Alive!

Genesis 2 : 4 - 7, This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 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 being. NKJV

In John 10: 10, Jesus said that He came to give us life and that more abundantly. It was, and it still is, God’s intention for His children to be blessed in every area of our lives. Both Paul and Peter declared in their epistles that we, who have been born again by the incorruptible Seed of God’s Word, are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ. Nevertheless, most do not know or haven’t received the riches of God in Christ Jesus because they lack the knowledge of truth.

Jesus teaches us in John 6 that if we don’t eat His flesh and drink His blood, we won’t have life. However, if we partake of His flesh and drink His blood, we will have life. Jesus isn’t literally speaking of eating His flesh. Nonetheless, He gives us this illustration to show that we must be more than just hearers of the Word of God, if we desire to receive spiritual nourishment from it. The Lord wants us to become partakers of His Word so that we can receive His life. Those who live by the lusts of the flesh will perish, but those who live by and through the Word of God shall live forever. Consequently, we must get into the Word of life and hide it in our hearts so that we won’t transgress against it and then suffer death.

You may be wondering why I chose today’s scripture from Genesis 2 and what it has to do with what I’ve written thus far. You will notice that according to Moses’ time-line, when Adam was formed from the dust of the ground, God had not yet allowed any trees, shrubs, or vegetation to grow outside the Garden of Eden because it hadn’t rained and there was no man to till the ground. Imagine with me how desolate it must have seemed to Adam when he became a living being, opened his eyes for the first time, and saw nothing but dirt all around.

Let me reemphasize that there was nothing living outside the garden; therefore, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden in order for Man to have the things that were needful for him to continue to live. Why would God first bring man into a place where there was nothing to live off of and then place him in a small garden? It was a prophetic illustration of us (Christians) being in a world that is filled with sin and death; nevertheless, now, because of our faith, we have been placed in Christ, just as Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. Our very existence comes from being connected to Christ in the Spirit. We do this by living in the Word and keeping it hidden in our hearts.

Jesus tells us in John 16, “In this world we will have tribulations; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Why did He tell us this? If we should try to live according to this world’s ways, then we will have tribulations. Instead, we can rejoice while the world is in tribulation because we have been hidden in Christ; He has already overcome the world, and so have we, through our faith in Him.

In other words, God has already provided everything that we need in Christ; and we are to look to Him for our needs to be supplied. There is no need for us to go to the world seeking any need because the Lord has seen to it that we will have all our needs met according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Furthermore, God has promised us that if we delight ourselves in Him, He will even grant us the desires of our heart. Nevertheless, we must be very careful to guard our hearts so that we don’t give Satan a place, lest we open our hearts to destruction and decay as Adam and Eve did in the garden.

From the moment Adam and Eve turned their hearts against God and His commands, they began to experience spiritual separation, which is death. They were still physically alive, but they were disconnected from God’s life. Death slowly but certainly robbed them of every blessing that God had freely given to them while they were in the garden of provision. After they sinned, God drove them from the garden. They had to work hard with great sorrow after committing sin against the Lord. God was no longer the provider of their needs because they had made the decision to become “their own god”.

It’s time for the nations and all believers, who have known God and have experienced His goodness in their lives, but have turned away from Him, to return and live again. Jesus said that unless we abide in Him (His word), and He abides in us, we won’t have life or bear fruit. However, if we will abide in Him, and He in us, then we will abide in His life; we will bring forth much fruit, and our fruit will remain. Spiritual fruit doesn’t decay. God’s blessings don’t add sorrow to our lives. Let’s pray and ask the Lord to turn our hearts back to Him and His Word so that He can become “our God” once again. It is time for REVIVAL! We need to be revived by the truth of God’s Word and live again for Him, alone.

Alive In Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery