Growing in Intimacy with God
Introduction: A fortnight ago, we introduced this segment of our series with the truth about the fall of man from grace in the Garden of Eden and the new challenge which is the spiritual death from which God had to raise man. About two thousand years ago on the Cross of Calvary, this problem was solved when the Lord said in John 19:30 “…It is finished…” as He hung on the Cross.
Today, we shall continue to see the eternal effects of this simple sentence made by the Son of God on Calvary’s Cross in our favour.
The benefits of making a decision for the Lord Jesus Christ:
Man’s sin is forgiven – Isa.43:25; Ps.103:3 and Col.1:14. This is not like people do and keep some of the awareness back in some precious place in their heart. God forgives us in totality and treats us as though we never sinned. This is why He says He is the one who forgives our sin and does not remember it any more. He not only forgives our sins, He also forgives our iniquities which are inherited sins of our ancestors. This is what gives us the audacity to destroy generational curses in prayer when the legalistic devil wants to enforce a curse against us based on the sins of our biological ancestors. See Jer.31:34; Heb.8:12 and 10:16-17. It is God’s forgiveness of our sins that allows us to be able to release and maximize our potential without any kind of hindrance. On our part, we must stay away from sin and if we find ourselves sinning in any way, we must repent quickly and get back in fellowship with God. see 1Jn.1:6-10.
Man becomes a new Creation – 2Cor.5:17 and 1Pet.1:23. Since the time of the ancient prophets, God kept sending this message to man of his intention to create a new breed of his people in whose hearts he would live. From when Jesus made that remarkable sentence on the Cross of Calvary: “It is finished” every hindrance to God being able to bring this to pass was taken away and from that memorial day of Pentecost in the upper room in Acts 2, this dream of God was brought to pass and man could now accommodate God as a new creation. This is because man has become one with God. See Is.66:1 and 1Cor.3:16 and 6:17, 19.s
Man now becomes a child of God – Gal.3:26; 1Jn.3:1-2. When Adam was first made, he was called the son of God. But when he sinned, he lost his place and he and his descendants became children of the devil. This is the reason for the wickedness and deceit in the heart of man. Jer.17:9. With redemption, that wicked sinful heart of the devil was taken away and replaced with God’s Spirit so that man now has a new heart which is anti-sin. This explains why we feel guilty when we sin after we became new creations. Man is now a child of God with the nature of God finding expression through him every time he chooses to walk in the ways of God. God’s seed now dwells in man to keep him from sinning. See 1Jn.3:9.
Man can now receive the Holy Spirit and grow in the grace of God – Gal.3:13-14, Acts.2:38-39. As a new Creation, the spirit of God is deposited in man as a seal proving the redemption of man and showing that God would fulfill his promise of eternally rescuing man when the time comes. See Eph.1:13. For the purpose of ministry however, we can now be filled with the Holy Spirit to the overflow. He will in turn give us the power to minister on the behalf of God thus bringing us to a place of fulfilment of our individual destinies. Acts 1:8.
Man becomes righteous – 2Cor.5:21; 2Pet.2:24. With sin, man became a sinner and inherited the sin nature. However, following the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have become the righteousness of God in him. When he hung on the cross, He took our sin upon him and thus identified with us sin in death and went on to hell to suffer for sin instead of us. When he arose from the dead, he arose to die no more and offered us his righteousness through faith if we would believe and be baptized into Him. To us all who have received the Lord Jesus Christ, we are now the righteousness of God in Him - Hallelujah! See Rom.6:4 and Col.2:12.
Introduction: A fortnight ago, we introduced this segment of our series with the truth about the fall of man from grace in the Garden of Eden and the new challenge which is the spiritual death from which God had to raise man. About two thousand years ago on the Cross of Calvary, this problem was solved when the Lord said in John 19:30 “…It is finished…” as He hung on the Cross.
Today, we shall continue to see the eternal effects of this simple sentence made by the Son of God on Calvary’s Cross in our favour.
The benefits of making a decision for the Lord Jesus Christ:
Man’s sin is forgiven – Isa.43:25; Ps.103:3 and Col.1:14. This is not like people do and keep some of the awareness back in some precious place in their heart. God forgives us in totality and treats us as though we never sinned. This is why He says He is the one who forgives our sin and does not remember it any more. He not only forgives our sins, He also forgives our iniquities which are inherited sins of our ancestors. This is what gives us the audacity to destroy generational curses in prayer when the legalistic devil wants to enforce a curse against us based on the sins of our biological ancestors. See Jer.31:34; Heb.8:12 and 10:16-17. It is God’s forgiveness of our sins that allows us to be able to release and maximize our potential without any kind of hindrance. On our part, we must stay away from sin and if we find ourselves sinning in any way, we must repent quickly and get back in fellowship with God. see 1Jn.1:6-10.
Man becomes a new Creation – 2Cor.5:17 and 1Pet.1:23. Since the time of the ancient prophets, God kept sending this message to man of his intention to create a new breed of his people in whose hearts he would live. From when Jesus made that remarkable sentence on the Cross of Calvary: “It is finished” every hindrance to God being able to bring this to pass was taken away and from that memorial day of Pentecost in the upper room in Acts 2, this dream of God was brought to pass and man could now accommodate God as a new creation. This is because man has become one with God. See Is.66:1 and 1Cor.3:16 and 6:17, 19.s
Man now becomes a child of God – Gal.3:26; 1Jn.3:1-2. When Adam was first made, he was called the son of God. But when he sinned, he lost his place and he and his descendants became children of the devil. This is the reason for the wickedness and deceit in the heart of man. Jer.17:9. With redemption, that wicked sinful heart of the devil was taken away and replaced with God’s Spirit so that man now has a new heart which is anti-sin. This explains why we feel guilty when we sin after we became new creations. Man is now a child of God with the nature of God finding expression through him every time he chooses to walk in the ways of God. God’s seed now dwells in man to keep him from sinning. See 1Jn.3:9.
Man can now receive the Holy Spirit and grow in the grace of God – Gal.3:13-14, Acts.2:38-39. As a new Creation, the spirit of God is deposited in man as a seal proving the redemption of man and showing that God would fulfill his promise of eternally rescuing man when the time comes. See Eph.1:13. For the purpose of ministry however, we can now be filled with the Holy Spirit to the overflow. He will in turn give us the power to minister on the behalf of God thus bringing us to a place of fulfilment of our individual destinies. Acts 1:8.
Man becomes righteous – 2Cor.5:21; 2Pet.2:24. With sin, man became a sinner and inherited the sin nature. However, following the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have become the righteousness of God in him. When he hung on the cross, He took our sin upon him and thus identified with us sin in death and went on to hell to suffer for sin instead of us. When he arose from the dead, he arose to die no more and offered us his righteousness through faith if we would believe and be baptized into Him. To us all who have received the Lord Jesus Christ, we are now the righteousness of God in Him - Hallelujah! See Rom.6:4 and Col.2:12.
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