Your Faith Can Change Your Fate
The good news of the gospel is that we are born of an imperishable seed through God’s Word. Not perishable but imperishable.
January 23, 2023
1 Peter 1:23 (ESV) – since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God
The good news of the gospel is that we are born of an imperishable seed through God’s Word. Not perishable but imperishable.
The beauty of a seed is that it holds a lot of power and potential, even though it appears very small. A small seed has the potential to become a tree, and that tree has the power to give more fruits, and every fruit from the tree contains more seeds. This is an unending cycle.
Since we are born of God’s Word, there is a seed of greatness in each of us. That seed has the ability to become bigger and produce much more than what it appears to be. We receive God’s Word as a seed but it is not limited to just remain as a seed. The Word has been deposited as a seed so that it grows. The seed of God’s Word can overpower your mind and heart to a point where it can transform our bodies as well.
Born from Above
John 3:3 (ESV) – Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The word “born again” is more accurately translated as “born from above.” Here ‘above’ doesn’t refer to a geographic location but points to a superior reality. So Jesus was implying that unless w e are born from a superior reality, we cannot experience His Kingdom. That’s why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:50 that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s Kingdom. Only those who are born of God’s Spirit, born of His Word and born from above can experience and inherit God’s Kingdom.
God’s Kingdom is not just the future, Messianic Kingdom that comes with the second coming of Jesus. Before Jesus left, He established His Kingdom, and this Kingdom is in the here and now. We can enjoy whatever the Kingdom has.
The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The ones who are born from above have become citizens of God’s Kingdom. They inherit the reality of God’s kingdom that is righteousness, peace and joy. This Kingdom reality doesn’t come by praying or by way of good works. We can only inherit this Kingdom by being born from above.
Ephesians 1:13 (ESV) – In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit
The moment we receive the gospel through the hearing of the gospel, we have been sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit. There is no ‘I’ anymore. Now it’s ‘we’ with the Holy Spirit. The ‘I’ has been crucified with Christ, and with it on the cross, all our sins and sickness have been dealt with once and for all. So we aren’t born from above by our good works but only by believing in the gospel. Hearing and believing the gospel is the only criteria.
Grace Gives, Faith Takes
Ephesians 2:8 (ESV) – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
We are saved by grace. We aren’t saved by our own efforts. Grace gives and faith takes. That’s why we can only put faith in what God’s grace already provides. We cannot put faith beyond the boundaries of His grace.
When God delivered the Israelites, it was His will that all 2 million people would enter the Promise Land. But only two actually entered. Why did that happen? Because the majority of those who got out of Egypt didn’t want to step into what God had promised them. They kept confessing, “Did You bring us here to the wilderness to die?” And notice, that is exactly what happened.
Numbers 14:4 (ESV) – And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
The 2 million people had a slave mindset. So even though they had been delivered, their mindset prevented them from possessing the Promise Land. Joshua and Caleb had the audacity to possess the land because they did not put their faith in their own ability but in what God said.
The others were not delivered from Egypt in their minds. That’s why they kept grumbling and murmuring. If we compare this with the journey of Abraham who put faith in God for 25 years to have a son, we will find that Abraham failed multiple times in trusting God. And every time Abraham failed, God renewed His promise. And each time, the promise got bigger, better and clearer.
Why didn’t God show the same grace that He showed Abraham to these 2 million Israelites?
Romans 4:20-21 (ESV) – No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Even though Abraham missed out on God’s promises, he still believed. Abraham didn’t give up on God.
Romans 4:20-21 (ESV) – No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Abraham never gave up on God’s Word and His goodness. The Israelites gave up on God and didn’t want to go to the Promise Land. God cannot take us where we don’t want to go.
In our context, the Promise Land is not heaven that we might miss. The Promise Land is the destiny that God has for us. If heaven was our destiny, then we would have no purpose living here. God has a destiny for us which is our Promise Land flowing with milk and honey. But God cannot take us to that destiny unless we don’t say yes and agree with Him.
