Friends,
Sometimes it is difficult for me to express to others my understanding of what living in the "Kingdom of God" is and why, if you are a Believer you are in Gods' Kingdom "NOW". I think it is mainly because holding onto my revelation of the Cross of Christ is not easy. Verbalizing the revelation of my truth is even more difficult. There are a thousand things bombarding my conscious and sub-conscious mind daily - awake or asleep, attempting to keep me focused on the circumstances in my life and not on the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ. I think that is why the early Apostles Paul, James, Peter, John, Mary Magdalene etc. exhorted the Church to "...hold fast to our "Confession of Faith" and why we are told to consciously fight
(to struggle to endure or surmount, to gain by struggle, <fights his way through>
) to stay in "faith". (
firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) :complete trust)
to do so.
Have you ever asked yourself wh
at does our "Confession of Faith" mean? I think most people who profess to be Christians think the "sinners prayer" is our Confession of Faith. You know...believing Jesus Christ is the Son of God, he died for our sins, he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven...etc., etc.. When in truth, the sinners prayer is a prayer of repentance and calling on/asking God to save/redeem you. Our Confession of Faith is not the Apostles Creed Christian ministries cite as their statement of faith and what they believe, in a religious context.
As children of the living God, do we even grasp the true meaning or the reality of what we have inherited in Christ? I think we consciously live in a space between two worlds. One world an illusion and the other our true reality. We are not consciously alive to the reality of life yet not unconscious; but looking/seeing the image of who we are through a distorted mirror and hesitant to leave the illusion and enter into the Kingdom of God as the cross of Christ allows us to do.
Our Confession of our Faith goes deeper than mere words, or a belief in a religious system, or denomination. Our Confession of Faith to me is living in the reality of what the Cross of Christ gave humanity. It is knowing what we have, and who we are, and how we got what we have, and how in our daily, conscious, actions we keep what we have inherited through the Cross of Christ. This is what I want to talk about in upcoming post..."Entering into life: The Reality of the Cross of Christ" which is living in the Kingdom of God "Now", our true reality (something that actually exists)
Take a moment to "slowing" and "prayerfully" read and meditate on the following verses of scripture...
Ephesians 1
The Message (MSG)
1 1-2 I, Paul, am under God’s plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.
The God of Glory
3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
What is the Apostle Paul trying to convey to the Ephesians Church and to all Believers? What do you hear the Spirit saying? Post your comments.
In the meantime,
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