Perfect gift from the perfect one(En)
🟢Today we bring you a translation and summary from the one of Pastor Abel Damina/Rachel Damina's "Christo-Centric Meal" teaching series.
“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
📖John 3:16 KJV
🟢God gave His only begotten Son. In other words, what God has given is Jesus Christ, and God's gift is Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, "If you know the gift of God (John 4:10)," means Jesus himself is God's gift to man, the gift of God.
“32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
📖Romans 8:32 KJV
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
📖1 Peter 1:3-4 KJV
Receiving Jesus and coming in Christ means that everything is given to us freely. All this comes with Christ the gift.
God has given us His only begotten Son. And our "inheritance" that came with Jesus is stored up for us in heaven, never to decay, never to be defiled, never to leave us.
Therefore, believers are already perfect in Christ Jesus and lack nothing. We have already received every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
🟢Furthermore, the gift represents the character of its giver, the gift becomes the nature of its giver. You will gradually understand what I am talking about in later explanations.
“17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
📖James 1:17 KJV
With God there is no variableness = bad mood day or change of mind, He is always good. All "good" gifts come from God.
The word "good" means good/grace, i.e., something essentially good. The word "gift" refers to the act of giving as well, and even to the person giving. It expresses the intention, character, and nature of the giver.
In other words, those acts of giving are called good because the giver is good, the One who gives is perfectly good. Therefore, God only gives what is good, and vice versa, and every "good" act of giving represents the character of the Giver.
“16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.”
📖Romans 5:16 KJV
🟢“but the free gift is of many offences unto justification”, because the gift takes on the character of the giver, it refers to what the gift and the act of giving does to the recipient. In other words, the word “gift” refers to how the gift affects the receiver.
So, James 1:17, "the perfect gift" means that if God gives you a perfect gift, it is you who will benefit from its perfection, right? Yes, it describes what happens to the recipient of a gift "from above".
The word "from above" also refers to "beginning" or "new beginning." If the word "from above" describes what happens to the recipient of the perfect gift, then it is indicating that "the new beginning”.
The word Father, described in “cometh down from the Father of lights” was translated from a word meaning source or resource.
Those bunch of words like brilliant jewels clearly explains God's character, as well as His giving, and they are unchanging and consistent.
Furthermore, what God has given does not change after it is received. It is eternal, that is, what God gave in Christ. It is eternal because it means does not change, it does not fade away.
“23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
📖Romans 6:23 KJV
“8 though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;”
📖Hebrews 5:8-9 KJV
(The "obedience" in "learned he obedience" and "them that obey him" means to believe in God and in gospel.)
“11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
📖Hebrews 9:11-12 KJV
Eternal life, eternal salvation, eternal redemption. All things in Christ are once for all and eternal.
“13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
📖1 John 5:13 KJV
It is written everywhere else. Thus, this means that since the believer received once and for all eternal faith at salvation, he has all the faith he needs. And that faith became the power that make you born again life, that make you create something new. That is because faith becomes "once and for all, a gift for all people and beings.
One American televangelist asked God, "Oh God, I need more power, I need more more power, I need power more and more”
But God says, I have given you My name. I gave you my Word. I gave you my Son, Myself. I gave you my Holy Spirit. Then what else do you want to get, and from where?
All that God has given you in Christ means all. He has not withheld anything from you. All of God has given to the believer in Christ Jesus.
So the believer does not need more faith, more life, and more love. For all of God is poured out in the born again man. Therefore, it is not biblical for the believer to pray for more faith or to increase faith. For all of God is poured out in the born again man. For we already have all faith we need in Christ, already was given to us all things Christ has. What a blessing.
🟢The Bible says that believers are created righteous and holy in the image of God (Ephesians 4:24, 1st Corinthians 1:30). This means that all the materials used to make this born again man originate from Christ, and therefore the composition of the born again person is good and perfect, a complete and totally new being (2 Corinthians 5:17).
To know who you are is to know the blessing we have in Christ Jesus, a wonderful blessing. And you already know it, God's gift to man was accompanied by His perfect nature.
Therefore, every believer should know that he or she is perfect. It becomes more effective along with their degree of understanding of the Gospel and their degree of awareness of the true reality (Philemon 1:6). We are to recognize fully the all that is in you in Christ.
🟢Having quality time to know "who you are in Christ" according to Bible with the gospel is like this in analogy.
Everyday, especially women, you stand in front of the mirror to get yourself ready in the morning after taking a shower and before going out. We bring the mirror of Christ before you every morning.
You cannot see yourself as you are, but you can see yourself in the light of Christ's revelation, so that you can see yourself as you really are and spend your days making the necessary adjustments and reflecting the reality of your life in Christ.
You and Christ are one, as He is, and you are neither more nor less. You are no less than Christ and He is no better than you. When you stand face to face with Christ, you reflect Him and He reflects you as you are.
As you grow in grace and in the knowledge of the gospel, all negative words you uttered or uttered against you lose their power of effect. For we know your reality in Christ from God's Word, which is the mirror. Let us eat the feast of God's Word and look in the mirror of God's Word every day.
As we become like the Scripture says, we will push back the enemy = the devil = the one who accuses us. The Word will grow strong in you and bring victory in your life. Amen.
“3 according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
📖2 Peter 1:3-4 KJV
(From the tract distributed on Oct 9th, 2021) (Source: from the Devotion series by Abel Damina and Rachel Damina “Christo-Centric Meal”)
