Glory and God’s Promises

(2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT) “For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for his glory.”

Until we renew our mind to all that God has done for us in the new birth; that is, until we have a revelation of being in Christ and the full extent of what that means, our natural religious thinking has difficulty accepting and believing this verse.

Unrenewed thinking believes that we have to somehow win God’s approval, pray the right formula, or become “holy” enough to either earn or deserve it—the fulfilment of any promise or receive the answer to any prayer. But this is simply not the way God sees reality; he sees that we are born again, and that we are in Christ Jesus now:

(Ephesians 2:13 NKJV) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Through Paul, the Holy Spirit wrote this to born again followers of Jesus while they were still on earth, not in heaven. To them, and therefore to us, he says, “Now in Christ Jesus.” We are in Him now, already. In him, before God and in reality, we stand in Jesus’s own righteousness and have taken on his track record of a flawless walk before God.

(2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB) He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If this is true—and it is or Jesus could never have risen from the grave—then we are the righteousness of God in him now. This means that we have absolute right standing with God. When this all boils down, at the heart of this truth is the reality that we must conclude from it: if we have the same righteousness of God, right standing as him; then, in Christ, we have as much right to be at God’s throne as he does:

(Ephesians 2:4–6 NKJV) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

God says here that he “made us alive together with Christ.” When Jesus rose to life—having died for us and as us—he rose for us, as us, and us with him. Furthermore, when God raised Jesus to his right hand, this passage says that he “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Yes, even though this is impossible for our fleshly minds to accept and believe, our born-again new man—with his mind renewed to the truth of God’s word—can receive the faith imparted by God’s word and believe it. Thus, we can accept that all the promises of God are “yes” in Jesus; in other words, we have already inherited all of the promises as fulfilled in our position in Christ.

Not only does God say that he raised us up with Jesus and gave us access in him to his throne room, it clearly says that he made us “sit together” with him. Even to stand in God’s holy throne room would be a privilege of incalculable value, but to “sit together” with Jesus is beyond description. This implies that you no longer have to work to earn or deserve this privilege; it is inherently yours in Jesus’s new birth. You are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ; you were born to this position and standing.

I was originally born into the Palmer family. I didn’t have to earn my place or work to deserve it. In fact, when first born, I did nothing but consume, sleep, complain, keep people awake, and demand attention—rewarding their labours with the odd smile. Later, as I grew, I took on some responsibilities in the family; but I still didn’t have to do them to be accepted, given a place at the family table, or have a home provided. When old enough, I worked on the farm with my father. Again, this wasn’t to earn a place of standing to deserve the name, Palmer; no, I did it out of love, and a desire to help my dad fulfil his responsibilities and his many visions; I loved it.

Although this work wasn’t necessary to earn the name Palmer, my place in the family, my home, or access to father; it did allow me the privilege of walking with him in fellowship and companionship. In this process, I learned how to do the work he was doing; it just happened. I wasn’t paid wages for it, or punished if I didn’t; it was simply part of family life—part of being a Palmer.

This too is what God has in mind when he accepts us into his family. He designed our start to be like a new born baby. No contribution through work, only by being. He feeds us, clothes us, gives us a home, provides for and protects us. As soon as we have matured a little, he seats us at the family table and gives us verbal and physical input.

As we grow further, love for him inspires us to want to help him in his work and vision. This is what Jesus spoke of when he talked of being yoked to him in discipleship; we learn as we work together, and we simultaneously enjoy his fellowship and companionship. Through this close discipleship, if something is important to him, it becomes important to us too. If he sees it needs doing, we soon learn its priority and begin doing it without the need to be micromanaged or threatened. This is our Father, his family, and his desire for his children. No wonder he says:

(Ephesians 3:11–12 NKJV) … Christ Jesus our Lord, (12) in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

As a result of all that Jesus achieved, and because of what Father has done for us in Jesus, we have bold, confident, righteous access to Father, his love, his provision, and his wisdom. What’s more, we have Jesus’s ability and tutorship to walk in God’s ways—love, faith, anointing, serving, and ministry, etc.

Then, as we live with Jesus as Lord, all the promises God made to us in him are already ours. Hence, he could say:

(2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV) “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

This truth is absolute fact in God’s mind. It should be in ours too. If not, we renew our minds to the truth of God’s word until our perception of reality changes to line up with what God says it is.

Once we begin to see this and these promises beginning to manifest in our lives—healing, provision, wisdom, power, guidance, answered prayer, etc.—this will bring glory to God in two ways:

When onlookers witness God’s goodness and power in and through us, this increases his true reputation as gracious, good, loving, powerful, and kind. This is especially true when our own understanding of righteousness and promise-guarantee allows the release of God’s power and answers to benefit them too.

Secondly, God’s glory becomes evident when our faith in the reality of God’s promises being yes in Jesus, allows him to bring his supernatural presence into manifestation. This increases the revelation of his glory in tangible presence that onlookers can experience—signs, wonders, interventions, answers, comfort, supply, splendour, and achievements.

In both these ways, the glory of the glorious church becomes more and more evident, and progresses towards all-encompassing.

Today, let’s conclude by taking hold of the following passage, and renewing our mind with a fresh understanding of just how amazing, pertinent, and glory-revealing its truth is:

(2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT) “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. (4) And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.”

Remember; A gospel goal is to obtain glory—that God is with us.

(2 Thessalonians 2:14 NKJV) “To which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”