|
|
|
|
How
Does One Inherit the Son? 1 John 5:4 states: For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Faith is found in the overcomer. The overcomer walks not by sight
but by the reality of a relationship with the Father. All the great men of faith
(Hebrews 11) walked in a spiritual realm, where they lived and moved and had
their being. In the natural others saw it as absurd and erroneous.
Yet they excelled in the spiritual realm with all spiritual blessings
(Ephesians 1:3) because of their relationship with the Father. There once was a track star from Great Britain named Derek Redmond. He
was very good and was expected to win the 400 meter competition and a gold
medal. His start was terrific and he led the pack of runners. As he approached
the finish line, he collapsed in writhing pain. His Achilles tendon had
ruptured. He was fifty yards from a sure gold medal and could not finish. But that is not the end of the story. Derek's father jumped out of the
stands and ran toward his son. Arriving at his son, he placed the young man's
arms around his own neck and carried him across the finish line. Our Father is
like that for us. He carries us when we are unable to run the race and finishes
it for us. In the fallen nature of Adam we cannot compete, but only as we yield
and allow the Father to carry us can we win the prize of an overcoming life. What a love the Father has bestowed on us! It is a love that calls us
unto Himself. He would that we would inherit all that He is. So, He who created
all things out of His holy love, and reconciles all through the sacrifice of His
Beloved Son, works within us His good pleasure to conform us to the image of His
Son Christ Jesus. The purpose is that we might inherit all that He is. How does
He accomplish this? By carrying us on eagles' wings. The men of great faith knew the love of God. They had experienced this
relationship to such a degree they were willing to be sawn asunder, esteeming
the reproach of Christ better than the pleasures of Egypt, willing to be
destitute, afflicted and much much more. These men and women were overcomers.
What made them so? A love so powerful that it transfigured them from being mere
mortals into people called "saints."
If we are born of God, we are His seed.
We overcome by faith in our Father's love. So, first is birth - being born of God and then… Whosoever believes in Jesus Christ is an overcomer
(1 John 5:5). This is not believing in Jesus for salvation. Nor is it believing
in Jesus for the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12), which are active today
in the year of our Lord. No, this
is far more. It means to believe into, place your trust in, be committed to. It
is the same word as found in John 3:16 which has been taught for a salvational
experience - which is a true way to teach it but a basic fundamental way. John
3:16 is a starting point, but it is not the ending point. Many would suggest
that, "Now I am saved, I can get on with my life," however this is not
true, as your Christian life is just beginning. Believing is first found in Matthew 8:13 with the centurion, a man under
authority. This leader of 100 men accepted the word of Jesus unequivocally,
because he knew his position and the position of the other person. Even if his
commander would direct him unto death, the centurion had total faith and
acceptance of the command that it would be worthwhile. In the same manner the
centurion believed in Jesus. This is a depth that most Christians have not come
into in their experience with God, but it is the realm of the overcomer. Many people have experienced Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and
God. They love the Lord with all their heart, but their life is given to the
expression of themselves and their wants and desires. The overcomer believes in
Christ Jesus totally to the extent that this natural life is used as a means to
develop the depth of relationship with God, even unto death of this natural life
in order to facilitate the manifestation of the fullness of God. Believing in Jesus Christ means to have the ability to walk the exact
same walk with the expectation that Jesus will meet every need. When tribulation
or trials come there is no complaint, because you realize that this is for the
glory of God and the assistance of the brethren's faith (2 Corinthians 4:12).
These trials are not because of sin, but so that we can be a testimony of life
unto the brethren. This is identification with Jesus! An overcomer never identifies with Adam. Those saints who mention that
they are "in the fire" and in so doing infer that the flames are
tough, are testifying to the fact that they are still in the fallen nature. For
if you are an overcomer, like Daniel, the fire does not consume you as it did
the Babylonian guards. Your identity IS the fire - is not our God a consuming
fire? Are not His ministers a flame of fire (Hebrews 1:7)? We
are born of God, we believe in God…for what purpose? The
purpose of life can be stated very simply for the overcomer: Glorify God
for all else is vanity. The overcomer is a saint who has recognized
through this life experience the truth of knowing God and the reality of living
in the presence of God rather than in the carnality of vain imaginations found
in the world. There
can be no true success in life unless what is done is done for Christ Jesus.
The overcomer has entered into the fullness of God, conquering all even as Jesus
did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had pleased God (2 Peter 1:17), and so
also the overcomer, because the overcomer inherits the Son (Revelation 21:7).
