Series: God’s Ultimate Intention; Our True Identity; Sonship; The Word Made Flesh

Sun am 27 August 2017 – Kobus Swart

Phil. 3:1; Job 38:4, 7; Gen. 1:1; Psalm 2:7; Col. 1:15-18; Ps. 110:4; Ps. 40:6-8; Heb. 4:3; Eph. 1:3-6; 1 Cor. 2:9-10; Isaiah 46:9-10; 1 Peter 1:18-20; Rev. 13:8; Rom. 12:2; (Matt. 3:2); (2 Cor. 3:2); (1 Cor. 11:25); Isaiah 55:11; Matt. 18:11; Eccl. 3:11, 15

Paul reminded the Philippians: ”I never get tired of telling you this, and it is good for you to hear it again and again!” (Phil. 3:1 TLB). What you believe will determine your decisions, your direction and your destiny.

The question is, do you remember? When you were born again, that was only the beginning. Many people stop there. It is not even the full beginning, you were on the starting blocks; your race had not even started yet. Something happened ages ago which God wants to reactivate in us now by His Spirit. Little by little, we are remembering the realm from which we came and the purpose for which we were born. There is something more awaiting us and we are now tuning into what the Holy Spirit wants to remind us; an activation in our own hearts. We call this revelation. To reveal something means to unveil what has been there already. It is not a new thing. Revelation unveils to you what has been; that means you remember what happened in the past.  We have to work through all the impressions of the present world and clear out all that we have accumulated in terms of memories. Remembering is to recover true reality.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of this world? …  Where were you when the sons of God were shouting for joy? (Job 38:4, 7). This is a reference to a “meeting” that had taken place in the past; we do not know how long ago.

We all have different concepts of God. Unfortunately, the concept you have of God determines what you receive and how you progress in this life. It is difficult for our natural mind to understand the fact that the Bible says God is Spirit, God is light, and God is love. There was a time when there was nothing but God. There was no universe, no world, nothing except God. In (the) beginnings God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1). Somewhere, in the beginning, there was a meeting and through the everlasting covenant, the Father, God made certain decrees. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten you” (Ps. 2:7). When was that? Jesus the Son was the firstborn of all creation, in Him, through Him and to Him; everything was created (Col. 1:15-18). So that meeting took place way back. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, you are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4). Then the Son responded: Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:6-8). The Father decreed, the Son agreed.

“… His works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb. 4:3). This is what it means when we say God views everything from the finish. God is above time. He is not trapped in space and time. His works were finished from the foundation of the world. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Eph. 1:3-6). We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world! It happened way back when there was that “meeting” in the heavens; these things were decreed then. But just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:9-10).

Remember the former things long passed for I am God and there is no other, I am God and there is no one like Me  declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, “My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all my good pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10). When God says, “I will”, you can take it as an accomplished fact. The Lamb was slain in that meeting we refer to, way back. Our names have been written in the Book in that meeting (Rev. 13:8).

Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (1 Peter 1:18-20).

Why is it so important then to have your mind renewed? The renewal of the mind is not a once only experience. It is an on-going experience (Rom. 12:2). Be open, be teachable and allow your mind to constantly be renewed, especially in the light of what we are saying now. We must remember what took place in that special meeting, aeons ago, and for that, we need a renewed mind. Otherwise, our mind is full of the things of this world. A transformed perspective means to think from a different reality, from heaven to earth. Only a renewed mind can consistently bring kingdom reality to earth.

Written into the spiritual DNA of every believer is an appetite for the impossible that cannot be ignored or wished away.  In Genesis chapter 1, God created man in His image and in His likeness. The fall affected that but it did not eradicate it. You and I are more God-compatible than sin-compatible. Allow the depths of yourself, your DNA, to come to the surface and you will find out you are more in love with God than what you are with the world. There is something inside you searching, seeking and wanting to know more, going into the mystical realms of the unseen. The world is competing for our attention through television and other ways, trying to capture us by telling us there is something better. That is why Jesus said ‘repent for the kingdom of God is near’ (Matt. 3:2). “Re-“ means to go back; go back to God’s perspective of reality. Go back to His original plan.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). The Word, that was in the beginning, became flesh. God became flesh in Jesus. So when were you chosen? Before the foundation of the earth! (Eph. 1:3). How were we chosen?  In Him who was the Word. God has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. Jesus was the Logos, He was the Word made flesh, but we were chosen before the foundation of the world in Him. We were there with Him. He was the Logos, you and I were chosen in Him that makes us a Rhema; the Rhema came out of the Logos. You are part of that Word! You came out of the Word that became flesh. Paul says we are living epistles known and read by all men (2 Cor. 3:2). Being known and read by all men makes you a Word! Before you open your mouth people can read you. In Him also we have received an inheritance [a destiny—we were claimed by God as His own], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will (Eph. 1:11- Amplified). What we need is a discovery, a remembering. It is not a work; it is a matter of remembering. Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me(1 Cor. 11:25).

“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). You and I cannot return empty. We have been sent with a purpose. Stop living a passive life and being a victim of circumstances. You have a destiny upon your life. Have you connected with that destiny? Stop, wait on God and discover who you are. Make that discovery. We are part of an on-going incarnation – the Word made flesh. When this reality hits us and we discover who we are, our whole life will change. Your environment, your culture, your neighbours will suddenly be impacted by who you are. We are the ongoing incarnation and expression in the earth, chosen to be salt and light in this world.

The Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost (Matt. 18:11). It is more than seeking whoever was lost. God sent His Son not just to save souls, but to take back and save that which was lost. In the Fall man lost his memory. In Jesus we have been recreated, we have become a new creation. May God help us so that the memory will match this new creation in us. I want to live that true memory, that true identity, that true DNA that was created in me in that meeting, in Christ.

Whatever was, is. Whatever will be, is. That’s how it always is with God. Eternity is in the heart of every man (Eccl. 3:11, 15). The word ‘death’ does not fit in here. Jesus attacked death and conquered it so that you and I can live with Him.