In the previous chapter we wrote about the great Divine plan to answer man's rebellion (sin). God did not accept the religious answer that Adam and Eve attempted to provide to their new condition of separation from the life of God. They acted out their new fallen nature in shame, blame and religion. God provided His plan, a new blood covenant, the blood transfer from Himself to his fallen creature in order to secure and re-institute oneness and inter-union of natures, by blood.
We as humans often feel that our life began when we were born. Wrong! When we were born we had already inherited our nature. We had inherited natural things, like personality, disposition, hair color, eye color, appearances, etc. We also had inherited spiritual things like blessings and curses. Therefore, our life really began with an inheritance about which we had absolutely no choice. So much of our destiny in life existed before we did.
We inherited grace with God.
What is grace? Grace with God simply means that God provides His Holy Spirit in you, the New Creation race, so that He may perform those things and provide those things for you and through you that your old Adamic nature could not have provided or performed. Grace is simply Jesus living His life in you through the Holy Spirit.
Grace by inheritance means that the provision of this grace was simply something that we obtained by inheritance, not by any works or qualifications of our own.
The Law makes demands, but Grace supplies the power.
The grace, or free gift, of being connected to our Creator by blood covenant existed in eternity. It was God's original plan!
When did God accomplish the blood covenant transfer? God had the solution accomplished even before the problem occurred.
Revelation 13:8 says, "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
1 Corinthians 2:7-8 says, "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
In a way the rulers of this age had no choice. Although God did not violate their free choice in crucifying Jesus, what they carried out was ordained and ordered before the angels; demons and Satan were ever created. They thought they had control but they were really puppets in the hand of a mighty God!
God is always ahead of Satan and ahead of us. In God's mind, in the files of eternal history, Jesus had already taken Adam's place as the one disconnected from God. That is why God covered Adam and Eve with coats of a slain animal, with blood. The blood represented the blood covenant, which reconnects disconnected man with God.
What does everlasting mean?
"Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting [aioniov], covenant" (Hebrews 13:20).
The word everlasting (aioniov) does not mean that it will last now and forever. It means eternal, which is without beginning or end, something that always existed, outside of time.
Allow me to use my imagination a bit to help us see this idea. I do admit that it is impossible for a time creature to describe what goes on in eternity, but this is as close as I can get.
Back before time, Satan rebelled and took one third of the angels with him. God may have had a conference within the Trinity that went like this:
"My beloved let Us talk. Lucifer has rebelled and has taken on evil. He has attracted many angels to join his rebellion. You all know that we have plans to create a race called Adam, or man, from the dust of a planet we are going to create called Earth. Spirit, you will dwell inside of man. Man will have a free volition (will), however, to choose to be part of us. We will do all we can to attract man with our love.
However, man will be vulnerable to Satan. Satan is going to tempt Adam to rebel and Adam will go for it. Therefore, we need to also create a second race of people even before we create Adam. We will call this second race the New Creation. Son, this is going to cost you all. Are you willing? "
"Father, I understand that this new race will, by requirement, need to be connected by a blood covenant, that I Myself will need to become a man and dwell on Earth. I understand that I must walk the trench of blood shed on behalf of Adam and Adam's descendents because the Adam race is not able to keep the covenant with Us. Father, I understand that this must, by necessity, be My blood. Father, I will do that."
"Son, I therefore declare you crucified before the foundation of the world. You must suffer much. I am sorry, but there is no other way. You know that in order to fulfill everything for this New Creation race, I must also forsake You, turn my back on You."
"Father, that will be more pain than any being will ever suffer, but because of our love Father, let it be."
I needed to express the above conversation in terms of a time-oriented person. However we should know that God is not restricted by time. He does not "know things before they happen." The word before would infer time. He experiences the past, present and future simultaneously!
Therefore two races existed when Adam was created, Adam and the New Creation. Remember, Jesus is called the Last Adam.
We need to comprehend that God knows our future before it happens. He knows the end from the beginning. It is a fearful thing to be in union with such a Being!
Romans 5:20 has an interesting insight into this idea. "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (Romans 5:20).
The first word "abounded" means to strike like an arrow, but the next word "abounded" means that grace was there ahead of time.
In your life, when sin strikes you, when challenges seem to overwhelm you, remember, God's grace was there ahead of time. His grace is there to catch you, to turn the evil into a blessing!
Isaiah 65:24 says, "It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear."
