- Welcome to grace DIGITAL Presentation.
In this video, we shall be discussing "Our Advantage in Christ".
For most people, the concept of having an inheritance isn't farfetched.
In fact, in most cultures it is quite common that inheritance shows the privileges and
different material possessions a parent lays up for an offspring, and hopes that one day
that child grows up to make use of that gift in a positive way.
Inheritances are privileges that we typically do not earn, but is added to us primarily
because we are part of a certain family, and it belongs to us even when we aren't aware
of its existence.
However, when we become aware, or are old enough to administer these rights, they are
handed down to us.
A privilege is therefore a special right, advantage, or immunity, granted or available
only to a particular person or group.
Our good Father in heaven is so different in this regard.
And this is why in Acts 20:32, the scriptures tells us that we have divine privileges and
inheritance reserved for us simply because we are members of the body of Christ.
Acts 20:32.
"Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give
you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."
The moment we are born again by renouncing the devil, and accepting Jesus as our Lord
and savior, we automatically have access to various things in this new kingdom.
Nicodemus saw that all Jesus did was possible only from a privileged position.
He knew there was something special that this man possessed and promised to his followers.
So he came to Jesus at night to be better informed.
John 3:1-21 AMP says, "Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a
ruler, member of the Sanhedrin, among the Jews, who came to Jesus at night and said
to Him, 'Rabbi, teacher, we know without any doubt that you come from God as a teacher,
no one can do these signs, these wonders, these attesting miracles that You do, unless
God is with him.'
Jesus answered him, 'I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born
again, reborn from above, spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified, he cannot ever see and
experience the kingdom of God.'
Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old?
He cannot enter his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?'
Jesus answered, 'I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and
the Spirit, he cannot ever enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, the physical is merely physical, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised that I have told you, 'You must be born again, reborn from above,
spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified.'
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it's
coming from, and where it's going, so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.'
Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can these things be possible?'
Jesus replied, 'You are the great and well-known teacher of Israel, and yet you do not know
nor understand these things from Scripture?
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, we speak only of what we absolutely know and
testify about what we have actually seen as eyewitnesses, and still you reject our evidence,
and do not accept our testimony.
If I told you earthly things, that is, things that happen right here on earth, and you do
not believe, how will you believe and trust Me if I tell you heavenly things?
No one has gone up into heaven, but there is One who came down from heaven, the Son
of Man Himself, whose name is in heaven.
Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert on a pole, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up on the cross, so that whoever believes in Him have eternal life, after physical
death, and will actually live forever.'
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that He even gave His One and only
begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him as Savior shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, that is, to
initiate the final judgment of the world, but that the world might be saved through
Him.
Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him, as personal Savior and Lord, is not
judged, for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation, but the one
who does not believe, and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord, is judged
already, that one has been convicted and sentenced, because he has not believed and trusted in
the name of the One and the only begotten Son of God, the One who is truly unique, the
only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him.
This is the judgment, that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged,
the basis for the sentence.
The Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light,
for their deeds were evil.
For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come into the Light, but shrinks from
it, for the fear of his sinful, worthless activities will be exposed and condemned.
But whoever practices truth, and does what is right, morally, ethically, spiritually,
comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are, accomplished
in God, divinely prompted, done with God's help, in dependence on Him."
In a different way, Jesus explained the special advantages as additions, that comes naturally
to those who seek God as a priority.
Matthew 6:33 AMP.
"But first and most importantly, seek, aim at, strive after His kingdom, and His righteousness,
His way of doing and being right, the attitude and character of God, and all these things
will be given to you also."
Here are some of those inheritances.
Number one, we have the privilege of friendship with Jesus, just like Abraham was with God.
John 15:15-17 AMP says, "I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does
not know what his master is doing, but I have called you My friends, because I have revealed
to you everything that I have heard from My Father.
You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and I have appointed, and placed, and
purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and
that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in
My name, as My representative, He may give to you.
This is what I command you, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another."
This was a rare privilege enjoyed by only a few in the Old Testament like Abraham.
Remember that God referred to Abraham as his friend in Genesis 18:17-19 AMP.
"The Lord said, 'Shall I keep secret from Abraham, My friend and servant, what I am
going to do, since Abraham is destined to become a great and mighty nation, and all
the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?
For I have known, chosen, acknowledged him as My own, so that he may teach and command
his children, and the sons of his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, by
doing what is righteous and just, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has
promised him.'"
But by our salvation, God begins to reveal things to us as much as we can handle, because
we are now friends of God.
A clear example of this, was the way Jesus interacted with the multitudes and His disciples.
He spoke to the people in parables, but He explained the parables to His disciples, because
they were His friends.
Matthew 13:10-23 AMP says, "Then the disciples came to Him and asked, 'Why do You speak to
the crowds in parables?'
Jesus replied to them, 'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
For whoever has spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God's word, to him more will
be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied, but whoever does not have spiritual
wisdom because he has devalued God's word, even what he has will be taken away from him.
