Jesus said,
Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.
Matthew 7:24-25
Introduction
The title says “Seven Pillars for Abundant Life.” What is a pillar? Online Merriam-Webster says “a firm upright support for a superstructure.” The strongest, most stable building has pillars connected to the bedrock in the earth. We are talking about building your personal “house” of an abundant life on the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is abundant life? Abundant life is living daily life with inward peace, joy and righteousness. It is living with no condemnation. It is living in the provisions of God and in the power of the Spirit of God to carry out the calling and works of God in your life.
How do we live in this abundant life? The following are seven pillars of abundant life. These are seven foundational supports connected to the bedrock of the Lord Jesus Christ. On this Rock, you can build your personal “house,” your life, which is the “temple of God” and “the temple of the Holy Ghost.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Pillar One—Understanding Who Jesus Is
Jesus is the prophesied unique Son of God. He was conceived in Mary by the person of the Spirit of God, and born and manifested in the flesh as a real, living human being. Jesus is called “Lord” by man by the operation of the Holy Spirit in that man’s life (1 Corinthians 12:3). “Lord” means “supreme in authority…controller” (Strong’s concordance G2962). “Jesus” is the name given by an angel to Joseph in a dream (Luke 1:30-31). The name is of Hebrew origin meaning “Jehovah saved” (Strong’s Concordance H3091). “Christ” is the title given to Him by angels who appeared to some shepherds watching their flocks in a field one night. The angels called Him “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:8-11). “Christ” means “anointed Messiah” (Strong’s Concordance G5547). Jesus is the Spirit-anointed Messiah-Savior-Deliverer for all mankind.
Believers in the New Testament called Him Lord Jesus Christ and variations of this. They were understanding He is the “Supreme in authority, controller, Savior, Spirit-anointed Messiah-Deliverer.” They knew Him in the flesh as a person, and after Pentecost they knew Him in the person of the Holy Spirit. As they had fellowship with Him in person in the flesh, after they were filled with the Spirit, that fellowship continued with the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit to them from the Father to teach and guide them. The Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter,” the “intercessor consoler” (Strong’s Concordance G3875). John 14:16-17, 26; John 15:26; John 16:7-16
The Holy Spirit is a living person in our flesh (in our spirit housed in flesh), just like Jesus Himself was a living person in a flesh body. Jesus, the person of God, was manifested in the flesh, who had the person of the Spirit to manifestly come upon Him (Matthew 3:16). He was one with the Spirit. Jesus was one person (in the flesh) whose life and ministry was one with the person of the Spirit. A believer is one person (in the flesh) whose life and ministry are to be one with the person of the Spirit. This is by being born of the Spirit, and washed, sanctified and justified by the Spirit, all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and that the Lord is that Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 3:17
This understanding, this revelation, this reality of the life of the person of the Holy Spirit in us, is the basis of holy behavior. It is as Paul wrote to Timothy, that he would know how to behave himself in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Paul conceded that “without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” It is as Paul said to the Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Christ is the person of the Spirit living in Paul. The faith, love and righteousness of the Spirit-anointed person of Christ is Paul’s power of godliness in his life here in the flesh. 1 Timothy 3: 15-16; Galatians 2:20; 1 John 4:1-6
It is generally accepted that we as a person, have a flesh body, and a soul consisting of intelligence, will, and emotions, and a spirit man, which is the inner person. It should also be accepted that Father God is a person who also has a soul of intelligence, will and emotions. He is revealed in flesh in the person of Jesus, and He is a spirit man which is the Holy Spirit. (We see that God created man in His own image.) That Spirit man, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes to live in our spirit man which lives in our body. Even if we, as God’s people, have different views of this, bottom line—God is who He says He is whether we understand Him and can explain Him or not. He is God, who is to be heard, believed, received and obeyed. He is the “true Light” who lights every man who comes into the world, and comes to us to live in us. John 1:1, 14
God is not a mere theological concept nor is He an impersonal “force.” He is a living Spirit person with intelligence, will and emotions, manifested in the flesh, in the Word and in the Spirit. He plans, speaks and directs according to His own will and in cooperation with man. It is a great mystery that the person of God can live in you and I. The fact is, He is God, and He can do things the way He wants to whether we understand it or not. It is life-changing when we do come to an understanding of the fact that this person of God lives in us and He becomes one with us.
