From the beginning of time, God's desire has always been to have a people, a family for Himself, made in His likeness, declaring His glory, and having dominion over His creations...
He spoke in His Word saying: "...This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise..." - Isaiah 43:21 (NKJV)
So we find that right from the Adamic Age (where God would come down to fellowship with the first man); to the Days of Noah (where God found one faithful man through whom He recreated humanity); to the Abrahamic Age (where God found a friend in a man through whom He birthed nations for Himself); to the days of Moses & The Law (where God revealed His ways and acts in His dealings with the children of Israel His chosen people)...
And even till the New Testament Age in which we now live, God is daily birthing sons and daughters for Himself by the power of His Holy Spirit, through their faith in Jesus Christ His Son, whom He gave for the redemption of all people...
So the Scriptures tells us:
"...Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us... So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family." Ephesians 2:18-19 (NLT)
Though today we find diverse denominations and religious views in the Christian Faith, with diverse ethnic groups and cultures; the fact however remains that the uniting factor of God's Big Family is their common faith in Jesus Christ and the seal of the Holy Spirit which they all bear...
And as such it would be expected that tendencies towards tribalism or divisions due to natural differences would not prevail within The Spiritual Family (The Church of God) as it grows towards maturity...
As the Scriptures also tells us:
"...So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus... There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26,28 (NLT)
However, there is a need to acknowledge the fact that the imperfections in God's Earthly Family (The Church/The Body of Christ) will not be completely eliminated as long as the members are made up of flesh and blood and are at different levels of growth in their spiritual lives...
As it is only the Believers spirits that have been fully redeemed and perfected (incapable of sin); while their souls (minds) are on an ongoing daily renewal process, and their physical bodies require daily subjection, so as to obey the dictates of the Spirit of God in every given situation... This is a persistent and consistent 'war' between flesh and spirit which lasts as long as the Believer lives on Earth; same which Paul the Apostle also acknowledged (Rom.7:18-23)...
As it is only the Believers spirits that have been fully redeemed and perfected (incapable of sin); while their souls (minds) are on an ongoing daily renewal process, and their physical bodies require daily subjection, so as to obey the dictates of the Spirit of God in every given situation... This is a persistent and consistent 'war' between flesh and spirit which lasts as long as the Believer lives on Earth; same which Paul the Apostle also acknowledged (Rom.7:18-23)...
This may explain why we sometimes witness or hear of issues of controversy and misunderstandings of diverse manners and magnitudes still persisting in The Family, right from the Early Church days even till date; all emanating from the weaknesses of the Flesh...
This also brings to mind the need to acknowledge the difference between the earthly bodies which all Earthly Beings have (including Believers); and the glorified body which Jesus took on after His resurrection... The same glorified body which both the Believers who have transited from this Earth to Eternity by death and those still alive at the Rapture will eventually take on...
And until that Great Day when Jesus gathers all His own to Himself and they receive their perfect and incorruptible bodies (not made of flesh and blood), it would be far fetched to expect full perfection in God's earthly Family...
This fact though is not meant to be an excuse for intentional bad behaviour or rebellious attitudes amongst Believers, which would truly be viewed as an abuse of the grace of God, because the quest of every true Believer should be to grow daily in Christ-likeness in character and in all ramifications...
"...Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:13 (NIV)
In essence, this hope of the coming perfection should be the disposition of all Believers who may feel the pangs of the 'negative' effects of the present imperfections in the Family; rather than viewing same as an opportunity for criticism or scepticism against The Family (The Church)...
Jesus Christ came as the Second Adam to reveal the original nature of the man which God created before The Fall; a perfect, sinless, faultless man basking in the glory of God in perfect unity with limitless power over His creations...
Jesus displayed some of these supernatural characteristics (such as walking on water, and others recorded in Scriptures)... Some of these feats were also exemplified by the Early Apostles as a fore-taste (such as with Philip who experienced Teleportation as recorded in Acts 8:39-40)... Similar testimonies have also been recorded of some Believers even in this present Church Age...
We can also recall that after Christ's resurrection, all Earthly limits were taken off of His body, as such He was able to transverse between the Earthly and Heavenly realms, beyond the limits of all physical obstacles...
These 'powers of the world to come' (as indicated in Heb.6:4-6) are all depictions of the Original Man who God created in the Beginning... And the ultimate plan of God is to again bring man back to that place of authority and power over creation... More so, He desires to again put His Family back in order, to a place of perfect oneness and intimacy with Him as it once existed in Eden's Garden...
And what a great privilege it is for you and me to be counted worthy to be part of God's Great Family and to be participants in His Eternal Plan...
So Paul the Apostle admonished:
"...Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What decays cannot inherit what doesn’t decay... This body that decays must be changed into a body that cannot decay. This mortal body must be changed into a body that will live forever..." 1Corinthians 15:50,53 (GW)
And the Apostle Peter proclaimed:
"...All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by His boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being Born Again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for His children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay..." 1Peter 1:3-4 (NLT)
To God be the Glory!
#JesusChristIsLORD
#GodisStillinCharge
