“Are You Sold out or a Sell Out?”

 

Text: 1Kings 21: 1-4

And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.  And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, “Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house:  and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seems good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money”.  And Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my father’s unto thee”.  And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him:  for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers.  And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. 

There’s a game show called “Let’s Make a Deal,” wherein selected members of the audience, referred to as traders is offered something of value and then given a choice to keep it or exchange it for a different item. The trader decides if they should leave with what they have or hold out for more? So, they have to say, “Deal or No Deal.”

In our daily lives we are “selected members” constantly faced with deal or no deal choices that can affect us for the rest of our lives. We make choices every day about friends, music, clothing, reading material, internet browsing, text messaging that may seem trivia. Our choices could change the course of our lives in a moment. Our decision about sex, drugs, or alcohol, can change our lives in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.

Your spiritual decisions are the most important of all. Will you receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior? Will you live a godly life? Will you place His will above yours? Will you pray and read your Bible and be a witness for Christ? All these questions are vitally important and it sometimes comes to a point you have to say “Deal or No Deal.”

Jeremiah 17:9 says, the heart (inner being that houses your desires, feelings and thoughts) is deceitful (guilty of misleading others) above all, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

Look! If someone desires something that belong to another be it your husband, wife, children, job, home, in this case, land, they will stop at nothing to get what they want even down to murder. This person is clearly labored a thief according to St. John 10:10, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

Do not accept the junk that Satan is offering you just for a moment of pleasure. You’re entitled to blessings and miracles. Do not accept the curses. All the blessings are yours, it’s your birthright.

Yes, life contains many choices! Yes, life has many difficulties! Yes, the choices we make with difficulty can either make or break the quality of our life. Here’s the thing, the problem with most people, including Christians, is not the problems themselves, but the choice we make when we face them. We need to decide early on if we are SOLD OUT to Christ, or a SELL OUT to the adversary for lack of commitment when faced with a problem.

Good preparation before problems can help prevent procrastination and pain on making good choices when the problem hit! That’s why 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to be sober-minded, alert (watchful, guarded), because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about to and fro seeking whom he may devour. Satan knows your history better than you. When humanity fell into sin it was Satan that took over ruling the world illegally.

When you’re down and out, feeling alone, helpless, throwing a pity party, you are distracted and not thinking about your vulnerability and the dangers of Satan’s attack. It’s at that moment you’re standing in the spotlight for Satan to launch an attack. That’s the character of a lion. The young, sick, helpless, animals are the prime targets in his radar. Remember this, God is sovereign, all powerful, and infinitely Holy, and He hates sin. (Romans 1:18) And man’s wickedness, ungodliness, unrighteousness, and willfulness to hold the truth in unrighteousness is deserving of God’s wrath. But we’re given instructions in Colossians 3:5-6: Mortify therefore your members, which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (image worship):  for which things sake the wrath of God, cometh on the children of disobedience.

Today’s text reveals the first step in the downward spiral of Ahab, King of Samaria, a type of devil, coveting Naboth’s vineyard, a type of Christian.

Coveting is when you desire or admire something belonging to someone else. It’s a form of idolatry, (Colossians 3:5), worship of goods or possessions.

It wasn’t so much as what Naboth did, but what he had, a vineyard. It was positioned adjacent to the king’s palace. Whenever the king went out on his chariot, his roaming eye fell on that beautiful vineyard with big clusters of grapes hanging in abundance everywhere. His covetousness grew from “I wouldn’t mind having a vineyard like that,” to envy. 

Envy includes resentment and is dangerous and deadly. Ahab, the king of Israel, has wealth, and all his possessions didn’t satisfy him. He resented Naboth having that vineyard until his desire became so intense that he approached Naboth with an offer to sell. I’m sure Ahab did not entertain the thought of rejection due to his status as king.  Who would refuse the king?

The king spoke unto Naboth, saying, “Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house. I will give thee the worth of it in money.” Spiritually, Ahab was walking in direct disobedience to the covenant of God. The Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, male servant, female servant, his ox, donkey, not anything that is your neighbors” (Exodus 20:10).  Naboth said, “The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my father’s unto thee.” And after hearing God’s judgment Ahab went home to pout. Driven by anger and rebellion against God, he had a fit of rage when Naboth said, “NO SELL”. The same feelings that led to a career of power grabbing, drove Ahab to resent Naboth. Rage turned to hatred and led to murder.

Naboth wanted to uphold God’s laws. The Israelites had a strong sense of duty about their family Land. How many know that land is a family’s most important economic asset. It could be bought or sold, but not parental property. This vineyard had been passed down to him by his fathers. It had been in his family since Israel had been given possession of the Promised Land and been in his family for generations. It was more than his inheritance; it was his heritage. It was prime real estate. It was in the most elite neighborhood in town and nobody in Samaria had a better possession than Naboth.  His name means fruits; produce; germinate, to (make) flourish; also (of words), to utter; bring forth (fruit); make cheerful; increase.

This vineyard was not just a plot of land or a bunch of grapevines. This vineyard was God’s property (Leviticus 25:23), "The land shall not be sold forever; for the land is Mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me."  Naboth had full possession as caretaker to work and till this land. He was responsible to protect and assure this land continued to be passed down to his children and his children’s children.  He couldn’t sell property without the owner’s permission. God holds the deed. Do you know you can’t sell God? HE’S not for sell.

Acts 8, Simon the sorcerer thought that the “gift of the Holy Ghost” could be purchased with money, but after Peter ministered to him the word of the Lord, he had enough sense to repent and asked for prayer.

