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The Gospel |
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The Mystery of God |
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The First Sermon |
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Joined to the Lord |
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Life From Above |
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The Spirit of Christ |
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The Man From Above |
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The Dividing of Soul from Spirit |
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The Living Word |
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The Preaching of the Cross |
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Evidence of Spiritual Death |
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God’s Only Solution |
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The Cross is the Power of God |
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The Broken Power of Satan |
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Dead to Sin |
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Glorying in the Cross |
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Crucified to the World |
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A New Kind of Life |
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Two Kinds of Humanity |
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Abandonment to God |
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The Work of Christ Today |
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The Inward Kingdom |
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Baptized for the Dead? |
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Witnesses of Christ |
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The Fruit of the Vine |
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Extensions of the Vine |
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The Shadow of Christ |
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Reconciled to God |
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The Finished Work |
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Christ of No Effect |
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The Galatian Solution |
The Gospel
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. (Gal. 1:6)
What is
the gospel? The gospel is the good news,
“concerning His Son, Jesus Christ.”
(Rom. 1:3) The gospel, therefore,
is a proclamation of the Truth about a PERSON.
The good news is the proclamation of Jesus Christ – yes, what He has
done, but essentially, about who He is today IN US. The gospel is the message of salvation. But the gospel is not merely a message of how
to be saved. Salvation is a Person. The gospel therefore includes all of the
Truth of life in Jesus Christ.
Paul warned the Galatians, “You have
deserted HIM that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel.” Can we see that Paul considered
life in Christ after salvation to also be the gospel? He affirms that the Galatians church had been saved
through the gospel, but then he states, “having
begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3)
If my Christianity is not based on Christ in me – His life and Truth –
then I am under another gospel. In
short, the savlation message must be the Truth – but so must the life in Christ
that results. I must not only believe
the message, but I must live in the One who is the living message
Any presentation of Christ that distorts
or omits any part of His redemptive work is a false gospel. But this is because such error distorts
Christ Himself. Christ dwells IN US
NOW: “Christ in you, the hope of glory
-- whom we preach.” (Col. 1:27-28)
The Mystery of God
The mystery which has been hid
from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints -- to
whom God would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1:26-27)
In NT times, a, “mystery,” was exactly
what Paul describes here: A Truth
previously hidden, but which is NOW revealed.
According to Paul, the great mystery of the ages which was THEN being
revealed was, “CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory.”
Paul directly states that this Truth was,
“hid from ages and generations,” past.
Sure. Jesus Christ did not, and
could not, dwell in anyone until after He completed His redempitve work and
ascended to the Father. Jesus said so –
He said, “The Comforter has been WITH you, but shall be IN YOU. I must go, for the Spirit cannot be decend
down from heaven until I ascend up to heaven.”
(see John 14:17 and 16:7)
Contrary to some Christian teaching, Jesus
Christ came to dwell in people for the very first time in Acts 2 when His
Spirit did decend. Acts 2 began the New
Covenant – which is CHRIST in you. Acts
2 began the church – which consists of those in whom Christ dwells. The day of Pentecost was fulfilled in Acts 2
-- and the mystery unveiled.
The First Sermon
Therefore let all the house
of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have
crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts
2:36)
The first sermon given through the
indwelling of the Spirit of God was given by Peter in Acts 2. But if you read that sermon, it is all about
Jesus Christ. Today some like to point
to what happened that day as a template for what God does today – people acting
drunk and speaking in tongues – but Peter quickly gathers all that was
happening into a message about the Person of Christ and what God now desires to
do through Him.
Peter ended his sermon with the above
verse. It carried the conviction of the
Holy Spirit. Acts records, “Now when
they heard, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to
the rest of the apostles, “Men and
brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be
baptized every one of you INTO the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
What was the conclusion of the events of
that day? People being convicted of
their lost condition and then being told to REPENT and be baptised through the
Spirit of God INTO Jesus Christ. That is
the Greek meaning: Immersed INTO
Christ. Joined to Him. In other words, the outcome of the gospel
message is supposed to be, yes, faith in all that Christ has done for us, but
unto this end -- Christ Himself NOW, IN each of us.
Joined to the Lord
But he that is joined unto
the Lord is one spirit. (I Cor.
6:7)
This verse tells us HOW Jesus Christ
dwells in us: He joins our human spirit
to Himself – to His Spirit. This is
CHRIST IN US.
