Chosen: God’S Divine Favor

By Dora A. Mann Ewing

The Bible is a collection of history books telling not only the stories of the ancient people of Israel, it tells our story! It helps us to understand who we are, where we come from, and what our potential is as a people. From the beginning God chose humanity and placed His divine favor upon them as His earthly representatives to rule the earth. They knew who they were and what their purpose was in life. However, their vision became blurred and their identity concealed as a result of their disobedience. Sin separated them from God and they lost their position to Satan. Nevertheless, God made them a promise and inaugurated a plan to bring restoration. In this book I want to take you on a journey through the history of God fulfilling His promise and choosing Believers to rule the earth as kings in His kingdom

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481708890

Book preview

© 2013 by Dora A. Mann Ewing. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/05/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-0888-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-0889-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013901066

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Reflection

Forewords

Part 1

I Introduction

2 Genesis

3 Time of the Patriarchs

4 The Earthly Kingdom

5 The Kingdom Divided

Part 2

6 John the Baptist

7 Jesus

8 Hindrances to Fulfilling God’s Divine Plan

9 How Can the Body of Christ Make a Difference Today?

10 Mary and Hannah

Summary

Bibliography

To my husband,

Elder Clifford D. Ewing, who patiently endured, showed love and support during all the time spent in my work. Thank you. Love you always.

To my loving parents,

The founders of the Original Church of Jesus Christ in Dyersburg, Tennessee and the beginning of our legacy. Your memories will always live on in my heart.

Reflection

Who is the person that I look in the mirror and see? Surely this couldn’t be the one that I call me! Often all this isn’t who I would be, but oh yes this is the one that I call me, the one that was going to get that big degree, and although you may not agree, I know this isn’t who I’m supposed to be, so I owe it to me, to be set free by the one who created me, and then I’ll look in the mirror, and say, oh yes this is she or he, the one that I call me, who has become who God created me to be.

Author

Mary Crowder

Forewords

The Bible is a history book tracing not only the ancient people of Israel and the birth of the church, it also tells our history! It tells us who we are, where we came from, and what our potential is in life, and where we need to go. Everyone was born with purpose. Our gifts and talents were being shaped by our creator while we were yet in our mother’s womb. Every race, gender, and social group was born with equal and inalienable rights that need to be respected. The Body of Christ is made up of different parts, each being vital in making it function properly. Our color, social status, and gender show our purpose in the important role that we will play; however, God does not show respect of persons. Each has a part to play in the great drama of fulfilling God’s purpose and plan in this world and need to fulfill his or her part with equal importance. When Jesus began teaching, He showed the people what the kingdom of heaven was really like and immediately the people recognized that He was different from any other teachers before Him. He taught them about the true freedom and justice they had been denied; freedom to hear the Word and think for themselves, so that each one could work out what God was saying to them personally according to their own path in life. Because of sin, humanity’s pathway has become blurred, but, Jesus’ death on the Cross cleared up the way and provided the means for all humanity to be restored to fully function. This was God giving us a new start. And now we can know what true freedom, justice and peace is all about.

Part 1

The Old Covenant

God’s Promise beginning with His divine favor on Adam and Eve and moving on to Abraham and his descendants is called the Old Covenant. Its purpose is to set the stage for the fulfillment of God’s plan of the restoration of justice, freedom and peace in His Mighty Kingdom.

I

Introduction

Everything that ever existed had a beginning. However, as humans, we are the only living beings that have an innate need and desire to know why we exist and when and where it all began. God created every person with inherent dignity and purpose in life. No matter what walk of life we are from, we all desire to know how to live out that purpose. At one time or another, we have all felt that tugging in our hearts that tells us that we are powerful and free beings. Thus, the question that continues to burn in our hearts is; who am I and how do I find and live out my purpose in life? But, like a hidden treasure, it’s not really lost; you just have to know where to look for it. According to the Scriptures, God have a purpose and plan for you and me that He had in mind long before we were born and makes it clear that it is His will that we know what that purpose is. To begin, we need to go all the way back to Creation. When God created the world and all life in it, He chose humanity above every living thing. When He created Adam and Eve, He gave them everything; the most beautiful Kingdom to live and rule, His presence, all the best foods to eat, freedom from sickness and disease, their own wills and more. He placed His divine favor upon them and commissioned them to be fruitful, multiply, filled the earth, subdue, and rule over it. In other words, they were King and Queen ruling the world. They knew who they were and what their purpose in life was. However, their vision became muffled and their identity became concealed as the result of their disobedience. Sin separated them from God and they lost the kingdom to Satan, who used propaganda to gain their position, and thus Satan began to rule. At that moment, however, God made a promise to them and inaugurated a plan to reveal and restore their identity and position.

This is the beginning of a true story of Bible legacy, it tells our legacy! And it all began with God, His Kingdom, and His Chosen ones. The first five books of the Bible give themes that clearly state the purpose for the people of God. In order to understand who we are, we need to trace our legacy, which begins in the Garden of Eden with the creation of the first man and woman; Adam and Eve—their rise and fall, and continues through the stories of their sons; Cain and Abel, Seth and the call of Noah, his family and the flood, finally focusing on the fate of one family; the family of Abraham, the great patriarch. God chose Abraham to faithfully follow His commands and become the father of a great nation. Through this one family God would fulfill the promise He made to send a Redeemer who would bring justice and restore humanity’s freedom and authority to rule the kingdom. In obedience to God, Abraham traveled with his family from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. Through the promise of God, Abraham and his wife Sarah miraculously conceived and bore a son; Isaac, the next generation. Isaac inherited the promises that were given to Abraham. Isaac son, Jacob, the third-generation patriarch was next in line; Jacob became the father of twelve sons. Jacob wrestled with an angel and his name was changed to Israel, and the twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph was the eleventh and favorite son of Jacob. Joseph’s story tells his faithfulness to God under extreme circumstances, his rise to power and becoming the savior of the household of Jacob. In his last will and testament, Jacob made it known that the tribe of his fourth son Judah would be the tribe of the scepter and would rule over all the other tribes. Later, the great saga moves from one family drama to historical marvels. God revealed His awesome power by publicly humiliating the mightiest human ruler on earth, the great pharaoh of Egypt. The children of Israel, as God had promised to Abraham, had grown into a great nation but they were slaves under harsh taskmasters. God chose Moses, called the great law giver, to deliver Israel so that they would be free to begin their true destiny. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness of Sinai where God revealed his identity to them and gave them a code of law to guide their lives