AN ABUNDANT LIFE ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE FROM YAHWAH GOD
Jesus said in John 10:10 “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” “It is the spirit that quickeneth (makes alive); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, LORD, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:63-69) What must we DO, if anything, to get this LIFE? What words has God given to us that brings us this LIFE?
In Matthew 22:41-42 Jesus asked the Pharisees whose son Christ would be. They responded by saying, “The son of David.” Jesus “said unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him LORD, saying, ‘The LORD said unto my LORD, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?’ If David then called him LORD, how is he his son?” Here Jesus quotes from Psalm 110:1, “The LORD (God) said unto my LORD (Christ), Sit thou on my (God’s) right hand, till I (God) make thine (Christ’s) enemies thy (Christ’s) footstool?” Matthew goes on to say that, “no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him (Jesus) any more questions.” Up to this time these men kept demanding that Jesus tell them if he was the Christ. They thought that they could prove that he was not a descendent of David since he was from Galilee and not from Judaea. They could then accuse him of blasphemy, and stone him to death. This event is also recorded in Mark 12:35-37 and Luke 20:41-44. At Jesus’ trial the high priest “said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said unto him, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power”. The high priest said, “He hath spoken blasphemy...He is guilty of death.” (Matt. 26:63-66; Mark 14:62-64; Luke 22:68-71) According to the prophecy in Psalm 110:1 anyone whom God would sit at His right must be THE CHRIST, and this is why they accused Jesus of blasphemy. In Matthew 19:28, and 25:31 Jesus tells his disciples that when HE is glorified, “then shall he sit in the throne of his glory.” “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19)
In Acts 2:25-33 Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ by fulfilling the prophecy in Psalm 16:8-11, says, “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Peter continues in verse 34 by quoting Psalm 110:1 as further proof that Jesus is the Christ, “The LORD said unto my LORD, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make they foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both LORD and Christ.” Jesus being both LORD and Christ is also affirmed by Paul when he writes that God has “spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3) In verse 13 Paul also quotes Psalm 110:1 as proof that Jesus is the Christ, in Ephesians 1:20 he says that God’s mighty power raised Jesus from the dead, “and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places”, and in Colossians 3:1 he says that “Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”
According to the prophecy of Psalm 110:1, Jesus is to be seated at God’s right hand until God has made all of Christ’s enemies his footstool. Paul refers to this in Hebrews 2:7-8 by saying “But now we see not yet all things put under him.”, and also in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 “Then cometh the end, when he (Jesus) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he (God) shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he (God) must reign, till he (God) hath put all enemies under his (Jesus’) feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Jesus Christ will remain seated at the right hand of God until death is destroyed.
It is clear that Jesus Christ has the passive position of being seated, and that God has the active position of putting all things under Jesus’ subjection and authority. Jesus always understood he had the passive role of being the lamb that would be slain for the sins of the world. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Jesus was not actively running around DOING, but was passively submitting to the life already chosen for him, the death of the cross, BECOMING “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” “He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:42) His life was in passive submission to the Father’s active will, and even now he is passively seated at the right hand of God.
If Christ is seated, then what should be our position? Jesus gives us a clue when he prayed saying, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) Not only is it prophesied that Jesus would sit down at the right hand of God, but also that many others would be seated with him. Jesus says, “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:11) “And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29) In Revelations 3:21 John quoting Jesus writes “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” These statements are not about something that happens after we are dead. Remember what Jesus told the Sadducees, “have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.” (Matthew 22:29-33) Why were they astonished? Because Jesus told them that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not dead, but alive. Therefore, if we “shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven”, then that is something that occurs while we are alive. If this sounds strange, then read what Paul writes in Ephesians 2:6 about God’s mighty power which “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Not only do the scriptures say that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God in heavenly places, but also that we are sitting together with him. So today our true self is with Christ Jesus sitting in heavenly places. God’s truth reveals two life-changing facts, we are (1) SITTING (2) with Christ in HEAVENLY PLACES. Therefore, we are to be sitting - not running around DOING! God is the DOER, not us! We are to be the BECOMERS! By DOING, we are taking over God’s role, and are acting in rebellion against HIM. We usurp God’s position as the DOER, and attempt to make ourselves god, the DOER. This is the same sin recorded in Genesis 3:5-7 which brought the sentence of death upon us. Our human nature is always driving us TO DO something: make money, buy this or that, get more, go here or there, join some group, give and donate, set goals, work hard, be persistent, conform to some standard or expectation. Others are always appealing to our natural mind in order to get us TO DO what they want. It is our WILL TO DO that is proof of our flesh natural mind. Paul says “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me;” (Romans 7:18) He further condemns this flesh, natural, human, DOING type of mentality, “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7), “to be carnally minded is death.” (Romans 8:6) Knowing that this carnal, fleshly, DOING nature of man is not subject to God, and never can be, Paul writes, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God....For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die” (Romans 8:8,13), and that as long as we are in this fleshly state of DOING we “cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:50) God tells us that our “strength is to sit still” (Isaiah 30:7), and to “shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down.” (Isaiah 52:2) Our DOING drags us deeper into the dust, dirt, and death. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of death?” (Romans 7:24) (go to top)
What then are we TO DO? The same thing a lump of clay does sitting upon the potter’s wheel. NOTHING! God is the DOER! “Hath not the potter power over the clay.” (Romans 9:21) “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?” (Isaiah 45:9) “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before YAHWAH our maker.” (Psalm 95:6) His great revelation to us is, “You who were dead in trespasses and sins: God hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; 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.” (Ephesians 2:1-10) We are saved by the faith that God has already determined to give us, we don’t get it because of something we do. We don’t choose, accept, believe, join, attend, give, go, or anything else to get faith. No, it is God’s grace that gives it to us, and not because of our works, but simply according to His purpose that He “before ordained”. He forms us into the being He desires. “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” (Isaiah 64:8) God DOES, and we BECOME. “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. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30) Being contrary to all social and religious doctrine, what can be said about these things? Addressing this, Paul writes “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” (Romans 8:31-33) “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Romans 9:16) God chose to do it this way so “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:29) “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31) “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.” (2 Corinthians 10:18)
As God graciously works in us, He reveals that our role is not DOING, but BECOMING. Becoming all that He “before ordained” we should be; no more or no less, only that which He purposed, and that purpose He will never change. “God is not a man, that he should lie: neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19), and “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent. (Psalm 110:4) “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29) “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) Therefore, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) It is a done deal, “the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Hebrews 4:3), and with all confidence “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) “Blessed be the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 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: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11) Jesus said fear not, “for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13) It is God “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (2 Timothy 1:9) “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9)
Contradicting the world’s teachings “hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20) “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” (1 Corinthians 3:19) “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:” (1 Corinthians 2:7) Then in 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul quotes from Isaiah 64:4 which says, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” These things that God “hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” have been “a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” Paul writes, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:10-14) “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to HIS saints.” (Colossians 1:26)
The key to life is that “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of HIS calling, and what the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of HIS power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of HIS might power, which HE wrought in Christ, when HE raised him from the dead, and set him at HIS own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. You who were dead in trespasses and sins (our will to do): God hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places (right now) in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; 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.” (Ephesians 1:18-23; 2:1-10) “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of LIFE.” (2 Corinthians 4:7; 5:1, 4) As Jesus taught us to pray let us daily ask, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” (Psalm 143:10) “Thou wilt shew me the path of LIFE: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
Know this also that “ye are complete in him, ...buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 2:10, 12; 3:1-2) “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I now in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) “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) “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25) If you want to learn more about what God says you must DO, then read, and study the “DO LIST”.