TREASURES OF THE BELIEVER
There are vast treasures lying dormant and untapped in
believers. This booklet seeks to unveil these unspeakable treasures and
resources which remain largely unharnessed by a good proportion of believers.
Many believers live out their lives on earth without ever
venturing into the very threshold of these treasures. They live more or less
beggarly lives, never ever being able to take advantage of these treasures
because they live totally unaware of them.
In order for believers to shine forth as the manifested sons
of God they must understand their true state and position in Christ. Failure to
do so means disaster and puts them at a great disadvantage. Such believers are
“mince-meat” to the devil because they are not manifesting the glory of God or
walking in the glorious splendour of His Kingdom.
God's Plan And Purpose
Our God is a God of plan, purpose and objectivity and this is
seen in His strategy for the salvation of mankind. When He planned and implemented
our salvation, His intention was not for born again believers to continue life
largely in their old state of living. God designed something new for us and
made great provisions for us in that grand design. These provisions of God are
called “Realities of the New Creation” or “New Creation Realities”.
If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creation old things
are passed away behold all things have become new2Cor. 5:17. For
the believer, the old order of life has passed away and a new order has come in.
The old pattern of life is out and a new pattern of life is in. The old pattern
of thinking, seeing, talking, acting, behaving and reacting is out and a new
pattern is in place.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Eph.
1:3. This is pregnant with meanings, implications and
applications. It means that believers are endowed with all the substance of
God. We are enriched beyond measure. We are overdosed. We are loaded with
untold resources.
The
Great Irony
Many Christians are not enjoying these great provisions of
God. They don't know what they were called into when they got saved. Many are
living far below their true rights, privileges and potential in Christ. Many
Christians are living conflict torn lives, embittered lives, struggling lives,
battered lives, weak and defeated lives, greatly stressed lives, beggarly
lives, obscure lives, handicapped lives, greatly burdened lives, troubled lives
and compromising lives. Some are living in fear and worry, full of cares and
anxieties. All sorts of manifestations, far from the real thing are seen all
over the place.
Why Is This So?
Many Christians don't really know what became theirs when
they were born again. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”. Hos.4:6
This scripture holds true of them and because of this lack of knowledge,
they are unable to tap into the resources or provisions of their new birth
state. Therefore they live at variance to their true state. They live robbed of
their rights. The realities of their new creation state have not dawned on
them. Certain things have been left undone which would have caused the
realities to dawn on them and so they live far below their true potential in
Christ.
A Glimpse At God's Provision
When God planned and implemented our salvation, His plan and
purpose was for the born again believer to live at a new level of life higher
than that of fallen humanity – it is called the “Kingdom of God”. I have come
that they may have life, and have it to the full (have it abundantly). John
10:10 This full or abundant life of God’s Kingdom is a quality of life
higher than the natural human life. This abundant life flourishes in plenty
while natural human life is plagued with lack, need and shortages. Abundant
life is the life of God while the natural human life is the discordant
existence of fallen humanity.
God also provided a new realm-of-life for the believer: who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful (marvellous) light. 1Pet.2:9
Being called into the marvellous light of God implies that our lives should
be wonderful and marvellous. The marvellous light should transform our lives
into a marvel. The marvellous light should surround our life with its
magnificence and make us magnificent.
God provided a new life-pattern for us. If any man be in
Christ Jesus he is a new creation old things are passed away behold all things
have become new2Cor. 5:17. The old order of life is gone and a new order is
in. The governing principles for our lives have changed and the manner of life
has also changed. Our behavioural pattern has changed. The way we act and
react, take things or assess them have all changed.
In addition God has provided a new life-style for us. For
you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of
light Eph. 5:8. Our new life-style is to walk as children of light governed
by a new principle of light.
God has made great, glorious and wonderful provisions for us:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us
in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Eph. 1:3
By this, God blessed us with the substance of all things.
The spiritual is the mother of the physical. All physical
things proceed from the spiritual dimension. The spiritual is the substance of
all things. God released spiritual substance through His words when He spoke to
create the material world. Thus the spiritual is more tangible and more
substantial than the material; it is more real and more durable. So God has
blessed us with substance in the most durable state. With this substance we can
produce anything. Oh, the unfathomable love of God for us. Oh, the
breath-taking, measureless span of God's blessing on us - it is beyond
comprehension. This means that there are dimensions of our blessings that we
have no knowledge of yet and of which we will never have knowledge of until we
see Him face to face when He will take us on a new round of discoveries of our
treasures. It will take an eternity to do that. We have been blessed far more
than we will ever be able to utilise down here; we are blessed beyond measure;
we are overloaded. There should be no talk of shortage - we are too full to run
short.
What we have just shared under this heading represent a
glimpse of the super-abundant provision of God for the born-again believer.
It's breath-taking, it's mind-boggling yet many believers are living deficient
and handicapped lives. There is a gap that must be filled. By discovering the
treasures of God’s Kingdom, believers may enjoy them by walking in the light of
this new dimension and realm God's plan is for born-again believers to be
governed by new spiritual principles which they have to discover and adopt.
These new spiritual principles cover every area of life. The believer is to
know them, get used to them, adopt them and adjust their life to run in line
with them.
The Christian life is a life of continuous discovery and
making appropriate adjustments to match the discoveries. It is an ever
ascending life of continuous upward adjustments.
Result Of Application Of The New Spiritual Principles
These spiritual principles will promote the believer to a
higher level of existence. Everything about the believer will be different and
better. Change will permeate every aspect of the believer's life and this
change will be for the better in every sense. In fact the application of the
principles will usher the believer into abundant life. Do you not know? Have
you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
earth ...He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak
...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Is.40:28-31 The application of the new spiritual principles will cause
believers to excel in life. They will be able to live a life of overcoming, a
life of soaring above everything in their paths.
“The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you
only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the
commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them
carefullyDeut.28:13. Here the promise of God to His people is that they will be
above only and not beneath. The application of these principles will cause
believers to really be above. They can expect to excel in every area of life
for these principles span the whole spectrum of human life. No aspect of life
is left out.
These new principles that should govern the life of
a believer are called New Creation Realities. They represent the
glorious things that God Himself has prepared for the believer.
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