Brian Williams is the author of The Inheritance: A Novel. His novel was a finalist in Creation House's 2013 fiction writing contest. You can read Brian's blog at www.GoodReads.com\BrianWilliams
Before I show you what's actually IN God's eyes, I'd like to show you an astonishing scripture regarding the urgent activity of His eyes. There are numerous verses of scripture that refer to God's eyes, but one, in particular, I'd like to look at together, for now, is OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) , which tells us that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong to them whose hearts are perfect toward Him.
From this passage of scripture, not only do we see that God has eyes, but we learn also that His eyes are constantly running, indicating a sense of urgency; this fact alone is worth our pondering. Even more magnificent though is the REASON that His eyes are constantly running. His eyes are constantly running throughout the whole earth because He desires to show Himself strong. This is great news for the weak, poor, powerless, and needy!
With this in mind, let's take a look at Genesis 6, where scripture tells us that God "looked" upon the earth in the days of Noah and beheld that it (and "all flesh") was corrupt ( ). According to the American Heritage College Dictionary, one of the definitions for corrupt is, "to change the original form of".
In the days of Noah, much had changed from God's original design. Not only had the majority of people on the earth bred with Nephilim, which was totally against God's original design, but mankind as a whole lived in selfish independence from God. It goes without saying that wherever selfishness reigns, corruption always follows.
So, in the days of Noah when God looked upon the earth, He saw a planet filled with corrupt people who were all about self - much like today, right?
They lived to please self.
They lived to pleasure self.
They lived to serve self.
They lived to worship self.
They only looked to self.
But not Noah; he looked to God. Noah didn't look to self. In the midst of all the selfishness and corruption in the earth, Noah looked to God. How do I know? Because the Bible tells us what Noah "found" when he looked to God:
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." – KJV
When Noah looked to God, he "found grace" in God's eyes.
So, what's that in God's eyes? It's grace!
In the days of Noah, the grace of God was ultimately manifested as an ark. All who entered into the ark by faith (Noah and his family) were saved from the wrath of God. Today, the grace of God is manifested, this time as a Person; His very own Son, Jesus Christ. All who enter into Him by faith are saved from the imminent wrath of God.
Let's not look to ourselves like the corrupt people of Noah's day; let's look to God, like Noah did, and find grace in the eyes of the Lord.
"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all." – KJV
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) tells us why the children of Israel did not enter into the promised land. Their problem was the same thing that keeps children of God today from enjoying the full benefits of their salvation: unbelief.
I point this out not to condemn; rather, my desire is to see the children of God fully possess all of their benefits in Christ.
Hebrews 4 begins with a sober warning. The very first verse tells us to fear coming short of entering into His rest. In an analogous sense, this hearkens back to the days of the ancient Israelites, to whom God promised a land flowing with milk and honey; a land with homes already built and awaiting their occupancy; a land with large water wells already dug for them; a land of extraordinary vegetation; and the list goes on and on. All they had to do was to go in and rest in the "finished work".
According to , these "…works were finished from the foundation of the world." It was always God's will to lavish the Israelites with this finished work, but as makes clear, they did not enter in because of unbelief.
In a far grander manner, tells us that Jesus, the Lamb, was slain from the foundation of the world. It has always been the Father's will for born-again Christians to rest in the finished work of His Son, Jesus, the Lamb. Tragically, like the Israelites of old, many of God's children today never fully enter into this blessed rest of the Son's finished work because of their unbelief.
I'm referring here to Christians who don't believe that the Lord still heals today and to Christians who don't believe that all of the gifts of the Spirit are valid for today. Essentially, I'm lovingly referring to Christians who don't understand that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore; and to beloved Christians who don't understand that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance ( ).
We have an amazing salvation folks! tells us that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The word for "salvation" in the original Greek text is closely related to the Greek word "sozo", which includes being saved, rescued, delivered, healed, and much more!
The gospel of Christ is a glorious gospel of grace wherein the power of God is available to you in whatever area of your life you are willing to believe for. Now that's AMAZING GRACE! If you're only willing to believe for being saved from hell, then be it unto you according to your faith. But know this, the Lord wants you to experience so much more. Take a look at Psalm 103, where the psalmist enumerates some of the glorious benefits of the child of God. The psalmist advises us to "…forget not all His benefits".
Likewise, tells us that a rest remains today for the people of God. Verse 11 even tells us to labor to enter into that rest. Then, immediately in the Holy Spirit informs us that the Word of God is quick, powerful, sharp, and piercing. The placement of this verse (right after verse 11) is absolutely deliberate because the Word of God is the antidote that utterly destroys the unbelief that will keep you from entering into and resting in the finished work of Jesus.
Don't be destroyed for a lack of knowledge ( ). Fully believe that it is always God's will for you to be healed, prospered, delivered, favored, and blessed beyond measure. It's all in His finished work for you. Just believe and receive.
"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all." –
Copyright 2013 Brian Williams. Used by permission.
In OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) , the Holy Spirit tells us:
"And to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (KJV)
In this verse, the Holy Spirit places certain emphasis on the fact that the seed indicated here is singular, not plural. The promises that God made to Abraham were to him and his Seed; again, the reference here is to a singular seed, not in the plural sense. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is this singular seed.
