Do you tend to overthink the gospel message? Maybe the overthinking makes it seem harder than it really is? In the book of Genesis, there is a revelation that will melt away the tendency for striving and send you soaring into thriving.
Are you ready?
Today, for homeschool, we dived into the story of Creation that takes place in Genesis 1. What we discovered was the Gospel! Look at the picture below and follow along to discover the simplicity of the Good News.
The top row (days 1-3) God is separating.
Day 1: Light and darkness separated
Day 2: Water on earth and heavens separated (creating sky)
Day 3: Land and Seas separated
Holy (def): to be consecrated
Consecrated (def): to be set apart
The first three days of Creation God is separating, consecrating, or setting apart.
The second row (picture) is days 4-6: God is filling.
Day 4: God fills the light with Sun, and Darkness with Moon and Stars
Day 5: God fills the water with fish (and great sea creatures) and the Sky with birds
Day 6: God fills the land with animals and Human.
Look back at the picture and see days 1 & 3, 2 & 4, and 3 & 6. Do you see the infilling? The last three days of Creation God is filling what he consecrated through the process of separation.
What God separates, God fills with life that is blessed with multiplication.
Go back and read Genesis. See for yourself. God had a plan and order while creating the earth. God first separated all the darkness, disorder, and chaos. This separating created order to what was originally void. Then, in the midst of order, a space was created and then was filled.
Finding the Simplicity of the Gospel in the Story of Creation
Jesus came to save the world. Jesus, in His death and resurrection, set those who believe and call upon His name apart from the world. Then we were transplanted out of the Kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God. In Christ, we are reborn and set apart for his good work.
After we are set apart in Christ, we are filled with God's Spirit! The separating, out of darkness and into light, left a vessel ready to be filled with His Goodness, the Spirit of God.
Now, being filled with His spirit, God sees good and He blesses the good with multiplication.
As this revelation struck me, I began to see the simplicity. I explained the process of the Gospel to my kids on terms that they could understand.
I explained to my children that every time they are tempted to lie, but choose to speak the truth instead, they are choosing to be separated from the ways of the world (darkness) and leaving a space to be filled with a measure of God's goodness. The more and more we submit to the ways of God, the more we are being separated from the darkness, and the more that God can fill us with His goodness.
This offers a whole other level of meaning to the word OBEY. For if a child of God, chooses to walk in God's ways they are separating themselves from the world and God fills them with more of His Spirit which empowers the Child of God to multiply their fruit and live in the blessing & abundance of God.
This infilling of God's goodness, the Spirit of the Living God, creates the likeness of God with in us in the form of love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness, and gentleness. We become walking vessels of Mercy on Earth.
But, a person must be willing to be separated in order to be filled.
I was not always willing. I was a professing Christian getting drunk on the weekends. I was a professing Christian who was jealous and manipulative. At one point in my life a non-believer confronted me about getting drunk, "Aren't you a Christian?" she asked "Aren't you, like, not allowed to get drunk?" She asked me this when I was slurring my words a bit and stumbling in embarrassment to find an answer. I was caught red-handed and I knew it (this was a major mercy-moment in my life. God used my friends rebuke to shake me).
I was living like hell on Earth. Why? I refused to be separated from the world and the ways of the kingdom of darkness. Sin brings death into every part of our lives and my life was a testimony of the damage that the ways of the world could do.
Just as God spoke light and separated light from darkness, so must we be separated from Sin to be filled with the Son. But, I clung to old ways like they were an old security blanket. I can see now that I was carrying something that needed to be thrown out.
But, Jesus met me in my mess. He patiently watered my heart and brought me to see his goodness. I was convinced that His way was the path I truly desired. The moment that I let go, and fully gave my life to Jesus in bridal-covenant, was the day that my life began to change.
God was waiting on me to be sifted of the world's ways so that He could bring the infilling of his Spirit. God wants to bless us and lead us into abundance. The evidence is found in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.
It is this simple. Seek God and follow His ways and become separated. Then with every step you take in his way, he will come and fill you with more and more of Him. And remember, with every infilling, comes blessing and multiplication. This produces His likeness to be on display through your life giving glory back to Him.
If you are walking with God but find that there is a barren place, maybe it is time to be separated from that which is taking up precious space. Let go of the ways of the world and be mindful of every choice you make. You are a precious vessel set apart by Jesus to be filled with the Goodness of God.
Trade your sin in and receive a greater measure of God's Spirit. This is the way into discovering the depths and width and height of God's love.
Each step in Christ results in the infilling of His Spirit.
It is the simplicity of the Gospel.
There is no other way to receive the more you are looking for. It is not by works, but by the simple child-like obedience to the voice of the Father. Will you choose Jesus today? Will you choose to follow in His way in order to be found in the intimate presence of God?
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