The word VINE symbolizes God’s providential care and steadfast love toward HIS people.  In the Greek, vine is from the root word am’pelos, meaning a vine (as coiling about a support).  It reflects the words of Jesus in John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” Do you want life? Then remain attached to ME the source of life and you will produce “fruit.”  That’s a promise, because HE’S the Gardner who takes care of the branches.

Abide in the Greek is meno, meaning remain, stay attached, continue, abide or live, because the branch has life only if the life of the vine flows into it.

The grapes are a symbol for the good works and blood of Jesus and of something blessed, good and prosperous, wealth, abundance.

Jesus’ first miracle was at the Canaan wedding when HE turned water into wine. Isaiah 5:7: For the vineyard of the Lord of host is the house of Israel. That vineyard is the mission field where God’s chosen people are to work in HIS Kingdom and bear fruit.

Naboth was just one man, but he was a link in the chain of God’s inheritance. If he failed in his generation, the next generation would have nothing to inherit and nothing to pass on. So, he had been charged to protect what he had.

Guess what? He’s not the only link in Gods inheritance. We as His children are co-heirs with Christ, meaning, we as God’s adopted children share in the inheritance. What belong to Jesus belong to us.  John 17:22: And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one even as we are one. Romans 8:16-17: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 

We too, have a vineyard to till and work, which is the Word of God. That’s why II Timothy 2:15, encourages us to study (stride, labor, be diligent) and not just read, to show our selves approved unto God.

The church you attend is prime real estate and the Word of God that’s preached and taught is precious possession. So, take advantage of what you’ve been given and don’t take your services for granted. Thank God for your Bibles, Pastors, and your salvation wherein you can learn to worship and Praise God for all HE’s given you.

As followers of Christ have been given the same charge as Naboth to care for and protect our vineyard. We’re responsible for making sure it’s well tended and fruitful by teaching and preaching the Kingdom message down to our children and their children’s children. So, take a good look over your vineyard today. Get in there, work it, protect it, and preserve it, so the next generation will have something godly to inherit. That’s how God set this thing up ….”to teach others,” and to produce fruit through the Kingdom message.   (II Timothy 2:2) And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Naboth, a man of God was presented with a royal opportunity to sell his land coming from none other than the King of Israel, which is in Samaria.  Oh, he could have accepted that reasonable offer, named his price, and would have had money in his pocket. It made sense on the surface, but Naboth saw beneath the surface and saw what was really going on.  But, when you’re SOLD OUT to God, your loyalty is with HIM. That’s why he used the sacred name “Lord” when addressing Ahab. For what shall it profit a man, to gain the whole world and lose his soul (Mark 8:36)?

Ahab couldn’t have cared less about whether Naboth’s land was heir-property or not. The devil doesn’t want you to prosper and Ahab’s motive was to plow up the grape vines by the roots. The root system absorbs the water and nutrients and anchors the plant to the ground. He wanted to destroy everything Naboth’s father had worked so hard to give him. Naboth was on the alert, because he knew the king sold out a long time ago by marrying Jezebel. The king’s offer was repugnant, distasteful, and destructive, erasing Naboth’s heritage. That’s why Naboth had no problem saying, “No Sell”.

There are a lot of people today that are selling out. They are taking the offer of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Know that the devil is out to destroy your vineyard. He will plow it up by the roots and erase your heritage if you are not aware of his tactics and unable to discern his presence. 

Many of the Ahab’s of religion are changing their methods and watering down their message. If you can’t stand and tell the devil, “I’m sold out,” then, you will “sell out.”

You are going to receive a lot of offers in your life. From the guy/girl who says, “If you love me you would”………..Don’t sell out!

To the so-called friends who say, “Oh come on, everybody’s doing it.” Everything that looks like an opportunity really isn’t. Don’t Sell Out!

Don’t sell out, regardless of who is doing the asking.  If you’re asked to do something that violates your mind or the Word of God, that’s not a friend.  (1Corinthians 15:33): Be not deceived:  evil communications corrupt good manners.

Don’t sell out just to please the crowd. Sometimes it’s better to stand alone than to stand with the crowd. Look! It was the crowd that cried “crucify him” the day Jesus died. It was just a few that stood by Him that day. Simply, refuse to go along. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat:  because strait (tight squeeze) is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it .” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The “many” spoken of here in verse 13 is not “ungodly sinners”, but it’s the “many” that’s sitting on church pews on death row waiting for Jesus to come back and get them and take them to where God is.  The “few” are those that have grasped hold of the revelation truth that God is here, He is in us by the Holy Ghost.  Jesus “IS already come”!  We know that He “HAS come” already as Mary’s baby and the Heavenly Father has offered Him up as the Lamb slain to deliver us from sin, death, hell, and the grave.  (Isaiah 9:6): For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.  Mary Jesus’ mother gave birth to Him, but it was the Father that gave Him when He went to the Cross as a sacrifice. But Jesus is “not coming” as religion preaches:  (2 Corinthians 5:16): Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:  yea, though we have known (past tense) Christ after the flesh, yet NOW HENCEFORETH (from hereon) KNOW WE HIM NO MORE.  (Not after the flesh, we must know Him by the Spirit).  He “IS COME”, “present tense”!

·        1 John 4:2: Hereby know you the Spirit of God:  every spirit that confesseth that JESUS CHRIST IS COME in the flesh is of God:

·        Vs 3: And every spirit that confesseth NOT that JESUS CHRIST IS COME in the flesh is not of God:  and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world.

I’m confessing to you today that “Jesus Christ IS COME (not coming out in the sky– but is come) in the flesh”, because He “is come” in you and in me!  When I see you I see Him and when you see me you see Him!  Why?  Because “we are His flesh”, “His bones”, “His body”!

