What gives us assurance in life? As I looked up the definition in the dictionary it said this:
1) A positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise.
2) Confidence or certainty in one’s own abilities.
Well, I’m not too fond of the second definition. The first one, yes, I like it!
As I write this, I’m hearing the words of the old hymn “Blessed Assurance.” You all remember it,
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I, in my Savior, am happy and blessed.
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Oh, what a Savior, wonderful Jesus.”
This hymn was written in 1873 by a blind hymn writer named Fanny Crosby. Wikipedia Dictionary says, “Crosby was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as the Knapp home was having a large pipe organ installed. The organ was incomplete, so Mrs. Knapp, using the piano, played a new melody she had just composed. When Knapp asked Crosby, “What do you think the tune says?”, Crosby replied, “Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine.”
- Blind faith is sometimes needed to bring assurance.
- Our blind faith and total trust in God is based on the knowledge we have of God, who is Faithful and True.
Why did the Holy Spirit have me write all of the lyrics of the song?
To have kingdom assurance, we must first have blessed assurance that Jesus is mine.
It’s kind of similar to securely walking in God’s love; we must encounter His first love.
1 John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.” Everything stems from His love!
The reason we have kingdom assurance is because we have promises that have been spoken, they are declarations of the kingdom of God within us.
Paul was sent to the Colossians to exalt Jesus on the very image of God; and to assure them of the Kingdom within them, now that they have surrendered to Him. Here’s what he said,
“Now He (Jesus) has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.” (Colossians 1: 22)
Do we see ourselves as holy and blameless without fault?
- Be assured that you are holy and blameless IN Jesus.
- Be assured that the death of Jesus has made you clean.
Paul continues reassuring the Colossian folks saying, “You must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.”
Here comes the warning: “Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News has been preached all over the world.” (Colossians 1: 23)
Our Kingdom assurance begins and ends with the Good News of the gospel.
- Don’t drift away from this assurance.
- Our Kingdom assurance continues with our faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope in the gospel.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE: Be assured of the hope we have in the gospel to the very end.
“We desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end.” (Hebrews 6: 11)
KINGDOM ASSURANCE
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