The word translated, “joined,” could be
translated, “glued,” or, “cemented.” We
are ONE with Jesus Christ through the
union of our human spirit with His Spirit.
This agrees with the pictures that God gives us of our spiritual union
with Christ – baptised INTO Christ; baptised INTO the name of Christ; crucified
WITH Christ; planted into the likeness of His death and resurrection; and of
course, Christ in us, the hope of glory.
The spiritual union of our human spirit
with Jesus Christ is the new creature in Christ Jesus. This is what is born through the new
birth. It is the new man; the inner
man. Furthermore, it tells us how we
have eternal life. Jesus Christ IS the
resurrection and the life. Thus, when we
are joined to Him, we are not joined to a THING called life, but joined to a
Person who IS Life. We are eternally
alive because we are joined to the One who is the resurrection and the life.
God has given us all things freely IN HIS
SON. And the saint is joined to
Him. This is why, “we are complete in
Him.” (Col. 2:9)
Life From
Above
You are from beneath; I am
from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)
Jesus told Nicodemus,
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit….You must be born again.”
(John 3:6) All who are born in
Adam are born of the flesh. Flesh is all
we can ever be – and all that is built into the flesh is all we can ever
possess. All that we are in Adam was
permenantely ruined through the sin of Adam.
But Jesus never suggests that the Adam race is going to be fixed. He never suggests that there is any destiny
for the Adam race except what God originally judged: Death.
The solution, therefore, for all who are born in Adam is a NEW BIRTH –
we must be born FROM ABOVE.
Being born from above
is not a matter of God fixing me, or of Him drawing from out of me some
potential. No. The new birth is the result of receiving from
the OUTSIDE of me INTO me new life – HIS LIFE.
I am born from above when I am joined to the One who is FROM above. New life is Christ in us.
Many of us try to define
our Christianity by what we have to give or by what we do. God defines our Christianity by what we have
RECEIVED: Jesus Christ from above.
The Spirit
of Christ
You are…in the Spirit, if so
be that the Spirit of God dwell in you…. and if Christ be in you, the body is
dead because of sin; but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you. (Rom. 8:9-11)
In God’s Word, different terms are often
used to refer to the same Truth. Such is
the case in this passage. Paul is here
using terms that all refer to the indwelling of Christ in us through the Holy
Spirit. He uses the terms, “in the
Spirit;” “the Spirit of God;” “the Spirit of Christ;” “Christ be in you..the
Spirit is life;” the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus;” and, “His Spirit that
dwells in you.” Since Paul states in
Ephesians that there is ONE SPIRIT, (Eph. 4:4) it means that all of these
descriptions refer to that one Spirit.
This allows us to
conclude that, “Christ in you,” means that we are joined to Him in by that same
Spirit – i.e., our human spirit is joined to His Spirit – which is elsewhere
named, “The Comforter,” or, of course, “the Holy Spirit,” or PARACLETE.
Why is this
important? Because so often when we read
that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, or that the Spirit dwells in us,
we tend to focus upon the Spirit as something or someone separate from Christ –
or as a FORCE that does things to us in our lives. This blurs and clouds the fact the Spirit in
us means CHRIST IN US -- that is, Christ dwells in us by the means of the
Spirit of God. Indeed, the purpose of
the Spirit of God is to reveal Christ TO us, IN us, and THROUGH us.
The Man From Above
You are from beneath; I am
from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)
Before Jesus Christ joins us to Himself
spiritually, we are 100% natural. We are
born OF this world and made of the materials of the Adam race. There is absolutely nothing in us that is
from above – we are fully from beneath.
But when we are joined to the Lord and He dwells in us through the
Spirit of God, there is introduced into our makeup His life – which is from
above. At that point there occurs a
separation of our soul from the presence of Christ in us – the separation of
soul and spiirit.
You
will notice that when Christ joins us to Himself the natural or flesh is not
obliterated. No. Christ is ADDED, so to speak, to the person
we already are. The power of the old man
in Adam is broken – something we will have to learn and experience by faith –
but not the presence or possibility. The
goal of God will be to bring all that is of the natural under the work of the
Cross so that Christ in us might govern.
The Dividing of Soul
from Spirit
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit. (Heb. 4:12)
The dividing of soul from spirit is not
something that happens because God acts upon our inner makeup and divides it
into two sections. No. This separation happens and is only possible
when our spirit is joined to the Lord Jesus.
The introduction of the Spriit of Christ into our inner makeup
automatically creates a separation between that which is joined to the Lord in
us, and what is not joined to the Lord in us.
