Without God revealing Himself to fallen man of Him or about Him even for the believer who has dropped all predisposition to accept Christ – the only One who revealed God,
No one ever before gazed upon the full splendor of God except his uniquely beloved Son, who is cherished by the Father and held close to his heart. Now that he has come to us, he has unfolded the full explanation of who God truly is! John 1:18 (TPT)
there has to be a hunger for more of Him, as Apostle Paul cried in Philippians 3:10,11
And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of his resurrection working in me. I will be one with him in his sufferings and become like him in his death. Only then will I be able to experience complete oneness with him in his resurrection from the realm of death. Philippians 3:10-11 (TPT)
Our text for today throws in a dimension hitherto unappreciated concerning the foundation or underlying construct of the church as conceived by the Lord.
When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples this question: “What are the people saying about me, the Son of Man? Who do they believe I am?”
They answered, “Some are convinced you are John the Baptizer, others say you are Elijah reincarnated, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
“But you—who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked.
Simon Peter spoke up and said, “You are the Anointed One, the Son of the living God!”
Jesus replied, “You are favored and privileged Simeon, son of Jonah! For you didn’t discover this on your own, but my Father in heaven has supernaturally revealed it to you. I give you the name Peter, a stone. And this rock will be the bedrock foundation on which I will build my church—my legislative assembly, and the power of death will not be able to overpower it! I will give you the keys of heaven’s kingdom realm to forbid on earth that which is forbidden in heaven, and to release on earth that which is released in heaven.” He then gave his disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Matthew 16:13-20 (TPT)
The dual components expressed by the Lord regarding the building of His church and legislative assembly are:
- the revelation of who God is, AND
- our knowledge of who we are as defined by Him.
We may know God, but until we know who we are in Him, we cannot be effective in being legislators to enforce His will! Dunsin Oyekan’s song To Know You captures the essence of our reference scripture. The words state “Just one passion, one purpose, To know you more and more, When I know you, I’ll find me.” Until we realise this and live this understanding, Ephesians 3:9-10 will not be fulfilled!
My passion is to enlighten every person to this divine mystery. It was hidden for ages past until now, and kept a secret in the heart of God, the Creator of all. The purpose of this was to unveil before every throne and rank of angelic orders in the heavenly realm God’s full and diverse wisdom revealed through the church. Ephesians 3:10-11 (TPT)
It’s a time of renewal, to ask the Spirit of the living God to fall afresh upon us, that we may know the things freely given to us to rule in these times (1 Cor. 2:10-16). Selah.
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