We’ve Entered God’s Promised Land – Now What Do We Do?

We’ve entered God’s Promised Land – now what do we do?

God brought us out of spiritual Egypt through the new birth, not to leave us in a spiritual wilderness ruled by our flesh, but to bring us into a spiritual Promised Land; meaning:

(i) We have crossed the spiritual river Jordan (Jordan means descending) by humbling ourselves and surrendering our will to God, so that we may be filled with His Holy Spirit.

(ii) We have ceased from all our own efforts to try and keep God’s laws and make ourselves good enough for God. Instead we continue to actively believe that we are only acceptable to God as we remain in His beloved, that is, submitted to Jesus Christ.

(iii) We have entered spiritual Canaan (Canaan means to be on bended knee) knowing we’ve been bought with a price, that we belong to God and Jesus is truly now our Lord.

What do we do now?

1. Occupy this spiritual territory and never draw back or retreat from it:

Luke 19:13 (Jesus) …Occupy till I come (again). KJV

Heb 10:38-39 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who draw back to perdition (eternal destruction), but of those who (continue to) believe to the saving of the soul.

2. Advance and take more spiritual territory; more of the Land of the Promises of God:

A. What exactly is this spiritual Promised Land and how do we take more of it?

(i) Since it is not a natural realm but a spiritual realm, this land can only be occupied by a Christian whose will is yielded to their re-born spirit, as opposed to their human or carnal nature, or flesh. And, their spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning their spirit is under the continual direction or leading of God’s Spirit. This is what it means for a Christian to currently live “in Christ”, in the Promised Land.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

So to be in the Land of the Promises of God means to be “in Christ”, for it is only when we are “in Christ” that all God’s promises can come to pass for us: Hence this is a spiritual place that flows with the milk and the honey of God’s promises:

2 Cor 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him (“in Christ”) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

(ii) In order therefore to advance or take more spiritual land we must stand, meaning we must put the full weight of our lives down on, each specific promise of God brought to us and revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. Here are some examples:

God’s promises:

Of our spirits being led moment by moment by the Holy Spirit;

Of our spirits being fed daily with God’s words by the Holy Spirit;

Of our being crucified with Christ, and made dead to our human nature;

Of our being made dead, in Christ, to sin, the law, the world and the devil;

Of our being conformed in our spirits to the image and likeness of Christ;

Of being sanctified or made holy as a saint of Christ, for whom He’s coming;

Of rescuing others (both the unconverted and carnal Christians) from being separated from God and captive to their flesh, to the world and to the devil:

By praying and believing God’s promises for them, as directed by His Spirit;

By preaching God’s promises to them, under the anointing of His Spirit;

Of taking Christ as the healer and health of our bodies;

Of taking Christ as our protection from all harm;

Of taking Christ as our all-provider of our every need;

2 Cor 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached

among you by us…was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.

B. What does God require of us to advance and take the land of such promises as these?

(i) Righteousness – this is the absence of sin and therefore in right standing with God. Since to live in the Promised Land means to live “in Christ”, and in Him there is no sin, so to live in this Land means to no longer commit sin:

1 Jo 3:5-6 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins

and in Him there is no sin. Whoever lives in Him does not sin…

In this way Christ has become our righteousness, for by His words in us we are kept from sinning. Now as the righteous we can inherit more of the land;