·        Ephesians 5:30: We are members (mel’os) [limbs or parts of the body] of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones!

He “is already come” by the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, and He dwells in our flesh body of which He is the “Head”! 

·        Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body, the church.

Jesus was “the man” that died on the Cross to deliver us, but when He got up, He was resurrected as “Christ”, which is a many-membered body!   So He couldn’t be Christ without us:

·        1 Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is “one”, and hath “many members”, and all the members of the “one body”, being many, “are one body”:  SO ALSO IS CHRIST!

Those that don’t confess this (that we are Jesus’ flesh body in the earth, called Christ), are those pointing up to the sky saying, “Any time now He can split the sky, come and get us and take us back with Him!"  This is that spirit of “antichrist” that’s working against God’s people to keep them from seeing the truth of who they are in God and who God is in them!  They’re caught up in “flesh worship” and not “spirit worship of Him”!  His flesh is no more except in you!  His “coming” is not some set day, but it is “continuous”!  He comes (manifests, appears) to you or somebody every day all the day long in whatever form you need Him to meet your needs.  He might show up in a neighbor, family member, or even a complete stranger, but it’s Him coming to your rescue.  (1 John 4:4): Greater is he that is IN YOU, than he that is in the world.

Back to Naboth, it doesn’t matter how good the offer sound—take time to weigh out the consequences. Every decision you make has consequences:  Galatians 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap.

You claim to be born again, Spirit filled followers of Christ, while at the same time constantly sowing to the fleshly sinful nature. It’s a mockery to God. Ask yourself, “Is it worth the consequences?” Some are short term, some lifelong, some eternal.

Many people are selling out.  Many, including Christians are taking the offer of the world (which includes religious order - vain deceit, traditions of men), the flesh, and the devil has nothing to offer in relation to the results of those things, but death.  (Romans 8:6): To be carnally minded (flesh minded) is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Many of the Ahab class (those married to the Jezebel’s of religion – the false church system) [preaching and teaching what the people want to hear and not what they need to hear], are changing their methods and watering down the message only to destroy your heritage and leave you with nothing to pass on to your children as the wisdom of God, divine health, eternal life, revelation knowledge, kingdom principles to “live” by.

Whatever the cost, let your first allegiance be to God!

 Naboth refused to sell his vineyard and because he said “No Deal”, he paid a high price. Regardless of who wants what you have, they are not worthy to take it. If you refuse to take the deals offered by those who would take what you have, you can expect to suffer. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution 2Timothy 3:12.

You may be talked about and overlooked. You may even miss out on a few of the events others may be enjoying, but, you’ll be the winner in the end.

Conclusion: Naboth was killed in order that Ahab have his vineyard, but God sent the prophet Elijah to confront Ahab, (1 Kings 21:17-24):  (vs 17) And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, (vs 18) Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria:  behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.  (Vs 19) And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, “Hast thou killed and also taken possession?”  And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, “Thus saith the LORD, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.”   Vs 23: And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.”  That’s exactly what happened.

Who really was the winner here? It was Naboth.

You see, Naboth kept God as his first allegiance and reveals the truth of Matthew

16:25: For whosoever desires to save his life shall lose it, but whosoever loses his life for MY sake shall find it.

Where do you stand today?

Have you sold the farm or vineyard?

Have you taken the deal and lost some things?

Have you been thinking about taking the deal?

If so, seek God for His guidance to help you say “No Deal!”

Will you obey Him in whatever He wants you to do?

What’s it going to be: “Deal or No Deal?”

Evangelist Brenda Hansley

 

THE PURPOSE OF MAN

PSALM 8:4: What is man, that thou art mindful of him?  And the son of man, that thou visitest him?

·         Vs 5: For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.

·         Vs 6: Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.

HEBREWS 2:6: But one in a certain place testified, saying, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him”?  “Or the son of man, that thou visitest him”?

Hebrews was written to newly converted Jews:  and it was written at a time when the temple in Jerusalem was ready to be destroyed; and they were going to face the fact that the sacrifices were being done away with, because Jesus their intercessor and our intercessor has now become the ultimate sacrifice!  Now all they had to do was look to Christ!  In this chapter we are seeing Christ’s unity or oneness with man!

Here Christ is united with “man” in this chapter.  God created “man” to have “lordship” over all things.  So we are not just little peons running around down here with a great big God sitting up beyond the blue.  Because at Jesus’ birth according to the Prophet, Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel”.  Immanuel means “God with us”!!  Then in St. Matthew chapter one Isaiah’s prophecy was manifested, because Jesus was born. 

·         Matthew 1:16: And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

·         Vs 21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:  for he shall save his people from their sins.

This lets us know that we are not separated from God, with us being here and God up yonder as religion heralds!  God is in us!  Now with Him being in us, God created man to manifest Himself in flesh form in the earth and for man to have lordship over all things. I’m talking about the “purpose of man”!  This means that Christ has become one with man, sharing with man, His temptations and sufferings, and even death itself and has given us victory over everything that lives, moves, and creeps upon the earth.

·         Romans 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:  that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”. 

God through Jesus Christ has enabled us, to become one with Him, to share His nature, His dominion, authority and power.  Because of this Christ has been crown with glory and honor.  Also because of this, Man (male and female) in his efforts to become one with Christ does qualify for His glory and His inheritance.  Because we are joint heirs with Him, everything that He had or has belongs to us! 

·         Romans 8:17: And if children (sons), then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together”. 

So God wants us to be assured that Christ is gracious, kind, and understanding, and will be helpful to those of us who love Him!  We’re talking about the purpose of man.

