Accessing Heavenly Abundance from Earth
As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world (John 17:18).
Heaven is our home. This is not a religious statement but a spiritual fact.
When we are born again, we are born from above. In Jesus’ prayer, Jesus not only stated this fact, but then He went on to say, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
This statement carries some serious revelation about our identity, our purpose, and our ability. First, notice the word sent; to be sent into a place, you must come from another place. That is not rocket science; it is just common sense! I can’t go into a place where I already am.
Jesus said, “You sent Me into the world.” Well, this must mean Jesus came from somewhere else, and we have already seen this to be true. Jesus came from Heaven. Over and over throughout the book of John, Jesus talked about being sent from Heaven.
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (John 6:38).
Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16).
But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me (John 7:29).
And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him (John 8:29).
Being a sent one was a big deal to Jesus; if He was talking about it a lot, it is because He was thinking about it even more! Well, Jesus did not just stop with that statement about Himself—He went on to include us! “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” In the very same way God sent Jesus, Jesus has sent us.
The word sent is the Greek word apostello. As you can probably guess, it’s where we get the English word apostle. An apostle is a sent one. In a very general sense, all of us have an apostolic call because we have all been sent by Jesus into the world. Certainly, there are those in the apostolic office who have been sent by Jesus as an apostle to a country or for a certain work, but again, in a general sense, we are all sent ones. We are ambassadors for Christ. We have all been given the ministry of representing Jesus and endeavoring to bring people into relationship with God (see 2 Cor. 5:20). Because of this, we are all important. Just because you may not be standing behind a pulpit or leading a large ministry does not mean you are less important.
In Jesus’ prayer, we discover not only our identity as sent ones, but we also discover our purpose. What is our purpose? Look at Jesus! What was Jesus doing on the earth? He was manifesting Heaven on the earth and destroying the works of darkness!
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world to manifest the Kingdom of God, Jesus sent you and me to continue manifesting the Kingdom of God. Jesus was undoing the works of satan in people’s lives. Friend, just as the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sent us—don’t ever forget that! The only thing Jesus was sent to do that we could never do was die as the Redeemer of the world—that alone was reserved for Jesus Christ; however, the works Jesus did on the earth, we were sent to do as well. We have been given the responsibility of being ambassadors of Heaven! We are the light in this world! We have the privilege to stand on Jesus’ behalf before the works of darkness and command them to cease. When we walk into a place of unrighteousness, because of our righteousness in Him, we stand in the position to right the wrong.
As sent ones from Heaven, we are not to conform; we are to transform. There are too many Christians today trying to fit in with the world; however, Jesus sent us to stand out! Remember, we are to be set apart by His reality. We are to get different results than the rest of the world. When the world is getting sick, we are to remain healthy. When the world is going broke, we are to be prospering. When the world is in fear, we are to be at peace. Why? Because we were sent into this world to live from another reality so we can manifest that reality on the earth.
We are to stand out because of the glory of God in our lives. The light that shines in us should be shining through our family, our finances, our health, our businesses, and yes, even our ministries. We are to stand out not only because of our identity and purpose as sent ones, but also because we have the resources to fulfill the plan of God for our lives on the earth.
Isn’t it interesting you never saw Jesus in Scripture asking God for more power? God sent Jesus fully supplied! When Jesus stood before a sickness or disease, Jesus never had to question if He had enough authority and power to get the job done; Jesus had more than enough! It would have been unjust for God to send Jesus into the world to destroy the works of darkness and yet not give Jesus the spiritual equipment He needed. Jesus never said the things the modern Church says. The modern Church is singing and praying, “God pour out Your Spirit. Pour out Your power. We need more!” Isn’t it funny that Jesus never did that? So why are we asking for things Jesus didn’t ask for? Could it be that we do not fully understand our union with Christ?
We must remember what the apostle John wrote about Jesus:
And from the overflow of his fullness we received grace heaped upon more grace! (John 1:16 TPT).
