jesus then my Christianity is nothing more
than my performance.
Grace makes us able to be
all that God said we could be. It is His power not ours.
Comments
Post a Comment