Thursday, October 13, 2011

Life More Abundantly

I love it when God confirms His word! Read this! Chuck Pierce just released the following word on restoration:

By Chuck D. Pierce
Excess: the state or an instance of surpassing usual, proper, or specified limits. Let us open the door of “Excess” today as we move into Abundance like never before!

 What is it, then, that God is longing to restore to us? Simply put, He wants to restore life—the life that He destined for us. His primary method of restoration is through the redemptive work of Jesus. In order for us to have an adequate understanding of what life in Jesus means, let’s take a look at a familiar passage. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” This verse is full of tremendous promises and certainly bears the need for a closer look.

First, this passage promises “that they might have.” The “they” referred to in this passage becomes clear as we read the context. Jesus is speaking of Himself as the Good Shepherd and “they” are the sheep of His pasture. This passage, therefore, is written to include every one of us who are His sheep. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and follow Him as your Lord, the promises of this passage are for you.
“Might have” is a key phrase to the concept of possession. From the Greek word echo, “might have” includes the idea of having or holding in one’s hand, or in the sense of wearing as a piece of clothing. Included in the meaning is to own or possess external things such as property or riches; to be joined by the bonds of natural blood, marriage, friendship, duty or law; to lay hold of a thing, to adhere or cling to; to be closely joined to a person or thing. The life that Jesus promises to bring is meant to be our possession—so much a part of us that it is bound to us and we to it.

So, what exactly is life? Physically, life is the property in animals, plants and humans, that makes it possible for them to obtain supply which will produce energy, create growth, adapt themselves to their surroundings and reproduce their kind. Though this may be a strict definition of life, Jesus is talking about much more than simply having existence and reproducing. The Greek word zoe is what has been translated in this passage as life. Zoe means to be possessed of vitality; to have life active and vigorous; to be devoted to God; to be blessed; to be among the living (not lifeless, not dead); to enjoy real life, true life worthy of the name; to pass life on to others; to be fresh, strong, efficient, active, powerful; to be endless in the kingdom of God. From this definition Jesus is clearly referring to physical life and spiritual life rich in quality and quantity, since this word also denotes eternal life in the kingdom of God.

But Jesus does not stop there. Not only are we to enjoy such a quality of life and a future hope of eternity, we are also to have it “more abundantly.” Perissos, the Greek word for abundantly, means excessive, overflowing, surplus, over and above, more than enough, profuse, extraordinary, more than sufficient, superior, more remarkable, more excellent.

In summary, God’s intentions for us are truly amazing. He longs to take us from a place of judgment, desolation and fruitlessness to a place of abundant restoration and increase of life!

No comments:

Post a Comment