At the Cross, Jesus embodied the ultimate surrender. Though He had every right to cling to His life, He laid it down in obedience to the Father’s will, praying, “Not My will, but Yours be done.” Yet that surrender was not loss but the doorway to the highest life: God raised Him from the dead, exalted Him above every name, and through His sacrifice opened eternal redemption for the world. Just as Jesus said, a seed must fall into the ground and die to bear fruit; so His surrender has borne fruit in countless lives redeemed. And because the Cross is not only our salvation but also our pattern, we too are called to lay down our “lower” lives—our comfort, our control, our ambitions—so that His resurrection life may rise in us.

This is what the cross did for us. Jesus has already defeated the enemy, disarmed every power, and given us authority: “It is finished” (Jn 19:30). “I give you authority over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19)

You are not a prisoner but an ambassador of a victorious King. Rise tall, walk in that truth, and become God’s instrument to set others free.

A little boy once drew a picture in Sunday school. His teacher asked, “What are you drawing?” He replied, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher gently said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” The boy quickly answered, “They will when I’m finished!”

That’s exactly the problem the second commandment addresses. Whenever we try to “draw” or imagine God on our own terms, we reduce Him to something less than He is. The true God cannot be captured on paper, in stone, or even in our imagination—He must be known as He reveals Himself in His Word.

So, if Jesus envisioned a governing assembly, we must abandon anything less. It’s time to live out our true calling—to become the ekklesia that the gates of hell cannot withstand. We are not here to survive. We are here to prevail. So let’s drop anything less than what Jesus called us to be. He gave us keys, not pews. He commissioned ambassadors, not spectators. It’s time to rise as the governing body He intended—the ekklesia that the gates of hell cannot withstand.

We must see that nothing less than God be, or become, our chief goal or highest devotion in life. Our modern society's temptation to worship “other gods” follows other paths. When they become the purpose or end of living, these human pursuits are “other gods,” and those who seek them are breaking the First Commandment. We looked at four idolatrous pursuits: Possessions, Pleasure, Prestige, and Power. These are four “other gods” that contend with the LORD God for worship.

We understood the importance of faith in salvation. Faith comes from the union of the Word and Spirit. It is the result of the word being proclaimed in the power of the Spirit. God’s grace is the source, and faith is our human response. Learning about Jesus and what He did through His life, death, and resurrection leads us to believe in Him. To believe in His name is to accept Him, which means to put your trust in Him.

There is much more to be said about God’s intention for the church and individual believers thanprescriptions of law can contain. However, the underlying principle of this series is that by hearing God’s moral law again, we may all be called back to foundational and divine imperatives that can establish us more surely in the way of righteousness and, without which, only destruction looms ahead.

Regeneration is a profound change. Just as our physical birth introduces a new person into the earthly world, our spiritual birth introduces a new person into the heavenly realm. After it, we begin to see, hear, and pursue the things of God; we start living a life of faith and holiness. God is the source of this transformation. God’s great love and free gift, His rich grace, abundant mercy, and His mighty power are the foundation of rebirth.

The enemy spreads his lies that we are unworthy, unforgiving, unforgiven, hateful, anxious, depressed...and if we don’t have that worldly abundance that we are failures...

 GOD sent His Son so we can live with an abundance of...

People respond to challenges, how much more when God is saying to us, who will go for me? Who will I send? How many of us will lay aside our agenda, lay aside our wants, our desires, lay aside the things that so easily pull us aside. And like Moses, like Isaiah, like the apostles, like countless others throughout the centuries, who will say Lord here am I whatever the price, whatever the cost, whatever it may be. Here am I send me.