FLEE THE TREES?

FLEE THE TREES?

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

   John 14:5-6 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

   1Timothy 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

   Titus 3:7-9 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

  A few days ago I wrote about commonality illustrating that wherever individuals roost in family trees (genealogy) that all end the same in accord with the truth of Hebrews 9:27, death. A reader advised staying away from genealogy because Jesus said so. Did He?

  Let us first note that God’s Word, Old Testament and New, contain genealogies.

  For some the problem then and now with genealogies is garnering one’s social or religious status from their family tree. A “My ancestors arrived on the Mayflower.” thing. Or like mistakenly centering religious identity in being a Pharisee or Sadducee or Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian or …  Or in my case stratifying myself on my ancestor’s 50+ years faithfulness as a Bible teacher and preacher (but of course not mentioning the Scottish cattle rustlers or smugglers in Ireland).

  Holiness nor eternal salvation neither gush nor trickle down from our family trees. Individuals trusting Jesus are justified by His grace. Then who I am is in Him:

WHO I AM IN CHRIST

·          I am God’s child. Jn.1:12-13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

·         I am Jesus’ chosen friend. Jn.15:15 [Jesus explained] “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

·         I have been justified. Rom.5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

·         I am one spirit with the Lord. 1Cor.6:17 “… he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

·         I belong to God. 1Cor.6:19-20 “… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

·         I am His family, a member of the Body of Christ. 1Cor.12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

·         I am a holy saint. Phil.4:21 “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.” (Act.9:13; Rom.16:2; 1Cor.1:2; Eph.4:12; 5:3)

·         I am adopted as God’s child. Gal.4:4-5 “ … when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

·         I, as a saint, have direct access to God. Eph.2:18-19 “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (Heb.4:16)

·         I am redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. Col.1:12-14 “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

·         I am complete in Christ. Col.2:8-10 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

·         I am forever free from condemnation. Rom.8:1-4 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom.4:18-25; Jam.2:23)

·         I am, as a lover of God, assured that all things work together for good. Rom.8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

·         I am without condemning charges. Rom.8:31-34 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

·         I cannot be separated from the love of God. Rom.8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written [Ps.44:22], "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

·         I am established, anointed and sealed by God. 2Cor.1:21-22 “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

·         I am confident His good work in me is assured. Phil.1:6 “… I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”

·         I am a citizen of heaven sojourning on earth. Phil.3:20-21 “… our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

·         I am hidden with Christ in God. Col.3:1-4 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died [Rom.6:2; Eph.2:1], and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

·         I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. 2Tim.1:7 “… God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

·         I am able to find merciful grace when needed. Heb.4:15-16 “… we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

·         I am born eternally of God and Satan cannot rob me of my soul. 1Jn.5:18-19 “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch [Gr. “attach oneself to”] him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

·         I have utmost purpose in life. Mt.5:13-14 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.“ 2Cor.5:17-20 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.”

·         I am a branch of the true vine, Jesus. Jn.15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

·         I am chosen and appointed by God to bear fruit. Jn.15:16-17 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

·         I am Christ’s personal Spirit-empowered witness. Act.1:8 “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

·         I am Christ’ ambassador of reconciliation. 2Cor.5:15-21 “[Jesus] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

·         I am God’s coworker. 2Cor.6:1-2 “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’

·         I am truly now alive and seated with Christ in the heavenly realm. Eph.2:1-7 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

·         I am God’s workmanship, created for good works. Eph.2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of [our] works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

·         I may approach Most Holy Sovereign God in freedom with confidence. Phil.3:11-12 “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”

·         I am loved by God. Rom.5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (1Jn.4:8)

·         I am a joint-heir with Christ. Rom.8:16-17 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

·         I have been given wonderful promises. 2Pet.1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

·         I am never left alone. Heb.13:5b-6 “… [God] has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" (Deut.3:16; Jos.1:5; 1Chr.28:20)

·         I have access to God’s wisdom. Jam.1:2-5 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

·         I am a serving priest. 1Pet.2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

·         I am temporarily this side of physically being in heaven. 1Pet.2:11-12 “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (2Cor.5:6-8)

·         I am able to see what the unregenerate cannot. Jn.3:3  “Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

EBB4