Grace and peace to you from our Father through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Understanding the superabounding Grace of the Lord and the
faith in Jesus Christ are of paramount importance in receiving the abundant
supply God has provided us.
God’s providence
Paul writes in his letter to Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verse 3,
"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."
He reveals the truth that we are already blessed with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
This blessing is a package. The
foremost blessing of all is the promise of the eternal life for all who believe
in Jesus Christ. It includes all that is needed for our present life also. It’s
a package. God has given it all. He doesn’t give anything in installment. When
he gives, he gives fully. He doesn’t withhold any blessing partially. He gives
it fully. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” –
James 1:17. His gifts are perfect and complete, not incomplete. We have our time to receive
one after the other, but He gave everything at the cross, around 2000 years
ago. It’s finished. It’s done on the cross. God’s act of giving is done,
completed. All we need to do is to receive everything in faith. The providence
is now available in full measure.
Our God is a provider. Our Jehovah Jireh. He has provided on
cross, everything that is needed for us.
In the heavenly
realms
Let us understand that all these blessings are in the
heavenly realms (domain, kingdom, arena, sphere etc, however ‘realm’ is more
appropriate for this context.).
It is a common understanding that there are two realms in
theological considerations.
Physical realm and spiritual or heavenly realm.
The physical realm is the one we see and perceive with our
five senses.
Spiritual realm is the one that we neither see nor perceive.
We often think that what we see and perceive, that is, the
physical realm, is real.
But the word of God says the otherwise.
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is
unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -
2 Corinthians 4:18
This verse clearly speaks about the two realms we are
contemplating on. This also reveals that what is seen (physical realm) is
temporary and what is unseen (spiritual realm) is eternal.
Now let us renew our mind in this aspect. Spiritual realm is
eternal and physical realm is temporary. Spiritual realm is real. Physical realm
is seemingly real but is temporary.
Let us see its application in a born again Christian.
The new creation
Word of God says, if anyone is in
Christ, He is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5: 17). It doesn’t stop there. It
says that the old has gone and the new has come. This verse is speaking about
the brand new spirit the person receives when he accepts Christ. The person is
renewed in spirit. The spirit that indwells the man is brand new after he
accepts Jesus as his savior. The old has gone. The new has come.
“But brother, yet,
the man can’t see deliverance in the body…? the man is still the same in his
character,..? the man still has the same disease he was suffering with..? the
man is still in his sinful habits..?”
Yes the newness is in the spirit and not
in the body yet. Now understand this spiritual and physical realm. Spirit in
the spiritual realm, body in the physical realm. We can’t ignore either of
these in our understanding. To see the deliverance in the body, the newness in
the spirit has to manifest in the body. This needs renewal of one’s mind (“….but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind. – Romans 12:2) and thereby
increase in faith, so this manifestation can happen.
Providence and its manifestation
Father has blessed us in the heavenly realms spiritually. He
always knows the best to be given us. It is we who often misunderstand the ways
of our Father.
Now from human perspective, we of course are in need of
physical blessings and our Father is all the more aware of our needs. (..Father
knows what you need before you ask him.- Matthew 6:8).
God has provided everything we need, of course to live a
godly life or life as expected by God.
(His divine power has given us everything we need for a
godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and
goodness.- 2 Peter 1:3)
The point here is, God has already provided all that we ever
need for this life.
"But, brother, why I'm still not rich, why I still only
have a two wheeler,.? Why I'm still bedridden,.?why I'm not healed..?
Why my relationship broke..? Why there is no peace in my
personal life..? Why I'm still in bondage..? "
The answer to all these questions is simple though.
The blessings are in the spiritual realm and needs to be
manifested in the physical realm for you to physically feel it.
All the blessings God has granted for whoever believes in
Jesus Christ, the offspring of Abraham, as He promised, will come to pass only
when faith in Jesus Christ is exercised. God's this act of providence is His
Grace. Our act of faith in Jesus Christ is the key to access this providence
which in turn brings it to the physical realm.
"through whom we have gained access by faith into this
grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God."
- Romans 5:2
Let me paraphrases this, "We have gained access into
this grace BY FAITH..."
Faith is the channel that brings the manifestation of things
in the spiritual realm.
Let us see this prayer by Paul,
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts THROUGH FAITH..."
We have power in Christ as He dwells in us THROUGH FAITH.
Faith is the key for unleashing the resurrection power of God.
Connect the dots
Now let us try to connect the dots,
Jesus died on cross in our place and granted us freedom to
live a life of glory.
No matter who we are and how we've lived our life, God has
granted this salvation to every one of us who believes in Jesus Christ. Jesus
finished everything on the cross. All we need to do is just believe in the
finished work of cross.
He provided us everything that we need for this life.
This providence is in the spiritual realm and this needs to
be manifested in the physical realm.
This manifestation needs Faith in the finished work of Jesus
Christ our lord on calvary's cross.
Now this faith comes through the word of God. Seeing Jesus
in the scriptures increases our faith.
Faith helps us in receiving the abundant supply God has in
store for us.
Let this truth set us free.
May you increase in Faith in our Lord Jesus, so we take part
in the divine nature of His glorious riches.
PS: Thanks for reading
this post. Continue reading subsequent posts so you can see the big picture of
interconnected Truths in the kingdom of God. What is shared here is just one
piece of a wider understanding of the kingdom of God. Reserve your doubts. I hope your doubts will be automatically addressed in the upcoming posts.
