Please, Sit Down

The climax of the meritorious work of the Lord Jesus Christ is His glorification, that is, "the seating of the Lord at His (Father God) right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come." (Ephesians 1:20-21) This came about after Jesus had been made sin with our sin; after He had paid the penalty for our sin; after He had suffered unimaginably in spirit, soul and body, so that the demands of justice was fully met and paid for. Once this was accomplished, then Christ, was raised from the dead. We may know these facts but the good news is, we were raised with Him and seated with Him, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7) This was not our doing, but the Father's. The Father declares we are seated together with Christ.

God the Word became flesh, a man (John 1:14); He identified Himself with the human race  (Philippians 2:6-8); He became the substitute for the entire human race (John 3:16); He delivered the human race from the authority of Satan (Colossians 1:13); After He has conquered Satan, death, hell and the grave (Revelation 1:18), He arose from the dead; was reunited with His physical body (Acts 2:27); carried His blood into the Most Holy Place in heaven (Hebrews 9:12); He then sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High making redemption both eternal and available to the entire human race. We have the God Man seated at the Father's right hand as our advocate, (1 John 2:1), our mediator, (1 Timothy 2:5), our representative, our intercessor before the Father. (Hebrews 7:25) This is the crowning event of redemption. Jesus seated at the Father's right hand, and is the head of the new body, the Church. It's no wonder that the Apostle Paul proclaims, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) 

Not only are we seated in the highest position in the universe with Christ, we are also blessed with every spiritual blessing that is necessary to maintain our place as members of His glorious body.
In the mind of God, every believer is in Christ now. When we go to the throne of Grace in prayer, it is as though Jesus Himself were going there, for we go in His Name. The Apostle Paul tells us, "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3) Every believer is  hidden from the adversary, but we are visible to the Father. The writer of Hebrews says, "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." (Hebrews 9:24) 

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father as our representative, as our Lord, who gave Himself for us. If Christ sat down at God's right hand, it is because the Father accepted Him and accepted what He did for us. The fact that He is seated there is the seal of our acceptance in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6) This should cause us to see that our Redemption is a completed, eternal, finished thing. So, let us not get caught up in the worry and anxiety that the world would try to conform us to, but let us exercise our faith in the integrity of God's Word and know that as Christ is, "far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:21) so we are also for we are in Him as we can see, "the Father has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:22-23) PTL...   

Child of God - Part 4

Due to the miraculous work of redemption through Jesus Christ, man has been restored to all that he was in God before the fall.  The only way that a person can take advantage of such an incredible gift, he must confess Jesus as Lord and receive Him as Savior. This act of faith transforms the sinner instantly by-means-of new birth an gives him the right to become a child of God. New birth is the heart of Christianity. From the fall of man to Pentecost every plan and purpose of God to redeem man had centered in this. This is the reason for the sacrifice of Jesus as man's substitute. Man's interpretation of the new birth determines his whole Christian experience. What this means is, if the new birth is not supernatural, then Christianity is nothing more than one of the other religions of the world. If the new birth is simply a conversion to new concepts or a theory, then Christianity is purely a product of human endeavor. However, the fact is, the new birth is supernatural and Christianity has become the family of God, not a mere religion, or religious experience, but a completely restored relationship of man with the Father.

Jesus is the first one who speaks of the new birth, and in His conversation with Nicodemus He tells us what the new birth is and the need of it. (For the sake of space, please read John 3:1-8) The first thing that we see it that no one can see or understand the Kingdom of God except he is born again, that is, except the life of God come into his very being and recreate his spirit. Second, no one can enter the Kingdom of God except he is born of water and the spirit. However, Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, cannot understand these things and asks, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus responds, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again." In this scripture, Jesus reveals the difference between the natural and the spiritual man. The importance of us grasping this is that Jesus shows us that man is spiritually dead, a child of the devil. (John 8:44) The Apostle Paul tells us, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:1-2) 

However, the new birth is to be a complete change of the sinful, satanic nature of man to a new or restored relationship with the Father. The Apostle Paul continues, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6) We were not sick with sin, we were dead in sin, but God made us alive together with Christ, new birth, born again. By one accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,  he enters into a covenant, a legal contract so-to-speak, with the Father through Jesus Christ. Some of the numerous blessings that are legally and instantly bestowed upon believers from the Father, are... 

• His sins are remitted, wiped out as though they had never been. (Isaiah 43:25) 
• He is legally justified, made righteous or set right with God. (Romans 5:1-2) 
• His name is written in the Book of Life. (Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3) 
• He is legally adopted into the family of God. (Romans 8:15-16) 
• Jesus publicly confesses him before the Father and the His angels. (Revelations 3:5) 
• He is legally reconciled to the Father. (Romans 5:9-11) 
• He is declared and made righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21) 
• Satan no longer has authority over the believer, but the believer has authority over Satan. (Mark 16:17; Luke 10:19)
• He is blessed and given every spiritual blessing by the father in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)  
• He has the promise of eternal life. (1 John 2:25)

Keep in mind that these are but a very small potion of what takes place in the new birth, but these are enough to show us the incredible privileged of being a child of God. The fact is, new birth is an impartation of God's own nature into the believer. (2 Peter 1:4) The Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) This is not a figure of speech but, literally, if any man receives Christ as his Lord and Savior, that man is a new creation. He is not renovated, patched up, fixed over, or a hybrid, nor is he one who has received eternal life without losing the old nature. No, Paul distinctly says, that he is a new creation and that the old things, that is, the old nature, has passed away. In other words, it would be like an old building completely torn down and replaced by a new one. The new creation is a work that God Himself has accomplished in the believer. It is all of God and the new believer is now a legitimately born again child of God. Not only are we legally born again by God, but we are also legally adopted into His Family which makes our relationship with the Father doubly secure in Christ.  

The Apostle John tells us, "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:13) The Apostle James tells us, "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." (James 1:18) The Apostle Peter tells us, "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." (1 Peter 1:23) Man, once spiritually dead, hopeless, helpless and without God in the world, a child of Satan, now has the opportunity to become a part of the family of God, simply by confessing with the mouth and believing with the heart, the Lord Jesus Christ and taking Him as Savior. Think about these things and then consider, who would not want to be a true, legal, bought and paid for child of God? Really, no one. So take some time and let some people know that they can be a part of God's family and become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Oh Boy, What Did I Just Do?

We saw in the last post Gods true purpose for man. However, Genesis 3 reveals the act of treason on Adams part which brought a curse upon all humanity. We see that the woman began to reason within herself  the truth claim of the serpent which was not the truth at all and she ate of the tree. Adam responded to the voice of his wife transgressed the commandment of God. Although the woman, Eve was made equal and comparable to Adam and that she was deceived, God had given Adam the responsibility and authority over all the He had created. This means that Adam was the one charged with committing treason against God thereby forfeiting his rights and authority given to him by God, to Satan by way of transgression. How do we know this?

Then the devil, taking Him (Jesus) up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." (Luke 4:5-7) The devil could not have made such a claim if he did not have the authority over all the kingdoms of the world. But in fact he did have the authority because we see the devil's claim, "for this has been delivered to me.". Adam did indeed forfeit (deliver) everything to the devil.
2 Corinthians 4 reveals why many people do not except the gospel when it is preached, "whose minds the god of this age (Satan) has blinded" (2 Corinthians 4:4). Besides this, if the devil did not have this authority then it certainly would not have been used as an instrument of temptation against Jesus at all.

Make no mistake, Satan’s desire is to have authority. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:12-14) Adam’s act of transgression relinquished his position as the god of the world to Satan which means that God is not ruling over the kingdom’s of this world, yet. "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15) Of course this speaks of events yet to come.

However, the kingdom of God is revealed on the earth. First through Jesus Christ, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) Through His disciples, "And as you go, preach, saying,'The kingdom of heaven is at hand". (Matthew 10:7) Then after Christ's work on earth in His physical body was accomplished, through His church, "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) God’s authority on earth is in and through the church. Remember, Satan wants authority which should cause us to understand why he works so hard at lying and trying to deceive believers. However, there is great news for those who place their faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, because those who do will be partaker of total and complete restoration of mankind. Hallelujah