2015.05.24_First Be Prosperous in the Spirit

Seek God who is Spirit in Spirit

God is spirit (Jn 4:23-24), meaning He is invisible. Hence in order to see God, we must rely on the spirit rather than physical sight. God sent His image, Jesus Christ to the world to reveal Himself to mankind. As opposed to people who could only see Jesus from a physical stance, from Him we have seen God’s being and His nature, God’s working and His love, His life and power.

We have to receive God’s commands to meet God in spirit. God who created the world with His word gives us life, salvation, glory and blessings through His word. In spirit we ought to seek God with our faith grounded on the truth that God is spirit. While many try to seek God by means of the flesh’s sensations and feelings, those endeavors would only end in mysticism and superstition. What we need is faith in God’s promise.

The flesh is like a garment that everyone has to take off at some point. However that is not the end. Though the flesh may disappear, our spirit will be transformed into a body that is forever imperishable. In order that we may believe this, God sent His own Son to shed His blood, sent us the Holy Spirit, and did many other things. Nevertheless, people still try to follow their flesh, its desires and feelings, which would only make them enemies of God (Ro 8:7). We have received God’s promised Holy Spirit, yet if we still seek God in the flesh, what hope would there be left for us?

The Criterion for Happiness is the Spirit

Our life of faith is a spiritual life. If we are living a spiritual life, our hearts would be filled with the Lord’s joy (Jn 15:11). The Lord had such power that He fed more than five thousand men with just five loaves of bread and two fish, and calmed the storm with a word. However He never accumulated a fortune while He was on the earth. Though foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, He had no place to even lay His head. Yet could we say that He was cursed?

Many people say they need to have money to be happy, that they could only give donations or help the needy if they have money. To them being blessed by faith in Jesus means the same as an increased salary. However the criterion for happiness is not money, but our spirit. Before any rich person we should be able to say confidently, “The glory I have is incomparably greater than all that you have.”

When Peter met a lame begging at the temple gate, he said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Ac 3:6). Suddenly the lame got up. We need to be able to save people with the joy and power of the name Jesus, not money. We should never doubt the Lord’s promise or drift away from our church life just because we are facing financial hardship.

God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Mt 5:45). In this world, it is possible for those that oppose God to be rich. Yet once the flesh has lived out its lifespan, everything it once possessed will fall into hands of others. The joy Jesus has given us is of the spirit, not the flesh. Therefore only those who believe can have that joy. Whoever does not believe, his spirit cannot receive anything that comes from God.

Many people including the Apostles were martyred while bearing witness of Jesus. This is no surprise, for even God’s Son was crucified. Those who receive God’s love face suffering in this world. However our souls are still joyful and blessed, because we have God’s life, blessing, glory and power given by His grace is in our spirit.

Do Not Bear the Burden of Sin Yourself

Reincarnation is a concept taught in a certain religion, which claims that when a living creature dies, it is reborn into another, then dies and is reborn, and goes through this endless cycle. According to this belief, consequences of one’s actions in the previous life influence the rebirth into another being. This is actually no different to saying that a person’s sin is never erased and he must bear the consequences of his sins.

However, the faith God gave us through Christ is entirely different. As a result of Adam’s sin, every man became a sinner. Even a new born baby is not an exception. One might argue how a baby might have any sin. But concerning this, Psalm 51:5 says, “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Every sinner must pay the price of his sins. Consequently he would be cursed on the earth, and after death, be in eternal torment in Hellfire.

How horrible is Hell that the Lord said, “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched”. There, even their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched (Mk 9:45-46). In other words, after one is cast into Hell, he can never escape or even die but be in torment forever.

This is how terrible sin is. Thus Jesus commands us to lay our sins upon Him. He desires us to be free by placing upon Him all of our sins, not just Adam’s original sin but our personal sins too. People ask how we might possibly shed our sins without having done anything. The Lord answers, “Since I have already paid the price of your sin, by grace be free!”

Receive Grace, Be Blessed in the Holy Spirit

God sent the Holy Spirit to seal the souls who received grace. Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” The soul redeemed by grace is free not only from the original sin, intrinsic sin and personal sin, but also from the consequences of those sins. If one has been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, it means he has buried his old self and become born again as a new creation, a child of God who has been made righteous. Being God’s children does not mean that we have not or do not sin. It means we have been deemed righteous by repenting and placing our sins upon the Lord.

In the past, the blood of animals was sprinkled to sanctify the utensils in the temple. Similarly, whoever has the blood of Christ in his spirit is holy in God’s sight. If we believe in the blood of Christ, we should not be carrying the burden of our sins still. Being apprehensive and worried that we might be cursed, instead of having joy and thanksgiving in everything we do, is not what the Lord desires of us. If anyone thinks it is retribution for his sin when things do not go to plan, he is still influenced by the idea of reincarnation/karma. Our lives in Christ must be distinguished from the past when we used to be led away by idols (1Co 12:2).

The spirit must be blessed for all things to be prosperous. We must receive grace for our spirits to be blessed. Jesus is the Lord of all who receive His grace. The Holy Spirit seals such people and indwells their spirits. We need to be blessed through the Holy Spirit by receiving God’s grace into our spirit.