Today we will continue our series entitled “God’s Grace & Our Faith.” We are looking at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. Our primary scriptures are John 1:14 & 17. Yesterday we also looked at 2 Peter 1:1-4. We will look at these again today.
(John 1:14 New International Version)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:17 New International Version)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 1:1-4)
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 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: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
In yesterday’s message, we looked at the life of Peter, and I even used my life as examples of how different your life can turn out once you discover who you are. Discovering Jesus leads to the discovery of self. I will flow in the same vein today.
Jesus looked at Simon, the son of Jonah, and called him Peter, a son of God. The new reality hit Peter in an instant. However, it took some time for Peter to learn how to live in his new reality. It will take you some time as well.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!” This quote is from the Easy to Read Version, and I want to focus on the words, “From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people.” In the traditional King James Version, this line reads, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh.” The New International Version reads, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” The New Living Translation reads, “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.”
While it is true that everything is new in an instant, it will more than likely take you years before you start walking in the fulness of the newness Jesus provided you.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. God does not want you to see people (not even yourself) from a strictly human point of view.
— God made plans for each and every one of us. Just like God wants you to honor the plans He made for you, He also wants you to honor the plans He made for others.
— When you honor people for whom God has called them to be, your level of honor helps you to get past the faults, flaws, and failures connected to their humanity.
— Every Born-Again person is both human and divine. God wants you to honor the divine in yourself and in others, to the point where you can see past humanity.
— If you only see others from strictly a human point of view, you will never acknowledge or respect what God wants to do in their lives. The same actually goes for yourself. You must learn to see yourself from God’s point of view, so you can get past the flaws associated with your own humanity.
— Peter had to learn to see himself the way God saw him in order to make the transition from Simon the fisherman to Peter the Apostle. I had to do the same thing. So not only does God expect us to HONOR what He is doing in the lives of others, He expects us to HONOR what He is doing in our own lives. You must HONOR the anointing on your own life to the point where you believe what God believes about you!
2. Those who misidentify Jesus are missing out on the life-changing power He came to provide.
— Many misidentified Jesus during His time on the earth. They called Him John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Those who misidentified Jesus (many of whom were actually in the presence of the Son of God during His time of miracles) missed out on what He came to offer. He was in their presence, but they still failed to discern who He really was.
— Many today are still misidentifying Jesus. Some think He was a good man. Others think He was a prophet. Some say He was simply an important historical character. But those who fail to discern Jesus as the Messiah will never receive what He came to provide (grace and truth).
— Jesus was God in the flesh, and He came to save the world from the power of sin and the sting of death. But many miss out on this power because they fail to discern who Jesus is. Sadly, not only are they missing out on eternal life, but they are missing out on their divine purpose becuase you will never know who you are until you know who Jesus is!
— The church of God is built on getting a revelation of who Jesus is. When you come to God, you must do so by coming to Him through His Son.
— When you discover Jesus, you get to discover yourself. When you get a revelation of who Jesus is, you will also get a revelation of who you really are.
— The world relates to Jesus on a carnal/earthly level. Therefore, they cannot receive from Him on a Spiritual level. This miss out on the grace He came to provide.
— Since you SEE Jesus in the Spirit, properly discerning Him to be the Son of our living God, you can receive from Jesus in the Spirit. As you properly relate to Jesus, He will properly relate to you, and your life will never be the same.
— Once you settle the issue of who Jesus is and you make Him the Lord of your life, you are in a position to become the man/woman you were born to be.
— When you properly relate to Jesus, He will teach you to properly relate to yourself. You will walk in divine power, and the limits of this world will no longer limit you.
3. Seeing the Spirit is the key to receiving from Jesus, to receiving from those God has assigned to your life, and to believing what God believes about you!
— The people who only knew Jesus as the son of His parents and the ones who knew Peter as Simon the son of Jonah knew these men from a strictly human point of view. These people knew Jesus and Simon “after the flesh,” but their true identities were hidden in the spirit realm. It’s the same with you. The people who only knew me as “Lenny from New Jersey and Sutter,” had (and some still have) a hard time receiving from the anointing that is on my life. If you look at me from strictly a human point of view, you cannot receive from the anointing that is on my life. That is true for me, it was true for Jesus, and it is true for all of us.
— It takes God’s Spirit to know people for who He called them to be. The Spirit of God enabled Simon to see Jesus as the Son of God and not just the son of his parents. The same Spirit enabled Jesus to see Simon as Peter the Apostle and not just Simon, the son of Jonah.
— Like Jesus and Peter, you have a divine identity that is not limited to your natural parents.
— God made plans for you before the world began, and your true identity is connected to those plans.
— You were born the son (or daughter) of a man, but you will never maximize your purpose and potential until you start living as the son (or daughter) of your God.
*** When you come into the knowledge of what God believes about you, you are then equipped to know what He already prepared. You discover what He already stored up for your success. You come into the knowledge of what God believes is already yours! And you then spend the rest of your life believing, receiving, and walking out your destiny!
4. Don’t allow a religious mindset to keep you from living in the fullness of your divine calling!
— In the Old Covenant, the focus was on man (human performance), and it was about man’s effort to strive to attain. In the New Covenant, the focus is on God (divine performance) and on what He has already attained for us.
— The Old Covenant was about what humans needed. The New is about what God has already provided. This is why you must come into the knowledge of all God has given you for your divine assignment. He has already provided all things that pertain to life and godliness.
— The journey of the New Testament is a journey of discovering and believing. You must discover what God reveals, and once you do, you then have to get to the point where you believe it. The goal is to believe what God believes about you.
I will stop here today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith.
I refuse to see myself from a human point of view. I already see Jesus for who He is. And now, I see myself as Jesus is. As He is, so am I.
I also don’t see others from strictly a human point of view. You have placed people in my life to bless me. For me to receive from the anointing on their lives, I must see them the way You see them. I declare that I do.
I believe what You believe about me. I believe what You believe about others. Living this way, I walk in the Spirit, and I no longer live as a mere man. This is how I know; GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
