Tag Archive for: Heb 12 Series

Which is your greater reality? What you experience with your natural senses; or what God has promised?

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched …
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem …

Heb 12:18a/22a

Scripture (1 Cor 2:14 – 3:4) identifies three categories of man (where man refers to both male and female):

• Natural man – devoid of the indwelling Spirit of God, reliant on the senses (“touch”, see, etc) to make decisions, and for whom heavenly authority is foolishness;
• Spiritual man – has the Spirit of God dwelling in his body, makes his decisions based on the Word of God; this is a son of God who is mature;
• Carnal or fleshly man – has received the Spirit of God, but is immature – “a babe”; he is not actively putting to death the old nature in favour of the promises of the Word of God; although a son of God, he is not able, at this stage, to represent his invisible heavenly Father on the earth.

The idea of being a son or child of God should not be thought of as the “the soft, nice guy who does what is right”! A son is a descendent, one who has come from his father; although independent from his father, has his father’s DNA; has unique access to his father and his resources; is expected to grow up and mature and be like his father. The same is true of being a son of God.

For those who have received the promise – the result of which is the legal right to be called a son of God, they also have a promise of citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem. This position was paid for by Christ and we can enter into this position the moment we believe. Heaven is available as our primary address – the place from where we live our lives. Heaven is not reserved for you for after your physical death, although it will be fully revealed then.  Heaven is referred to as the “city” of God, because it has structure, systems and is functional like a city. As a believer, you have a place and authority in this heavenly structure. These promises can become your reality as soon as you decide to make them your reality. This is the conscious action of believing.

True spiritual reality based on belief is different to wishful thinking: the difference is the validity of the promise upon which the belief is based. The test for true spiritual promises is that their reality will be eternal. Many people believe many promises from many sources, but they will not hold true for eternity. The Word of God is the expression that comes out of Father God Himself; the Word is eternal and is the only true basis for a sustainable belief system that will transform you and the world around you. Your conscious acting out of eternal promises of the Word of God will make the invisible God a reality on earth – now.

The test for the basis of your belief is that you can hold God accountable for His Word to you. His Word can come to you directly, or through the record of his Word in the Scripture, or through nature, or through another person, but His Word is always consistent with His nature as described in the Scriptures. If you can stand in the courts heaven, before the judge of all the earth and be confident that this is His Word, then you can make that promise a reality in your being, even though you cannot see or touch that reality with your natural senses.

This is our part in the prayer “let your kingdom (authority/rule) come on earth as it is in heaven”. It’s time to be the “spiritual man”, the mature son, the one who can say with Jesus: if you have seen me, you have seen my Father. This is reality.

Please use the comments below to engage.

References from the King James Version:

1. 1 Cor 2:14 – 3:4