REIGNING BY RIGHTEOUSNESS

REIGNING BY RIGHTEOUSNESS

²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.{2 Corinthians 5:21}

Having known that we are trees of righteousness planted by God and established to last forever, we must of necessity also know the reason for which we have been made righteous. Why was it necessary for God to establish us in righteousness? Could He not have left us with our dwindling and unstable self -righteousness? Why should He give us the gift of righteousness? Well I know you think it’s just for you to make heaven. But why haven’t you gone to heaven. You have been established in righteousness but you are still here. If the righteousness gift was just for you to go to heaven then God should have taken you to heaven immediately you had faith in God and became righteous. Let me show you why you are still here on this side of eternity.

¹⁷ For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.){Romans 5:17}

The verse above just provided the long awaited answer. It says we received abundant grace and the gift of righteousness so that we can REIGN IN LIFE. Take note, it didn’t say reign in heaven. It says to reign in life, not after death or after rapture. It is to reign here and now on earth. It takes kings to reign. Therefore you were made righteous so that you can reign as a king in life. Sin consciousness has made us slaves for so many years but not any more.

 Now you know that righteousness has been given to us so that we can become kings. We are no longer slaves to fear but kings to reign in life. Now we can approach God without a sense of guilt, fear or inferiority complex. It is by righteousness that kings reign. Now is the time for kings to reign in righteousness. You ought to be reigning not shrinking away in fear. You have been established in righteousness and you must reign.

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. {Isaiah 32:1}

You have to realize that you are a king and are supposed to rule over a kingdom. Find your throne and reign. Your throne has been established in righteousness. It was God’s desire to establish your throne in righteousness. God needed to give you righteousness first so that your throne can be established.

¹² It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. {Proverb 16:12}

⁵ Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.{Proverbs 25:5}

The foundation of any throne is righteousness and justice. Even God’s throne is found on righteousness and justice. He therefore has made us kings and also established our thrones in righteousness and justice.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    love and faithfulness go before you. {Psalms 89:14}

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
    let the distant shores rejoice.
² Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. {Psalms 97:1-2}

Dear friends God is reigning in righteousness and we his children cannot afford to do otherwise. There is no excuse to give. That feeling of condemnation and disqualification that has incapacitated so many must now be replaced with the righteousness consciousness and a royal mentality. God has given us the gift of righteousness so we can reign with it. We don’t reign by self -righteousness but by Christ’s righteousness. Christ has been made unto us wisdom and righteousness so that we can reign by Him. This is what Christ Jesus who is both our wisdom and righteousness said about our kingship:

By me kings reign
    and rulers issue decrees that are just;
¹⁶ by me princes govern,
    and nobles—all who rule on earth.{Proverbs 8:15-16}

³⁰ But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption {1Corinthians 1:30}

Did you notice that it is by Him; that is by His righteousness that we will reign? It is those who receive abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness that will reign in life. You have received both of them but why are you not reigning? You still feel you are not holy enough to reign. Are you not aware that you have been chosen to reign? You are pure in His eyes and he has set you apart to reign.

⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;{1 Peter 2:9}

Have you seen the word royal priesthood? You are not just chosen to be king but also to be priest. All of heaven is waiting for you to reign. You now have a right to access the Father’s presence any time and make a demand. He gave you all authority in heaven and on earth so that you can reign. He gave you His name "Jesus" to reign with. He said to cast out devils and heal the sick in His name. The mandate to rule and have dominion over Satan, sin, sicknesses and diseases has been given to us. We should be looking for the sick to heal and the oppressed to set free. No demon should feel free around you. Cast it out! 

What Jesus would have done if He were physically present we can also do by the authority in His name. The world is the way it is because kings have refused to reign. Change in political leadership from one government to another cannot change the world. We have allowed people who are not yet established in righteousness to rule over us when the bible says a throne is established in righteousness. Until we who are righteous sit on those thrones, there cannot be justice in the world. We are the ones who should rule every sphere of society and saturate the world with kingdom principles. The kingdoms of the earth is ours to take charge of.