PURPOSE in Webster is defined as to intend or plan; something one intends to get or do; aim (or goal); determination; the object for which something exists or is done.

Ephesians 1:11 states: “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose (proth'esis) of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will”.  Ephesians 3:11 states, “According to the eternal purpose (prot'eron) which he purposed (poie'o) in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Purpose in Ephesians 1:11 is from the root word proth’esis, meaning, a setting forth, in relation to a proposal (intention); the show-bread (in the temple) as exposed before God.  It goes to another root word protith’emoi, meaning to place before, in relation (for oneself) to exhibit; (to oneself) to propose (determine); set forth.  And purpose in Ephesians 3:11 is from the root word prot'eron, meaning previously; before; former; first. God wants to restore His people now back to the place He had Adam in the beginning, a place of dominion, authority, and power as God's ambassadors or representatives in the earth!  God purposed (poie'o [appointed; fulfilled; ordained; brought forth]) all of this for us His people in Christ Jesus for His glory!

In relation to the “show bread”:

·         Exodus 25:30: And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always.

·         Leviticus 24 mentions the “oil (vs 2) and the (showbread) twelve cakes”:  vs 5: And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof:  two tenth deals shall be in one cake.  Vs 6: And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.  Vs 7: And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

The number twelve connotes “son-ship” in God.  Jacob had twelve sons, Jesus had twelve disciples:  12 + 12=24, the number of “elder-ship” in God which has nothing to do with age but “maturity” in God:  12x12=144 and when you add the "thousand" to it it is “sons of God” multiplied by the thousands, Thousand is God’s number of uncertain affinity.

·         Revelation 14:1: And I looked and low a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

The “showbread” or “twelve cakes” placed on the pure table symbolize the “sons” of God manifesting God’s “face” in the earth.

Showbread is from the root word paniym’, meaning, “the face”; presence; countenance.

Remember when God was ready to send Moses back into Egypt to deliver his people, Moses was concerned about who was going with him and God said:  Exodus 33:14: “My presence (paniym’) (face) shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest”.

That’s why God told Moses when they ask who sent him, tell them “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14), because Moses was God in flesh form that had gone into Egypt to deliver His people.

Even then God was showing Himself “as man” in the earth.  So don’t let anyone tell you that God doesn’t need you because He does.  Don’t listen to the lie “it’s not about us”, because it is about “US”!  Genesis 1: 26: And God said, “Let US make man in our image, after our likeness”.  He might can do without “you”  (if you believe it’s not about you) but He can’t do without “US”! 

God didn’t say, “Let me make man”, He said, “Let us make man”.  “Us” is a plural pronoun which covers more than one?  He said “Let us” make man in our image.  In other words, God is talking to people (male and female), that’s in the same place He is in because He “Elohiym”, placed them there!  That was God talking to the “Man” (male & female) God!  Someone may ask, “When the plural is used is that saying that there is more than one God”?  No it is not!

·         Deuteronomy 6:4:  Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God is one LORD

·         Isaiah 45:5: I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God besides me:  I girded thee though thou hast not known me: 

·         Vs 6: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me.  I am the LORD, and there is none else. 

 And when you look at 1 Corinthians 6:17, it is stated, But he that is joined unto the Lord if one spirit.  So when you speak of Elohiym, that means you’re covering the total of the Godhead!  You’re covering the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and that includes US (the church) because He resides in you and me. 

As you look back at Ephesians 1:11 and Ephesians 3:11, in relation to purpose as it is defined, God did what He did according to the purpose (proth'esis) and eternal purpose (prot'eron), with the “intention” of “manifesting Himself in the earth or putting Himself on exhibit in the earth as “man” expressed as “male and female”!

Let’s take a look at John 4:24: God is a Spirit:  but for Him to become visible He had to put on flesh.

·         St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

·          Vs 2: The same was in the beginning with God.   

[This word “same” covers the scope of plural personal pronouns:  he, she, them, they, their, it [the creation-creature], meaning we were with Him in the beginning! 

·         Vs 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

Jesus was God in the earth in flesh form:

·         Philippians 2:5: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

·         Vs 6: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

·         Vs 7: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

·         Vs 8: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

So are we God in the earth in flesh form: 1 John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world!

        We know that God is “Spirit”!  God has many names:  El Elyon [the Most High God]; I’ll come back to Elohiym meaning He brings order out of chaos!  He is Adonai [our Master]; El Shadai [God Almighty];  Jehovah Jireh [our provider]; Jehovah Nissi [our banner]; Jehovah Shamah [He’s right there, always with us]; Jehovah Sabaos [Lord of the heavenly host]; Jehovah Makai [our smiter]; Jehovah Makadesh [our sanctifier]; Jehovah Roi [sees all]; Jehovah Rapha [our healer]; Jehovah Raah [our Shepherd]; Jehovah Tsidqenu [our Righteousness]!  So everything that we need God is to us!

 But when you look up the name God in the Hebrew, its Elohiym, pronounced (Eloheem’) [our Creator]!   It means “gods” in the ordinary sense, but specifically, it is THE SUPREME GOD!  And the SUPREME GOD, He is!!  Because it was “Elohiym” that spoke the universe into existence!! 

 Looking at the name Elohiym, we must look at it in two parts.  “El” and “hiym”!  The first part of it “El” shows God as powerful and mighty!  It even means having extended control or sustaining power!  But then when you look at the ending “hiym”, some pronounces it “Elohim” or “Eloheem”.  “Hiym” is the plural of God!  That’s why He said in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”.

 That’s why in Genesis 1:1-3: In the beginning God [Elohiym] created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light:  and there was light.

Now between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, there were other creations or worlds.

·         Hebrews 11:3: Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

The reason I believe that is because in Genesis 1:2 it says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep”.  It was between vs 1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” and verse 2 that there was other worlds.  And it was here that the “morning stars and sons of God” were in a place of authority and power for God’s glory but left their own habitation.

·         Jude 6: And the angels (messengers) which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation.

·         (God asked Job):  vs 4: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Declare, if thou hast understanding.

·         Vs 7: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

And the third verse, Genesis 1:3:  “And God [Elohiym] said, Let there be light”!  And there was “light”!  God was replenishing the earth.  When He said “Let there be”, the creating process had already taken place.  He was allowing, authorizing, permitting what was to be again.  There was utter chaos [disorder; confusion; disorganization] going on when Adam was raised up!  Isn’t there “chaos” going on in the world today?  But despite all that’s going on, God is still raising up “sons of God” (male & female), and today we are called “Christ” or Christ-ians!  Then, there were “morning stars and sons of God” and there was ADAM (male & female), who was not just one man but a group of people composed of both male and female.

·         Genesis 1:26-27: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

·         Genesis 5:1-2: This is the book of the generations of Adam.  In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

God still wants and have people that have His blood in their face!!  That’s what Adam or “man” means in Genesis, mankind [male and female] showing the blood of God in their face!  Then, God wanted people that had His mind, because that word “light” denoted “knowledge”.  The morning stars and sons of God and the Adam people had the very mind of God, the power of God, the wisdom of God, the very knowledge and understanding of God, and they reverenced God, and He still have those that do.

·         Genesis 1:4: And God saw the “light”, that it was good.

This “light” in verse three and four was not the “light of the Sun”.  If you want to get technical, that light wasn’t brought forth until the fourth day.

This word “light” is from the root word “owr”, meaning illumination (giving light (knowledge) to); make clear; explain; to inform); happiness; break of day; fire; luminary (a body that gives off light [as the sun]; a famous or notable person.

What God saw was people manifesting His very glory in their face in the earth!  The “light” that God saw in Genesis 1:4 that was “good”, was His people being a mirror image of Himself that He saw in His own mind!!!

·         Genesis 1:5:  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  And the evening and the morning were the first day.  (1 Thessalonians 5:5) We are all children (huios')[sons] of light (phos), and children (huios') of the day:  we are not of the night, nor of darkness.  This light that we are, is the same "light" that God is in (1 John 1:5).

 God didn’t say the “morning and the evening” were the first day.  Do we not look at the morning and the evening as the day?  God looked at it as the reversal.  He said the “evening” and the “morning” were the first day.  Why did He say that, it’s because He was seeing the creation coming back out of utter chaos, or the darkness (Hebrew) choshek’ (misery; destruction; death; ignorance; sorrow; wickedness) it had become entrapped in, back into the light and life of His glory!

“Evening” denotes dusk or darkness.  When we move into the “evening” we are facing the “darkness”, the going down of the Sun. That’s what had happened to the morning stars and sons of God in a former creation and now God is ready to raise up the man Adam (male and female) and put them in charge of the creation to do what God Himself was doing!   

·         Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

·         Vs 28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:  and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”.

This “fruitfulness” and “multiplication” wasn’t necessarily bringing forth children but being fruitful in the things of God as wisdom, knowledge, understanding, love, dominion authority and power which would enable them to raise up other “sons of God” giving them increase and causing them to grow spiritually and naturally in every area of their life.

And God had that “man” (male and female) that was called the LORD God, to whom He gave dominion to in Genesis 1:27.  That’s why in Genesis 2:3, God was able to rest, because He had some people that were able to do what He had done. Then the LORD God “formed man (male and female) of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7).  The LORD God (male & female) was now in the place of dominion (ruling and reigning) in the earth over the creation.

 Formed means he squeezed and pressured him through the “narrow way” to deliver him from the dust (state of ignorance, misery, death) he (male and female) was in.

The man (adam) that the LORD God formed were the ones that fell.   After the fall, they were in the “EVE”-ning, and they were facing the darkness because they had turned away from the light.

But in Genesis 1:3 when God said, “Let there be light”, that was the dawning of the new day for the people of God!!  Use yourself as an example, and I’m using myself as an example:  Before we accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour, we were in the evening (facing or walking in darkness, the going down of the sun), but when we accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour that was the dawning of the new day for us!  We had to progress through the night (darkness) to make it to the day (light).  Now you see, that was our first day and as we continued through the growth process we made it to the seventh day of perfection and completeness that we are now walking in in Christ Jesus!!

A few of the synonyms for “day” is light, clear up, enlightenment.  To enlighten is to educate, instruct, inform, teach, edify. All those other days, the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth day are stages of growth we must grow through to get to the seventh day (completeness; perfection) in God that He uses to bring “man” (male & female) to the divine purpose He ordained for him, which is:

·         Ephesians 4:13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  

     We are still talking about the "purpose of man".

So now when you look at “Man”, Webster defines him as an adult or full grown male, or the human race, any human being whether you are male or female.  But when you look at “Man” through the eyes of God, he (male and female) is the very concept, the image, the impression, the thought in the Divine Mind of God.  He (man) is the epitome of “being”!  Meaning the epitome of one’s existence!  That is why God’s name is “Yehovah” or “Jehovah” meaning the Lord; self-Existent or Eternal God.  Did you get that revelation!  When you start talking about “self” you’re talking about the complete or essential “being” of a person!  You see, God is “Spirit” but yet He is a “person” because He has put on flesh in “man”!  When you talk about “persons” you’re talking about “people”!  So that makes “us” God in the flesh!  MAN IS HERE SO THAT GOD CAN HAVE A BODY TO DWELL IN!  God without man is Spirit without a body!  Man, is the invisible God made visible!

When you talk about “Genesis”,  when God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”,  the synonyms for Genesis are:  creation, origin, formation, beginning, construction, manufacturing, erection, putting together, development, bringing forth, workmanship, growth, fertilization, perfection, to breed, or to bring forth! 

Remember in Genesis 1:2, when it says “And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters”, we know that those “waters” were people:

·         Revelation 17:15: And he saith unto me, “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”.

That word “moved” means to breed or bring forth.  When the SPIRIT OF GOD [the breath of God] (the ru’wach) moved on these people (Adam), we are seeing what God Himself was seeing in His own mind, and God delivered them from the chaos that was going on in the creation. 

God wanted people that had His mind, wisdom, understanding, authority and power and would do what He commanded them to do.  So He said “Let there be light”.   Keep in mind this word “light” is from the root word “owr”, meaning illumination (giving light (knowledge) to); make clear; explain; to inform); happiness; break of day; fire; luminary (a body that gives off light [as the sun]; a famous or notable person.

With the definition luminary which is a person that has the ability to enlighten mankind or others, God was saying, “Let there be some people that can enlighten mankind on my behalf and for my glory”, and it was so!! 

·         Genesis 1:26: Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.

·         Vs 27: So God (Elohiym) created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

·         Vs 28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it:  and have dominion over the fish of the sea,, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”.

These are the people in Genesis chapter 2 that’s called the LORD God!

That’s why God was able to rest on the seventh day!  It didn’t mean that He laid back and kicked His heels up!  But He had some people He could dwell in, that could do what He was doing!!  This was the LORD God, male and female, that He made in His image after His own likeness He gave dominion to.

·         Genesis 2:1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

·         Vs 2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Rested is from the root word shabath’, meaning to repose, ie desist from exertion; cease; celebrate; leave; rid; still.

The word “repose” in that definition is from the Latin “re” (again) and “pausare” (to rest); rest from work; composure; calm; peace; to place (trust) in someone; to place (power) in the control of some person or group.

Why “rest again”?  Because “the morning stars and the sons of God” spoken of in Job 38:7 and Jude 6, that was in authority at the beginning had “left their own habitation”, now through the Adam race of people, male and female, God can “again rest”.  He has now “repositioned” Himself in Adam (male and female), entrusted them with His power, and has given them the command to have dominion over the creation.

When you look at Genesis, you are looking at the birth of the creation!  God is bringing forth “Man”, with everything else He created.  Yet He chose to dwell in “Man”!  Because God lives in Man, that makes the “man” God and God the man!    As you look through the Old Testament you are seeing “God people”!  God was in Adam who was a group of people composed of both male and female.

·         Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

·          Genesis 5:1-2: This is the book of the generations of Adam.  In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Now when the “Adam” race fell, God raised up Cain and Abel through Adam.  We know that Cain killed his brother Abel!    We still have some “Cain” spirited people in the Church today!  All you have to do is tell them how able (Abel) you are to do all things through Christ who strengthens you; tell them how able (Abel) we are to live eternally in these bodies we are in; tell them how able (Abel) we are to live above sin and watch the Cain’s tell you that you can’t (Cain’t)!  They will kill you with their words, or their tongues!  I try not to say anything in relation to the Word of God without supporting it by the Word of God!   

But then after Cain killed Abel, God gave Adam and his wife another seed instead of Abel and called him Seth.   Seth’s name denotes “destiny, order, predestination or a predetermination”.   God saw the ending in the beginning! 

·         Genesis 4:25: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

Then a son was born to Seth, whose name was Enos.  The scripture states that “then began men to call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). 

This word “upon”, is defined as “after”.  So it was then that “men began to call themselves after the name of the Lord”.  Enos means miserable man.  Miserable in Webster means discomfort; inadequate; pitiable. That’s the kind of state that man needs to be in when he runs out of his own efforts, and find out that he himself can’t do anything of himself or by himself.  And it is then that he begins to call on the name of the Lord.

·         Acts 17:28: It is in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. 

Why was he (Enos - denoting mortal man) able to call on the name of the Lord?  Because of what his father Seth [who was the seed given in the stead of Abel, whose name denotes destiny (an inevitable succession of events) who became a substitute or replacement, had taught him.  So the seed that Seth had planted in Enos was there!  So when Enos found himself in this miserable or mortal state, he was able to fall back on the Word that had already been placed in him.  Remember Enos was the great-grandson of Adam and Adam was the “son of God” (Luke 3:38).

·         Proverbs 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go:  and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

Genesis 4:26 states, “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord, (or “after) the name of the Lord”!

The “God people” began calling themselves after the name of the Lord!!  HALLELUJAH!!  Look at Genesis chapter 5 and check out the names of those people!  “El” means God!

Some of those names:  Mahalaleel; Jared (Yared); Methuselah; Noah; Isaiah; Samuel; Joel; Ezekiel; Daniel; Zechariah; Zephaniah; Jeremiah!! 

These are “God people”!  They began to call themselves “after” the name of the Lord!!  Because God’s people were coming back into the understanding of who and whose they were with God in the beginning, we now are coming and have come into the understanding of who we are in God and who He is in us!

In Genesis 6 the “sons” of God began to take up with the daughters of men (false church systems), so God cleaned house again with the flood.  It was the “ungodly” that the flood destroyed, not the godly!

·         2 Peter 2:4-5: For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the “world of the ungodly”!

 Then in Genesis 11, men began to build a city and a tower, so that they could have a name!  They are now calling themselves Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Holiness, Presbyterian, etc.  When in actuality there is only one God!!  We are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28).  And it doesn’t take getting baptized in a baptismal pool to connect you with Jesus.  Because all that is, is a ceremony, showing that you are burying that old man and rising anew!!  It is only by one Spirit we are baptized into Christ! 

·         1 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.

·         Galatians 3:27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

The only way to be baptized into Christ is by the SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD!!

But in Genesis 11, God came down to visit the city and the tower (pulpits) and He confused their languages!  Today they are still confused!  There are those that will argue over how you should be baptized.  Some say, “In the name of the Lord Jesus; some say in Jesus name; some say in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Whichever one you choose it’s alright, but after all that we still need the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire!

·         Matthew 3:11: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance:  but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:  he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. 

The only thing that is going to clean and clear confusion out of the Churches today is the REVELATION of THE CHRIST!!  When you know the revelation of the Word of God, you don’t have to argue about the Word of God!  The Word of God will stand for itself!   

Those men named in Genesis five and the Prophets all had God’s name!!  These were “God men”!

Now we know that it was by “man” that the creation fell, so then it had to be through “man” that the creation be restored.  And that was through the Man Jesus the Christ! 

Those Old Testament Prophets did not walk in the total of God because Jesus had not yet come, as Mary’s baby.  But God used those men!  They were God men!  But when Jesus came on the scene, the total of the Father was contained in the Man Jesus!  And the total of the Father is contained in us His people!

Someone might say, “It sounds to me like you’re trying to say that we are gods”!  Well, that is exactly what I am saying, because Jesus said it!  Anything that He says, I (we) can say!

John 10:34: Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods”? 

·         Psalm 82:1: God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods.

·         Vs 6: I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.

·          1 John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world.

The latter part of that verse states, “For as he is, so are we in this world”!  Not up beyond the blue, but right here! 

Just as it is written in Galatians 4:4  But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption (placing) of sons. 

 He (Jesus) put on flesh and He was God in flesh form.  In the fullness of the time for you, you were manifested in a flesh body! 

·         St. John 1:11: He came to his own, and his own received him not. 

·         Vs 12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

·         Vs 13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

There are some of us that are here not just because our parents got together, but we are here because God sent us here!!!

I am here because God sent me here for “divine purpose” and to God be the glory!  Now I understand why things I wanted to do and tried to do never happen, because God’s hand was upon my life for “purpose”!!

·         Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

·         Vs 29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

·         Vs 30: Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:  and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Now when a father and mother produce a child, one half of the father’s DNA is in that child and one half of the mother’s DNA is in that child.  In the DNA are chromosomes.  The chromosomes contain genes that are responsible for the determination and transmission of hereditary characteristics.  Those of us that are born of God have His characteristics:  not just half of it but all of it!  Isn’t that good news!!  So then if He is God and He is, then so are we God for His glory!  That’s why in Genesis 1:3, when God said “Let there be light”, He was saying, “I want some “Gods” that’s just like me, but I’m still the MOST HIGH”!!  And He always will be!! 

·          Psalm 82:6: I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.

Still talking about “the Purpose of Man”!!

We have to be formed (squeezed and pressured) into God’s image.  He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.  Then in Genesis 2:7 it states, that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground”.  This means the LORD God formed - “yatsar”, or squeezed man (male and female) into shape, through a pressurized process.  The same thing that you and I are going through, a pressurized process to bring us to the maturity of Christ!! 

You don’t have to agree with this, but the “Man” the LORD God didn’t fall, but it was the “man” (Adam) the one called “the first man Adam” was the one that fell!  In Genesis chapter one it is GOD seeing in His own mind, creating the heaven and the earth, saying and doing,  letting, creating and making everything,!  But in Genesis chapter two it is the LORD God doing everything, creating the earth and the heavens, and forming other people making them into the image and likeness of God.  These “God People” (male and female) were ruling and reigning over the earth with power and dominion!  They were ruling and super-ruling over the earth, just as God did!

 Did you notice the reversal, instead of the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1), it was the earth and the heavens (Genesis 2:4).  What was happening was this,  the LORD God had to take those that were bound by the “earth man” [that which pertained to carnality; ignorance; death; misery; darkness] and bring them into the heaven [ joy; peace; health; wisdom; knowledge; power; authority; dominion; light; life].  In Genesis chapter one, God spoke out of the “heaven” into the earth.  Now the LORD God in chapter two has to speak to that which was earthy and make it become heavenly! 

That’s the “purpose of Man”, to manifest God in the earth, in a flesh body!  God is Spirit which is invisible, but God became visible in man (male and female)!

Do you realize this is what’s happening now, when God gives us the revelation of His Word and we believe and receive it, it raises us above sea level and brings us into the heavenlies?  That’s a resurrection people of God, a killing and burying of the “old man” or “old nature” and the rising of the “new man”! 

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           Ephesians 4:24: And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.   

·         2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation], old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.

·         Ephesians 2:6: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

·         Colossians 3:9-10: Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

 If you are in Christ, you are already in heaven!!  As God sends us to minister revelation truth to His people and we lead them to Christ, they are being moved from that which is earthy (carnal) into the heavenly (spiritual)!    So how is this done?

·         Galatians 4:19: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you!!

Formed is from the root word morpho’o, meaning to fashion.  It goes to another root word morphe’, meaning an adjustment of parts; to shape; nature.   This tells us that a metamorphosis has to take place in us, so that God can help us put this earth man under our feet, so that spirit man that is on the inside of us can come alive!!   He does it by giving us the Kingdom (His power) that resides inside of us!

