davidbowerkingwood

Toi Kay – A greatly loved family member for many years!

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.” Matthew 10:29

In the beginning, God created man to have dominion over every creature. In Genesis 1:26 it is written:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Sadly, that dominion was lost by Adam when he disobeyed a direct command from God; the magnitude of that loss was immense and still impacts mankind and all of the creation he was supposed to rule.

Today, creation groans under the burden of Adam’s fall from grace; in Romans 8:18-23 it is written:

“¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.“

Our Responsibility as Born Again Christians

As Christians, we have been greatly blessed by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God; by God’s grace, we have the firstfruits of the Spirit which have been given to us now and forever! With this blessing comes responsibility, our relationship to God’s creation is changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives!

In addition to being a temple of the Holy Spirit, we are also royal priests of God and God’s ambassadors to this world. The Bible explains we have been crucified with Christ and no longer live as Christ is living through us; the life we live today is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since we have been charged with the responsibility of being God’s representative to his creation; we must relate to God’s creation as his personal representative! We do not represent ourselves, we represent God’s interests and God’s perspective to his creation.

The impact of this truth is immense and reshapes how we deal with everyone and everything! During this age of grace, God is a God of love! God’s ministry to the world, at this time, is best summarized in John 3:16-17 where it is written:

“¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

The Bible does not leave us in the dark regarding what this love means; in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 it is described:

“⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

In his grace, God even gives us the resource which enable us to manifest his love; the fruit of the Holy Spirit who indwells us is described in Galatians 5:22-25

“²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

God’s love is a gift we have been given, it is not of ourselves, it is of God! As the Holy Spirit leads in our lives, we show forth God’s love by the power of God, the Holy Spirit!

In the power of the Holy Spirit, we can let God’s love shine forth from us to all of his creation; from the least to the greatest! For some of God’s creation, you just may be the closest thing to God they will ever see; you can faithfully represent to them their creators love.

A stray cat that wandered into our yard.

A greatly loved member of the family