Abraham and his Seed, Christ, are blessed beyond measure. In fact, in , the Holy Spirit expounds the promises and says that Abraham and his Seed, Christ, are heirs of the world!
So, what does this have to do with you and me? Well, tells us:
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (KJV)
Did you catch that? We’ve been baptized INTO Christ, the Seed. Not only that, we’ve put Christ ON also. And to drive home the point even more, verse 29 tells us:
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (KJV)
Here, the Holy Spirit is making sure that we understand that in Christ we have BECOME one with the Seed of Abraham through faith in Christ; what’s true of the Seed, is true of us.
We are IN the Seed!
The Seed is IN us!
The Seed is UPON us!
WE’VE BECOME ONE WITH THE SEED!
Truly, this is a gospel that just gets better and better.
tells us, among other things:
“…as He [Jesus] is, so are we in this world.” (KJV)
This is precisely why we can, as Christ promised:
“... lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:18 (KJV)
Absolutely nothing is impossible for Christ, and we are one with Him! All of His power is in us and upon us.
In , Jesus said:
“Verily verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (KJV)
Please don’t let misinformed people convince you that these words of Jesus were only applicable to the brothers and sisters that stood before Him that day when He made this glorious announcement. Jesus made it clear when He declared this proclamation that WHOEVER believes in Him would be empowered to do mighty things in His kingdom (also see ). It's all for His glory.
You and I are one with Him through faith. The most magnificent thing in the world that could ever happen, has actually happened. Praise God for loving us so much.
May He heal someone through your hands and mine today. Let’s agree together for healing miracles galore in Jesus' name that lead the unsaved to Him and encourages those who are already in His kingdom to greater manifestations of faith. He is still compassionate, healing Jesus.
“Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all.” (KJV)
Copyright © 2013 Brian Williams. Used by permission.
In
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
, the Holy Spirit says that the righteous are as bold as a lion. To the degree that you are established in Christ’s righteousness, you will manifest boldness as bold as a lion. In
, the Holy Spirit tells us, “In righteousness you shall be established. You shall be far from oppression; for you shall not fear. And from terror, for it shall not come near you.”
These are some awesome promises for the person who is established in Christ’s righteousness:
1. You shall be far from oppression.
2. You shall not fear.
3. You won’t experience terror.
4. These things shall not even come near you!
Since being established in righteousness produces such liberation, it would behoove us to have a revelation of what it means to be “established” in righteousness, and particularly whose righteousness we are to be established in.
Do you remember when you were a child learning to tie your shoelaces? If you were like me, it was a frustrating learning experience initially. It seems like it took me forever to learn how to form the little loop with the shoelace, encircle the loop with the other end of the shoelace, feed the shoelace through the little loop, and form another loop with the lace, before finally tying it all together all nice and neat. It was a while before I could perform this then-complex operation effortlessly.
Now, several years later, I’m able to tie my shoes almost unconsciously. I’m fully “established” in tying my shoes now, with little to no effort.
Likewise, when we are established in righteousness by faith in Christ, our response to the enemy’s condemnation and accusations will be automatic and unconscious; we will boldly declare that we are righteous in Christ when the devil strikes with his tireless accusations. This is our glorious heritage. Refer again to Isaiah 54, this time zooming in on verse 17, where the Holy Spirit says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
It’s clear in this verse why no weapon that forms against us will prosper. It’s because of the righteousness of the Lord! Christ's righteousness has been imputed unto us by grace through faith. The Holy Spirit calls this our heritage. Praise God! Truly, whom the Son sets free, is free indeed!
The enemy cannot condemn you if you are established in Christ’s righteousness. Condemnation is the only weapon that the devil really has. But since Christ has blotted out “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us” and nailed it to His cross, He has effectively disarmed the devil—the accuser—and given us the victory over him (see
).
Until you get this revelation, the enemy will use God’s law, which is perfect, to condemn you. He does this to make the believer sin-conscious, because whenever sin-consciousness reigns in the life of the believer, symptoms of the curse manifest (though Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the law – Galatians 3); whenever righteousness-consciousness (i.e. Christ-consciousness) reigns in the life of the believer, the blessings of Abraham manifest.
Sin-consciousness actually strengthens sin in your life; righteousness-consciousness (Christ-consciousness) rouses holiness in your life.
Know this, Christ has already been condemned in our place. This by no means gives us a license to sin. In fact, in
, the Holy Spirit shows us the danger of the believer (i.e. pretender) who tramples upon God’s grace and lives a life of blatant sin. Living in such a manner will make you incapable of “holding faith” because of the bad conscience that ultimately results. Such is the deceitfulness of sin (
).
Beloved brothers and sisters, if you are established in Christ’s righteousness by faith, then no weapon that forms against you will prosper. You will be as bold as a lion. You will reject the accuser’s accusations and effortlessly flourish in the Spirit. In contrast, if you are attempting to stand in self-righteousness, which are as filthy rags before the Lord, beware, because weapons formed against the person who stubbornly stands in self-righteousness always prosper.
Declare daily that you are the righteousness of God in Christ (
,
). As you faithfully do so, the new you in Christ emerges from within more and more until this glorious truth is firmly established in you (
).
“Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.” –
