Have you seen the television commercials that show how a person can research their family history on the Internet with simply a few clicks of a button? With the abundant resources online, even one bit of knowledge can lead to an exciting trail of discovery. One man was surprised to learn that one of his ancestors lived next door to Orville and Wilbur Wright, those famous aviation pioneers! While it may be interesting and even inspiring to search for one’s ancestral identity, there is even greater satisfaction in discovering our heritage as God’s children. We can know who we are and what we have spiritually.
It is by God’s grace that we become His children. When we are born again of God’s spirit, we receive the gift of holy spirit and have spiritual abilities that supersede our genetics, our education, and our experiences. The record of God’s Word shows our spiritual background—from “dead in trespasses and sins” to “quickened…together with Christ.” It shows a past of walking “according to the course of this world” and a life now of walking God’s way, “in the power of his might.”
We see our past in Ephesians 2:1-3:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Ephesians goes on to show us the life we have now, since we’re born again.
Ephesians 2:4-6,8:
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith [the faith of Jesus Christ]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
When we are saved by grace, we receive the gift of holy spirit (Acts 2:38), which is “power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
Acts 1:8:
But ye shall receive power [inherent spiritual ability], after that the Holy Ghost [holy spirit] is come upon you….
Now we can walk each day with power. We have God’s grace to walk in the power of His might!
Ephesians 6:10:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
We can be strengthened in the Lord and in the exerted power of His might. And in our walk for Him, we can minister grace to one another.
I Peter 4:10:
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
As born-again believers, we have the gift of holy spirit. God gave us this inherent spiritual ability, and now we are stewards of God’s grace. We can be strong in the Lord and use our spiritual ability to minister God’s grace so that our heavenly Father gets the glory. How electrifying it was to my soul when I learned from God’s Word that I was saved by His grace and could walk by the power of His might rather than my own. There is much we can learn in the Word of God about who we are and what we have spiritually. It’s an exciting trail of discovery.
We will see that when we recognize the grace of God that is available to us, receive this grace into our lives, and decide to act upon it, we are men and women who walk by God’s mighty power! Our lives reflect the brilliance of God’s power in action in the world.
In order to walk powerfully for God, we first need to recognize the grace of God that is available to us. Let’s go back to Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:8-10:
For by grace are ye saved through faith [the faith of Jesus Christ]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are saved by God’s grace, not by our own doing, or our own works. Through the accomplished works of Jesus Christ, God has made us His workmanship, His masterpiece. What comes to mind when you think of a masterpiece in music, art, or film? It’s likely that you think of its uniqueness, its value, or the wonderment of how it came to be. This is true of us as His masterpiece as well. The Book of Romans teaches us more about the grace available to us.
Romans 5:8 and 17:
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Here we see that an abundance of grace is available to us. And not only that, we can reign in life by Jesus Christ….
This is an excerpt from the July/August 2015 issue of The Way Magazine.
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