The fact of who God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit is, is called the “mystery of godliness.” It is the mystery of “godliness” because the fruit of this indwelling of God and of this understanding of who He is, changes our life. It “converts” us. This revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ makes all things to become new and produces godliness in our lives. When God comes into us, we are changed. It takes God coming to live in us to make this change. We cannot make it of our own strength and ability. When we “see” Jesus by faith, we receive new life.
Jesus said the Comforter would testify of Him, of Jesus, and by that ministry of the Holy Spirit to the believers, they would bear witness of Jesus being the Christ (John 15:26-27; Acts 18: 5, 28). Jesus further taught them that the “Spirit of truth” would guide them into all truth and would “glorify me” showing them the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit reveals who Jesus is. Jesus told them He was going to the Father, but that the Holy Spirit would be with them to continue to lead them in the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us into the life and ministry of Jesus Christ actually living in and through us. This “revelation” of Jesus Christ is experiencing Him. This goes beyond mere intellectual definition and mental understanding of who Jesus is. By the Spirit, we are changed and know Him by the experience of the life of Christ Jesus in us.
To truly have a relationship with Jesus and understand who Jesus is, we must have a personal encounter and relationship with the Holy Spirit. Paul also confirmed this to us in 1 Corinthians 2, where he taught how the natural man cannot understand the things of God, but the Spirit would reveal the things of God to us. He said, “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God…But we have the mind of Christ” We have understanding that comes by the anointing of the Spirit. It takes the Spirit of God for us to truly understand who Jesus is, and no man can say He is Lord but by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit gives us the understanding of who Jesus is. He reveals the living Son of God who is come into our flesh (into our spirit man housed in our flesh body) to live in and through us all to the glory of God, no flesh glorying in His sight. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; 1 Corinthians 1:29-31; Matthew 13:23
Pillar Two—Anointing of the Holy Spirit
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit, the life of God, comes in our spirit man, in our inward man. The inward man, who was in spiritual darkness, dead in sin, separated from God, is by the new birth, now clean from sin and is alive in the eternal light and life of Christ. The born-again man, woman or child, is of one spirit with God. God is love. By the Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in our heart, and love never fails. Living and walking in the love of God is the power of God in our life. Being fully matured in God’s love casts out all fear so faith is free to operate. 1 Corinthians 3:17; 1 John 4:16-18
John tells us the “unction” (same word in the Greek translated as “anointing”) enables us to “know all things,” and it teaches us truth so that we abide in fellowship with Jesus. Abiding in Him gives us confidence in life so we are not ashamed before Him at His coming. Again, we see that the person of the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus and to righteousness. John plainly said that he who is born of Him is righteous even as He is righteous. The fruit of indwelling righteousness is godly living. 1 John 2: 20, 27-29; 1 John 3:1-11
In the new birth, the life of God comes within a person. With that, the same Spirit of power that came upon Jesus in the flesh, can now come upon this new born person’s flesh man. This enduement of power is called “the promise of the Father.” Not only by the “anointing,” the “smearing” of the Spirit, do we become partakers of the life of Christ, but we can also become recipients of His miraculous power. Acts 1:4-5
Just as we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin and eternal life, so can we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for supernatural power to come upon our life. Just as we yield our life to Him for receiving peace because of what He did for us on the cross, so can we yield our life to Him to receive that same person and power of the Holy Spirit which came upon Jesus at His water baptism (Matthew 3:16). This is for the purpose of ministry. Receiving the power of God works like this: We hear the Word of promise, we believe, we yield our life to Him, and we receive by yielding to action.
To gain the full understanding of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to receive the person of the Holy Spirit. It is the person of the Holy Spirit who reveals and gives understanding of Jesus, the Father, and the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our teacher. Jesus is in heaven seated by the Father’s right hand of power. The Holy Spirit is here with us revealing and leading us into all truth that sets us free in Christ.