¹⁰ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth {Rev 5:10}

The church is the last hope for humanity. Secular governments have failed and will keep failing. God is counting on us to disciple nations and rule over them. Every nation of the world has been given to us to discipline. We are to teach them the truth and principles of the kingdom. We hold the keys of the kingdom in our hands now and we have authority to shut and open any door as we desire. Heaven is waiting on us to make righteous decrees and establish kingdom laws on earth. Heaven is set to back us up if we would be bold enough to make decrees.

¹⁹ And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.{Matthew 16:19}

We are to flood the earth with righteousness and justice. Every country of the world should be ruled in righteousness and justice and that cannot be done by unrighteous unbelievers. We are to turn many to righteousness and bring them into the kingdom. Every sector of society should have people who have been turned to righteousness. We must turn many to Christ. There should be no unrighteous person in leadership because his throne is not founded on righteousness. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. We must lead many to righteousness, impact them with the Holy Ghost and establish peace on the earth.

¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. {Romans 14:7}

I dare you to locate a sphere of society that you will reign over as king to lead many to righteousness and establish kingdom principles. The whole world is groaning in pain waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. The righteous kings are hiding while creation earnestly expects them to manifest. We are the deliverers who shall come up on mount Zion. We are to shine as light in the world and give savour to the earth.

⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. {Matthew 13:43}

 ³ Those who are wise^[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. {Daniel 12:3}

¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.{Matthew 5:14-16}

The world is supposed to receive light from us. We are to give direction to them. They are walking in darkness and will keep stumbling until we show them the way. We are made kings so we can give direction to a lost world. They are to see our good works and glorify our father in heaven. Just the way the people of a country rejoice when their president does a lot of good works so is the entire world supposed to rejoice when the righteous rules. The heathen will see our good works and glorify God. They will turn to God and live in righteousness. This is the reason why God established us in righteousness. To reign and do good works. We are created anew in Christ Jesus for good works. We are God’s masterpiece created anew unto good works.

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago {Ephesians 2:10 NLT}

What are the good things He recreated us for and planned for us to do?.....check out next week's article 

TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD PART 2

 TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD PART 2

Now let’s take a look at another hero of faith; the man after God’s heart, David the son of Jesse.

Have you heard of the sure mercies of David? How God entered into a covenant relationship with Him?

³ Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you, to give you all the unfailing mercies and love that I had for King David {Isaiah 55:3TLB}

I was shocked to see a man with a lot of shortcomings as David listed among the heroes of faith.

If you read your bible, you would have known that this man was not only a murderer but also an adulterer. He killed a man and took his wife. Let’s see the story:

  The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, “There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had many cattle and sheep, ³ while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 

 ⁴ One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest.”

⁵ David became very angry at the rich man and said, “I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! ⁶ For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took.”

⁷ “You are that man,” Nathan said to David. “And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. ⁸ I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. ⁹ Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 

 

 ¹⁰ Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. ¹¹ I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. ¹² You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.’”

¹³ “I have sinned against the Lord,” David said.

Nathan replied, “The Lord forgives you; you will not die. ¹⁴ But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.{2samuel 12:1-15 GNT}

God forgave David and pardoned his sins. God how could you pardon such grievous sins? My answer; true relationship. In fact do you read the book of psalms? Do you sing the hymns of David in your church? How could you? Are you not aware that they were written by a murderer and adulterer? The problem we have with God is not our shortcomings, it is the lack of true relationship.

 If God could forgive David, then you can also be forgiven. Just because of true relationship, God even had to enter into a covenant with David. Let’s hear what God said to David:

¹⁹ In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants,
    “I have given help to a famous soldier;
    I have given the throne to one I chose from the people.
²⁰ I have made my servant David king
    by anointing him with holy oil.
²¹ My strength will always be with him,
    my power will make him strong.
²² His enemies will never succeed against him;
    the wicked will not defeat him.
²³ I will crush his foes
    and kill everyone who hates him.