In short, His presence in us automatically creates the separation.
Once we are joined to the Lord in
resurrection union, we are born a new creature in Christ – “If any man be in
Christ He is a new creature.” (II Cor.
5:17) So what is the new man in
Christ? The resurrection union of our
human spirit with the Spirit of Christ.
Draw an imaginary circle around union with Christ and this is the new
man. But everything out side of that
circle remains natural – remains the old man.
God is not working to bring life to the
old man in Adam – to what is outside of that circle. No. He
is actually working to bring death. If
we would grasp this, we would recognize that all the modern teaching about
self-esteem, self-improvement, and God bringing out the best in us, is
error. What is outside of that circle –
the old life – is under the Cross.
Rather than give US OUR life now, God tells us to LOSE that life. He is working in the new creation in
Christ. God has given us all things
freely in His Son. Christ is to BE our
life.
The Living Word
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper
than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spiritt. (Heb. 4:12)
The Word of God is not merely the Bible –
the Bible is the written Word. But Jesus
Christ is the Living Word. Of course,
there is only ONE true word, and so the Living Word will always agree completely
with the written Word. But the point is
this: God is speaking to us today IN HIS
SON; He is speaking Son-wise. (Heb.
1:1) God is revealing Christ TO us and
IN us. This is, afterall, the why His
Spirit was given.
Jesus Christ in us IS the testimony of
Jesus Christ. He is God’s Living Word
governing us to the point where we are living evidence or testimony of the
Risen Christ. People ask for evidence
that Jesus Christ exists, and mock when God provides none that satisfies
them. But God is not concerned. Jesus Christ IS the evidence of God. (see I John 5:9-11) And when Christ comes to dwell in us, His very
presence becomes a living testimony to God Himself in us, and through us. This is what it means to become a witness for
Christ. We have the evidence in us, and
He is seen by others.
The Preaching of the
Cross
For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God. (I Cor. 1:18)
In Jesus Christ, the Adam race was
brought to an end on the Cross. God is
not interested in fixing up the Adam race, or in bringing anything out of it
that He can use. This is why we are told
that if want to follow Jesus, we must pick up our cross and LOSE our lives for
His sake. (see Matt. 16:24) God is interested only in His Son, and His
interest in us is as the vessels that will hold Christ, the Treasure. (II Cor. 4:7)
Today this is foolishness even to many
professing Christians. You hear almost
NO teaching at all about Christ in us, God’s purpose to form Christ in us, and
certainly almost nothing about the necessity of the Christian person losing
their life under the work of the Cross in order to discover true life in
Christ. You may hear that Jesus bore our
sins on the Cross. You may even hear
such terms as, “spiritual formation,” wherein people are taught how to form
Christ in themselves through various techniques. But where the reality of the personal
Cross is omitted, the Truths of Christ can only be applied to the OLD LIFE –
and brought down to an earthly, natural level.
It may look good and will be very religious. But it isn’t of new life – it is the old life
practicing religion -- because the means of new life is omitted: The Cross.
The personal Cross means our the old man
in Adam is shut out through death. Only
the new man in Christ matters. It is a
sure sign of apostasy when few Christians know the difference, or think this
Truth to be foolish.
Evidence of Spiritual
Death
For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness.
But unto us that are saved, it is the power of God. (I Cor. 1:18)
You will note that Paul does NOT say that
if a person thinks the Cross to be foolish that God is going to punish them --
by causing them to perish. No. Rather, he is saying that if a person thinks
the Cross is foolish that it is evidence that they are ALREADY in the process of
perishing. There is a reason for his
conclusion: The Cross is the first step
to life in Christ. Thus, if we think
that the first step to life is foolishness, then we have obviously not taken
it. We are perishing.
Much of what professing Christian people
say is out of ignorance. But when
someone says that we do not need to repent in order to be saved, or that we do
not need to come to the Cross – is it possible that they are saved? No.
They can’t be saved. That is not
a judgment. It is simply a realization
that if someone says the Cross is unnecessary that they surely haven’t come to
it for themselves. Out of their own
mouth is the evidence that they are already perishing.
God’s Only Solution
To preach the gospel, not
with words of wisdom, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of no
effect. (I Cor. 1:17)
There is only one way to be delivered from
sin: The source must die. We cannot be delivered from sin by merely
being forgiven FOR sin – no, forgiveness removes the penalty for sin, but does
not remove the sin. There must come a
death to what Paul calls, “the body of sin,” and, “the old man in Adam.” This was accomplished by Christ once and for
all on the Cross for all of us. The way
in which it becomes experintial to us is if we take our place in the Cross,
pick it up daily, and come under it’s power.
