You are invited to stop letting your current circumstances dictate your reality and instead anchor your heart in the truth of your position in Christ. Choose today to view your life from the victorious vantage point of heaven, trusting that grace is your divine enablement to walk in freedom.
If you knew if you knew the testimony of my life and what it took for God to get me from where I was to here, you'd be crying too. Oh, thank you. What an honor to be here. Yeah. 2 years ago, my husband David and our incredibly handsome gentlemen of sons, started here at Real Church.
In fact, I was seated right over there our first Sunday, and the Lord said to me, you're planted. And the byproduct of being planted in such a "rich and deep and healthy soil" has been fruitful. I wanna say I love you all so very much. And if I continued on that, I wouldn't have time for my sermon, but I do. Pastor Courtney and David, thank you so much for who you are and who we are because of you.
What I'm bringing today, pastor, so I can speak from the heart. And I have such a beautiful, rich history with the Lord because he's so good and faithful, and so much was in my heart to share with you today. But ultimately, what I'm bringing came when a couple weeks ago, I said, Lord, I need to know what do you have for this group of people on this day. And so I went to the beach, and I set all my distractions aside, turned off my phone and set my phone, and I just listened. I dug my feet in the sand, and I was just still.
And the Lord interrupted my silence with this phrase, **vantage point**. And I looked it up. A vantage point is a position of clear, wide, advantageous view, a perspective from which you're able to see better or more clearly. As I ponder those words, suddenly, the horizon where the sea kissed the sky transformed, and the lord brought me into this scene where I could see the entirety of the earth, of the horizon, and we were here with our father on his throne. Yeah.
Seated in Christ. Yep. I was very well aware of the magnitude of this epic view of the entirety of the earth before us and the cosmos behind us, yet all under his gaze and in his hand. He was very well aware of every detail of our lives. I could sense the pleasure of the righteousness of the gospel of Jesus Christ emanating from his throne and covering the earth with the glory of the knowledge of him.
Joy was the mood. So today, that's what I'm bringing. We're talking about this today. It's actually an invitation for all of us to see ourselves from the vantage point of heaven, what it is to be seated at the right hand of our father in Christ Jesus because of the finished and complete work of Jesus Christ in our lives. So that's why I am excited because I'm overflowing with good news to share with you in this message called your "victorious vantage point" in Christ.
Before we start, I'm gonna pull back the curtain just a little bit about my life and why I feel this message is relevant to my life, and I have something to impart to you. It was 2012, and I was 10 years into following the Lord as a Christ follower. I was a bible study leader at our church. I was a missionary with a passport. I had scriptures all over my house, and I had memorized such such scriptures.
I love the Lord. I was devoted to knowing him. It was beautiful. There were these times in our relationship where during worship, I would see *Christ* as king, and everything else would fall into place where it belonged. You know those times?
You just see clearly. There were times where I'd be in the scriptures, and his spirit would quicken it to me, and I would understand it to the point I could walk it out and encourage others with that truth. So much goodness and so much richness in there. But in between those moments of connection, there were also a lot of lows. It was like this.
There was a lot of discouragement, depression, and often suicidal thoughts. But I felt I can sustain this. God is good, and these moments, I can get sustained by these splashes of connection with him. But in 2012, the state I'm about to tell you about changed everything. I was beginning to have experienced physical pain in my body on the daily.
It was like having the flu every single day. I had the muscle aches, I had the pain, I had the brain fog, and I had fatigue. Every day, a good day, felt like a cold. Needless to say, it was hard, and the pain would grip me. And when it did, I honestly, despite my devotion to him, felt like he was so distant from me.
And this day in 2032, I like to say, it was almost like all of these years of going up and down with him, little by little, I had gathered these stones of accusation against him about how he wasn't coming through for me. Where are you? And this day, I had this final stone because the pain was so much. And I was walking I can see it clear as day. I was walking into my kitchen, and I'm telling you, I had this last stone that was about to go on this wall of all of these other stones of accusation I had towards the Lord just to separate my heart from him.
