Power EncountersPDF Download
By Dr. Francis J. Sizer
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Ephesians 1:3-5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5
My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you. Galatians 4:19 AMP
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Hebrews 4:9
A friend recently told me that she felt she wasn't moving forward or going higher in her spiritual walk with the Lord. She said the Lord spoke to her, and told her that she didn't need to go forward or higher, but that instead she needed to go back.
When she shared this with me, the immediate question in my mind was back to what or back to where? As soon as I had almost unconsciously entertained this question, the answer became clear.
Back to before the beginning, in the posture of an eternal existence, when everything that is playing out in a time/space world was already finished and complete.
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Isaiah 46:9-10
Seeing from the Eternal Perspective
In eternity there is no past, present or future. Eternity is an ever present now. Before we were conceived, God knew us. We already existed. And because we had not yet entered the time/space world where mankind has inherited the fallen nature of the first Adam, we were sinless.
By entering the time/space world when a flash of light, which is scientifically referred to as conception, placed us in our mother's womb, we then began the process of being perfected; of growing physically until we could survive outside the womb, of growing to adulthood, all the while experiencing the process of being perfected, until eventually reaching the sinless state that was our existence before the foundation of the world.
There is a remnant of believers today who are getting a glimpse of this end from the beginning, seeing more and more from the eternal perspective instead of the time/space perspective. In essence we are going back to our sinless existence before we began this process of being perfected.
We are beginning to see ourselves as God saw us before the foundation of the world, and in doing so are finding a place of rest, where we no longer strive to become like God, but rather realize that in a very real sense, we are already like God, even though on the timeline of history as our lives play out in a time/space world, we don't look like it.
To cease striving and find this place of rest is to trust God completely with the outcome of our lives. Some might think this gives us a license to sin, but I beg to differ. Instead, it puts the outcome of our existence entirely on God, who saw our end before our beginning in a time/space world, because He knew us before the beginning.
To fully embrace this reality, we must realize that God not only saw us before the beginning, we existed before the beginning.
We are becoming who we were, and by trusting God enough to get us to our destination, we will at some time arrive at our destination. And in our process of journeying into perfection individually, we of this remnant are becoming the firstfruits of the entire Body of Christ being perfected, which will ultimately bring about the restitution of all things (see Acts 3:21).
While this must play out in a time/space world on a timeline of history, we must realize that it can only play out as a people discover and experience the destiny God planned for His creation before creation came into a physical existence, when everything that is existed in eternity, which cannot be changed by the failures of mankind or a devil who is an agent of destruction.
To see from this eternal perspective is to rest in the reality of it.
Ultimately, absolutely, and surely we were born for such a time as this!
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted an grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21
Lanny Swaim
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