This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables, because while having the power of
seeing, they do not see, and while having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor
do they understand and grasp spiritual things.
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will hear and keep on hearing,
but never understand, and you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend, for
this nation's heart has grown hard, and with their ears they hardly hear, and they have
tightly closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, and with their
ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, and I will heal them spiritually.'
But blessed, spiritually aware, and favored by God, are your eyes, because they see, and
your ears, because they hear.
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men, who were
honorable and in right standing with God, longed to see what you see, and did not see
it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.'
Listen then to the meaning of the parable of the sower.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, regarding salvation, and does not understand
and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
The one on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word, and at
once welcomes it with joy, yet he has no substantial root in himself, but is only temporary, and
when pressure or persecution comes because of the Word, immediately he stumbles and falls
away, abandoning the One who is the source of salvation.
And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the
worries and distractions of the world, and the deceitfulness, the superficial pleasures
and delight of riches choke the Word, and it yields no fruit.
And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word,
and understands and grasps it, he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times as
much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some thirty."
He talked to the public in general terms, but explained in an intimate manner those
truths to his disciples.
Number two, a life that goes from glory to glory.
As an inheritance, God gives us access to a life that is like a shining light, shining
more and more till the perfect day, no more feeling stuck and useless when we enter our
inheritance in God, because the best is always ahead.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16 AMP says, "But just as it was written in Scripture, things which
the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man,
all that God has prepared for those who love him, who hold him in affectionate reverence,
who obey him, who gratefully recognize the benefits he has bestowed, for God has unveiled
them, and revealed them to us through the Holy Spirit, for the spirit searches all things
diligently, even sounding and measuring the profound depths of God, the divine counsels,
and things far beyond human understanding.
For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man, except the man's spirit within him?
So also no one knows the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Holy Spirit who is from God,
so that we may know and understand the wonderful things freely given to us by God.
We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in
those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual
words, for those being guided by the Holy Spirit.
But the natural unbelieving man does not accept the things, the teachings and revelations
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness, absurd and illogical to him, and he is incapable
of understanding them, because the spiritual man, the spiritually mature Christian, judges
all things, questions, examines, and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals, yet is himself
judged by no one, the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer's spiritual nature.
For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, as to instruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ, to be guided by His thoughts and purposes."
Number three, we have access to spiritual gifts.
The gifts from God's Spirit, that is manifested in different ways, can only be available to
those who have been born anew into his family.
These gifts are simply supernatural, and far above the natural limitations of human ability.
1 Corinthians 12:1-13 AMP says, "Now about the spiritual gifts, the special endowments
given by the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
You know that when you were pagans, you were led off after speechless idols, however you
were led off whether by impulse or habit.
Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the power and influence of the Spirit of
God can say, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is my Lord,' except by the
power and influence of the Holy Spirit.
Now there are distinctive varieties of spiritual gifts, special abilities given by the grace
and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers, but it is the same
Spirit who grants them and empowers believers.
And there are distinctive varieties of ministries and service, but it is the same Lord who is
served.
And there are distinctive ways of working to accomplish things, but it is the same God
who produces all things in all believers, inspiring, energizing, and empowering them.
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit, the spiritual illumination
and the enabling of the Holy Spirit for the common good.
To one is given through the Holy Spirit the power to speak, the message of wisdom, and
to another the power to express the word of knowledge, and understanding according to
the same Spirit, to another wonder-working faith is given by the same Holy Spirit, and
to another the extraordinary gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the working
of miracles, and to another prophecy, foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God
to the people, and to another discernment of spirits, the ability to distinguish sound,
godly doctrine from the deceptive doctrine of man-made religions and cults, and to another
various kinds of unknown tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.
All these things, the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering, are brought
about by one and the same Holy Spirit, distributing each one individually as He chooses.
For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form
only one body, so it is with Christ.
For by one Holy Spirit we were all baptized into one body, spiritually transformed, united
together, whether Jews or Greeks, Gentiles, slaves or free, and we were all made to drink
of one Holy Spirit, since the same Holy Spirit fills each life.
Number four, an inheritance of wholeness, divine health in life abundantly. 3 John 1:2
AMP says, "Beloved, I pray in every way, you may succeed and prosper, and be in good health
physically, just as I know your soul prosper spiritually.
Christ has taken upon himself the curses of life that makes life full of pains, afflictions
and oppression, and diseases, so scripture tell us in Galatians 3:13-‬14 AMP.
"Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation
by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs crucified on
a tree, cross, in order that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might also come to
the Gentiles, so that we would also receive the realization of the promise of the Holy
Spirit through faith."
Let us pray.
Thank you my loving and righteous Father for every inheritance, privilege, and advantage
that you have laid up for me, simply because I have been born into your marvelous Kingdom
of light.
In the name of Jesus, I ask that my eyes will be open daily to understand more, so that
I can walk in the fullness of this amazing inheritance.
Amen.