We are in a season of celebration and today marks a memorial of the resurrection. “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to GOD by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”—Romans 5:9-10. As we are before GOD right now, the state of things as they are at this very moment, we are— (1) justified; (2) reconciled [we are no longer enemies with GOD because of the blood of Jesus and the cross]; and (3) saved In the now, we are the holy ones of GOD because our sins were washed clean with the blood of Jesus; We are sanctified, set apart and made holy. In our reconciliation with GOD, we are now ‘friends’ with GOD [John 15:15], ‘brothers and sisters’ to Jesus [Hebrews 2:11] and so sons and daughters of GOD; We are heirs of GOD and joint-heirs with Christ [Romans 8:17].
There is so much power in understanding who I am before GOD at this very moment. There is an absolute freedom, a pure raw power that fuels us up to mobilize and shift things in the spirit like never before, if only we were to understand and tap into the authority that is divinely and lawfully bestowed upon us through the blood of Jesus. In Ephesians 2:12-13, Paul demonstrates that we were strangers, outsiders, aliens, enemies to the Kingdom of GOD in the past, and that presently, since we are now alive and living in Christ, the blood of Jesus draws us in and we are now among the insiders within the Kingdom of GOD. Now, as we stand before GOD, we are no longer aliens, outsiders, and strangers outside of the covenant of promises, BUT we are citizens of heaven, members of the family, and the household of GOD [Ephesians 2:19]. So now every promise that GOD has given belongs to us; Every blessing that GOD has proclaimed is ours; The eternal life that Jesus has come to give is ours.
In the right now of it all, we are saved, reconciled, justified, sanctified, glorified, and blessed through the blood that was spilled when Christ Jesus was slain. They thought they were just killing Jesus, when it was in fact Jesus who was killing and forever removing that which was separating man from GOD (sin and death) when He took to the cross. He took the penalty of our sin upon Himself, His blood washed and cleansed all our sins, satisfying GOD’s justice, and so delivered our salvation on a silver platter. His death made it possible for man to be reconciled with GOD. There is now no enmity between man (a sinner) and GOD [Ephesians 2:16]. GOD and man are reconciled. GOD has given all believers the ministry of reconciliation [2 Corinthians 5:18]. We are now tasked with telling others that they can be reconciled with GOD too because ‘GOD was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ, not counting our sins against us, but canceling them’ —2 Corinthians 5:19.
You and I must make a critical choice: Are you going to believe your mind, or are you going to believe the Word of GOD? Are you going to believe what the Word of GOD says about you, or are you going to believe what you think about yourself? The Word says we are— citizens of heaven; members of GOD’s family and household; sons and daughters (children) of GOD; inheritors of the glory of GOD. The Word bestows us with legitimacy and lawful standing with The Father, Our Father; It entitles us to all the rights, privileges, and blessings that come with it. But not all and sundry are entitled to claim these rights, privileges, and blessings. For instance: Proverbs 24:16a NKJV says ‘a righteous man falls seven times and rises again’, meaning that a man (who trusts and depends on GOD throughout his life) can trip and fall, over and over again, yet the perfect grace of GOD will always locate him wherever he is and strengthen him in spirit to overcome the obstacle/challenge; HOWEVER ‘the unrighteous (the non-believer) is brought down and defeated by just one calamity, never to rise again’ [Proverbs 24:16b TPT]; What a privilege!
As children of GOD, we are inheritors of the glory of GOD in the now and GOD wants us to walk in His glory because it is already given to us through our faith. The rights, privileges, and blessings from GOD to His children are permanent. GOD does not give us these spiritual gifts and then later take them all back when we have wronged—No. The calling and the gifts of GOD are without repentance; What GOD gives you remains with you, even if you stumble seven times! This becomes so because of our new nature as the righteousness of GOD, being blessed in the spirit, and thereby being eternally blessed throughout the ages, all because of the blood of thee Lamb! What Jesus Christ has done for you and for me is bigger and greater than what the eyes can see. We are blessed just for believing in the faith of Abraham, blessed just for believing in the gospel of Christ Jesus, and have so become heirs of the covenant promises and blessings of GOD.