Nothing the overcomer does is done in the self-nature because the overcomer has
identified with Christ and the crucifixion of the old nature. Works are
accomplished by the overcomer through Grace, lest credit be given to the flesh. Overcoming
is not done for self-gratification. A mountain climber will seek the peak because of a personal desire to
conquer, and there is a self-gratification of the event. But the overcomer is
motivated by a different set of aspirations. Deep within the heart, the
overcomer desires to be a bridge, even as our pattern Jesus (1 Peter 2:21) was
also a bridge, revealing a new way to live in a higher kingdom. The overcomer
stretches to provide the way, the pattern to others that they might be
encouraged to victory in their own life. To
be like Jesus. Think and ponder that. For ages people have patterned their lives
after great men and women. There are good patterns to look up to and aspire to
be like. Many a young man hopes to be as good as his father, even as a daughter
looks to her mother. Why is that? It is because God has placed in every young
babe such a desire. It is His hope that all will see past their parents and
understand them as a type of His nature to aspire to. Failure
is rampant in the world. Alcoholism, just one of many evils that set poor
patterns in families, begets many a husband who is violent, and unless the cycle
is broken by the grace of God, chances are the son of that man will be very like
his father, whom he hates for what he has done to him. The overcomer does
not look to the natural, but to the ideal, to God the Father. The
overcomer has the vision to be like the Son of the Father and becomes a Father.
It is that vision that sustains, for as we behold Him we become like Him (1 John
3:2). But
just how does one behold a "spirit" for God is a spirit (John 4:24)?
One could say that a person would have to be a spirit to behold a
"spirit." But that is not necessarily true. The answer lies in the Son
of God, Christ Jesus, the ascended Lord. For He ascended that He would return
again (John 14:23, 16:7, 20:17) as the Holy Spirit leads us to find Him within
us. Since
every man is lighted by Him (John 1:6) and in the Father's house (the corporate
expression inclusive of all mankind) are many mansions (as each individual in
particular is a mansion), we can behold Him in other people. This is the victory
of the overcomer, because the overcomer looks past and through the outer man,
which may or may not be serving Christ, and looks on and into the inner man. Jesus
never saw a sinful man, although He recognized sin in men. Jesus saw people
redeemed through Himself and restored. In Genesis we find Adam stating that he
was naked. God never told him he was naked
- unclothed without the nature of God, that is, the glory having been
lost due to sin. God still saw Adam
covered by the His Son, Who was slain from the foundation of the world
(Revelation 13:8) but Who did not appear until later (Romans 16:25). The
overcomer looks with the eyes of the Lord. The
overcomer beholds the Son which is in everyman, but the darkness of everyman cannot comprehend the
light (John 1:5, 2 Corinthians 4:6) that resides within. It is hid from the
carnal man because the carnal man cannot comprehend the things of God.
The overcomer walking in the steps of Christ offers himself (2
Corinthians 4:10-12) to set others free, who are bound in the carnal nature. The
overcomer sees the Son in himself
(Galatians 2:20, 4:14) and moving in Him, Who is within, seeks to cause the
corporate expression to come forth out of another person. This sacrifice is
because of identification with Christ, the ultimate consummation of inheriting
the Son. Christ Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29). The
overcomer, having inherited the Son, sees others who need to partake of their
inheritance and proceeds to lay down his/her life so that all of creation may
inherit. It
is not about the overcomer's place, position, etc. It is about the Lord
and Him being glorified in the saint (2 Thessalonians 1:10). One who has
inherited the Son has no other desire than to manifest the Son of God within.
This is accomplished by being led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14), which means
walking in Christ Jesus 24 hours a day not just under some anointing at a given
moment. Walking by the Spirit should not be some supernatural manifestation.
Jesus, the pattern for all saints, walked in the Spirit all the time and never
appeared any different from anyone else. True walking in the Spirit by the
overcomer makes it look natural, second nature, without effort and without
religious form. The
true overcomer has experientially arrived at the understanding that there is no
karmic law and no good and evil, both of which speak of duality. The true
overcomer has become one with the Father and Son (John 17:21). Duality
no longer exists because it is God, and God alone.
If Jesus had operated out of duality, He could not have conquered the
Liar, the Deceiver, Satan. He had to act out of oneness with the Father, out of
Life (tree of Life) and not duality (tree of knowledge of good and evil). Even
so the overcomer walks the same path as the Lord of glory because of the Lord of
glory. Yet,
being a son of the Father is even larger than all that can be expressed in
writing. The true overcomer lives in this life. It is of no
consequence whether there is redemption of the physical body. The true overcomer
reveals the Christ life by sowing the natural body to the cause of God for
whatever reason. Paul was an overcomer who was "born out of season."
He lived the spiritual life of an overcomer and did not receive the bodily
change. It did not deter him, slow him down or cause any withdrawal from the
plan of God in his life. Paul sowed
his life, bearing the dying of the Lord Jesus so that others might live. The
overcomer determines to manifest Christ Jesus in spite of the natural flesh.
The overcomer is not focused on a personal result or gain but on the plan of God
to set creation free at whatever cost it takes. Paul brought his body into
subjection to the realm of the Son so that he would not be a castaway (1
Corinthians 9:27). The
overcomer is spiritually aware.
This only comes "when you have 'died' to caring about the outer scene and
are willing to take life as it is and work from within toward the goal of
God-realization." (Beyond Words and Thoughts, Goldsmith, pg.3) The
government of the overcomer is within and not without. It must be experiential.
The goal of God-realization is that God is all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28). Many
are the people that go by feeling. One cannot "feel spiritual" any
more than one can "feel righteousness" or even "feel
married." The overcomer moves out of a realm of experientially
knowing, being aware that he is spiritual - not of feeling spiritual.
One can "be" spiritual, most assuredly, but one cannot
"feel" spiritual. Eve went by feeling and led creation into deception
in Genesis. Of course, we are not talking about a literal woman, but the soul.
Eve saw that it was good for food (body realm) pleasant to the eyes (mind, soul
realm) and to make her wise (false spirituality - 1 Corinthians 1:24) when she
was motivated by sense or feeling (Genesis 3:6). But blessed be God that we are
found in Christ, Who has conquered motivation of the flesh for the overcomer. Having
experienced the love of God when the overcomer received salvation, the overcomer
no longer "feels" the love of God but in reality walks in it. A child
feels the love of the parents, then accepts it for what it is and walks in the
acceptance of that love. So too the overcomer. But there is more. The overcomer
does not feel the love of God but becomes the love of God. The overcomer is so
identified with the Son that he has become a son. The
overcomer has conquered the adamic life to such an extent that it no longer
exists. The overcomer lives in the Son and knows that outside of the Son
nothing is life. Therefore the overcomer remains in the crucified life,
since Grace works mightily to perform through the overcomer. God
was the inheritance of the priesthood and the people (Deuteronomy 4:20, 10:9,
Ephesains.1:18). The overcomer who has inherited the Son, has received God
as his/her inheritance. God is the inheritance. He is the supply of all
that is. Inheriting Him creates no lack, no need, no death but rather provides
abundance, fills that which is empty and produces life. Any motivation out of
"lack" declares that one is still in the Adamic fallen nature and has
not yet become an overcomer. When
one walks in union with God, the armory or storehouse is full of all that is
needed. We are a peculiar people, 2 Peter 2:9 states. This idea comes from
Exodus 19:5. The word treasure means a storehouse. We have the fullness
of Him within (Ephesians 3:19, John 1:16) as the storehouse. Many
marvel at those who have conquered cancer in their flesh and live on in the
natural plane. I marvel at those who conquered cancer and die! For theirs is the
greater glory. To walk in the power of God and remain in His presence while
dying a natural death, that is an overcomer. A
precious friend, who passed away at 86, told me of an occurrence in his life,
which I know to be true. The Lord asked him if he would be willing to do
anything for the Lord. He said, "Yea and amen Lord." In the very next
few moments, he was hit with a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital into
a room shared with another man. That evening the Lord told him to talk to the
man about finding God. So he did, and the man accepted the Lord as his Savior
before dying early the next morning. My friend was released a few hours later.
Yes, he had heart attack. Yes, it did damage. But an overcomer is one who
is willing. In this case he walked in the Son as the Lamb to be served
so that another could enter the kingdom of God. Are
you willing to have a heart attack so that you could minister to someone? Or is
your theology against such? An overcomer believes all things are possible and
has no doctrine but Christ crucified. To be Christ to another is the
desire of an overcomer. Inheriting
the Son is an awesome event, because it is a placement of the overcomer into
another role, which is foreign to the earthly adamic thinking. But the overcomer
has conquered the beastly nature, that mark of the beast, which everyone born of
Adam has. The overcomer begins to think as God thinks, because His
ways have become your ways. No longer are His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8) kept from
us, but now we begin to grow in His nature and character (Psalm 25:4, Isaiah
2:3). We have begun the path to the manifestation of the Son. Men
died to defeat Fascism in World War II. This was a worthy cause and an honorable
death. But greater is the call of the overcomer. For the overcomer heeds
the cry of the heart of God to die to the carnal, fallen, earthly adamic
nature so that the Son of God can be revealed in his or her life. In each
generation there have been individual overcomers, but the opportunity for the
Body of Christ, the believers, to corporately reveal Him in this age is here. The
overcomer no longer fights battles with Satan, demons, lusts of the flesh or any
other lower plane existence, because the overcomer lives in the victory that
Christ wrought. Inheriting the Son or having the nature of Jesus brings unity
with God (John 17:21) and victory
over all flesh. 1
Corinthians 15:28 is perhaps in reality the last thing that happens
chronologically in the Bible, rather than the book of Revelation. For when all
things are in subjection to Jesus, He subjects Himself to the Father that the
Father may be all in all. The overcomers are the firstfruits of the
fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 15:28. They shall lead others into this
experience, which shall glorify God. Some
have said that when they are the sons of God (Romans 8:19-20) that they will
clear out the hospitals and heal all the sick, lame etc. But did Jesus, the
pattern Son, heal all the sick at the pool or at any other place? Follow the
Pattern Son. The overcomers will follow the Pattern Son and do as He did -
nothing less and nothing more. The
overcomer reads the Bible and identifies with the Lord and Savior rather than
the fallen nature.