Just like, I'm done. Separate. It's too much. And at this last 1, I was walking through my kitchen, clear as day I can see it, and he says to me I'm sorry. In my heart, I hear the phrase, where would I go?
You have the words to eternal life. See, that comes from a scripture where Jesus, when he was walking this earth, he gave some hard teachings. Right? And his his many of his disciples began leaving him. And he said, are you leaving me too?
And Peter responded, where would I go, Lord? You have the words to eternal life. And he spoke it then, but in that moment, it was just as relevant to my heart then because I realized that the splashes of connection I had with God and the goodness and the light that I did experience was far better than the life of darkness I'd left behind 10 years prior. But I said to him, if we're gonna do this, then you need to reveal yourself to me. Because Jesus Christ said he came to give abundant life, and I am not experiencing it.
Here, help me bridge this chasm. And so I told his spirit I said, Holy Spirit, I trust you to lead me into truth, and more so than I trust the enemy to deceive me. And he took that trust, and he ran with it. We decided that let God be true and every man a liar. So I said, if it's in the scriptures and your spirit testifies to it, even if it's a circumstance, even if it's something I'm going through or I'm not seeing, that's not reality.
*Truth* is my reality, and I'm gonna anchor myself in here. Oh, was he faithful. The physical ailment did not stop. For 12 years, every day, it was like I had the flu. Raising and homeschooling 3 beautiful boys, that was hard.
But now, I went through it, and I knew how to anchor myself in the victorious vantage point of Christ Jesus, which is what I'm sharing with you today. A lot of these points came from that discipleship of a spirit that's really helped me to anchor into him. And 1 more thing before we get into this. Oftentimes, when I'm ministering to someone or talking to a friend, I kinda get into coaching mode. Chin up.
Remember the overall view. This is what Christ has given us. Yay. And more times than once, I've heard, that's great. I believe that.
But what about this? This circumstance is painful. This is distracting. This is difficult. How do I reconcile the 2?
And I wanna tell you a nugget that's not in our sermon, but it's gold. And it's every thought is a seed, and we get to determine what we're gonna let plant in the soil of our heart. It says that we are to take thought every thought captive the obedience of Jesus Christ. Like we talked about today, his name on high. So what we do is if we have a thought, we hold it to the light.
Does this align with what Jesus Christ says he did, who I am because of it? And if it doesn't, we don't let it play in our heart. We just dismiss it and we keep on Because those moment by moments are where we are shaped ultimately, but we keep our eyes on the prize. So as we start this our message today, it's actually an acrostic. An acrostic, is every point that we're making today starts with a letter from the word vantage.
Yeah. *God* did that. Yeah. So we're gonna begin, and our first letter is v. And v stands for **victory is your position* because Christ* is.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, too often, live our lives as if our victory in Christ is a distant hope, something to attain or strive for. But the wonder of the gospel is this, that when we're yet powerless and unable to lift ourselves, Christ came and descended from on high, lift up his creation and his people, and placing us in himself, put us at the summit, at the right hand of our father in him. In Christ is your position. In Christ is your victory. His victories are our victories.
He crushed sin and death and separation, and we get to live free and whole and in union with God. Who he is is who we are now too. He is the righteousness of God, and in him, so are we. He is the light of the world. So are we.
So if there's all this victory happening around here, why doesn't it seem like it? Because if because *Jesus Christ* did the work to position us with him. But unless we align our perspective, our vantage point of our perspective to align with truth, we will still be living as if we're still down here, barely scraping by, knees bloody, and fists of accusation up to the Lord, where are you? Why did you leave me? Why aren't you coming through?
The gospel is more than just forgiveness. It is forgiveness. Thank you, God, that I'm washed in the blood. Thank you for forgiveness. But it also says that Jesus became sin.
The 1 who knew no sin, he became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus restored God's likeness in human in human form. He restored sonship. *John-1:12 says, to whom who believe that Jesus Christ those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ, he gave the authority to become sons* of God, children of God. If I say sons, ladies, just know it's just like a overarching term, sons, children of God.
