"..Trust steadily in God.." - 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (MSG)

I asked a question in my Wednesday night homegroup this week, which was pertinent concerning our faith, the question was “If God has already placed everything we need inside of us for life and Godliness, then how come we still have trouble accessing it?”  That is a valid question and not easily answered.  

One of the responses that came out at the homegroup of this was in Romans 5:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and so we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” 

Romans 5:1-2 (MEV)

It doesn’t say we will have access; it says we already have access (present tense) by faith into this grace. Access is the gift that we have been given, which is access to the heavenly realm, which is described by Jesus as a mighty flowing river rushing out of our bellies. 

It also says that we, by faith, stand in this access into the heavenly realm. 

We don’t control where the spirit is going, but we are connected to Jesus Christ who is compared to a train conductor who is driving this train, we are the passengers who have been invited to join Him on this journey in which we stand by faith.  He is the driving force we have access to.

I truly believe this and know this is how Paul saw our development in Christ Jesus. But there is still the nagging question in the back of my mind, “why do we have trouble accessing it?”  Yes, there is change and transformation that still needs to come, our minds need to be renewed for sure, and that is a work of the Holy Spirit, but where is everything else which has been deposited in our spirit? Why hasn’t that been manifested or activated? Jesus promised greater things for us.

“I tell you this timeless truth: The person who follows me in faith, believing in me, will do the same mighty miracles that I do—even greater miracles than these because I go to be with my Father!” 

John 14:12 (TPT)

I believe that as I write this post, the answer is in today’s verses, the completeness hasn’t arrived yet. Paul says that we are having trouble seeing clearly, much like the obscureness of looking through the fog, not everything is in perfect clarity, but we know that which is complete resides there within us because we are told that it is there. 

It is like receiving a picture of a gift which describes the gift in detail; we have the specifications, the instructions, even an image of the gift itself, we have everything we need to operate this gift, except the gift itself.  In reality, the gift is Jesus Himself, and yes He resides in us, but not in His fullness yet.

We have little glimpses and tastes of what this gift is supposed to be like, we have exercised faith for healings, prophecy, and words of knowledge, but where are the greater things Jesus spoke about? Paul calls this the completeness or the consummation of all things. Paul says that “We will see it then.”

He goes on to explain that when the completeness or consummation of all things comes, we will see everything “as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!”  So it is a matter of timing, not just a matter of us becoming more like Jesus. I am not discounting the process of change and transformation, but that is not the prerequisite of activating the greater things in our lives of which Jesus spoke. 

“Seeing it clearly as God sees us” means that there will be a thinning or removal of the separation (or veil) between this natural earth and the heavenly realm where our God resides.  

Paul further describes this as knowing Him directly as He knows us, the Greek word used is “epiginōskō” which is a compound word, it is a verb with a future tense with the prefix “epi” which can mean either over or upon, and the word “ginosko” which means knowing. 

In ancient Jewish culture, the word “ginosko” was  often used as an idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, indicating a deep interpersonal knowing, an intimacy of knowing or experiencing each other.

As the bride of Christ, we are waiting for our Bridegroom to return for us. There is this longing for the fulfillment of everything promised and that He would return and reveal Himself to us and we may know Him as fully as He knows us.  

Paul sums this up so well:

“But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. 

Even though we wait for Jesus to return, we have these three things, faith, hope, and love.

“And the best of the three is love.”

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett