EPISODE 524 – YOU ARE SEATED IN GLORY 3

YOU ARE SEATED IN GLORY 3

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus 

Ephesians 2:6 (KJV)

When God made man, the first day man saw was His rest.

The final work of God in His creation was man on the sixth day. (Genesis 1:24-31).
The beginning of man’s day after He was made was the seventh day.

God finished all His work on the seventh day and rested.

Man didn’t meet God working. Man met God in rest.

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3 (NKJV)

Man’s work is what God has done. Which means whatever man was designed for must be done in REST. Man was to live his days in rest.

Yes, God made man to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and to subdue it, to have dominion and to till the ground and tend the earth. However, all these were to be done in REST.

To come into rest is to work from what God has finished. For God to rest means He is satisfied. Thus to be in the rest of God is to dwell in God’s satisfaction.

God’s glory is seen in you when you enjoy His satisfaction.
To come into rest is to come to the place of communion, intimacy and a deep relationship with God.

God didn’t intend that His relationship with man would be based on works and religious efforts unto righteousness.

God made man to have a relationship with him (man) based on who He (God) is and not based on man’s self-generated effort.

God made man and brought him into the abundance of His provision. Man was to enjoy, care and express all that the Lord supplied.

When man fell from glory (Romans 3:23), man also fell from rest.

Man who was to enjoy communion with God in rest must now attempt to use self-effort to connect to God.

God is so loving, beloved. Even after man’s fall, God began to work His saving plan to bring man into His complete rest. (Genesis 3:15,21)

All through the scriptures, you will find God walking man through His plan.

The idea of the animal sacrifices in the Tabernacle and the temple was to teach man how He (the Lord) is ushering man into His rest.

In the old covenant, worshippers of God found peace and felt whole after they had offered a sacrifice. And most of all when the High Priest had presented the blood of an unblemished lamb on the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place.

They had to offer regular daily sacrifices (Numbers 28:1-8), weekly sacrifices during the sabbath (Numbers 28:9-10), monthly sacrifices every first day of the month (Numbers 28:11-15), then the yearly Passover celebration sacrifices, the thin bread and annual harvest sacrifices (Numbers 28:16-31).

These sacrifices were to bring them into daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rest and peace with God.

You can imagine how the High Priest and the Priests have to work daily. This isn’t a one-time thing. They offer sacrifices every day of the whole year, morning and evening.

The High Priest is daily standing to offer sacrifices.

However, that is not our testimony in the New Testament. In Christ, our High Priest is seated once and for all. To be seated means He has finished His work and has entered His rest.

“Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:11-14 (NLT)