Those who believe he gave the authority to become children of God. Why? Because every child of God overcomes the world. 1 John-5:4. *Jesus came to restore our sonship*.
*Jesus came to reveal sonship*. Jesus walked this earth fully human, in right standing relationship with our father, destroying darkness and bringing light. Not only did Jesus restore our sonship and reveal our sonship, he reveals our father in heaven. Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. It says in Hebrews and Colossians that he is the exact representation of our father, the radiance of his glory.
That in itself is victory. *Jesus Christ* also empowers our sonship. Through union with Christ, our sonship is realized and lived. Through the indwelling life of God, we are transformed, And we can align our minds with the mind of Christ, we can walk as sons of God with authority reflecting our good father and bearing fruit. I'm gonna tell myself just a little bit.
Years ago, I was at a party, and it was a Christian party, and it was an icebreaker. And we were supposed to say something about ourselves, 1 fact. And I thought, I've got the ultimate good Christian girl answer. And it came to my turn, and I said, I am a big sinner. I thought that's what being a Christian was, acknowledging my *sin* and how unworthy I was.
But I didn't have this understanding that I'm sharing with you today. No wonder why I was double minded. No wonder I was I'm sorry. No wonder I was unstable. I was double minded.
I had the mind of Christ calling me higher to live in him, and yet I thought that I was glorifying him more by magnifying my lack and where I was. But now I understand the honor of God more to take him at his word That's right. And become and magnify the finished work of Jesus Christ within us so we can spread the glory of God on this earth. So v stands for victory is our position because Christ is. A is abide deeply in Christ the vine.
If I were to put my finger on 1 of these points I have for you today of something that really changed every aspect of the gospel for me, it's union. 1 Corinthians-6:17 says, he who is joined to the Lord is 1 spirit with him. There's no part of my life that he's not already within. There's no sacred and secular divide happening here. I'm not crawling into his presence.
He has brought me into his life. From this place, rest becomes easy. Because it's not that I'm bringing something in from the outside to bring it in and adapt and become. It's actually his nature within us. He is the exact expression of our father and the blueprint of humanity.
He is our salvation. He is our sanctification, our wisdom. And so when we know how to abide in this union, It becomes about resting in him within us and letting his nature be revealed to and through us. To abide is illustrated in a branch and a vine. Just like a vine, just like a branch cannot produce fruit on its own, but it needs to remain connected to that vine, so we too.
And through trusting God and obeying and remaining in that fellowship of that union, we abide. And he expresses his life in and through us. From this place, spirit, holy spirit flows through your life like vital sap through the vine. Love from this place, love compels obedience, and obedience is joyful. This is what it's like to live in the in the overflow of union.
I'd like you to turn to Colossians-1 for me, please. And as you do, I wanna tell you that the Old Testament, the the a huge chunk of our scriptures and all of the history that that was recording, people were wondering, what is God going to do to bridge this chasm between man and God? What is this great mystery of how God is actually gonna bring us back together with him? Raise your hand if you found it in Colossians-1 yet. Look in there.
What's the mystery? What is the great mystery? Pastor David. What is it? Christ in us, the hope of glory.
*Christ in us is the hope of glory*. So when we abide from Christ within and we rest in his nature transforming us do you know what glory is? When I think of glory, I think about it's the nature of our father on display. His goodness, his love, his freedom, everything that is good is him. So Christ in us is the hope of our father being expressed to this world.
*God* loves mystery. Just FYI. And if you're thinking you can put God in a box and you won't feel good until you know every aspect of this and you feel safe, I'm gonna tell you right now, just break it and ask his spirit to lead you into all truth and trust him in the process and the mystery. So he goes and buries this incredible mystery and places it in you. And we have the rest of our eternal lives to search out this treasure.
*God says it's the glory* of God to conceal a matter and a glory of kings to search it out. So we have the rest of our eternal lives to find out what are the inexhaustible treasures of Jesus *Christ* that he has given to us. And it says in Colossians-3 that your life is hidden in Christ. So while we are in there searching out who Christ is and exploring our inheritance, we get to find the truest version of ourselves too. Your life is hidden in him.
*John-14:20, Jesus says that in that day when my spirit comes, you will know that I am in the father* and that I am in you and you are in me. So Holy Spirit, I thank you. Reveal to our hearts how we are already participating in this union between father, son, and holy spirit, lord. I thank you, holy spirit. So we've got v stands for victory is your position because Christ is.
A is abide deeply in the vine. Our next letter is n, and this stands for, you're a, **new creation**, and your mind is being renewed. 2 Corinthians-5:17 says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, behold, the new has come. So many of us live this scripture as if it's been there, done that, got the t shirt.
No offense, Eric. I know you're wearing the shirt that says it, but our church's big motto is that, and he's wearing our shirt. But anyway, but so often, we live that way, and it's like, okay, thank you, God. Thank you for wiping me clean. Thank you for this fresh start as a new creation.
Thank you. And then time goes by, a week, a month, years, and I've since sinned or done something that I know is not the nature of God since then. Now, where do I stand? Is this even applicable to me anymore? The beauty of the gospel is this, friends, that in Christ, when you are born again, you aren't just wiped clean or rebooted, you are a brand new creation, never been before.
The spirit of God gave life to your spirit, and you are 1 with him as a new creation never before seen before. *Christ in you is the hope of glory*. But we also So we are spirit, and we are soul, and we are body. Body, I think we understand. Spirit, we just talked about.
Spirit is the place where we anchor our life and our truth in reality when we are anchored in the in into the victorious vantage point of Christ. Because from this place in our spirit, it is untouchable. *Jesus Christ is our righteousness*, he is our wholeness, and he is incorruptible. That's why I can still say I am a new creation in Christ Jesus because I am 1 with him in spirit. But we also have a soul.
A soul is where our mind, will, and emotions, and for this illustration, it can come almost like a valve. It's the place of where we get to decide if we are gonna align with the truth of Jesus Christ and who he proclaims he is and who we are or we're not. I'm gonna go ahead and open up and read *Ephesians-4* verses 22 to 24. And he taught you to let go of the old lifestyle of the old self, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. Now it's time to be made new by every revelation that's been given to you and to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ within you as a new life and live in union with him.
For God has recreated you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and now you belong to him in the realm of true holiness. When we talk about having a renewed mind, we are being reprogrammed. All of our lives, the world has dictated and told us who we are. This circumstance happened, so I must have this much value. This person said that, so that must be who I am.
The *glory of being a new creation in Christ is this, that when we were born again, we received a new heart that is compelled to obey and love our Lord* back, and a new spirit with him. And we have the mind of Christ so that we can be transformed from the inside out. *Romans-10:12* says, not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be renewed by the transforming or be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And this is what it is. It's that abiding and trusting the gospel of Jesus Christ is enough.
2 Corinthians-3:16 to 18. I'm gonna open that 1 too. But the moment 1 turns to the Lord with an open heart, the veil is lifted and they see. Now the Lord I'm referring to is Holy Spirit, and wherever he is Lord, there is freedom. We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces.
And with no veil, we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into this his very image as we move from 1 brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord who is the spirit. So as we behold *Christ* within us, the glory, the character of God becomes expressed in and through us, and we are transformed. We talk about repentance a lot in Christian culture.
And repentance is, okay, I'm going 1 direction, and now I see that that's not the right thing to do. So then we turn around, we change our mind, and we have a change of behavior. We do something different. Well, when I'm gonna introduce you to a chapter in the bible that revolutionized how I understand repentance. Because prior to this, repentance for me was I'm doing something, I realize it's wrong, and it felt like a lot of sin.