It is again stated in Hebrews 9:14 that our blood covenant existed before man was created. "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Our new blood union is through the blood of the everlasting covenant, the eternal covenant with the I AM, the Eternal Being. It is a gift that has an incalculable value!
It can be difficult to believe that you have inherited the nature of the I AM, the Creator God! Most Christians struggle with this amazing fact. They just cannot believe the truth, that we really do have His nature in us, that we are really reborn creatures through the blood covenant. What is even more difficult is that the I AM became one of us, a limited-time being (Philippians 2:8).
You have a birth certificate registering your new birth.
Psalm 87 compares the natural birth represented by Philistia and
Psalm 87:5-6 says, "And of
"Grace by inheritance" can be expressed by comparing your natural birth by your natural parents. If you received great intelligence, or excellent health, or perhaps a financial inheritance, that is considered grace. You actually had nothing to do with it. It was inherited from the progenitor of your race. You did not earn it, nor did you work for it. On the other hand, if you inherited some curse from your natural parents, in the same way that did not come to you by your own efforts or sin. However, you now have a new progenitor, a new inheritance. How? You have been given a blood covenant as an inheritance to accept or refuse.
God the Father is now the progenitor of a new race, a resurrected race.
What does "Father" really mean? W.E. Vine Bible Dictionary defines the Greek word "Father" as "Pater," from a root signifying a nourisher, protector, upholder, the nearest ancestor, the progenitor of the race of people; the originator of a family or company of persons animated by the same spirit as himself. Regeneration is from two words: "palin" means again, and "genesis" means birth. Palingenis or regeneration, is actually changing who your Father is.
W.E. Vine Bible Dictionary also defines the word "Abba" as an Aramaic word used by infants to call their daddy. It betokens unreasoning trust, while "Father" or "Pater" expresses an intelligent apprehension of the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child.
When the new birth happened in your life, your progenitor changed from Adam to God. Therefore you inherit all things from Him. That is grace!
Titus 3:5 says, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." You were regenerated therefore you have a new inheritance. That is grace!
However, with your new Father your interunion through the new blood covenant is with an unequal. Although we were made in God's image, He is the I AM, and we are time creatures, trapped as it were in a short breath of time. Adam and Eve were reduced, through sin, to time creatures. We inherited that nature.
Adam and Eve had a solution already in place before they sinned. So did you! That is grace!
Adam and Eve lost the right to the Tree of Life. They were ousted from the Garden. "So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). But they received the promise and the shadow of a new inheritance, a new grace, and the possibility of a new birth, a second birth experience (Genesis 3:14-15,21).
There is what seems to be a paradox to this idea of grace.
Unlike your first, natural birth, you must respond to this spiritual birth that you inherit by grace. First, you must decide to accept and receive it. Then, you must do something to nurture it in order to see your new nature mature. You will be learning to maximize God's covenant in your life by renewing your mind to covenant thinking.
Now it is your choice. You have the possibility of a great inheritance, a great gift of and by grace, which you could not earn, nor do you deserve. However, you must respond in a covenant way! This is where too many people miss it. Not only do you need to respond in a blood covenant way, you must also engage in spiritual warfare against the demons under Satan whose goal it is go steal your inheritance.
There are some conditions for receiving this great "free" inheritance.
Jonah 2:8-10 (Amplified) says, "I went down to the bottoms and the very roots of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Yet You have brought up my life from the pit and corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted upon me [crushing me], I earnestly and seriously remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. Those who pay regard to false, useless, and worthless idols forsake their own [Source of] mercy and loving-kindness. But as for me, I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation and deliverance belong to the Lord! And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."
Jonah gave up his worthless idols when he was crushed. Then his trust went to the Lord, and then he was marvelously delivered with mercy and grace. The fish spat Jonah exactly where he belonged. He obtained a free ticket by grace and landed into God's purpose.
Psalm 32:10 also confirms this principle. It says, "Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on the Lord [as opposed to idols] shall be compassed about with mercy and with loving-kindness."
We may have an inheritance legally, but we must fight for it experientially.
Joshua 1:2, 3,5 says,
“2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them--the children of
3 “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.”
“5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Notice what God told Joshua. First He said I am giving, and then He said I have given. It was a done deal, past tense. God had given them the
Romans 8:16, 17 states that we indeed are children who are joint heirs with Christ. We are heirs and therefore we have an inheritance coming. However in this passage of Scripture it is clear that we are only joint heirs if we suffer with Him. I submit that means, like it did to Joshua, warfare.
