Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Believers' Convention 2022 (Day 4 Morning Session)
Date: Wednesday, 10th August 2022
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26). The declaration of the Godhead was to make man in Their image and likeness, that is, to make man look like God. Everyone casually says they look like God. Whereas, this was a declaration of God’s intention.
God declares the end of a matter from the beginning. As such, Genesis 1:26 was a declaration of God’s desire for the end of man. The first man, Adam, was not the end of the man. God intended that man will go through processes before he can take His image and likeness.
“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Gen. 2:25). There is a shame attached to nakedness (Rev. 3:18). Adam was not the final product but God desired that man will go through the process of becoming His image. It was not after sin that man became naked; he was already naked before the fall. However, the nakedness was to be covered when he had been formed in God’s image.
Nakedness exposes something that ought to be covered; it exposes weaknesses, frailties and tendencies that ought not to be there. The man whom God first made was definitely not the final product and the nakedness bore witness of that. The fall did not get God confused because God already had an intention from before the beginning. Satan is just a catalyst who speeds up a reaction without taking part in it.
We should keep our eyes on the end of the journey. It does not matter what we go through, we should keep our gaze on the end of the journey. Jesus endured and despised shame because of the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2).
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love…” (Eph. 1:4). Before the foundation of the world, God had set our destinies that we should be holy. This height of holiness is sinlessness (inability to sin). It is at this point that one can be said to be holy. The calling is for us to get to the point where we cannot sin because His seed abides in us (1 John 3:9). We cannot say this about ourselves now and this means we are still in the process of becoming like God. The process is a series of actions and activities that should get us to our end (the likeness of God).
“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Matt. 19:16). The rich young ruler was a man of influence and was well read. He had a lot of things men can brag about; he was still young and had a lot of time ahead of him. However, he knew there was something peculiar about Jesus that made him call Him good. Jesus, answering him, painted the road to Eternal Life (Matt. 19:21) and it became obvious that inheriting Eternal Life had nothing to do with rulership, education or riches, as the rich young ruler already had these things.
“And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matt. 19:17). Jesus made him see that a man must be processed to inherit Eternal Life. For us to be useful to God, we must go through an intense process. One cannot arrive at Eternal Life instantly, as it takes a process. If you struggle with the process, you will only elongate the process, so it is better to cooperate with life.
When one gets born again, such a person is enabled to gaze at, but not see the Kingdom. There are stratas of seeing that one must experience to enter into life. God is an embodiment of laws that can be learned and it is in learning that we know, and in knowing we have Eternal Life. One who is afraid of commandments cannot come close to the Kingdom, for the Kingdom is for those who keep commandments.
The rich young ruler was sincere, but there is something we all lack (Matt. 19:20). For our process not to be truncated, we need to see what we lack. We need listening ears to hear what we lack and begin to obey God from there. There are tendencies in us that we are not aware of until our eyes are open to see them.
“Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” (Matt. 19:21). There are five processes to entering Eternal Life: one will have to go, sell, give, come and follow. Some have gone, but have not sold while some have sold, but have not given. We cannot jump from going to coming.
“And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. [13] Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 22:12-13). The man at this wedding knew he had skipped the process of attending the ceremony; he was speechless when the master of the ceremony accused him. Do not jump any part of the process! If you follow a shortcut, you will be cut short.
“But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” (Matt. 19:22). Jesus is ready to dispossess us of our great possessions. The gospel is for the poor (in spirit), not the rich. As such, one who has great possessions will not enter the Kingdom. The poor are the meek. The tares cannot stand erect because they are heavy with so many possessions unlike the wheat. The twelve thrones (Rev. 12:1) are for those who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes.
Blessings!
Summary
1. The declaration of the Godhead was to make man in Their image and likeness; that is, to make man look like God (Gen. 1:26).
2. God declares the end of a matter from the beginning (Isa. 46:10). Genesis 1:26 was a declaration of God’s desire for the end of man. The first man, Adam, was not the end of the man. God intended that man will go through processes before he can take His image and likeness.
3. There is a shame attached to nakedness (Gen. 2:25, Rev. 3:18). It was not after sin that man became naked; he was already naked before the fall. Nakedness exposes something that ought to be covered. The man whom God first made was definitely not the final product and the nakedness bore witness of that. The nakedness was to be covered when he had been formed in God’s image.
4. Before the foundation of the world, God had set our destinies that we should be holy (Eph. 1:4). The calling is for us to get to height of holiness, where we cannot sin because His seed abides in us (1 John 3:9).
5. The rich young ruler’s conversation with Jesus showed that inheriting Eternal Life had nothing to do with rulership, education or riches (Matt. 19:16-21). A man must be processed to inherit Eternal Life (Matt. 19:17).
6. God is an embodiment of laws that can be learned and it is in learning that we know, and in knowing we have Eternal Life. One who is afraid of commandments cannot come close to the Kingdom, for the Kingdom is for those who keep commandments.
7. The rich young ruler was sincere, but there is something he lacked (Matt. 19:20). For our process not to be truncated, we need to see what we lack. We need listening ears to hear what we lack and begin to obey God from there.
8. There are five processes to entering into life: go, sell, give, come and follow (Matt. 19:21).
9. The man in the parable of the wedding garment knew he had skipped the process of attending the ceremony. Thus, he was speechless when the master of the ceremony accused him (Matt. 22:12-13).
10. The rich young ruler had great possession; as such, he could not enter the kingdom (Matt. 19:22). Jesus is ready to dispossess us of our great possessions. The gospel is for the poor (in spirit), not the rich. The poor are the meek