I I felt like a lot of guilt and condemnation and shame in that repentance moment. And and my turning back began to look like graveling back and feeling like I had to dig myself out. But the book, the chapter, Nehemiah-8, talks about how the Israelites or the people God's people, they had been, taken captive and let and and taken away from their homeland, and now they're back brought back to the promised land. And Nehemiah has all the people gathered so they can read the word of God. Right?
So we can know what it is that God has for us. And they had teachers in the crowd explaining what this even means. And he begins to read the the he begins to read and explain. And people begin weeping in mourning, and he says, no, you're not getting it. This is not what we're doing here.
You see, before you did not know the way to walk, and now we do. And so now we rejoice because God has invited us to participate with his way of life. Nehemiah-8:10. This is where it comes from. The joy of the Lord is my strength comes from this, repentance and turning to the Lord.
Hope that impacts you like it did me. K. So v was victorious, or victory is our position because Christ is. A was abide deeply in Christ the vine. N is we are a new creation, and our mind is being renewed.
Our next letter is t, which is trust him. It's short but pivotal. Thank you. May 2022, I was laying in my bed in silence, and the Lord interrupted my silence. He does that a lot.
That's why I love silence so much because he's always there. And he interrupts my silence, and he says, free fall into my goodness. And he gives me this picture, and my 1 of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride. And he gives me this picture from that movie, and it's this main character guy, and he's basically going down the hill enthusiastically. He like, he's just like all in.
And when God said free fall into my goodness, that's the picture he showed me. Remember I earlier, we talked about how our thoughts are like seeds and we get to determine what we're gonna let plant and not? This was kind of like that. It was like he was saying, whenever you come up against a circumstance or something that happens and you feel like my goodness is on trial, free fall into my goodness. Go with it.
And I began to see he showed me too, like, this is like with Eve, like, the only reason this in the garden, right, Eve falls for this temptation. And the only reason that that had a place to land in her heart was because the trustworthiness of God was up for debate for her. But then we see Jesus Christ coming in complete trust and obedience of his father, overcoming temptation and sin and saving the world. Guess whose mind we have within us? The mind of Christ.
So we have his spirit within us, his mind leading us and showing us what is to be a son, and we get to lean on that. *God* is always revealing his nature in sunshine and in rain. I bet many of us have a testimony of how he we were going through something, and we couldn't see a way out, and then suddenly, God came, And he revealed himself as savior, as father, healer, comforter, provider, friend, you name it. The trick, the tip here, is to take the spirit of God within us, our testimonies from the past of his faithfulness where he's come through for us, and the scriptures which talk about our forefathers and how God came through for them, and we apply that now in this circumstance the moment it hits. This circumstance might be different.
I've never been here before, but his faithfulness endures, and we bring that right in. How many of us have been through something like, oh, I should've just known, should've trusted the Lord, he always comes through. Now we get to. We apply that as credit almost. When he spoke that free fall into my goodness in May, I didn't know that within months, my life was gonna enter a season which I affectionately call the great tribulation and shaking.
This business that the Lord and I had built together, I had to it was blossoming. It was blooming. It was amazing. And I had to shut it down because neurologically, couldn't keep up anymore. My health was on the decline again.
My daddy, so close with him and my boys, he passed away suddenly and unexpected. Every relationship in my inner core began to be shaken. It was like I was getting pounded from left and right over and over again. But because what the Lord had been teaching me these 10 years, like told you about in the beginning, and anchoring myself in the victorious vantage point of Christ, and learning to free fall into his goodness and trust him, every time my soul hurt, and I began to feel that I would dip this big thick paintbrush into this paint can, in my imagination, called trust. And I would dip it in, and I would just go over every wound, and I would lather it.
And I knew it got into every single crook and cranny. Nook and cranny. Yeah. Crook, no crooks. No crooks there.
I get emotional at this because after the fact, the Lord revealed to me in a very special and intimate way how precious it was to his heart. But I went through that with trust in him. It's a big deal to his heart that we take him at his word. Alright. We're gonna move on to a.