“16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
The word suffer means to feel pain, to experience troubles and persecution.
Grace applied to Jacob.
In Genesis chapter 32 Jacob knew he had to confront his brother Esau who, according to history, had a determination to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41). In this chapter it tells how Jacob attempted to bribe Esau with a huge financial gift consisting of many possessions.
However, as told in Genesis 32:24-32, Jacob had an encounter with God. Jacob wrestled with God until daybreak, and would not release Him until he received a blessing. The blessing came in the form of God touching Jacob's thigh, the strongest part of human flesh. That touch put Jacob's thigh out of joint for the rest of his life. This is where God renamed Jacob to
This is a picture of God's great desire to bless us by "breaking our flesh," or our old Adamic nature, so that He may prevail in our lives. If grace is God living in us, then often times grace is increased by our old nature being decreased. We need more of Him and less of us.
Next time you experience a "breaking" in your life, give praise to God like Jacob did, do not let go of Him not matter what, and you will experience an increased presence of God in your life manifested to others.
It is interesting to note that when Jacob, now Israel, really did encounter Esau as told in Genesis chapter 33, that Esau did not want Jacob's bribes, but rather expressed a great love for him. Do you suppose that that change in Esau's attitude towards Jacob had to do with God's grace being so manifested in Jacob that Esau was overcome by the presence of God? I do.
One major motivation for God giving you grace is that He wants to have close fellowship with you.
He wants His love and your love to find expression with one another. This is an "ache" in the heart of our Father God. Without grace God could not express His love for you nor could you express your love for Him.
Love Satisfied!
Ephesians 2:4-10 (Amplified Bible) expresses it well:
4 But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved ([delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).
6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us [joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
7 He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
10 For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), (recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Now, you need to respond to the blood covenant by pursuing a relationship with Jesus. That personal living touch with Jesus is the only way you will prevail in warfare and experience the inheritance.
God is not asking you, by your own will, to overcome the challenges in life, but He is inviting you to discipline your life to relate to Him and get to know Him. His power will work if you do. That is grace! However you must receive the grace by exercising relationship disciplines with God. You are already connected with Him. Legally you already have your inheritance, but experientially you must realize them through being in vital and authentic contact with God. Exercising your relationship with Him will bring the actual realization of your inheritance to you.
Relationship Disciplines and Skills.
God is inviting you to discipline your life to relate to Him and get to know Him. This is how the blood covenant blessings flow into your life:
1. Make a firm decision to pursue the relationship. Offer yourself completely to God (Romans 12:1-2). This is our blood covenant response to a mighty blood covenant offered to us by God.
2. Take time to listen. You must take in His Word. Words are blood covenant containers. You must always be in a disciplined Bible study of some kind. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you.
3. Take time to talk: Speak your words. Some people write down their thoughts and feelings in a journal, which can be very valuable. Be gut level honest. Honesty with your blood covenant partner Jesus will cause your sin to go on Him. You cannot and will not overcome any bondage without this gut level honesty.
4. Take time to talk. Speak His Words. Read Psalms and Proverbs by the day. One discipline is to read aloud five Psalms every morning. Use the system of the calendar. As an example, on the 24th of the month read Psalms 24, 54, 84, 114 and 144. Also read Proverb 24. In this system the student will read all Psalms and Proverbs every month. Using this system renews the mind, speaks the Word to Satan, and allows the suffering believer to relate his/her emotions to the Psalmist's. Provisions can be made for months with 31 days, and for Psalm 119. God may lead you to other Scriptures to read out loud as you progress, but this is a good start, and can be a continued blessing for the rest of your life.
5. Obey God. Ask God to give you something simple, something small every day that you may obey. It may be just encouraging another. It may be not driving down the same street that fed your addiction. It may be confessing your sin to Him.
This is a big thing!
John 14:21-23 says that when we obey His Word that He will reveal more and more of Himself to us. Once you have "seen" Jesus, your relationship with Him will no longer be a discipline, but it will be a passionate pursuit. The apostle Paul had this passion when he said in Philippians 3:10, "[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]."
6. Communion. Take communion on a regular basis. Many people take it daily.
7. Stay in fellowship. It is important to be in fellowship with strong Bible believing, Spirit filled believers, for refreshing and encouragement.
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