To know the surpassing preciousness of the constant awareness of God’s Presence.
Although Adam sold me to be (Romans 7:14) under sin’s dominion in (Colossians 1:13) Satan’s kingdom of darkness, God’s Original Plan for me was not destroyed. Jesus redeemed me by His (1 Peter 1:9) precious blood and made me (1 John 3:1) a child of God. When the son of God came in the humanity of Jesus, He did not stop being God. The Blood that was shed on Calvary for me is the BLOOD of GOD. God created nothing that can match the cleansing power of the Blood of the Lamb of Calvary. When I was born again, born new into God’s family, I became (2 Peter 1:4) a partaker of the Divine Nature and a sharer (Hebrews 12:10) of God’s own holiness and received (Philippians 3:9) righteousness, not my own but because of the indwelling Lord Jesus. I pray for deeper spiritual comprehension and to continuously experience more of the supernatural work of grace in practical daily life. In the progression, growth, maturing of my spiritual life, I continue to partake more of the Divine Nature and of God’s own holiness as Jesus within me (John 3:30) increases and I decrease. No one can be in heaven with God who does not have the holiness of God. In Himself the indwelling Lord Jesus possesses fully the Divine Nature and fully the holiness of God. All I want, all I need is more of Jesus Himself alone and all He is. What I am sensing more clearly is that Jesus Who always and everywhere and in everything was all that God wanted Him to be in the perfection of obedience – and this very same Jesus is (Colossians 3:4) my very life. Jesus lives in and through me His very own life in order to express and fulfill through me the place God made for me (Ephesians 1:4) before the foundation of the world. The fact that I was chosen in Christ so very long ago, shows me how extremely serious this is. Faith needs only to know the character of God (Romans 3:4) in order to be true and steadfast faith.
The living Word of God outlines the Plan, God provides (2 Peter 1:3) everything I need for the Plan and the Holy Spirit empowers me to conduct my life in accordance with God’s purpose and Plan for me. I cannot be a growing maturing Christian if I am casual or careless (Psalms 119:11) about the Word of God. My responsibility is obedience which is never based on circumstances or convenience but only and always based on the Word of God, love for God and faith in God.
What will sharing the Divine Nature and holiness of God mean to me, what will it do for me? Without this magnificent grace of God being imparted to me my losses would be many. I would not be able to have: - - heart-to-heart conversation with God in prayer, personal loving intimacy with Jesus, the deepening teaching and companionship of the Holy Spirit, I would not know the surpassing preciousness of the constant awareness of God’s Presence. Neither would I have the bedrock assurance of eternal life and of my permanent citizenship in heaven. I would not know the absence of fear – no matter what is going on in the wicked world – because my security is in God’s unchanging Sovereignty. I would not know, better than I know my own name that God will never leave me and He will never stop loving me. I would have no compassion for others or concern for the spreading of God’s Word throughout the world. These are just some of the holy supernatural gifts and privileges God has given me through Redemption.
God loved us so much (John 3:16) that He gave for us so much. Who among us is so foolish that he would neglect or ignore, or take for granted so much? So much - - that it is all we will ever need, abundantly all we will ever need.
I pray that I will be overwhelmed with wonder-filled gratitude. Jesus is all I need and He lives in me in order to express the Divine Nature and holiness of God through me. The fact that no one can be in heaven where God is without having the holiness of God explains why the best of good works can never get me or anyone else to heaven. It is impossible for me and all descendants of fallen Adam, to attain to the required level and quality of holy righteousness by anything we can do. Sanctification is not the power to be like Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:3) it is Jesus being Himself in me. Holiness can only be imparted to me by the Holy Spirit through the Atonement and Redemption of Jesus Christ. There at the Cross I receive the miracle of God’s amazing grace. That is why salvation, and all its related blessings, (Ephesians 2:8) is God’s gift and must be received as His gift because God alone can accomplish it. The greatest sin of all time would be for me and for anyone to insult God by offering Him my paltry so-called good works as a substitute for the priceless shed Blood and Atoning Death of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. Sadly - - hell will be populated by many proud self-deluded good-works people who could never be good enough to be in heaven with the God of all holiness.
It is hard to comprehend any loss in heaven but we have been warned (1 Corinthians 3:15) that disobedient Christians will suffer loss. I don’t fully understand what that means but perhaps (?) it is to miss out eternally on the rewards Jesus described (Revelation 2 and 3) for faithful obedient Christians. I’m sure we will not understand the full riches of these rewards and the various crowns (e.g. 2 Timothy 4:8) while we are still on earth. Think about these:
Eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God - - vibrantly alive and rejoicing with the richest blessings Paradise has to offer.
- 4 -
In no way injured by the second death - - nothing at all, even the most terrifying calamities, can in any way hurt or harm you or mar your joy. You are bubbling with life and thoughts of death never cross your mind.
Hidden manna and a white stone engraved with a name no one else knows - - rich enjoyment with heart treasures and special privileges in the secret things of God.
Power and authority to rule over the nations and the Morning Star - - authority with the capacity to reflect the Sovereign beauty of Jesus.
White garment, his name not blotted out of the Book of Life and I will confess Him before my Father and the holy angels - - having holy righteousness so great that he can never be excluded and shut out but will be acknowledged and honoured before God and the whole population of heaven.
Keep you from the hour of testing which is coming on the whole world - - so approved by Jesus for endurance that no more testing is necessary.
To sit beside Me on My throne - - actually sharing the authority, power, rule of Jesus Who is the reigning (1TIM.1:17) King of eternity.
Of course these glorious rewards are far beyond my feeble attempt at words to pull out and display even (1COR.2:9) a fragment of their golden promise.