A is adopted as his beloved child. *Ephesians-1:3* to 6. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly plate realm has already been lavished upon us as a loved gift from our wonderfully wonderful heavenly father, the father of our lord Jesus Christ, all because he sees us wrapped into Christ, our position. This is why we celebrate with him with all our hearts, and he chose us to be his very own, joining us to himself even before he laid the foundation of the universe. Because of his great love, he ordained us that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.
For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children through our union with Jesus, the anointed 1, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace. For the same love he has for his beloved 1, Jesus has for us. Selah. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure. We were found in Christ before we were lost in Adam.
It talks about in Genesis the account of God creating mankind and humankind in his image and his likeness, and he calls it good. We also see that humanity was hijacked by sin. And we talked today about how Christ came and brought us back to his promised land of himself. So that Christ within us can express our father's good nature. This is why Ephesians-5:1 where it says, be imitators of God as dearly loved children is not daunting and difficult, but it is actually a encouragement of what we can do.
We can imitate our good, good father, full of love and grace and mercy. We have been chosen oh, actually, forgot a part. This is really important. Holy Spirit helps us as we understand *God as our father. It says in Romans-8:15* to 16, the mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of Holy Spirit, and you did not relieve the spirit of religious duty leading you back into the fear of never being good enough.
But you have received the spirit of full acceptance enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, beloved father. For the Holy Spirit makes God's fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, you are God's beloved child. *Jesus* taught us to pray. Our father.
He also said, call no man on earth your father. Why? Because when the spirit of God gave life to your spirit, we are sourced in him. We have been chosen, adopted to be holy and blameless in his sight, and this has all been given to us in a beloved thank you, Jesus. And there's a part about being a child of God that has to do with being conformed into the image of his son, *Christ*.
*Romans-8:29* says, for those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. That's why I call you brothers and sisters. We talked earlier about repentance where we're going about 1 way, and we realize we're doing something incorrect. It's not according to spirit of God and the nature of God in us anymore. So we repent, we turn back, and that can be sweet, and it can be blissful and beautiful.
And sometimes, being conformed can look like a process with a lot of pressure. And if we're not careful, we might get offended and say, where are you, God? I thought there was supposed to be a son of God. I thought I on my crown on. Like, what's going on?
My crown's getting shaken off, you know. If we are self centered as opposed to Christ centered, we could become offended at God and miss and think that he is punishing us when he is really preparing and purifying us. These fiery trials that we're going through aren't meant to reveal what you are made of. They're meant to burn away everything that you were never supposed to be. Remember, we talked about the world teaching who we are?
Selfishness, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, not for you because it's not freedom. It hurts you. These fiery trials are meant to burn these things away as we lean into the perfect *son of Christ Jesus* within us and ask him, what does it look like to go through this like a son? These trials are not meant to reveal and show you what you're made of. They are meant to reveal Christ in you.
So we've got victory is your position because Christ is for v. A is abide deeply in Christ the vine. N is you are a new creation being renewed in your mind. T is trust him. A is Adopted.
Adopted as buffalo children. I'm just testing you. G is grace. His life, our strength. You often hear the word grace.
Many of us don't know what it is. It's almost like this intangible thing like, oh, grace and mercy. Grace is unmerited favor. It is something that we don't deserve, that he gives us and lavishes upon us like Jesus Christ. I'm gonna tell you that grace is not permission to sin.
Just before we keep moving forward, grace is not permission to sin. Before I had the revelation of grace, I had these young, mothers that I was friends with because we're all young moms, and we would kind of bond over what I call the lowest common denominator. We would come together, and surely, within not much time, we would talk about the fact, I yelled at my kids again. I keep doing it. And we're like, yeah, me too.
Me too. Me too. So that's what it was like before I had the revelation of grace in my life. I was like on a hamster wheel, and I didn't know how to escape it. I wanted to obey God and follow him, but I didn't know how to break out of this corruption.