Desiring, receiving and yielding to the anointing, to the person of the Holy Spirit, and fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, is how we come into the unfolding spiritual understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the Spirit, we carry God’s life and power everywhere we go— “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee…” (italics mine). Peter knew he had God with him to get the man healed (Acts 3:1-8). By having the anointing of the Spirit within and upon us, we have God with us in life and in supernatural power.
Pillar Three—The Covenant
The Spirit of God shows and gives understanding of the Covenant that Jesus established with the Father on our behalf. This is an immutable, irrevocable, unchanging, God-sworn agreement between Jesus and the Father that has been established on our behalf.
Jesus understood the plan and will of God to redeem mankind from sin, sickness and Satan. Jesus gave Himself to do the will of the Father on our behalf. He accomplished what the Father gave Him to do. On the cross, right before He died, as He breathed His last breath on the cross, He bowed His head and said, “It is finished.” “Finished,” in the Greek, means, “to end, complete, execute, conclude, discharge a debt” (Strong’s Concordance G5055). Jesus ended the reign of sin, sickness, and Satan. He completed the work the Father gave Him to do on our behalf. He executed His part of the covenant on our behalf. He brought a conclusion to the unfolding of God’s plan to that point. He paid the debt off for all mankind, so every man, woman, boy and girl can go free by having a faith connection to Him. The good news is that it is finished! John 19:30; Hebrews 10:1-10
Because of what Jesus did for us, we have God’s guarantee to bless us in every way. The agreement between God and Jesus is established forever by the blood sacrifice that Jesus willingly gave for us. Jesus shed His blood that we be blessed in every way. The blood covenant agreement that Jesus established with God guarantees that He has taken our sins away, healed our sickness, given us dominion over Satan, and secured eternal life with Him in heaven forever. By the grace of Jesus Christ and by the mercy of God, and by our believing and yielding our life to Him, we become recipients of all the blessings of God. It is by no works of our own! It is all accomplished, secured, and offered to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. It becomes our experience through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to the prompting and leadership of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 10: 11-25
To the natural man and the natural mind, this is “too good to be true.” The natural man wants to work; he wants to do something to be saved. Hence, we have the “way of Cain,” the spawning of all kinds of religions and religious activity. But the sacrificial blood Covenant established between God and the Lord Jesus Christ stands apart from all religious works initiated by man. Genesis 4; Jude 1:11
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ legally joins us as a “joint-heir” in this blood covenant agreement between God and the anointed Lord Jesus. It is by faith alone, with no works initiated by man. There is nothing we can do to deserve this. When the Holy Spirit reveals this to us, all we can do is humble ourself before God. God and His unique Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, established and consummated this eternal Blood Covenant for us. As we hear this good news, all we can do is receive God’s goodness and mercy. All the praise goes to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All we can do is worship Him.
God’s work in us is to take out the “stony” heart and put in a “heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). God Himself comes into us and changes us. The Covenant, expressed in Hebrews, the letter to Jewish Christians, tells us that God puts His laws into our minds and hearts so that He is our God and we are His people. He said His people, from the least to the greatest will know Him, and that their sins and iniquities will be remembered no more. Hebrews 8:10-12
Paul concisely expressed it like this: that by the obedience of Jesus Christ we are “made righteous” (Romans 5:19). He said that through the work of Christ on our behalf, we receive “abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness.” By this operation of God in our life, we “shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17-19). By the obedience of Jesus Christ, we are in covenant with God, who works in our life to bring about all the blessings and purposes He has destined for us. He has purposed abundant life for us here, and hereafter.
Having been “made righteous” by the obedience and blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:19), we have bold access to the Father with great confidence (Hebrews 10:16-23). By the person, work, and life of Jesus Christ, by abiding in Him, we can “ask what we will and it shall be done” (John 15:7). We have all this in the Covenant.
