“…much more, they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17
Dear Ones:
The Lord Jesus used the terms “much more,” several times in the gospels. One of those times was in speaking of the relationship of the Father in response to the prayer of His children. He begins in declaring with utter simplicity and profoundness: “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matt. 7:7) Now, it is one thing to obey this verse, to ask, seek, and knock. It is another to trust God for His “much more,” for he always does that which exceeds our expectations, the wonderful thing. Do we trust God in this manner, or do we settle for that which we can only understand or grasp? It is often in the “small things” that the Lord shows forth His glory the most when He answers our prayers. Christ was born in Bethlehem, in a stable. Can we get much more smaller than this? The second temple to be built in Jerusalem, after the deportation, was “as nothing” in comparison with the temple that Solomon built, and yet there would be a tremendous promise associated with it: “‘The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former,’ saith the Lord of hosts: ‘…and in this place will I give peace,’ saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 2:9) If God speaks to us of the “much more,” should we not trust Him for that which He desires to do, without putting limits on Him?
In Luke’s gospel, in the context again of a father’s relationship with his child, the Lord speaks of “much more.” He uses the illustration of a child who is hungry and asks for different kinds of food to relieve that hunger. The Lord draws a very sharp distinction between what an evil father would give to his child, and what the Heavenly Father would give. The difference between the two fathers is as vast as the difference between evil and good, hate and love, sin and righteousness. The evil father will only give that which is harmful to the child. The Heavenly Father will only give that which is good. In this case, God gives Himself to the child by giving him or her the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God. There are two aspects of this matter of “much more” that we need to consider. The first is the recognized readiness of the Heavenly Father to give to the child who asks. There is no indication that He will turn away, or deprive His child. On the contrary, the “much more” reveals the love that the Father has for his child, and His great desire to bless the child. Secondly, “much more” signifies that which is beyond what the child may “ask or think.” When Elisha requested of Elijah a double portion of his spirit, just before going to heaven, he did not know that he would see a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, come from heaven and separate the two of them. Nor did Elisha fully grasp all that a “double portion” of the spirit of Elijah meant. He would learn in part, as time and experience, would teach him. When Jesus told His disciples that He had come, “…that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly,” (Jn. 10:10) He was speaking of the very power of His resurrection, His victorious, eternal Life by the Spirit. It was the Father’s good pleasure, not only to give the kingdom of God to His children, Christ’s disciples, but in doing so, to give them His Life by the Spirit in abundance, the “much more.”
With regard to cleansing from sin, do we trust God by the Spirit today, to apply the precious blood of Christ in such measure and power so as to cleanse us from ALL sin? Are we trusting the Father to fill us with the Christ’s Spirit, abundantly meeting every need?
Dear Father, Give us to know the “much more” of Christ, for Thy glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad