The Loss of a Birthright
April 29, 2021
6/2/08
1 Chronicles 5:1-2
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, 2 and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph)-
The Loss of a Birthright
There are several examples in the Word of those who lost their birthright. We see Esau selling His birthright to Jacob for a bowl of pottage, which took him out of the lineage of God’s divine line through which the Christ would come. We see those who forsook their higher calling and purpose because they failed in their faith and obedience to lay hold of the promise. We first saw that birthright forsaken when Adam disobeyed God and brought all of humanity into sin and darkness. He fell from the high place that His birthright had afforded him. Authority and dominion were lost to him.
Through Abram God brought forth the father of many nations and through his loins he began a seed line of faith and promise. We see there were cases that this seed line did not follow through the firstborn if they proved themselves unfit or unfaithful. What this all led to was the promised inheritance, restoration, dominion and authority restored through God’s firstborn son Jesus Christ.
Romans 5: 12-17 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Christ was the restoration of that which was lost through Adam’s failure. Therefore, we have been called in faith to rise up in the birthright afforded to us in Christ Jesus and to produce seed worthy of acceptance through faith. We have a birthright in Christ that we don’t want to take lightly or take for granted. It is a high calling in Christ Jesus to come up into Him and to rule and reign in Him through the authority that He has once again afforded us. Paul speaks of the calling of this birthright when he speaks in Philippians 3:12-16, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
God has given us back a birthright in Christ Jesus full of faith and promise. Let us not neglect so high a calling or be unfaithful to that which Christ has called us to inherit. Secure the birthright afforded to you through your steadfast faithfulness and obedience to Him.
Blessings,
#kent
The Wounded and Broken
September 23, 2015
Anger
January 28, 2014
Anger
Ephesians 4:26
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Anger is an emotion that we all experience, some of us more than others and some of us more frequently than others. Anger is not a sin in itself any more than our other emotions are a sin. We see many scriptures throughout the Word of God that speak of His anger and wrath. There are times when anger is good. Without it we can become too lethargic and complacent about things. Mediocrity can be just as destructive as anger. We all need a little passion and fire in us.
While God has given us emotions from which we express ourselves and our souls through our feelings, desires and passions, He doesn’t want us to be ruled by them. Anger is such an emotion. There are going to be times when we are angry. That is just an emotion and feeling we are going to have. We may have great justification for our anger. Anger can be the pressure relief valve on our soul. It can allow us to get out of us the pressure of emotions that have built up within us and that can be a good thing. What we must be careful of is that our anger does not rule over our spirit, because it is an emotion of the soul, but rather it should be subject to the control of our spirit. If left uncontrolled, it can and will become ugly and destructive. It can cause us to say and do things that are harmful and unwise. It can fester into bitterness and unforgiveness that are destructive and self-defeating to us. It can alienate and destroy relationships. It can bring us to a place of hate, strife, malice and murder in our hearts. If we become given over to anger, then the flesh will rule and destructive things will happen.
Galatians 5:22-23 talks to us about the fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” If we are living under the control of the Holy Spirit, most of these attributes serve to keep our anger in check. It doesn’t mean we won’t ever experience anger and we shouldn’t ever have it. Anger can be good if it motivates us to action in a positive way. Sometimes it causes us to quit tolerating some sin or injustice that we have allowed for far too long. There is a righteous anger that comes out of our spirit. Sin and rebellion are a couple of the things that we see angering God quite often. The thing about God’s anger that we must always be mindful of is that His nature is Love and even His anger is motivated and controlled by His nature.
The Word exhorts us not to be quickly given too anger. If you are a hot head that flies off the handle at every little thing, the Spirit of God is not rulin’ your emotions. You are out of control. When anger does come, be careful to get yourself in the spirit of prayer so that God may work through your anger and not your flesh. After it has had its place, then get over it. Let it go and don’t hold on to it to let it fester and bring defilement to your spirit and to others. If you leave food too long it becomes moldy, spoiled and full of bacteria, which is rottenness. Anger can be the same way. Allow the Love of God to be greater than your anger and have dominion over it. Go ahead and be angry at times, but don’t let sin work through it and don’t hold on to it for more than a day, “let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Give it to the Lord and allow Him to work through it a positive thing.
Life is for the Living
December 12, 2013
Life is for the Living
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The question is which life are we living? Few of us have truly entered into the dimension and fullness of a crucified life. At best, most of us are living in a place where there is a mixture of flesh and spirit. Most of us believe in Christ, but we are still trying to meld it with the natural man. Most of us spend a lifetime in the battle between flesh and spirit within our own selves.
Our life is for living but lived for selfish gain and motive is robbing us of true life. There is a dimension of life in God that we catch glimpses of through the fog of our understanding and revelation, but it eludes us. Most of us are willing to settle in the outer court of salvation, but there are some in which a hunger and fire burns to live, to press into the Life that presides in the MOST HOLY PLACE. No longer do they desire to live after the flesh, but the old identity they had in Adam is regarded as dead as they set their eyes and heart to obtain and lay hold of that which they have been called out for. Many of us catch glimpses of this truth, but then the cares of life quickly obscure it from our spiritual vision.
The truth and life that is contained in the scripture can totally transform and change your life. For us to truly lay hold of it and live it out daily by faith and the power of the Christ within us, is to truly enter into and come up to a different place, where we are living under the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. It is the living in this law that will set us free from the law of sin and death. We have the promise and the calling, but not very many of us are walking and living in this dimension of life. Yet this scripture is our calling and it is our destiny. We all want to cling so much to the material world. It is our natural sense of security, control and for most of us our reality.
Galatians 3:12 tells us, “The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”” Many of us, like those of Galatia, are still trying to accomplish by natural means that which Christ alone can provide for us. We are still living under the principles of the law and works to please God and appease our conscience. Galatians 3:10 has just told us,” All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Christ has died to bring us out of the curse and into a higher law and dimension of life. It is a life not lived out of rules, regulations, traditions and religious dictates of righteousness. It is life of the Spirit, lived moment by moment in the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit. It is life in which the law is no longer written on tables of stone, but upon the tables of our hearts. Our heart is not just about doing, but it is in being and our doing comes out of our being rather than the other way around. We do the works of God, because we are God’s and His Spirit rules in our hearts.
In this place where our Adam no longer lives, we come into the presence of Faith, Hope and Love. They will no longer be elusive ideas, but our dear and near companions. In this place we truly live and move and have our being in Him. Here we enter into a place of intimacy and communion with God that we cannot know in the natural man. Here is where we learn and know what it is be one with Christ and have our identification one with His, where we no longer perceive ourselves as separate from Christ, but now we are an intimate part of Him and He is becoming all in us.
Those who grasp the truth of Galatians 2:20 know that true life and living is found through a death and dying. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31, “ …I die daily”. Paul readily admits that if Christ is not true and if there is no resurrection then he has suffered a lot of misery in vain, because he is not living for the benefit of his natural man and he has literally paid the price. He has a revelation and vision that is greater than anything this world can hold for Him. He is pressing into that divine life and nature and he wants to take as many as will come, with him.
What is your vision for life today? What dimension of life are we living in? Life is for the living, but how will you live it and under which law will choose to live; the law of sin and death or the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus?
blessings,
kent