This Blog article is taken from content based on “It’s Over!” A series on Brilliant TV that is based around Graham’s landmark book, “The Nature of Freedom.” You can check out either of these by visiting those links.
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The Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are going to come through the front door of your life, sit down with you in your living space and talk to you about how THEY see Themselves in Their relationship with you.
It’s all about encountering THEIR way of perceiving and thinking about you and the world that you live in.
It’s about receiving from Them first… and discovering the delight they have in being with you in this devotional process.
So, the first thing we’re going to do is… relax.
This isn’t about you “doing” something. It’s about receiving the gift of who God is for you. The gift He’s giving you in this series is the gift of Himself.
It’s about coming to God as HE is, not as you are.
For this series, it’s essential that you lay aside a “study” mindset, and posture yourself to receive what God is initiating.
Take a deep breath. Be at peace. And listen to what God is saying to you in Revelation 13:8:
“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 earth.”
Hear God’s primary purpose with man in Genesis 1:26:
“Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
Read this first part of the letter He has written to you: “It’s Over… Something Got Finished Before You Started.” [in Chapter 1 of the book “The Nature of Freedom”].
“Before you were ever born…
“Before there was an earth or a universe or even light…
“Before you were ever born… your redemption was already completed.”
God initiated our salvation, a Way to be with Him in His Truth and His Life. Not only before we were born, but before the foundation of the earth.
Before time ever was, the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit planned and determined how they would make people in Their image. How they would create a way to be with Them, so we could behold what they are really like; and that as we continued to see the image of Them, we would become like them (2 Corinthians 3:18).
If we are to walk with God in the same fellowship as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then we must understand their vital purpose in relationship with mankind.
To be made in His image and likeness means to have the same nature, and to radiate it from the same source of inner Light from God: Christ IN you, our hope of glory.
The purpose of salvation is freedom. It is for freedom’s sake that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1).
The very core of the nature of God is the nature of Freedom.
But as a new believer, I was introduced to a sin-conscious culture where teaching revolved around the control of behavior and everyone had to be under authority. Freedom was not prized in that setting.
To many, freedom was seen as independence, leading to license and possible anarchy.
Rather than being discipled in freedom, we were taught how to perform as believers so that God could trust us.
We were taught the long, slow walk of obedience: 6 steps to a better prayer life; 4 ways to overcome the flesh; 8 stages of overcoming.
We were taught to focus on our performance in order to walk with God.
And do you know what all that led to?
It resulted in me “trying to get free” by my own self-effort, not realizing that in Jesus, I was free already!
Here’s the truth: from salvation forward, we were made free from being conformed to the image of this world, and we are now free to be made in HIS image. We are free to begin to see like Him, think like Him, and talk like Him in every circumstance and with everyone we encounter.
We’ll continue with this series in our next article. Thanks for joining us.
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The full teachings on Brilliant TV include a lot more transformative content, check it out! 😊