It is okay if we make mistakes along the way and are not able to hit the right notes each time like Abraham. But what matters is that we still hold onto God’s Word. God’s Word will only work with our agreement and partnership by faith.
What is God’s Destiny?
God has a destiny for us and it is not heaven. God has a better and greater destiny than heaven.
So are we negating the importance of heaven? No. If we die, we get to be in heaven. But we have to understand that heaven is not our final destiny. It is like a layover in Dubai on the way to the US, which is the final destination. Heaven is a layover to the destiny that God has.
So what is God’s destiny?
Romans 8:29 (ESV) – For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
God knew us even before we were born and He predestined us. This means that He had a dream for us. God doesn’t have a fate set for us; He has a destiny that we can choose and agree to. His dream for us was to be conformed to the image of Jesus. This destiny is bigger than heaven. Our eyes have to be focused on Jesus rather than heaven.
God’s dream for us is to become like Jesus. Irrespective of where we are – heaven or earth – our destiny is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. That’s why we are born from the imperishable seed. It’s the same seed that produced Jesus in Mary. Mary received a seed from the Holy Spirit that gave birth to Jesus. We have the same seed that has the potential to grow and be conformed to the image of Jesus. The Old Testament saints did not have this privilege. The starting place of our faith journey is beyond their ending.
God has a dream for us because He believes in us. He knew us even before we were born. He chose us intentionally before the foundations of the earth and everything points to the destiny that God has for us. Our “Promise Land” is to become like Jesus.
Romans 8:30 (ESV) – And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God sees the end from the beginning. Notice that the verse above is in the past tense. So to God, it is already done. He has already conformed us to the image of His son. When God sees you, He doesn’t see a work in progress. God sees us as people conformed to the image of His Son. If we begin to see what God sees, we will immediately experience what He sees. If we can see that we are already confirmed to His image, then we will experience the same.
There is a miracle in the Bible when Jesus walks on the water to meet His disciples in the boat who are in the middle of the lake. The moment Jesus steps into the boat, the boat reaches the shore immediately. God can do things instantly too rather than being progressive. God can transform us in an instant. And the Bible says that God has already done it. We are the ones who are slow to catch what God has already done.
What God has already done is in the spiritual realm, which is the invisible realm. We need to now experience this reality in the physical realm, which is the visible realm.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV) – as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
The invisible realm is more powerful than the visible. What you see in the visible is temporary but the invisible real is permanent. We see the visible realm with our eyes but we can only see the invisible realm through faith and hope.
What you see is what you can possess. The Israelites could not possess the land because they could not see the invisible. They were too caught up in the visible. They could only see Egypt and the wilderness in the visible. Only Joshua and Caleb saw the invisible reality through the promise of God. God’s Word has God’s invisible reality in it which cannot be seen by the physical eyes. It takes faith to see it. If we could hold onto that invisible reality that the Word shows by faith, we can experience what God’s Word has for us. When we see what God sees, we possess what we see. God sees us as righteous, holy, redeemed, chosen, delivered, blessed with every blessing etc. The moment we see what God sees, we will possess it.
Now the ball is in our court because God has already done everything in Christ. God’s will is not a mystery anymore. His will follows His Word. And He has revealed His will to His redeemed.
Ephesians 3:9-10 (ESV) – and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
God’s purpose and will is no longer a mystery for the church. In fact it is the role of the church to reveal His mystery to the entire cosmos. So knowing what God wants to do, we have to agree with His Word and possess all that He has for us.
Meditate & Confess
Joshua 1:8 (ESV) – This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
When we meditate and confess God’s Word, God doesn’t make our way prosperous but we do. It is on us if we want to live our lives prosperous or not.
Recap
We read the Scriptures to see what God sees. When we see what God sees we possess all that God has for us. We have to possess the invisible reality of the Word by faith. We put faith in His Word and God’s goodness.
God’s dream for us is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. If that’s what God sees and it’s already done, it means He has already deposited everything that’s required for us to get to our destiny. We don’t have to wait for heaven. But we wait on His revelation through the Word.
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