Monday, February 16, 2015

God''s Command to Man: Enjoy!

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:" (Genesis 2: 16)

God invites us to take freely from Him all things.

Contrary to what the religion of man teaches, the grace of God is all about man enjoying all things from Him:

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Corinthians 2:12)

and also

"31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)

While the world tells us we must work for everything we have in our strength, God wants us to understand that through His Son Jesus, we have all things in Him:

"12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 12-13)

We must also remember that obedience is all about faith, drawing on the grace of truth of our Lord Jesus:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)

and then

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)

Faith at its core  means that we draw on Him, on Jesus, for all things. Faith is not a mental idea, but a robust trust in Jesus, who has done all things for us:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 5)

and

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4: 13)

and

"3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. " (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

We are blessed with all things in Christ Jesus, and God our Father invites us to understand more fully how  much He loves us:

"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)

He wants us to receive more of Himself, to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18)

God's first command to Adam was "Eat Freely!" Today, God's command is "Believe on Me!" and "Enjoy!"

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