Today we continue our series entitled “GREAT FREEDOM.” I want to get to a passage in 2 Corinthians 3 that we will study for a while. But before I do, I feel let to continue to lay the groundwork for this series. I will do that this morning.
So what does this mean for you today? I will share a few things about God’s sovereignty and our freedom. These are two points we truly need to understand.
1. For God, it is already done.
a) Instead of trying to get God “to do,” if we spend time with the Father, through the Holy Spirit, the Father will reveal to us what is (in His mind) already done. I will attempt to explain this statement.
For me to explain the fact that God outside of time, I will first explain how God is outside of space. We, as humans, are confined to space. Even Jesus, while He was in the earth, was confined (in His humanity) to space. I can tell you where I am (in the world) at this particular moment. You can do the same. However, when it comes to God, I cannot give you a grid coordinate where God is. Because there is NO grid coordinate where He is not. God is in EVERY LOCATION at the SAME TIME! He is omnipresent. He is everywhere. There is no place He is not. David said that even if he went to hell, God would be there (Psalm 139:8).
If you can how God is in every SPACE at the SAME TIME, I hope you can understand how God is in every TIME at the SAME TIME! God operates in eternity. We are confined to the continuum of time. Just like we, as humans, are confined to space, we are also confined to time. God is not. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God can see us right now, at this moment. At the same time, He can see 2,000 years ago. At the same time, He can see 2,000 years from now.
When God looks at you, He sees what we call past, present and future. He sees you, He sees the entire span of your life play out before Him, and He sees your children and their children. This is why sometimes God is dealing with us about something that He won’t understand because we don’t think big enough or long enough. God sometimes deals with us on something that He is preparing for our grandchildren. There are some blessings you received that had nothing to do with what you did. Some of those blessings came as a result of the seeds your parents and grandparents had sown.
The point is that if you can wrap your human mind around the enormity of God’s foreknowledge, you will get a better understanding of His sovereignty, you will be better equipped to trust God (even when you don’t understand what He is doing). At this point, you will stop stressing over what is in front of you.
b) God has already been to our future. Our future is His past. This is why God speaks beforehand in past-tense. God never speaks in future-tense. God speaks from the position of the Eternal NOW! God is eternal, and since He operates in eternity and not in time, for Him it is always NOW! Even though for you, it may not happen for months, years or even decades.
c) The key to walking and living by faith is discovering what God already planned. Because whatever that is, for God, is already done.
2. When we discover what God already planned, it frees us from the pressure to perform.
a) We must stop trying to make things happen. Stop trying to get God to do. Living by faith is about realizing/recognizing/acknowledging what God has already done.
b) When we realize/recognize/acknowledge what God already planned, and we know that for Him these things are already done, our functional understanding of the life of faith takes on another level of clarity. Faith then becomes the things we say, the actions we perform, and the seeds we sow, in order to align our lives with what we believe God already planned. If you understand this, you know that your life is not about you or your selfish desires. Your life is about God and what He planned before the world began. Faith is about submission to God’s will. Faith is about aligning your life with that God has assigned you to do.
c) One of the greatest things that happen when you discover the fact that God birthed you on this planet for His purpose, you become FREE to become that person and you stop taking on the pressure to create a life that you were struggling to create. At this point, you are FREE FROM:
— the pressure to perform
— the pressure of trying to make things happen
— the pressure of trying to earn God’s promise
— the pressure to do everything right
— the fear of disqualifying yourself from God’s purpose (because you never qualified in the first place… Jesus qualified for you)
— the fear of missing out on what God promised (because God’s promises are irrevocable: Romans 11:29)
— the fear of NEVER being good enough (Romans 8:15)
— the fear of not being loved by God (because His love has nothing to do with our performance)
— the pressure to please people
— the pressure to put on a facade
In short, when you open your heart to God’s grace you are FREE! You don’t live to please men. You live for an audience of ONE! That is true FREEDOM!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your foreknowledge. You are everywhere and You know all things. You know what has happened, what is happening and what is yet to happen. You made me a free moral agent. My decisions matter. But you did not have to wait to find out what I decided. You planned out my life in accordance with Your foreknowledge of my decisions. My life now is about discovering what You already planned and about making a human alignment with my divine assignment. This is my singular focus in life. I live for an audience of ONE! All I want is what You want for me. I don’t want anything else. My life is not about me or any selfish desires. My only desire is what You desire for me. And by faith, everything You planned shall come to pass! Not because I am so good. But because You are! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
