“…for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
Dear Ones:
There is a great difference between “profession” and “possession” in this life of faith. Profession is often an intellectual, or emotional, declaration of truth that one may know, but does not experience. It is as one Christian author said, “Truth is not mine until it becomes it becomes me.” Possession goes beyond profession in that it “appropriates” the blessing, the truth, and all associated with it. It “partakes,” abides, receives, in order to have as one’s own.
The testimony of God throughout Scripture is that He is the “Giver of every good and perfect gift.” The supreme example of this is the giving of His Son to die on Calvary to redeem us. We find in reading Scripture that God is ever blessing, rewarding, giving. How can love do otherwise? The words of the Apostle Paul sum up the matter so powerfully: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us ALL, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) So then, we see that in the sovereignty of God, in His wisdom, and the perfection of His Son’s work on Calvary, that He has “…blessed us with ALL spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3) If this is true, and it is, we must honestly ask ourselves the question: “How much of our profession of this truth is revealed in our possession of it? Are we actually “receiving by faith,” appropriating the Son of God as our Life by the Spirit?
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the Lord revealed Himself to him, declaring: “I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be perfect.” (Gen. 17:1) For Abraham to believe God for the impossible, he would need to see God as He is, the Almighty. In God’s revelation of Himself to Israel through the words of Isaiah, concerning the coming Messiah, the “Son, He would declare: “…and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the MIGHTY GOD, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6) Why in this manner did He declare it, and why these words? If Israel, and consequently all believers since the words were spoken, are to see His kingdom come and His will be done, in the face of that which is impossible, then all must see Him as the Almighty God. Do we see Christ as such, and believe Him?
If we are to possess Christ by faith, there is one other aspect of “receiving the reward” of faith. It has to do with the issue of grace. The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are to “…come boldly unto the throne of GRACE, that we may obtain mercy, and find Grace to help in time of need.” (4:16) Paul writes to the Corinthians, “…God is able to make ALL grace abound toward you; that ye, ALWAYS having ALL sufficiency in ALL things, may abound to every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8) If we are to appropriate Christ for every need, overcome every obstacle to faith, and “reign in life” by Christ, then we need to see God as the Almighty, for whom NOTHING is impossible. We need also to see and grasp the reality that He is WILLING, and WAITING, to give all that pertains to life and godliness, all that we need in Christ by His spirit, because of grace. He is ALWAYS gracious, never ceasing to be such. O, how this knowledge should motivate us to seek God, and find Him. Then our profession of Christ will be confirmed by the possessing of His life.
Dear Father, give us to see and understand that you are the Supreme, and Gracious Rewarder…of faith. For the one that comes to You, will in no wise be cast out. Open our eyes to see that You are indeed Almighty to do all that is in Thy heart, and willing at every moment to extend Your blessed hand of grace to us, to meet every need. O Lord Jesus, strengthen us to abide in Thee, KNOWING that You WILL abide in us. We praise and thank Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad