The following is for those who, like Joshua and Caleb, are saying, “The giants are not too big. We can take the land, the land of promise.” In their Old Testament story, God promised to give them their own literal land, land occupied by the Canaanites. In that land, in Jerusalem, they built a temple for Him to dwell in. In our day He has promised to dwell–not in temples made with man’s hands–but in us, the temple that He created for Himself to dwell in. One of Christ’s greatest teachings is how we become His temple in a reality, just like the apostles and prophets.
In this last generation before Christ’s return to earth, after winning a spiritual war, those called and chosen will receive God’s promise for these latter days. What exactly has our Father promised us? He has promised that if we walk in His teachings, we shall spiritually grow up to become—just like Christ when He walked this earth. The Promised Land for our day is the vision God has for us, His sons and daughters.
If we will get rid of the false teachings and walk in His true ways, He will grow in us—Christ the Vine and us the branches. If we stay in Him and He and His teachings remain in us, then we will abide in Him and He in us. And if we abide in Him and He in us, then He has promised that we will bear “much fruit.”
“Much fruit” is 100 fold fruit; it is the fruit that the manifested sons of God will bear at the end of this age. These offspring of the Almighty shine forth in the pages of the New Testament. “Much fruit” is seen in the actions of Christ and His apostles. They are coming. That is His promise to His elect. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1: 12). Receiving Him and His power is the first step in bearing “much fruit.” That is a promise.
The Promised Land
In a word—we are the modern day “Promised Land.” Yes, of course, there is an extremely important geographical fulfillment of this. But the spiritual fulfillment is just as important.
Our bodies are made of earth and are divinely supported with breath and water and nutrients. When these earthly bodies expire, they go back to dust. They become part of the land where they are buried. When His Spirit fills us, God fulfills His promise to “dwell in us,” His temple. He has promised us (I Cor. 3: 16; II Cor. 6: 16).
God has chosen by His grace and mercy a few to manifest Himself in. They will be the first fruits, the first humans to bear ultimate spiritual fruit. They will walk in a high growth of the Spirit within them. Christ calls this “much fruit.”
Little children of God who never grow up spiritually will bear “fruit.” He will prune these Christians to purge out impurities so that they can bear “more fruit.” This is 60 fold fruit. In this growth we learn to “abide in Him and He in us” to the point that we bear “much fruit” (John 15: 1-8).
When we abide in Him, and He in us, then we may ask what we will, and He will do it. Why? Because we will have had all the old leaven false doctrines purged out of us. Then He can trust us and will fulfill His promise to fill us with His agape love. It will be “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Through this process of spiritual growth, we become the New Promised Land.
So What Do We Do Now?
Since bearing “much fruit” is God’s promise to us, how do we grow to that point? How is it done? One of Christ’s new commandments to us is this: “Abide in Me, and I in you…He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit” (v. 5). We see here again “much fruit,” the ultimate growth level.
It is here that Christ makes this promise: If we abide, stay, remain, and continue in His teachings, unfettered by false doctrines and claims—if we continue in His teachings, He has promised us that we will bear “much fruit” (vs. 4-7).
Bearing “much fruit” is the only way to glorify our Father. “Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit” (John 15: 8). In the next verse Christ gives us the key. He gives us this command: “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (v. 9). We are to continue loving the way Christ loves.
The word “continue” is translated from the Greek word meno. It is also translated “abide, remain, and dwell” [1]. So, abiding, remaining, dwelling, and continuing in His love will lead us to bearing “much fruit.” But how do we abide and continue in His love? Christ answers us in verse 10: “If ye keep my commandments, you shall abide in My love…” Keeping Christ’s commandments. Someone is thinking, “I thought it was just the Ten Commandments we are to be concerned with.” Keeping them is just our duty. He wants us to bear much fruit, which is going beyond the call of duty.
Christ’s New Commandments
Christ magnified the law and gave many new commandments for those answering the “high calling.” We have seen already a couple of Christ’s new commandments: “Abide in Me” and “Continue in My love” (John 15: 4, 9).
In fact, His promise to us is wrapped in the understanding and keeping of His New Commandments. Christ promises: “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me, and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.” One of the disciples asked him how He will make Himself known unto us and not unto the world. He answered, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words [commandments], and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14: 21-23). This is the abiding. This is where Yahweh, our Father and Creator, will truly live in us, and He will abide and remain in us. This is the promise; this is the spiritual “promised land.” So, what are Christ’s “New Commandments”? [To be continued…]
Kenneth Wayne Hancock
[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3306&t=KJV
Immortality Road 