What is your Opinion about God?
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2
If you would like to walk in a greater measure of God’s favor, 2 Peter 1:2 says that grace, which is the undeserved favor of God and peace, can be multiplied to you. Peace is the word “shalom” in Hebrew. Its definition includes wholeness, health and prosperity. Therefore, when you walk in divine favor and peace, you will walk in blessing in every area of your life! How do you increase the undeserved favor and shalom of God in your life? It is not by your own efforts or your ability to do good or bad. The Bible says that your undeserved favor and peace increases in your life as your knowledge of Jesus and His finished work increases. It comes as you learn more about God and believe that through Jesus’ one sacrifice at the cross, God removed all your sins, gave you His righteousness as a gift and put you in Christ to enjoy everything Jesus has. God’s favor is multiplied in your life when you simply believe that the favor of God that is on Christ is also on you because of what Jesus’ work at the cross has accomplished.Today, you don’t have to struggle for favor. However, you do have to understand that your opinion of God will influence your faith and your favor. In the Greek language, one of the meanings of the word “faith” is – “to have a good opinion about God.” It is vital for you to have a good opinion about God! The Bible tells us that Abraham had to sacrifice his son and because Abraham was of good opinion about God, he obeyed. Can you imagine having a bad opinion about God and then God asks you to sacrifice your son? Because Abraham’s opinion about God was good and he believed that God is true to His word, he obeyed based on his opinion. He knew and believed that God would provide a lamb or raise his son from the dead.
If your opinion about God is that He is angry and mad at you, then you probably also believe that He is just waiting for you to mess up so that He can punish you for your mistakes. If your opinion about God is that He ordains sickness and disease to teach you something, then you probably also believe that He kills people to get your attention. This is a twisted opinion about our Heavenly Father and because your opinion about Him is twisted, your faith will also be twisted. We have to understand that once Jesus died for our sins on the Cross – God’s punishment for our sin was complete. All your mistakes and sins were punished on the Cross! God has not gone soft on sin and we don’t believe that He has. God is hard on sin; however, your sin was punished severely 2,000 years ago. Jesus was crucified and the weight of our sins was on Him on the cross. If you have accepted the payment that He made on your behalf by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, you can now walk free from sin, washed by the blood.
The Old Covenant was based on our ability to do good and if you sinned and did not repent, you were punished and the penalty for sin was death. The word “repent”, under the Old Covenant, is the Hebrew words Shuwb Nicham – It means, “Return to the law”. When Jesus preached His first message on the earth, He said the following: Matthew 4 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”Repentance or repent is the translation of the Greek word “metanoia”. The literal meaning of “metanoia” is “a change of mind”. ”Meta” means “change” – “Noia” means “mind.” The often-quoted phrase “repent of sin” does not even occur in the Bible. Nowhere does the Scripture use the phrase “repent of sin” to be saved. Scripture does say, in Acts 20:21, “repentance toward God” (change of mind), and “faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When Jesus said that we should repent – He was saying, change the way you think about God! Change your opinion about Him. Change the way you respond to His word. Be of good opinion about God. When our opinion about God changes, we become a people who are open to the working of miracles and favor in our lives. When we actually believe that He loves us to the point of sacrificing His own Son –we can be free and live in His favor.
Today, in your workplace or at home, begin to declare the favor of God by faith over your life. Expect to receive preferential treatment wherever you are. Say, “I am surrounded with the favor of God because of Jesus’ finished work.” “I have favor before God and man!” Jesus is saying “ Change the way you think about My Father” For His kingdom is here for you and He loves you, no matter what you have done.Amen
Wally Buono from the Bc Lions will be the guest speaker at our next men’s Breakfast – on March 10th. Please book you seat in advance by contacting us at info@pneumachurch.com or by calling the church office (604) 9406700. Also you are welcome to join us at our Life events once a month – the next event is on March 4th . Our service on Sunday starts at 10am and you are welcome to join us. Blessings. Pastor Andreas Basson