Have you ever considered just how many promises, instructions, etc. are in the past tense in scripture? This thought led me to – how many times do we go to the Lord for what we already have!?! All that’s necessary for us to do is to act on what we’ve already been given! The problem lies with our not knowing what God’s Word has told us. We need to be in His Word to know His Word.
Three examples: Ephesians 1:3-8. 11-14
“Blessed and worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ, just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will— to the praise of His glorious grace and favor, which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [His Son, Jesus Christ]. (3-6)
In Him also we have received an inheritance [a destiny – we were claimed by God as His own], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him as our Lord and Savior] would exist to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]. The Spirit is the guarantee (the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own [purchased] possession [His believers], to the praise of His glory.” (11-14)
“And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior].” (1 Corinthians 6:11, AMP)
Past tense. Chosen/BEFORE the foundation of the world/WOULD be holy, consecrated/ Predestined/Planned/Adopted/Bestowed/HAVE received/Claimed/Stamped/Promised/ Purchased/ Have received/Washed/Sanctified/ Justified….I could have used other scriptures to make my point but I chose these 3. They all speak to what WAS done prior to the Lord’s work in this world. If nothing else, this should indicate just how important you/we are to the Lord that He provided a way for the reestablishment of relationship. This was never an after thought, it was always the reason, the purpose – to redeem us from death and to restore us through our acceptance of His Son, Jesus, as our Lord.
Look again at all of the past tense words: all was in place, all was readied so that we would be able to see our importance that the Creator of the Universe would willingly sacrifice His only Son for our redemption. Do we see this? Do we act on this by making His Son our Savior? Do we continue to grow in who we now are? If everything has been provided, why aren’t we walking in the abundance?
The answer is not simple and it is as individual as we are: not understanding, our feelings that we don’t deserve, our lack of belief, etc. But these all are lies! Can we not see the manipulation by the devil to keep the Father God’s creation from being, doing – walking in all that we can? Actually… this should make us hopping mad that we allowed ourselves to be so duped. But we don’t have to live in this, we can dismiss and grind under our feet these lies. Remember the scripture that tells us to resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7).
Now is the time to refute the lies and to discover all that has been prepared for us. It’s there but it is up to us to accept the gift of life given to us by Jesus, who purchased with His life, everything. When you do, you will discover that though you came ‘just as you are’, the Lord wanted you to grow in everything that’s been prepared for you. In scripture we have all we need to grow, to understand that now we have a family, a vision, a mission, a plan for fruitfulness and fulfillment. And it has always been waiting for our acceptance… it’s all past tense and never an afterthought.
