25)
Now to him that is of
power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which
was kept secret since the world began,
26)
But now is made manifest,
and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the
everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
27)
To God only wise, be glory
through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
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articularly in these times, it is
confusing to many concerning who God really is. If it were possible for one to
learn what he needs to know of God through reading, much of the World would
know Him. But even scripture apprises us of the fact that knowledge alone is
not what brings one to Christ. Man can read all he wants, but still fail to
come to an understanding concerning the Lord.
The existing world came to know Jesus
when God manifested Himself in a body of flesh. Having engineered and
constructed Man and thereby, understanding his very essence, the Lord knows
that it is difficult for man to serve and worship an abstract God. Therefore,
He did us a favor—He manifested Himself in a form with which we could identify.
The Almighty accomplished the inimitable through the manifestation of Jesus—the
“invisible God” became “visible.” The magic many claim
to practice could not be real, for reality is dictated by Jesus Christ. Once
scripture declared Jesus “the express image of God’s person...,” it sealed
forever the form of the visible manifestation of Himself.
When the Almighty declared Himself to
Moses as “I am,” He formally declared His self-containment. Any being who could
claim, “Before Abraham was, I am” possesses continual existence—that is, He has no beginning and no end.
In that God declares His glory
manifested in Jesus, How do we explain His title as the Son of God? If we
really read the scripture, we will find that it declares that Jesus “...was called the Son of God.” This is
determined to be our title for
identifying Him, but cannot be defined by the standard biological definition.
You see, the Lord understood that for one to say that he is the Son of God, he
would have to be divine and could be no less God than God. Meaning? He would
have to be God.
Only through the manifested glory of
God are we able to change our lives to be pleasing to God. It is through the
power invested in us through the Holy Ghost that we are able to turn from sin.
It should be of no surprise to anyone existing in today’s
world “will-power” simply will not do.
Why are so many cheap imitations of God
readily accepted? Think of the times in which we live. We gravitate toward the
cheapest, fastest, least stressful ways to do everything. Unfortunately, this
often transfers to what we want from whatever “god” we decide to serve. Man, in
general, wants a “Yes-man” divine power who gives all,
but requires nothing. Few are submitted or obedient enough to seek out One who places a requirement upon his life.
There is no way for Man to approach the
image and likeness of God aside from having His same power. Of course, one must
be baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Spirit in order to possess the power, but to manifest it, we must learn what Jesus
exemplified: to have no will of our own.
God’s people have become rootless and
directionless. We must get back to and line up with the purpose of God. In this
walk, no preparation means no salvation.
Finally, let us not try to make what we
are taught (or not taught) the divisive issue in our walk with God. The cold,
hard fact and truth is this: when we go to stand before the Lord, He will
not require of us what were taught, but rather, what we did with our lives.