The Cross is death to the old so that we might live in Jesus in the
new.
“Words of wisdom,” cannot substitute for
the Cross. I cannot sweet talk someone
into being a Christian. I cannot
logically corner them into picking up the Cross. I cannot affirm and pat on the back the old
man in Adam and to try to help him improve himself. Neither can I substitute for the Cross by
memorizing scripture, attending church, or by trying my best to live for
Christ. No. I have to pick up the Cross and DIE – and
this is exactly what I must preach to others.
Omit the Cross and you have a false gospel.
Paul said, “When I came to you, I came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of
God. For I determined not to know
any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Adam died in Christ. People must be shown the dreadful creature
Adam is so that they will voluntarily come to the Cross and thank God that
Jesus has died for them on it.
The Cross is the Power
of God
The cross is…the power of
God. (I Cor. 1:18)
The Cross is the power of God. But in what sense? The Cross is the power of God over the old
creation, and thus, Satan. That is
because the Cross brought an end to the old through death, thus breaking it’s
power over those who are raised anew in Christ.
When Adam sinned, the earth was brought
under a curse -- this means that the earthy or natural realm fell under that
curse. The god of that earthly realm is
Satan. But that part of man’s makeup which is earthly is also part of that
fallen realm. This is why Satan has
access to man since the fall through the earthly or natural in us all.
When Jesus died on the Cross He bore in
His body the Adam race. Thus, Adam died
in Christ. So if I come to Christ and
take my place in His death, I am severed from the old earthly realm over which
Satan rules. But I am born anew of the
Spirit – a new creation. Thus, the death
and resurrection of Christ delivers us from the realm of Satan – the
earthly. The Cross is the gateway – it
is the power of God unto that end.
The Broken Power of
Satan
Forasmuch then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part
of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil. (Heb. 2:1)
When Adam sinned and forfeited life from
God, he not only died spiritually, but the entire earthly realm over which God
had given him dominion was put under a curse.
(Gen. 3:17) From that point,
nothing could be produced out of the earthly realm that was spiritual. And even the physical that was produced
required a great deal of struggle. In
addition, Satan was cast down to the earthly realm. He is the god of this world, with access to
all that is earthly.
Jesus Christ became a human being and
lived a sinless life. He brought the
human being into the fullness of what originally intended for Adam. Then He offered Himself to bear the sin of
the world – really to bear all that is earthly pertaining to humankind. This all died when Christ died. What was rasied was a new man in Christ. Death had severed the old creation, and
resurrection in Christ had birthed the new.
So what we see is that those who are in
Christ have a life inside of them that is not of this earthly. Satan therefore does not have access – indeed
it is resurrection life which is victory over Satan in every way. But Satan does continue to be able to
approach the natural man that continues to exist in us outisde of our union in
Christ.
The point is this: The ground of Satan, or his point of access,
has been cut out from under him. Not by
obliterating it, but by joining us to the Lord in Spirit. The Christian life is therefore one of living
FROM new ground -- His victory of resurrection life. The only power that remains for Satan is that
of deception. This is why we must know
Truth.
Dead to Sin
Who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness. (I Peter 2:24)
Jesus Christ did not only bear the
judgment for sin – He died – but He also bore sin itself. This was a supernatural identification
wherein the entire Adam race was gathered together in Jesus Christ – and thus,
His death on the Cross was the death of the Adam race. When we come to Christ and are joined to Him,
we are by faith taking our place in that His finished death, and as a result,
we are raised in Him a new creature.
You will notice that the Bible never says
that sin is obliterated. It never says
the sin is dead. No. It says that we are dead to sin. Sin is still present as a possibility in our
natural man. But because we are raised
as a creature who is alive in Christ, we don’t have to obey it. Sanctification is the process wherein we
learn how to live out this Truth.
Glorying In the Cross
God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Gal. 6:14)
Paul is using the tool of irony in this
verse. He knew that the Cross cut off
every thing about himself on which he could stand, and therefore in which he
might glory. But rather than lament this
fact, Paul is thankful for it He says he
will glory in the fact that he has nothing to glory in. The Cross did this. In short, he will glory only in Christ
crucified.
