Monday, July 9, 2012

The Prayer of Jabez: In Christ, Our Borders Extend All Over

"And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.

"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested." (1 Chronicles 4: 9-10)

"Enlarge my coast" -- Enlarge renders the Hebrew word רָבָה
rabah: multiply.
The New Testament speaks of this abounding in our lives, but through the grace of God:
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: " (2 Peter 1: 2)
"Coast" is a translation of the word גְּבוּל gebul: border, boundary, territory. The first mention of the word refers to the Borders of Canaan, or the Promised Land. In Christ, we have received the Promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 33), and thus the Kingdom of Heaven:

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14: 17)

And in Christ, all things are made available to us:

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

"He 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)

Later in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul also writes:

"Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

"Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
"And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)

In fact, God places a greater premium on our soul than the entire world (Matthew 16: 26), yet He wants to prosper and be in health even as  our souls prospers (2 John 2)

In Christ, we do not obtain the victory, we are made more than conquerors!

Christ has overcome the world (John 16: 33). John outlines the supremacy that believers attain in Christ:

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4: 4)

His faith is now our faith (Galatians 2: 20), and therefore:

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John 5: 4)

Forget about extending our own borders. In Christ, the world is ours, and we have more than overcome in all things.

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