Do you see this? From His fullness we received grace heaped upon more grace! That does not sound like we are lacking—in any way! God never gives just a little bit; God is an excessive, lavish, and abundant Giver. God always gives too much!
Heaps of grace—this is what we have in order to represent Jesus. Grace for our health! Grace for our relationships! Grace for our finances!
Not only did God send Jesus into the world spiritually supplied, God also sent Jesus physically supplied. Isn’t it interesting you never saw Jesus asking God for money? We never see Jesus lacking financially during His earthly ministry. Now, I know some people want to talk about how poor Jesus was, but that is the furthest thing from the truth.
When Jesus was born into the world, it didn’t take long for Him to become very wealthy. When Jesus was around two years old, the wise men from the East came to His house with an abundance of treasures. The wise men were not just a couple of smart guys; according to history, these guys were king makers in the Middle East and extremely wealthy! They were responsible for putting kings on the thrones, and this is the reason that King Herod became very nervous when the wise men showed up.
The wise men didn’t just show up with a little box of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The wise men brought Jesus cargo loads full of treasures fit for a king. Based on the historical values of the items that were brought before the kings, a lower-level king would have received 110 kilos of gold (a monetary value today of $5 million dollars). But Jesus wasn’t a lower-level king; Jesus was the King of kings, and what the wise men brought unto Jesus would have been a staggering amount.
This wealth not only sustained Mary and Joseph during their time in Egypt, but it also more than took care of them during Jesus’ childhood, giving Jesus an abundance during His ministry. Jesus not only had a treasurer for His ministry, but He was also responsible for taking care of the twelve apostles and their families. You don’t need a treasurer and twelve employees if you are broke! Even at Jesus’ death, the soldiers were fighting over Jesus’ clothes. Do you think the soldiers wanted some old beggar’s clothes? No, Jesus’ garments were that of a rich man, and the soldiers wanted them!
Jesus never begged for money and never went without. When Jesus was approached about His taxes, Jesus didn’t have His treasurer with him; it was just Jesus and Peter. What did Jesus do? Did He take up an offering or have a telethon? No, He got a word from the Holy Spirit about where the needed money was and sent Peter to get it—out of a fish’s mouth! Jesus paid for His taxes and Peter’s taxes (see Matt. 17:24–27).
In the same way God sent Jesus into the world with abundance, Jesus sent you into the world with abundance. Jesus never meant for you to be in this world broke and barely getting by. It was never in Jesus’ mind for His ministry representatives and His churches to be scraping by and barely surviving from one offering to another offering.
I’ve never understood preachers who preach God wants you humble and poor, and then they take up an offering. You can’t give something you don’t have! Jesus needs you wealthy so you can be a blessing to the world and fulfill His call on your life.
It doesn’t matter how anointed you are, without money, the anointing won’t take you too far. When you buy real estate, food, clothes, vehicles, airtime, etc., those sellers expect payment in the form of money, not anointing. It takes spiritual equipment and physical equipment to get the job done. Thank God, you and I have everything, and I mean everything, that we need!
No one has risen into the heavenly realm except the Son of Man who also exists in heaven (John 3:13 TPT).
Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts! (Ephesians 1:3 TPT).
Just as Jesus was living out of Heaven while on the earth, you and I have that access and ability as well. Every resource Heaven has to offer is available to you through your union with Christ. It is time the Church starts viewing herself the way the Head of the Church viewed Himself while on the earth: fully supplied. God sent Jesus fully supplied, and in the very same way, Jesus sent us to manifest Heaven, and He equipped us with the spiritual and physical resources to fulfill the mission. Don’t ever forget we have heaps upon heaps of grace to get the job done!
Prayer
Jesus, thank You for trusting me enough to send me into this world to represent You. Holy Spirit, I ask You for greater clarity of my purpose on the earth. Give me a greater revelation of the authority and power that I have. I thank You for making all of Heaven’s resources available for me. I will not lack for any good thing, and I will fulfill all You have called me to do!
