Greetings,
A good definition of glory is to be fully alive. The glory of authority is to be fully alive as who you are and for the purpose for which you were born. The result will be life to others because of who you are. The authority of who we are is meant to bring life to the world through the identity of who we were born to be. In a general purpose, we were all born to be children of God. We are sons and daughters of God because of the substance of our new birth in Christ. In the same way, we have a specific reality in the seed of who we are in our individual identity for the purpose of God in the earth. We have a general birthright as a child of God, but we have a specific birthright for the various roles we play in fulfilling our individual purpose in Christ. Authority comes from the seed.
1 Corinthians 15:35-38 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
Every seed has its own glory. There is a glory of corn, fish, animals, trees, angels, stars, planets, and any created thing. The glory begins in the seed. The glory of who you and I are is found in the seed of who we were born to be. We already are the seed, but it is yet to be revealed what that seed will fully become. We don’t just have the potential to become what we are called to be. Who and what we are called to be is in the very DNA of who we are. These things are not determined by our will, but by discovering the will of God in our lives. It is a matter of discovering who God made us to be.
1 Corinthians 15:39-41 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
I emphasize birthright and the glory in the seed because authority is not based upon who we want to be, who we think we are, or who we think we should be. It is founded upon who we are destined to be according to the seed of who we are. Authority comes from the seed! The enemy wants to distract us and deceive us to desire to be someone we are not. Someone else’s authority is not ours, nor is our own authority out of timing of the season of our life an authority of our reality today. Tomorrow’s authority is not today’s authority. There is a glory in each stage of our development in authority. There is a glory in the seed, in that it has all of the potential and destiny to become what it is called to be. When a plant begins to grow it has an authority of life as it is revealed as the green shoot. There is an increasing authority, as it becomes the stalk. That authority is a testimony of life, but it still lacks the full fruit of authority that brings life to others. It isn’t until the fruit develops in the stalk that the full fruit of authority is seen for the life of others. There is even an authority of seed to the future generations that follows the authority of food for others. Each stage of development includes a greater authority and a diverse testimony of purpose and destiny.
1 Corinthians 15:42-50 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
How does the earthly and the heavenly relate to us today? There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. We are inheritors of the kingdom of God NOW, but it is also connected to who we will be in the fullness of our resurrection in Christ. There is a progression to the authority of our lives. Each stage of our development and manifestation is connected. There is both a natural and spiritual reality to who we are and it is found in the progression of the seed of our lives. Destiny is not just a destination; it includes the journey of who we are.
Not all flesh is the same. Flesh is not bad in this sense. Becoming our own source is walking according to the flesh, but being that we are naturally is necessary in the identity of our authority. There is a glory of each kind of flesh and that glory is in its seed. The flesh of everything is that which is physically manifested. Each flesh is from a different seed and has a glory of its own. We each have the ability to fulfill 100% of the glory that we are intended to be. Not one is better than another. Just as there is a diversity of stars, angels, and earthly creations, mankind is meant to be diverse in authority both in the natural and in the spirit.
Authority is manifested in glory, but it begins in the seed and each seed has an authoritative right of its own. One day we will experience an ultimate transformation in glory, but we must be fully alive in each stage of our authority in life. The authority is only seen when the seed becomes manifested in the flesh. When corn becomes the blade it has the glory of the blade. It has the authority of the blade. It has the destiny of corn, but the authority of the blade. What you are presently manifesting is what counts. God is changing us from glory to glory.
The destiny of corn is the full corn for food and seed, but there is a glory of life in each stage of its progression. When the blade becomes a stalk, it has the glory of the stalk. It has the authority of the stalk. It no longer has the glory of the blade. If a stalk could think, it may dream, it may have thoughts, it may have a hope and a vision of having a head with kernels of seed in it, but, its glory is that of a stalk. It is what it is. Godliness with contentment says I am what I am. Dreams and expectations are necessary, but today is also good! When corn becomes the head, it has the glory of the head. It has the authority of the head. It is what it is and authority is based upon glory.
A pumpkin has the destiny to be a pumpkin. A squash has the destiny to be a squash, but when the two mix, it can become something it wasn’t intended to be. You must be who you are. If you are a pumpkin you need to stay in the pumpkin patch. When you mix field corn and popcorn you end up with a perversion of popcorn. Not all spirits are the same, nor are all natural bodies the same. Everyone is unique. It is important that we each remain true to who we are meant to be.
There is a progression in the seed. Authority has its foundation in the kind of seed that it is and all authority is relevant to today’s responsibility. What you were yesterday is not who you are today, nor is it what you will be tomorrow. God will stretch you and you can’t go back by wishing things were what they were yesterday. This kind of thinking is simply stupid thinking! There must be a continued progression or you are acting out of authority, or acting out of the boundaries of authority. You are going to have to be real! You can’t act out yesterday or tomorrow.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
To be transformed is to go through a metamorphouses. It is like the transition of a butterfly. It starts out as an egg, progresses to be a caterpillar, transitions to a pupa (cocoon), and then finally transforms into a butterfly. In the seed of the egg is the destiny of a butterfly, but there are several stages in between that have a glory of their own. An egg is an egg, a caterpillar is a caterpillar, a cocoon is a cocoon, and a butterfly is a butterfly.
Authority and destiny are not the same. Life comes out of authority, not destiny! Dreams come out of destiny, but dreams alone are fantasy. The authority of today is not the authority of tomorrow, nor is the authority of yesterday the authority of today. The perfect will of God is for you to be who you are today.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
