The Daily Word of Righteousness

Man-centeredness, #5

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27, 28)

The holy declarations of the Lord God have governed human history, are governing human history today, and will continue to govern human history through to the coming down of the new Jerusalem to rest on the new earth. This is why it can be declared that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His eternal purpose in Christ (Romans 8:28).

Christ is the Amen of all of God's purpose. Our whole business in life is to add our total Amen to the Amen of Christ and to rest with the Lord Jesus as God brings all of Christ's enemies under His feet (Hebrews 10:13).

All that you and I are destined to become in being, in behavior, in relationships, and in role was brought to perfection in the mind of God before He created the heavens and the earth. Either we say Amen to God's Word and labor to enter God's rest, or else we destroy our destiny by striving according to our own will to determine our being, our behavior, our relationships, and our role in the Kingdom of God.

Either we rest with God or else we set out to create our own heavens, earth, and kingdom. That is the most significant of all the choices a human being makes.

It is easy to understand why entering the Amen of God would be such an issue in the church of the Laodiceans, the church of the rights of the people, of man-centeredness, and of primary emphasis on the welfare of people rather than on the will and eternal purpose of God and His Christ.

God, in timeless vision, already has completed His works from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. Now God is resting. Either we strive to enter the finished works of God or else we go forth to plan our own destiny. Faith in God brings us into His rest. Unbelief prevents us from entering His rest.

If we do not obey God and Christ we will not enter the place that has been prepared for us from the beginning, even though God's works have been finished from the creation of the world.

. . . As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; (Hebrews 3:14)

For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14)

If we would not be rejected with the majority we must enter fully into that which God has spoken concerning us.

To be continued.