The fruit.
In a life with God centered on intimacy, a change in behavior becomes the fruit, not the objective. And our spiritual lives shift from evaluating “good” and “bad” to seeing the manifestation of true spiritual effectiveness and power.
As we come into alignment with God’s heart for us and his declaration of our identity, we become part of the creative work.
Between the two verses mentioned above is this divine commission:
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
From the inception, it has been God’s intention that we would be co-creators with him. That what he has set in motion, we would care for and cultivate. Later, after Jesus had come, Paul wrote this in Romans 8:
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
As you and I step into divine sonship through Jesus and into intimacy with God, we reclaim the role of steward and cultivator on the earth.
Our concern is no longer eliminating our bad behavior. Rather, we have taken on a higher calling and the refinement of our character takes place in the process of fulfilling our divine purpose.
No longer is our mantra, ”You’re bad, and Jesus wants you to be good.”
Instead, we come into the divine proclamation of, “You’re very good, and I want you to live into the fullness of your identity.” As we discover greater depths of divine intimacy, we truly awaken to the high calling of our created purpose, and we move forward never wanting to settle for less.
