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The DNA of God
When a person is born again, the divine nature of God is deposited in them. That doesn’t mean that automatically they can move from a natural to a supernatural life. The divine nature of God that is planted in them is like a seed. That is, everything that is needed to produce God’s desire for them is in them at that time. However, it must be recognized and developed. Let’s read our text for this study.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” – 2 Peter 1: 2-4
I believe all of you know Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and lost the authority God had given them over the earth.
Jesus came to take the authority away from the devil and his demons and place it back on the head of mankind. To do it, He had to become the sacrifice for the sins of the world on the Cross of Calvary.
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should no perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) That verse is the summary of the gospel and is God’s love made manifest for eternity through Jesus Christ.
In Mark 1:27 we are told of the time Jesus cast a demon out of a man who was possessed. The people who saw it take place commented, “For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Jesus had the authority, and God supplied the ability. You see that Jesus set aside His divinity when He came to earth. The Bible says in Philippians 2: 5-7 “…Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” So during His earthly ministry, Jesus operated as a covenant man.
Today we are covenant men and women of the New Testament; we can do all the things Jesus said we can do.
So when Jesus went to Calvary, He willingly went to the cross and went into the pit of hell. The Bible tells us that Jesus spoiled Satan and made a show of him openly, made a spectacle of him. Jesus took man’s crown of glory back from the devil and returned it to the Born Again believers with the DNA of God in them.
When Jesus was raised from the dead, He spent 40 days with His disciples teaching them about the Kingdom of God. He called them out to the Mount of Olives and told them that they would be baptized with the, “…Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5) He told them at that time they would, “…receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Let’s follow the authority in Matthew and Mark. We see that Jesus gave that authority to the twelve apostles, and then he gave it to the seventy. Now in Matthew and Marks Gospels He gave that same authority to all believers.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28: 18-20.
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16: 15-18.
So in Matthew and Mark Jesus gave the authority to the twelve apostles and to the 70. They went out, and with the authority of Jesus and God’s ability they healed the sick, preached the gospel, and cast out demons.
Then in the Great Commission Jesus vested His authority in the believer. That means today every born again believer has the DNA or divine nature authority to use God’s ability to do the same things Jesus did. Amen!
Pastor Dave Howard