The faith of Jesus Christ has saved you, “it was that
faith that immersed you into Jesus…and now you are covered and clothed with His
anointing”. That is a remarkable statement stating that Jesus did it all
for me. I didn’t even have to possess
the faith to make it happen on my part, Jesus even provided that too. The only thing that I provided was the empty vessel
for Him to utilize.
We have a misconception in the Christian world that somehow
we must approach God with OUR faith to believe in Jesus Christ, that couldn’t
be further from the truth. We were dead
in trespass and sin, how can something that is dead produce faith? In truth, it can’t. It was Jesus who brought us life back to life
again and infused us with HIS life, hence we are born again, spiritually awakened
unto new life in Christ.
“…and now we are covered and clothed with His anointing” what
is an anointing? “Anointing was the act
of pouring or smearing with aromatic oils over the body as a ritualistic act of
conferring or initiating an office or authoritative position in which the person
was to take”. Jesus is the anointed one who was conferred as the chosen of
God, and we are “clothed” with His anointing. This means we have all of the rights, privileges,
and authorities that have been given to Jesus made available to us who believe
in Him.
That gives us a new identity, we are all one in Christ. Our designations are no longer applicable, Jew
or Gentile, Slave or Free, Male or Female, even Christian or Muslim, Jesus transcends
all of that because He bought us all through His sacrifice, and in union with Him
we are all one.
There have been many testimonies of Muslims in middle
eastern countries who have encountered Jesus one on one through dreams or
through visions, yet there are no bibles to reference or someone to teach them
about Jesus other than their one on one encounters with Jesus. Their faith is very real and they risk death
every day they go out into the marketplace by extremists who enforce sharia law. This is the real faith of Jesus in action.
There is no difference between us in Christ Jesus. It says because we are in Christ we are considered
Abraham’s children which means that as Abraham was a man who believed God it
was counted to Him as righteousness, we have the faith of Jesus Christ imparted
to us which is also counted as righteousness to us because we trust and believe in Him.
The word “Abram” means “High Father” which was His
birth name, He was a respected man among the people where he lived in the land
of Ur. It was the God of Heaven who
appeared and revealed Himself to Abram and chose Him, it was then that
God renamed Abram to Abraham (which means Father of a Multitude) because
He was to bring the inheritance of God forward through His children. That is
what it means "we are Abraham’s children", we who trust God like He did.
You could also say that Abraham was anointed directly by God
for a specific authoritative position that God gave him. Abraham was chosen to be the Father of a Multitude
of people that would come after Him, people who would inherit a special blessing
through His lineage of trusting God for the promises He offered.
I am grateful that God chose a man like Abraham who needed
to be humbled, it took many years before Abraham was ready to hear from God and then
many more years to receive the promises offered to him for a son. It was His trust
in the Lord which God honored.
Trusting God with an impartation (or immersion) of faith which comes from God Himself is what we as Abraham's descendants will receive. We can see the story unfold before us as Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice, in like manner, God offered His Son Jesus as a sacrifice for us. There are so many parallels with the story of Abraham in how His life intersects with ours through Jesus.
Trusting God with an impartation (or immersion) of faith which comes from God Himself is what we as Abraham's descendants will receive. We can see the story unfold before us as Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice, in like manner, God offered His Son Jesus as a sacrifice for us. There are so many parallels with the story of Abraham in how His life intersects with ours through Jesus.
May you know the God-honoring trust which Abraham knew in its
fullness, and may it fill your day with a deep awareness that God’s promises
are yours through the faith that He has placed in you. And may you know Jesus in the richness of His
presence and the glories of His kingdom as your story unfolds.
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett
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