As an example, when you read the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter
stepping out of the boat onto the water…whom do you identify with? Some say
Peter, of course, because one can't walk on the water! But the overcomer knows
within that He can walk on water when called to, because He is like His Master
of the waves. If I might say this, the Lord rebuked me when I identified with
Peter years ago. He told me to identify with Christ Jesus. He told me to reread
the gospels and wherever I found His Son's name I was to place my name in that
spot in order to help me identify with Jesus. It truly has enabled and empowered
me to think more like my Lord and Savior. Have
you considered Abraham? He did not have a Bible. He did not even have the
Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible). There was no Torah. He had no written
guide to refer to. And he never looked for the Promised Land. It was not his
goal, although it is to some Christians. Abraham lived in the Promised Land but
did not dwell there! He dwelled in the heavenlies and in a deep relationship
with God. He had overcome all things, even as the overcomer inherits ALL THINGS
(Revelation 21:7). Abraham realized God and in knowing God deeply, therefore
everything on the natural plane was provided for without seeking for it (Matthew
6:33). But what does the overcomer truly inherit? Philippians 4:8,11 says that
the overcomer inherits the very nature of the Father. Pure, true, just, lovely,
holy are just some of the words used to describe the nature of the Father
manifested through His Son and those called to be conformed to His nature.
When you were baptized, whether in the name of Jesus or the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you were baptized into the name of either.
This is the key of the truth, not the formula used. The Greek word for name
comes from the root ginosko which means to know. To know God…to know
His pleasure, rank, position, personality etc. The overcomer knows the Father,
for he has His Name. Overcomers are a special type of people. Some would say they are
principled; others might say opinionated. But I would declare to you that overcomers
are people who believe in absolutes. These people believe that there are
standards, which must be upheld at the cost of friendships or familial
relationships. Jesus states profoundly that those who do the Father's work are
his brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:50). The overcomer feels the same way. Not
that a natural brother or sister is not important or that a mother or father
should not be respected and loved, but rather that the kingdom of God requires a
higher commitment. The overcomer
stands for that commitment. The overcomer will settle for nothing less than the
manifestation of the glory of God within a people. Revelation
21:7
The word inherit
in this verse comes from the root word which means to have partitioned off
from. In other words the person who inherits the Father receives 100% of
what He is. It is not a watered down inheritance. It is a complete inheritance.
You see when God "partitions off" your inheritance, it immediately
replicates itself, so that He can give to another overcomer. Life produces life
continuously. Grab a salamander by the tail, and he lets the tail go. Later that same
salamander has grown it back again, replicating it's own tail. The overcomer who
has inherited the "partition" of God is well able to give it away,
because now that the overcomer is in the nature of his Father, and he replicates
the life he gives out. His cup overflows. It is overflowing with life. It is not just full and
when he gives out of his full cup it is a little less full. No. No. When he
gives from his cup it still remains full because he lives and moves in the life
realm. It is an overflowing life and the giving comes from the abundance of
life, the excess. This
is grace in action from abundance. Knowing grace, having experienced the
fullness of grace, the overcomer gives from his overflowing cup to others,
because the grace of the Father is victorious in his own life. Tapeinos
is the Greek root word for humble. The Greek means to be a little
higher than the dirt. An overcomer knows from whence he came and is
humble, because he realizes that he has risen from the dirt. The
overcomer is one of many saviors (Obadiah 21), but knows he will never be THE
Savior. Even as the overcomer grows
in Christ, Jesus continually enlarges Himself to the overcomer. Grace allows the
overcomer to grow in God and yet never become God, because God is always
expanding before Him as the overcomer grows in grace. If
we believe that the Scriptures are inspired, it was Paul who declared in
Galatians 4:14 that the saints received him as Jesus Christ, even as a divine
messenger of God. How could he say that? How could they receive him as such?
Because he was of a contrite heart before God, crucified for the sake of the
brethren, laying his life down for all to see Christ. You are an overcomer if
you fit the pattern of Paul and of Jesus. It
is this type of overcomer that inherits the Father. I want to be like the
Father. Don't You? Let us press on assisting one another to be like Jesus. The
world needs the Savior. Let us manifest Him (Romans 8:19-20). |
Send mail to ministry@notibutchrist.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
|