 
²⁴ I will love him and be loyal to him;
    I will make him always victorious.
²⁵ I will extend his kingdom
    from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River.
²⁶ He will say to me,
    ‘You are my father and my God;
    you are my protector and savior.’
²⁷ I will make him my first-born son,
    the greatest of all kings.

 
²⁸ I will always keep my promise to him,
    and my covenant with him will last forever.
²⁹ His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky;
    a descendant of his will always be king.

³⁰ “But if his descendants disobey my law
    and do not live according to my commands,
³¹ if they disregard my instructions
    and do not keep my commandments,
³² then I will punish them for their sins;
    I will make them suffer for their wrongs.

 
³³ But I will not stop loving David
    or fail to keep my promise to him.
³⁴ I will not break my covenant with him
    or take back even one promise I made him.

³⁵ “Once and for all I have promised by my holy name:
    I will never lie to David.
³⁶ He will always have descendants,
    and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines.
³⁷ It will be as permanent as the moon,
    that faithful witness in the sky.”{Psalms 89:19-37 GNT}

Now if God can make such a covenant with David, He can also make one with you. Just be sincere in your relationship with Him. Don’t prove to be self- righteous. Acknowledge your weaknesses and let His strength be perfected in your weaknesses because when you are weak, then you are strong.

⁹ But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me. ¹⁰ I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. {2Corinthians 12:9-10 GNT}

Are you aware that the prostitute rehab escaped the destruction that came upon those who didn’t trust God? Note that it is because of her faith that she was listed among the heroes of faith. Not only that she was listed among the faith heroes but also had her name written in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will see that in Matthew chapter 1 verse 5.

If unqualified people of old enjoyed sure mercies, you too who have accepted Christ can enjoy much more unfailing mercies and loving kindness if you can just humble yourself before God believing that He is your righteousness. Acknowledge your shortcomings and allow Him perfect His strength in your weaknesses. He will not stop loving you.Enjoy a faith and love relationship with God today. 

TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

^11-12 The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”{Galatians 3:11-12 MSG}

The only possibility of having a true relationship with God is via faith in Christ Jesus. No man can sustain a satisfying relationship with God the father by keeping a list of rules. Without faith it is impossible to please God. 

Our fathers of old and the heroes of faith had true relationships with God but it wasn’t based on the number of commandments they could keep. In fact the majority of them had a lot of short comings. God overlooked their faults and took into account only their faith to put them right with Himself. He justified them simply by their faith.

 I am now going to discuss the faith and faults of some of these heroes and explain how God related with them. You must not forget that the ultimate sacrifice that will take away sins forever had not been paid as at then. If these Heroes were accepted when Christ had not died, I wonder if we will not be more accepted now that He has paid the price for sin.

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. ² It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval.

³ It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God's word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.

⁴ It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain's. Through his faith he won God's approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts. By means of his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

⁵ It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God. ⁶ No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him. {Hebrews 11:1-5 GNT}

How did the people of ancient times win God’s approval? The answer is right there in verse 2. It didn’t say they won God’s approval by keeping commandments. In fact there were no ten commandments as at that time. The commandments came during the time of Moses. 

They simply were declared righteous by their faith. God approved of them and accepted them by their faith. They had true relationships with God by faith.

Let’s start our discussion from our patriarch Abraham, a name that every Christian, Jew and Muslim knows very well. The father of many nations and the source of the three major religions of the world, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This man was so blessed that God had to extend his blessings to the gentiles via faith in Christ Jesus. The bible stated that whoever will have faith like Abraham will be as blessed as Abraham was.

^9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law. {Galatians 3:9-10 MSG}

What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the father of our race? What was his experience? ² If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about—but not in God's sight. ³ The scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” ⁴ A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned.  ⁵ But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself. 

⁶ This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:

⁷ “Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven,
    whose sins are pardoned!
⁸ Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!”