But then I understood that grace is God's divine enablement and empowerment to carry out the life of Christ within me and you. It is to bring about real lasting transformation is the point of grace. *Ephesians-3:20* says, to him who is able to immeasurably more that we can ask, think, or imagine according to the power that within you, be all glory forever and amen. That is grace. It is God's power within us doing more we can ask, think, or imagine.
This whole thing is his idea from start to finish. It is his idea. He chose us before the foundations of the world to be brought back to him. Grace is his enablement to make it happen. Grace is relational.
*John-15:5, Jesus* says that to abide in him, because apart from him, we can do nothing. Grace flows from union. It's experienced through trust and not striving. *Hebrews-4:16 says, come boldly before the throne of grace* in our time of need. Sometimes, when we are in the flesh and when I say in the flesh, I don't mean like I'm doing some grievous sin over here that you would imagine what I'm talking about in the flesh.
In the flesh is depending on and relying on our own power to do something that Christ has called us to do and given us the ability to do. It is grace and by his spirit alone. And so sometimes when we're in the flesh, we do try to white knuckle this and make it happen. But the trick is, instead of that, we draw nearer to him and his throne of grace through faith that Jesus actually did what he said he did, and he is who he says he is, and you can do what he says you can do because of Christ, our victorious vantage 0.2 *Peter-1:3* to 4. Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by his divine power.
For all was lavished upon us for the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by his name and invite us to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness. As a result of this, he has given you magnificent promises that are beyond all price. So through the power of those tremendous promises, you can experience partnership with the divine nature by which you have escaped the corrupt desires of the world. The power of God is for miracles. Absolutely.
Miracles follow the gospel. But the grace of God and the power of God is also for integrity and walking and upright truth. Now we're bringing it to a close. Our final e is eternal life is now. *Jesus* said that eternal life Jesus himself defined eternal life as knowing the *father* and the 1 whom he sent.
This knowing is through experience and intimately. Again, thank you God for union. How much more intimate can we get? Eternal life is not where we go someday. It's being present with the 1 who is present with us now.
It's not a length of days. It's a depth of communion. It's not about passing or failing tests. It's about growing through knowing him. It's learning to live from his victory throughout his inexhaustible treasure of our inheritance in Christ in us.
Eternal life is participating in God's life now. We often wanna shadow box our with our past. This happened to me. He did this, therefore Or we wanna reflect that into the future. Well, if I can protect myself, and this might happen there, there.
And we're forgetting the fact that eternal life is right now. Right now. And I wanna encourage you to anchor yourself in the eternal perspective, which is now. Right now is the grace to overcome. Right now is the faith of Jesus Christ to see from the vantage point that he's given us.
And I wanna encourage you to choose to remember, to anchor yourself from the perspective of the victorious vantage point of Jesus Christ that has been given to us in the beloved. Choose it now, in this moment, in this moment, and every moment you remember that you have a choice because this is where we are shaped and conformed into the image of his beloved son. We're gonna finish with 1 last scripture here. Ephesians-2:5 to 6. *God* loves us with such great love.
He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace. He raised us up with Christ, the exalted 1, and we ascended with him into the glorious perfection and authority of the heavenly realm. For we are now co seated as 1 with Christ. Amen.
And *Jesus is the way to our father*. We were talking earlier about those with unveiled faces can behold the Lord, and we're transformed through glory and glory. That veil he's referring to is something that used to separate God from his people. There was this veil, the separation between God and his people. And Jesus *Christ* became that veil and was torn into he became sin who knew no sin so that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
He became everything that separated us from our father so we could destroy it. I encourage you brothers and sisters to step through the cross, through the blood of Jesus Christ, and "step through the veil", through the way that Jesus Christ has brought us back into our father's presence. And I encourage you to "go boldly before" his throne of grace. Sense his pleasure over you, his delight, the gospel of the "righteousness of God" in Christ Jesus. Let him lavish you and show you what it is to be a son and a of God, walking this earth with him.
And then, turn and see your life from heaven to earth, from the victorious vantage point of Jesus Christ. Amen.