·         Luke 17:21: The kingdom of God is within you.

·         1 John 4:4: Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

The fall of man was when he moved from his divinity back into his humanity.  Jesus was flesh and He was Spirit.  He was human and He was Divine.  We are flesh but we are also Spirit.  We are human and we are also divine!  (1 John 4:17): As he is, so are we, in this world.  We know our humanity, but what about our divinity!!  People are afraid to even “think” that they can be equal with God!  I didn’t say above God, but equal! 

·         Philippians 2 5-6: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. 

Jesus knew who He (Himself) was.  Even with Him being in a flesh body, He did not self-exalt Himself over the MOST HIGH GOD, He knew His place in His Father.  We know to stay in our place!  We know that it is in HIM (GOD) we live, move, and have our very being, and we are also His offspring (Acts 17:28).

 “Man” has to be formed into God’s image!  So you wonder why you are going through so much, it is because God is forming you into His image and after His likeness!  He is using your co-workers, the folks in your house, your friends, so He can hammer, and chisel, and get off of you those sharp edges, and rub off all the rough spots!  So that when He gets us into the shape He wants us to be, all He has to do is slide us into the place He has ordained us for in His Kingdom, to be used for His glory!!  Then we can function and operate when, where, and how He wants us to!!  Therefore we don’t have to be jealous of one another, because we all have a place in God’s Kingdom to fit and function, but we must find our place so that the “power” can operate through us to the degree our Heavenly Father has ordained!

I’ve heard preachers say, “You don’t have any power”!  When Jesus said:

·         Luke 10:19: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall be any means hurt you”.

·         Matthew 10:1:  And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

·         Acts 1:8: You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost hath come upon you.

So whose report are you going to believe!  We have the power, because as He is so are we, in this world! 

So many people are waiting “religiously” for Jesus to come back and clean this mess up down here, but we know by revelation that He (Jesus) is already here!  He is waiting for the Church to take her rightful place and do the work. 

·          Romans 8:19: For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

In reality the creation is waiting for the “true Body of Christ” (the sons of God) to stand up and do what Jesus had commanded us to do.  Jesus has done what the Father sent Him to do:

·         John 17:4: I have glorified thee on the earth:  I have finished the work which thou gave me to do.

Those that are waiting for Jesus to come back are the ones that don’t know who He is in them or who they are in Him!

·         John 14:19: Yet a little while, and the world (the people caught up in religious order) seeth me no more; but you see me:  because I live, you shall live also.

·         2 Corinthians 5:16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:  yea, though we have known (past tense) Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth (from here on) know we him no more.

We must know Him by “the Spirit”!  When I see His people, I see Him!

·         1 Corinthians 12:12: As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many is one body:  so also is CHRIST.

·         Ephesians 5:30: We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Therefore we must study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)!!  But when you start preaching and teaching the fullness of the Gospel, the revelation truth of the Word of God, there will be a lot of Pastor’s and other religious folk that will not have anything to do with you!  This is not hear say, I’m experiencing it right now!!  And should they ask you what rock did you crawl out from under, tell them THE ROCK CHRIST!!  If religious people can stand on tradition, we most certainly should stand in the TRUTH!!  God ordained this!  I have a mandate from God!!  He said speak My Word and I must obey Him and will, and so must you!

God’s “Anointing” doesn’t come cheap.  There is a price to be paid in being obedient to God!!  But it is worth it all!  Thank God for Jesus and the Holy Ghost, who are one on the inside of us, to help us do what He is sending us to do. But how much are you willing to sacrifice for your relationship with God?  How willing are you to fulfill the divine purpose He has sent you here for?

We must protect the Anointing God has given us!  We protect it by obedience to God and walking in the power of God!! 

·         Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through CHRIST, who strengthens me.

Just as God was seen in the face of Adam, He is seen in the face of His people today to those who are able to recognize Him!  We know one another!  As the Word says, “As He is so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17), not beyond the blue, but right here and right now!

When you have a need and someone meets that need, that’s God coming to your rescue in that person. God is Spirit and He put on flesh in Jesus the Christ!  When He finished with it, He deposited it right back into Spirit out of which it came, and at Pentecost He redeposited that flesh right back into “man” (male and female), we the Church.  God’s Body has been in the multiplication process ever since and will continue forever, because He purposed to be seen in and as man, and for man to rule and reign on the earth, over the creation as God!!

·         1 John 4:2-3: “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:  Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:  and every spirit that confesses not Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:  and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world”.

I’m confessing that Jesus Christ “is come in the flesh” because I’m saying that He is in us, not that He is going to appear out in the sky, but that He is appearing in you and in me!  Those that are preaching that Jesus is going to appear out in the sky are confessing that He is not come in the flesh because they believe one day He is coming back and this is the spirit of antichrist!  I don’t preach that Jesus is coming back one of these days.  I preach, we preach that Jesus is already here and He is here in His people!  We’re not waiting for Him to come, He IS COME ALREADY!   

·         We are members of His body, of his flesh, and of his bones (Ephesians 5:30).

If God did not need “man” or “flesh bodies” to dwell in, why did He have to put on flesh in the person of Jesus?  It was by “man” that the creation fell, so it had to be by “man” that the creation be restored.

·         Romans 5:19: By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

·         1 Corinthians 5:19: To wit (know) that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.

·         1 John 3:8: He that commits 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.

SO THE PURPOSE OF MAN IS TO MANIFEST GOD IN THE EARTH IN FLESH FORM!!!

·         1 John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world!

Pastor Gracie Perry