Seeking Jesus First - Aug. 24, 2023
God has created an “orderly arrangement” between Himself and humanity. We call it a covenant. It is like a trust agreement. God, Father and Son, is the Grantor/Settlor/Creator. Holy Spirit is Trustee. Humans are Beneficiaries. The New Covenant in the Bible contains the trust agreement which explains what is available and how to receive it.
Fortunately for all of us humans, God made it very simple to receive the benefits. One must believe in the Grantor and in the words of the trust agreement. And, one must have a relationship with the Trustee. One must use His faith to access his relationship with the Trustee to in turn access the provisions in the Trust.
Grantor/Settlor/Creator - Essentially, the grantor can place anything they own into the trust. The grantor has another essential role to perform: determining who will benefit from the assets. Legally, the grantor must select a specific person or group of people. Most of the time, grantors set up trusts to benefit their heirs, but they can also designate entities like churches or charities. Trusts can be either revocable by the grantor or irrevocable.
In a revocable trust, grantors often retain control of the trust and its assets and may make changes to the trust throughout their lifetime, both to assets and trustees. The grantor of a revocable trust can cancel the trust at any point, change the beneficiaries, and make other substantial changes. At the time of the grantor’s death, the trust becomes irrevocable, and if the grantor was also the trustee during their lifetime, a successor trustee identified in the trust agreement takes control according to the rules laid out in the trust and by the law.
An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, cannot be modified, even by the grantor. In this case, the grantor transfers assets to the trust, selects a trustee, names the beneficiaries, and constructs a trust agreement to ensure wishes are carried out. From there, the grantor has no obligations or duties until they need to add assets per the trust agreement.
Trustee - The next party to enter the picture is the trustee. This person will oversee and administer the trust going forward. Trustees are named by the grantor to care for the assets of the trust. Trustees hold a lot of power when it comes to managing the trust. Essentially, the trustee has the right to do whatever is necessary to protect and grow the trust’s assets. In a way, the trustee runs the trust like a business. They can take almost any income-generating action to grow the trust’s worth.
Beneficiaries - Beneficiaries “benefit” from the trust. In other words, they are entitled to the trust’s assets, as directed by the trust agreement and controlled by the trustee. Many times, there are multiple beneficiaries—the trust should address asset division ahead of time.
There are things to be gleaned from the way a trust works. But it is important to remember that the Grantor made the rules for how the trust is accessed by the beneficiaries and the Trustee has to act in accordance with the Trust. The Trust agreement itself is what governs how the the assets are distributed. Let’s look at some of the parallels for our heavenly covenant trust that God has granted to us.
God, The Father and The Son, purposefully, according to pleasure of The Father’s will, made His kingdom available to anyone who would ask and the kingdom assets available to anyone who would believe. While Christ Jesus was in the earth, He, through the indwelling of Holy Spirit acted as Grantor and Trustee. The death of Jesus made the Trust an Irrevocable Trust. But when He rose from the dead and went back to The Father in heaven, He appointed Holy Spirit as Trustee in the earth.
The nature of Holy Spirit and the way He dwells with and in the beneficiaries of the trust makes mature believers (manifested sons) co-trustees. Consider the way Paul writes in Galatians about children growing up and becoming mature sons who no longer need a tutor. As agents of Jesus who are filled with Holy Spirit, we actually take a role as Co-Trustee and Beneficiary. As Co-Trustee, we do not make decisions alone nor do we try to access the trust outside of what was prescribed by the trust agreement. But we are allowed to share the benefits of the Trust and recruit more Beneficiaries.
How do we become beneficiaries? By faith in The Father and in His Son, Christ Jesus - The Grantor/Grantors
How do we access the benefits? By faith in the words of the trust and partnering with the Trustee - Trusting the Trust and the Trustee
Please do not allow your thinking here to be twisted into not pursuing relationship with The Father and The Son. Holy Spirit manifests The Father and The Son to those who love and seek The Father and The Son. Holy Spirit makes our relationship with God intimate and real. Through Holy Spirit, we can access every aspect of The Father and The Son. Holy Spirit also makes sure that we understand both the intent and purpose of every word of God. Holy Spirit interprets Scripture. Holy Spirit translates the language of God. Holy Spirit reveals The Father and The Son and gives us everything that The Father gave The Son.
Using a metaphor like a trust agreement can tempt us to approach everything from a legal standpoint. But the trust was never made to separate us from God through legal procedure. It was made to put us in relationship with God through faith and give us access to all of God’s kingdom through faith, hope and love. Our personal relationship with God is more important than accessing the benefits of the trust. At the same time, a good loving and intimate relationship with God will make us aware of His desire and love for us. This will in turn lead us into accessing the benefits that He so graciously provided for us according to the good pleasure of His will.