{Romans 4:1-8 GNT}

^13-14 Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it. {Galatians 3:13-14 MSG}

You see my dear friends, Abraham became father of nations by faith. He trusted in what God can do for him not in what he can do for God. He accepted what God arranged for him and so God accepted him. The bible states that Abraham believed God and it was accounted as righteousness. That belief is what has made him so blessed that the blessings could even extend to uncountable generations after him.

Does it mean Abraham didn’t have any faults, was he completely without sin? If he had any sin, how come God didn’t take his sins into account in the New Testament? Let’s check the scriptures for answers.

^1-2 Sarai, Abram’s wife, hadn’t yet produced a child.

She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

^3-4 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.{Genesis 16:1-4 MSG}

First offence by Abraham was that he slept with Sarai’s maid, Hagar. If you decide to say that Sarah gave Hagar as a wife to Abraham, then we can say Abraham married more than one wives and besides I doubt if he paid her bride price.

Secondly Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister. And even Sarah agreed to lie alongside.

^1-2 Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She’s my sister.”

^2-3 So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, “You’re as good as dead—that woman you took, she’s a married woman.”

^4-5 Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn’t so much as touched her. He said, “Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn’t he tell me, ‘She’s my sister’? And didn’t she herself say, ‘He’s my brother’? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this.”

^6-7 God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that’s why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man’s wife back to him. He’s a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don’t give her back, know that it’s certain death both for you and everyone in your family.”{Genesis 20:1-7 MSG}

Wait a minute! God, did you just call a liar a prophet? You see, God even asked someone who just lied to pray for a king. Not only that, He also intervened to prevent Abimelech from sleeping with Sarah. Even in their lies, God intervened to rescue them.

It is through the seed of such a man as Abraham that God said the whole earth will be redeemed back to Himself. The nations of the earth shall be blessed through the seed of Abraham “God said in thy seed shall the nations of the earth be blessed”.

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. {Genesis 22:15-18}

How can God swear by Himself to bless a man who had such faults? God didn’t even record what he did as sins. Just the single act of obedience by faith cancelled all of Abraham’s wrongdoings. He enjoyed a true relationship with God because of his faith. 

Therefore you must know that all that God requires of you is a true relationship by faith. You can’t win God’s favor by keeping the laws, only by faith in Christ Jesus.

Again let’s look at our mother Sarah. Don’t forget that she agreed to lie that she was Abraham’s sister. She lied again by denying she laughed when the messengers of God brought the good news that she would be pregnant and give birth to Isaac. Besides these two lies, she also doubted God but surprisingly her name appeared among the heroes of faith in the book of Hebrews.

 ⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

“She is there in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰ One of them said, “Nine months from now^[a] I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 

 ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too.”

¹³ Then the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child when I am so old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. “I didn't laugh,” she said.

“Yes, you did,” he replied. “You laughed.”{Genesis 18:9-15 GNT}

Why will God call such a woman who lied and doubted Him a hero of faith? My answer is this: true relationship. All that God wants is a true relationship. He pardons iniquities once there is a true relationship. The same Sarah was called the mother of us all and she was compared to the heavenly Jerusalem.

²⁴ These things can be understood as a figure: the two women represent two covenants. The one whose children are born in slavery is Hagar, and she represents the covenant made at Mount Sinai. ²⁵ Hagar, who stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, is^[b] a figure of the present city of Jerusalem, in slavery with all its people.  

²⁶ But the heavenly Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For the scripture says,

“Be happy, you childless woman!
    Shout and cry with joy, you who never felt the pains of childbirth!
For the woman who was deserted will have more children
    than the woman whose husband never left her.”{Galatians 4:24-27}

Would you have ever thought that a woman who lied twice and doubted God will become the mother of many nations? Is it not shocking to know that she is also a hero of faith according to God’s judgement?

 God just wants a relationship with us. He is not so much as interested in our rule keeping as much as He wants our relationship.

DEPEND ON FAITH TODAY AND ENJOY A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.