Who’s In Control?

By Ryan Shaw

God is moving things globally toward the pinnacle of the fulfillment of His Great Commission and the glorious return of His beloved Son. He is orchestrating events to create an environment where every person alive on the planet can choose to experience His Kingdom willingly.

This process is primarily being done through the means of His global body of believers. It is us, His Church, who have received the privilege of participating with His heart for all peoples and revealing Jesus to all ethnic groups.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Are we becoming what God has called us to become in order to show forth the praises of the One who has transferred us from the Kingdom of darkness into that of His glorious light?

Our great calling of becoming what God intends does not start with trying to become something. We don’t try to be better or holier or act more like a “Christian.” This attempt of “trying” to become what we think God is after leaves us empty and frustrated. We simply can’t do it.

Instead, our calling is realized through the discovery that I was never created for myself. Before the foundation of the world, when God knew me and was dreaming of intimate fellowship and communion with me, I was intended to by wholly His and not in control of myself.

A major piece of growing into the disciples Jesus intends is to experience the joy and exhilaration of surrendering all I am to the One who created me for Himself. Many problems in the Christian life can be rooted back to the lack of faithfully buying into God’s will in this issue.

If I believe Jesus is savior who willingly surrendered all to purchase me from eternal destruction then is it too much in return for me to willingly surrender all I am into His capable hands? Of course not!

Our failure to do so often is connected with a lack of basic trust in God’s character. We say we trust Him for salvation but when we talk about trusting Him with our finances, family, career or anything else dear to us, we come up with lots of excuses.

All I am and have belongs to Jesus. It is already done by right of His death and resurrection. Whether I comply or not is entirely up to me and will either produce an experience of life in God as it was intended or a measure of guilt, frustration and bondage throughout life.

Because of Christ’s victorious resurrection we are therefore “alive unto God” and not unto ourselves. We are not free to do what we want with our time, finances, energy and talents. They are meant for God, for His enjoyment and His purpose.

Because of His resurrection we belong to “another” and not ourselves. This is the essence of Biblical holiness. Holiness means to be “set apart.” We aren’t holy because we try hard to get rid of some evil within.

We progress in holiness when we offer ourselves entirely unto God, becoming separated unto Him for His enjoyment and purposes alone. Holiness in the Old Testament has the understanding of being reserved exclusively for the Lord.

This act of giving myself wholly to Another is a definite act. There must be a day when I firmly surrender my life from my own control and into the control of Him who created it in the first place. From that moment forward I belong to Him and am no longer my own.

This is often a separate, subsequent act from believing in His death and resurrection to take our place in assuming God’s wrath over sin. It means I live for the will of God alone in and through me. I am firmly committed to being and doing whatever He asks of me.

If the body of Christ globally was full of people who have discovered this truth and laid hold of in daily practice, the fulfillment of the Great Commission would be done in very little time.

Spend some moments asking God how you are doing along this line. Ask the Spirit to evaluate you in this regard. Ask Him what issues are holding you back from fully surrendering control of your life to Him.