UNDERSTANDING TRUE
GROWTH IN CHRIST (The Series) Part 2
Brother James, OIC
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
In our journey to understand True Growth In Christ it is imperative to start from the beginning of Our Lords earthly ministry and build each revealing of who we are and who we are to become. In the command above Jesus tells us to REPENT. It is not enough to simply say that is to turn away from your sin. If that was all there was to it then the Ten Commandments would have sufficed and there would have been no need for Jesus. Repent in the Greek means a To Think Differently:
Greek: met-an-o-eh'-o: To think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
And what causes us to think differently is not the embryonic calling of God to Christ but is a new birth wherein we can become New Creations. Birth in the Spirit requires many stages of Growth. And birth and growth requires seed , milk and meat. If you read the Parable of the Sower Mt 13:1-9;18-23 then you know the Seed is Gods Word. Gods Word will after the New Birth be fed to you as Milk then Meat if you continue in the Word of Truth. There are three scriptures that come to mind that explain what repent is and then what it does and what it is for:
2Ti 2:24-26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Secondly in the opening scripture Jesus tells us of a place: the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a Spiritual Place, Eternal Place and it has its countries and Governments. One Government is ruled on this earth by Satan, it is a Government of Lies, a Government of Lawlessness toward God and appeals to our lusts and self esteem. The Word of God when rightly divided begins opening our eyes to this and the spiritual battle going on around us and against us.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
The next Government is the Kingdom of God, also called the Kingdom of Christ and it is the Government that we see when we first are called to Christ by God and ask Him into our lives, the battle with Satan begins to escalate at this point:
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Before we are Born Again we go through a period of being called.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
We are like an embryo yet unformed still not sure of what’s going on except we are existing in the world. Satan is trying to keep us imprisoned in the world false solutions, and if you are foreknown of God, He will call you to Christ.
Rom 8:29 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.
And like a physical embryo is still fully reliant on its mothers womb, much like our being reliant on the world before we heard Christ yet after the New Birth God Himself takes over our raising by His Holy Spirit. He does this supernaturally inside of us through His Word of Truth. So then after being Born Again we are like a Baby, still self oriented and worldly minded but we see the beauty of the Kingdom of God. And what we see is this:
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
When we are called and accept the calling we see the Kingdom of God and we also see that many are called but few are chosen.
2Pe 1:10-11 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In Part Three we will begin looking at the next phase of Growth in the birthing of the New Creation as we delve deeper into how we are to make our call and election sure. And we will discover that this growth into entering the Kingdom of God is not about talking nor social gathering but is a New Creation Full Of Gods Power:
1Co 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
