1. God created man to be like Him, saying: “… Let us make MAN IN OUR IMAGE, after OUR LIKENESS: and let them have DOMINION …” [Genesis 1:26] We were in Him from the beginning, otherwise we could never be like Him in FORM and LIKENESS. In conformity with His ETERNAL PURPOSE, God chose us to be like Him in GLORY and HOLINESS, “According as he hath CHOSEN US in him BEFORE the FOUNDATION of the WORLD, that we should be HOLY and WITHOUT BLAME before him IN LOVE” [Ephesians 1:4] To accomplish His PURPOSE, God put a measure of Himself in us, an “EARNEST” of His GOODWILL, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and BREATHED into his nostrils the BREATH OF LIFE; and MAN became a LIVING SOUL” [Genesis 2:7] God is ETERNAL and by His BREATHE in man made us compatible to ENDLESS LIFE, “And this is the PROMISE that he hath promised us, even ETERNAL LIFE” [1 John 2:25] God’s ETERNAL PURPOSE for man is to KNOW Him as He is, the ONE TRUE GOD, and REIGN with Him forever, ”Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS” [1 John 3:2]
2. To step into God’s PURPOSE, we must do away with SIN, “For the WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH; but the GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord” [Romans 6:23] Jesus Christ is the SON, the fulness of the FATHER; the TRUE GOD and author of ETERNAL LIFE, “Beware lest ANY MAN SPOIL YOU through PHILOSOPHY and VAIN DECEIT, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For IN HIM DWELLETH all the FULNESS of the GODHEAD bodily” [Colossians 2:8-9] The FATHER was manifest in the SON, that all men may KNOW Him and be reconciled to EVERLASTING LIFE. If any man claims to know God and has not received the SON as LORD and SAVIOUR, he deceives himself, “But as many as RECEIVED HIM, to them gave he POWER TO BECOME the SONS OF GOD, even to them that BELIEVE IN HIS NAME” [John 1:12] In Christ, we receive POWER of adoption as SONS of God, fulfilling the basic condition of our ETERNAL PURPOSE. Be not deceived, if any man thinks he is a SON by persuasion, cogitation or religious indoctrination, he is mistaken. ETERNAL LIFE is not a shared experience, but God revealed in Christ to you and in you, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an UNDERSTANDING, that we may KNOW HIM that is true, and WE ARE IN HIM that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the TRUE GOD, and ETERNAL LIFE" [1 John 5:20]
3. We are SONS of God because we know Him, yet are we not established in His ETERNAL PURPOSE until we give up the “OLD MAN” to LIVE and DO His COMMANDMENTS, “He that saith, I KNOW HIM, and KEEPETH NOT HIS COMMANDMENTS, IS A LIAR, and the TRUTH IS NOT IN HIM” [1 John 2:4] Why do we struggle to obey Christ’s COMMANDMENTS? The answer is simple; We did not experience POWER of His RESURRECTION, either because we did not DIE with Him or DIED in part, as it is written: “That I may KNOW HIM, and the POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, and the FELLOWSHIP of his SUFFERINGS, being made CONFORMABLE unto his DEATH” [Philippians 3:10] The evidence of “KNOWING” Him is conformity to His DEATH on the Cross, that is, giving up everything we were and ever wished to be, to become like Him in total submission to the WILL of God, “Therefore we are BURIED with him by BAPTISM UNTO DEATH: that like as Christ was RAISED UP from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE” [Romans 6:4] When we empty our hearts of SELF, the SPIRIT of Christ fills up the void and we are BORN into “NEWNESS OF LIFE”, as it is written: “I am CRUCIFIED with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I LIVE by the FAITH of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me [Galatians 2:20] His SPIRIT in you is proof you were in Him from the foundation of the world, “For whom he did FOREKNOW, he also did PREDESTINATE to be CONFORMED to the IMAGE OF HIS SON, that he might be the FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN” [Romans 8:29]
4. God’s ETERNAL PURPOSE for you is moderated by TIME and JUDGMENT, and “… to every PURPOSE there is TIME and JUDGMENT, therefore the misery of man is great upon him” [Ecclesiastics 8:5-6] TIME is limited and fast running out, when the Lord shall appear to receive His BRIDE and we shall be translated “… unto the measure of the STATURE of the FULNESS OF CHRIST” [Ephesians 4:13] Brethren, let us be vigilant, WATCHING and PREPARING to be ready for His imminent appearance; putting aside every shade of DISTRACTION, “WATCH YE therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be accounted WORTHY TO ESCAPE all these things that shall come to pass, and to STAND BEFORE the SON OF MAN” [Luke 21:36] “WATCH” requires we study to align our lives with God; turning our lives over to Jesus Christ, PRAYING night and day for strength both to fulfil ETERNAL PURPOSE. Friend, take the first step into your ETERNAL PURPOSE today; accept Jesus Christ as your LORD and SAVIOUR, amen.
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