Inherit the Land
“For Abraham is the father of all who
believe. That is what the Scriptures
mean when God told him, ‘I have made you the father of many nations.’ This happened because Abraham believed in the
God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. Even when there was no reason for hope,
Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the
father of many nations.” (Romans 4:16-18)
Genesis
17:5 says, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be
Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.” Being in God’s presence gave Abram
significance. It made him a different
person. He became Abraham, “father of a
multitude.”
Being
a father is significant. For Abraham, it
was the most significant thing that he did outside of his relationship with the
Lord. It was through him that God promised
that we would inherit His promises. Romans
4:13 says, “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his
descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right
relationship with God that comes by faith.”
We
inherit the land that God gives us through our fathers. We see this all the way down the line with
the Israelites. The land belonged to
the fathers and then was passed down to their sons, or if none were available,
their daughters. Providing an inheritance
to their children is part of the way God created fathers.
It
was from one man, a father, Adam that we inherited the curse of sin and the
hardness of the land that we would have to work hard to break up by the sweat
of our brow. And it was through
another, Jesus, that we inherit the Kingdom of God; and Jesus came through the
lineage of Abraham. He died for us and
now we inherit His Kingdom and eternal life, fulfilling the initial promise
that was given to Abraham.
The
fulfillment that came in Jesus started with Abraham, as the father of nations, believing, hoping and following the Lord. Through his faithfulness and fulfillment of his
purpose, he caused all of us to inherit these incredible promises that have
been fulfilled through Jesus.
We
inherit these promises Jesus provides through faith in God, whom we set our
hope. Romans 5:1-2 goes on to say, “Therefore
since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God
because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us
into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently
and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
This
is why Malachi 4:5-6 ends with the prophesy, “Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to
their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with
a curse.
Fathers
cause us to inherit the promises and receive the land. Malachi ends and Matthew opens with the
fatherly lineage of Abraham through Jesus.
Jesus, who comes baptizing with
fire with the Spirit resting upon Him, comes in the power Elijah. He breaks the curse over the land with His
death. He causes the children to inherit
the land. It is not a coincidence that
the lineage stops with Jesus. We are the
42nd generation that inherit the full fulfillment of the promise and
the land.
We have this incredible inheritance in Christ that has been
passed down from father to father through all these generations, all the way
back to Abraham. Colossians 2:3 says, “In
Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: Hidden is the
Greek word apokruphos, Strongs# 614 and it means hidden away and stored up. It comes from the word apokruptó,
which means treasured and kept secret.
So what is spoken of here? In Romans 15:19, Paul says in regards to bringing
the gospel, “by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit
of God.” When Paul is speaking of the
full gospel; he is speaking of our position as the church and receiving all the
full empowerment of the Holy Spirit and enablement to not only endure, but
accomplish eternal purposes. He is
speaking of what Jesus said to go back and tell John, the Kingdom of God has
come and the lame are walking, the blind can see and the deaf can hear. While it includes incredible wisdom and
knowledge of salvation and eternal life, there is so much more immensity and
weight to this that Jesus demonstrated. Do we get it?
Jesus already has caused us to inherit it. We just need to step into it as we do
salvation.
As the time is getting shorter to His return, there is more
and more darkness and chaos. Some time
ago, I had a dream that people were turning this dial on their sex to different
settings. They would turn it one way and
then another. Whatever suited them at
the time. Not too long ago, I also had
a dream about flagrancy. People,
especially on TV, were purposely and flagrantly trying to entice others with
their sexuality to get attention and rewards.
And just recently, I had a dream that people were wearing both their sexuality
and their clothes to whatever suited them at the time. It was all over the place and you often could not tell who was male or female
by the clothes they wore; pins, buttons,
feathers, flowy pants, caps, it appeared artistic, but was rooted in a spirit
of independence and wanting to have all options open with sexuality.
The enemy knows his time is short. The onslaught becoming more and more intense. People are filled with anxiety, fear, confusion, strife, anger, discontentment and depression because this is the fruit of living under the oppression of worldly order and the ruler of this world. This is growing in the world and not decreasing. Trends of suicide alone can demonstrate this. But not for us to check out, give up or give in. Rather, to make known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms what has already been accomplished. As darkness ensues, we, empowered by the Holy Spirit, need to turn the lights on brighter and brighter and push back the darkness.
God knew of the darkness that would come and planned for it
by creating the church. He established
us as the answer to the darkness, not as helpless victims in the midst of
it. We are created, equipped, empowered
with His power to accomplish His purposes for such a time as this. We push back the darkness when we refuse to
be a part of it. We can also encourage
and provide opportunities of light.
We can be lighthouses where others find a place of refuge
and rest. While being grace filled
about sin, we can also provide people with the healing and deliverance they
need to get freedom and walk a different path.
We can show them a different way.
An upside-down way of living where the last are first and where the
least are most valued and made room for.
We can also speak up.
Imagine if all the Christians in Germany spoke up about Hitler and
murder of the Jews being wrong. Even
now, there are folks that still deny that it even occurred and close their
eyes. They call it a conspiracy. If enough people would have stood up and
said it was wrong, perhaps it would have pushed back the darkness.
None of our lives our on the line like they were in Germany,
but even so, we find it hard to find our voice and speak up. We are concerned about how we are viewed and
if we are seen as tolerant. We are
afraid of persecution and judgement. And
of course, we all want to accept people.
I remember my sweet mother who has been a Christian for 70 years telling
me the bible was wrong about the GLBT community. While we love and embrace people, we need to
speak the truth and help people get freedom from sin. This is genuine love.
Lord, while we are in the world, we are not to be of
it. Empower us to enter into your plans
and purposes for this hour. “O Lord my
God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful
deeds, I would never come to the end of them.”
Psalm 40:5, NLT.
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