Jesus’ death was not just a run-of-the-mill dying, it dawned a new covenant between us and GOD. In this new covenant, the blood of Jesus redeems us to be reconciled, forgiven, and blessed; And now, as a result of it— (1) the gospel of Jesus Christ is full of riches in the blessings [Ephesians 1:7]; and (2) we have an inheritance [Ephesians 1:11]. In our current covenant with The Father, we are accepted in the beloved and GOD has bound Himself to us eternally — to love us eternally, to be in communion with us eternally, to be in a relationship with us eternally, to bless us eternally. The blood of Jesus has qualified and entitled us to be set apart for a life of privilege on earth and in the Kingdom of GOD, a life deserving and worthy of special treatment from GOD. GOD always looks after His children and always treats them with favor because of the blood spilled during the Passover. GOD’s actions when the blood of lambs was shed in Egypt, was but a preview to the time His Son would shed blood.
The first Passover is noted in the book of Exodus 12. The night of the Passover was the night of the tenth and worst plague that GOD brought on the land of Egypt to get Pharaoh to let His people go after being enslaved for 430 years. On that fateful night, GOD instructed the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark the doorposts (upper and both sides) with its blood [Exodus 12:5,7]. Along with these instructions, GOD directed that they must eat the meat of the lamb, roasted on the fire, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread [Exodus 12:8]. That night GOD passed through the land and the blood of the lamb kept the destroyer from entering the homes marked with the blood, saving them from death. In Exodus 12:12, when GOD said, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you’, He was expressly saying that ‘I will treat you with privilege, I will extend special treatment, my grace, mercy, salvation, and redemption to you’. The blood of sheep and goats had moved GOD to act in this way, how much more would He do when it is His Son’s blood, His blood.
For the modern-day Christian, the memorial of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is our Passover for it met all the Passover requirements set out in the Laws of Moses. Jesus is the Son of GOD, the firstborn of all creation [Colossians 1:15 NIV], who not only came and fulfilled the Law declared in Exodus13:1-2 [Matthew 5:17], but He is ‘the Lamb of GOD sent to take away the sin of the world’ [John 1:29], a ‘Lamb without blemish and spotless’ [1 Peter 1:19], the perfect ‘Passover Lamb’ [1 Corinthians 5:7]. The Last Supper was a Passover meal and He was killed at Passover time [Luke 22:7-8]. Brethren, Jesus is our Passover [1 Corinthians 5:7]! As believers, we are in, covered, and cleansed by the blood. So no matter what you do, the blood will never depart from you; The blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness even when we have sinned. Now this right here, this is how much more His blood, the blood of His Firstborn, the blood of His Son, moves GOD to act in our favor and moves the grace of GOD in our favor!
We are living in the time of the grace of GOD; And because this is the acceptable time of the favor of GOD, Paul cautions and pleads that the grace of GOD never be received in vain [2 Corinthians 6:1-2]. In this acceptable time, the day of salvation is now; And what happens in the time that is now is that— (1) GOD hears and listens to your prayer; (2) GOD is always open to your prayer, He is here to help you, He will help you; and (3) GOD favors you. Favour is when GOD does not treat you according to what you have done or what you deserve. Luke 4:8-12 is proof that Jesus came to usher in this new era that we live in now, an era of GOD’s favor, grace, and acceptance; And today the text in this Scripture in the gospel of Luke is still being fulfilled in us hearing (reading) it. According to GOD’s calendar, we are still living in the today as noted in Scripture and tomorrow has not come. The day Jesus comes will be the day the calendar changes and moves into tomorrow. But for the todays we are in, BEHOLD NOW!
The Christian faith is about what the written Word of GOD says; And the Word of GOD we have heard (read) today saves, redeems, delivers, and blesses. Paul has pleaded this Kingdom principle to the early Church, and we are but an extension of the early Church. So this plea applies to us modern-day Christians as well. Believers, please do not receive the grace of the Word in vain or take the grace imparted by the Word for granted. Behold Now! And live like one who truly believes and knows that he/she is saved, redeemed, delivered, and blessed!
GOD’s actions when the blood of lambs was shed in Egypt, was but a preview to the time His Son would shed blood. No matter what His sons and daughters do, the blood will never depart from us. This is how much more His blood, the blood of His Firstborn, the blood of His Son, moves the grace of GOD in our favor!
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