As we understand the Covenant, we understand more of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the lover who freely gave His all for us. He suffered His whole life of denying Himself in order to obey the Father, all for our sake. He is safe and secure with the Father on our behalf, and we are in Him by God’s mercy and grace. He is our Lord, our Healer, our Anointing, our Teacher, our Comforter and our Power to live and minister in His name. Again, all glory, praise and worship go to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Blood Covenant is permanently established. Those who believe are “made righteous” before God and enter into the eternal liberty, authority and security of the Blood Covenant. In Romans 5:19 “made” righteous in the Greek means “to place down permanently, to designate, constitute, convoy” (italics are mine). Hence, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are “permanently placed” as righteous before God. Understanding that we are righteous in God’s sight is foundational to abundant life because in this there is no condemnation and no works required. There is just love to God and to your neighbor, and the liberty of the Spirit of God. This is the new heart promised in the Covenant that God gives to His people who truly believe in His Son, Jesus Christ as Lord. Living in view of “made righteous” and the Covenant we have in Jesus Christ, provides abundant life. We have peace, joy and power in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Pillar Four—The Written Word
Jesus told some religious leaders that they searched the scriptures, and in their knowledge of the scriptures and their works based on the scriptures, they thought they had eternal life. He said they were busy living by the scriptures, but they wouldn’t come to Him that they might have eternal life. John 5:39-40
Eternal life rests solely by faith in Jesus Christ through the eternal Covenant established by Him. Mere knowledge about God and Jesus is not eternal life. That can help lead us to eternal life, but just partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will not save us. Partaking of the tree of spiritual life in the revealed Son of God Christ Jesus as our personal Lord, is what saves us.
The written Word, Genesis through Revelation, points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. God has so graciously given us the written Word. By the Spirit guiding us in the Word, we see the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the Covenant. We see our inheritance of blessing—forgiveness, healing, empowerment, authority, identity, liberty, the will of God and eternal destiny. In the Word we see all things that pertain to life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:1-4
We can all have different interpretations, operations, opinions, perspectives and different levels of revelation of the Word. That is natural and that is okay. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the one foundation on which we are all to have the one same mind—His work of redemption, His payment to buy us from the slave market of sin, His anointing of the Spirit, His Covenant, and all of who He is on our behalf. He is our universal point of unity among all believers. He is the Living Word.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14). This never changes. We might see different aspects of Him at different times. That is okay. But He never changes who He is. The Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is our salvation. Faith connects us to Him. He is our salvation in every way—spirit, soul, body, family, finances, socially and for all eternity.
Understand that the written Word is given to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ who alone is our salvation. This makes the written Word precious to us. It is upon this pillar of the written Word of God, as the Spirit reveals it to us, that we can build our house of abundant life in Christ.
The Word is not about doing works to make it with God. It is the revelation of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who accomplished the work of God and offers that sacrificial work to us as a gift. Our salvation is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our trust, our rest, our peace and our source of present life and power are all in Him. This is what the Spirit-revealed Word of God shows us.
Pillar Five—Faith
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. With faith, we please God. With faith all things are possible with God. Understand, that with our connection to the Lord Jesus Christ through faith, we are connected to all the provisions and power of God. This is a pillar upon which you can build an abundant life. Jesus is our connection with all Who God is—and God is the great I AM! In God, in Jesus who is the Word, and in the Holy Spirit, we have everything we need in life. Life lived in His life and under His direction is the foundation of abundant life. Hebrews 11:1-6; Mark 9:23
Faith connects us to God who is the I AM for whatever is our need. Our faith, which is the faith of the Son of God, is given to us in grace (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:20). His faith connects us to Him who is the supplier of all that we need. All the provisions of God are accessed by faith. This faith pleases God because He is the good Father who wants to give us all good things, and through this faith of the Son of God and the operation of the Holy Spirit, we can enter into and live in the kingdom of all the good things of God. Exodus 3:14; John 8:58; Luke 11: 9-13
Faith, the God kind of faith that rests solely in His ability, empowers us to work with Him. Good works are the result of God’s faith living in us. These are both supernatural works and natural works. This is why faith brings about abundant life. All the bases are covered. We don’t just sit around “trusting God.” We do the works of God under God’s direction with God’s power and blessing. Living and walking in faith is a “supernatural natural” way of life! James 2
Pillar Six—Prayer
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Isaiah 65:24; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). Abundant life is imparted to us by calling upon the name of the Lord. Understanding that the Lord will save us in any way we need to be saved by our communication with Him, is a pillar upon which we can build the abundant life.
In the life of the Spirit, we are not limited to just prayer with our understanding. Through our “tongues” prayer language, we can participate in the language of the Spirit. We can give expression to the perfect will and blessing of God through the power of the Holy Spirit that goes beyond our understanding.
Today, any believer can pray with their known language by the inspiration of the Spirit. Also today, any believer can pray with their Spirit-given language by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This was the norm in the early church, and it is to be the norm for us today. They prayed with their understanding and with their spirit (praying in tongues) in the early church. Today, we are to pray with our understanding and with our spirit (praying in tongues). 1 Corinthians 14, especially verses 14-15; Jude 1:20-21
Engaging in prayer, praise and worship in and by the Spirit, elevates us from being limited to the natural understanding and ability of prayer, praise and worship, into the realm of the supernatural. Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:19). He went on to glorify the Lord saying “Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus…” (italics are mine, Ephesians 3:20-21).
Paul recognized that the power of the Spirit within us went far beyond our natural understanding or ability to ask or think. By relying on the Spirit to guide us in prayers with our understanding and by relying on Him to pray in tongues, we are engaging in that supernatural, super-abundant power of the Spirit. Paul prayed with his understanding, and he prayed in tongues “more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14: 15,18). In the public assembly, he spoke with the language that could be understood for the benefit of all. If an interpreter was present, Spirit-inspired speaking could be by tongues and interpretation. Privately, Paul prayed in tongues much.
Jesus called the church the “house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13). Prayer inspired by the Spirit, under the direction of the Spirit, is the foundation to life and liberty in the power of the Spirit. By seeking the inspiration and direction of the Spirit, we can pray in our known language, and we can pray supernaturally with an unknown language to bring about the will and ways and power of God in God’s kingdom and in the world.
By maintaining communication with God who is Spirit, with our spirit man, we can live in God’s will and God’s way of life. He seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and truth, for in this place we can live in His abundant life for us; we can live in His will and plan. By prayer and worship in the Spirit, we can go beyond just functioning in the kingdom. We can flourish in the kingdom with abundant life. John 4:23-24
Pillar Seven—Praise and Worship
By the Spirit giving us the understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, we are left with nothing except praise, worship, thanksgiving and love unto Him, to follow Him and Him alone. This sets us free from any works in any way in order to “try to make it.” We have peace and joy by resting in who He is and in what He has done for us. We have a true understanding that He is for us all the time and never against us.
The Father seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Understanding who Jesus is by the Spirit is what brings us to that place of true worship and spiritual rest. A glimpse into heaven reveals that worship fills the atmosphere of the abode of God (Revelation 11:16; Revelation 19:4; Revelation 22:8-9). Heaven shows us that God’s presence and power and glory are manifested in the midst of true worship. If we are to pray and expect God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then we must know that true worship exercised on earth will bring the fruit of God’s presence, power and glory here on earth. John 4:23-24
In God’s presence, power, and glory, lives are changed by receiving the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ there is true conversion, infilling with the Spirit, healing, deliverance and prosperity and abundance in every way. Praise and worship in the power of the Spirit is a result of seeing the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit. Spirit filled, Spirit led and Spirit liberated praise and worship is a pillar of abundant life.
Conclusion
The abundant life is living in the very life and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this place there is unbroken fellowship with the Father. Having intimate spirit-to-spirit communication with the Father is abundant life. All things good come from Father God who is “gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all” (Psalms 145:8-9). We see here that Jesus came to give life and life more abundant to all! John 10:10
It is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, done in the power of the Spirit, that accomplishes this secure relationship with the Father for us. As we give ourself to God in every way so that we become one with Him, we share in His life, His power and His purpose. The greatest fulfillment in our life is to be living in the life, power, purpose and will of God. Through the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we can live in the very center of God’s will for our life.
Abundant life is living in the center of God’s will. This life never ceases. When we take our last breath of this body, our spirit man simply continues on, except then, in that day, there are no restrictions or challenges. Then, we are in the perfect presence and will of God for all eternity with no adversities, battles or hindrances—abundant life beyond all we are able to ask or think. The Lord Jesus Christ has done this for us.