Do we realize what a freedom this is? To have nothing to protect about myself? To have nothing to promote about myself? To have nothing that I need to prove to
anyone, including God? To be able to
leave myself alone to God? To simply
rejoice in the fact that that Christ is in me – and that God has given me all
things freely IN HIM?
Paul is, “glorying,” in the fact that he is
free from needing to seek glory. He is
saying that he knows that all that is of value in him he has received from
above -- in Christ -- solely by the grace of God. It is the Cross that made this possible.
Crucified to the World
God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Gal. 6:14)
Crucifixion means death – and so Paul is
stating that when he was baptised into the death of Christ he was severed from
this world or earthly realm. When Paul
was joined to Christ in His death, he was severed from this earthly realm and
made a citizen of the heavenlies.
Paul is referring to the fact that we are
all born of this world as members of the Adam race. We are natural; of this earthly realm. Indeed, we are controlled by this realm – it
is all we know. The Adam race is an
earthly race that is very much at one with this earthly realm.
But when Christ died on the Cross and was
raised from the dead, what emerged in that resurrection was a life that is not
of this earthly realm. Indeed, it is a
life that is completely severed from this earthly – in fact, has victory over
it.
Resurrection life is not of this earthly
realm. It is the life of Christ
Himself. Thus, those in whom Christ
dwells are not OF this world. They are
of Him – and because we are planted in His death and resurrection we are
severed from this earthly realm. We no
longer belong to it and need not live controled by it. This is what it means to, “walk in the
Spirit.” We are no longer governed by
the earthly, but only by Christ who is in us.
A New Kind of Life
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new. (II Cor. 5:17)
Have we realized that resurrection life in
Christ is not merely the result of a reversal of death? No. It
is the result of tasting the fullness of death and conquering it, and of
passing through death into NEWNESS OF LIFE.
The life that results is a different KIND OF LIFE than what originally
died. It is life that has conquered
death and can die no more.
God has raised other people from the dead.
But in each case death was reversed and
they were brought back to the same life as before. Not so with Jesus Christ. When He emerged out of the tomb He ushered in
a new KIND OF LIFE that had never before existed – life that is eternal and the
product of victory over all.
A person who has, “eternal life,” is not
a person who possesses the same life as before – only now his life is without
an end. No. The term eternal life is translated from
words that speak, not so much of an unending life in the sense of time, but
they speak of a KIND OF LIFE that is timeless.
Eternal life in Christ is the kind of life that is timeless,
incorruptible -- and infinitely more.
Sure. It is the life of Christ
Himself. Thus, a new creature in Christ
Jesus is actually a new kind of human being – redeemed humanity – a different
kind of human being -- because they are joined to the Lord.
God
really has done a NEW THING. He has
closed out the old Adam race and birthed a new race of human beings in
Christ.
Two Kinds of Humanity
For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. (I
Cor. 15:45)
There are only two kinds of humanity on
the earth: Those who have been born in
Adam, and those who have died to Adam and been born from above in Christ. We are all one or the other – you cannot have
one foot in Adam and one foot in Christ.
How does a person die to Adam? By faith he repents or renounces his old
life, and takes his place in the Cross of Jesus Christ. How does that person come alive in Christ? Exactly the same way – for unless we are
crucified in Him we cannot be raised in Him.
Yet if we are united with Him in His death, we shall be united with Him
in His resurrection. (Rom. 6:5)
The human being that is raised in Christ
is a different kind of human being than one born in Adam. The difference is HIS LIFE – his life is now
Christ.
How are the dead raised up?
and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened, except it die. (I Cor.
15:35-36)
This verse contains a principle about
resurrection that is applicable to our Christian walk: Abandonment to God includes a relinquishment
of knowing the outcome. We must sow by a
death, but we don’t determine what is raised.
We know generally that if we lose our lives that we will find true life
in Him – but until this actually happens, it is all expectation and not yet
realization. It is foolish to think we
could fully grasp what is not yet raised.
The birth has not yet happened.
We cannot know the child.
Abandonment to God in faith is like
that. We abandon ourselves to God –
usually through some situation. True
abandonment means I take my hands off and leave it to God. That is a death in me in faith TO God over
the situation. I may have hopes of what
God will do. But I cannot know until
there is a resurrection what God intended.
Of course the situation over which I
surrender isn’t the issue. I am the
issue. A situation isn’t raised from the
dead as much as I am raised.
This can happen within this age. But there is much in this age that we abandon
to God -- but is never raised HERE. The
fruition of our abandonment never seems to come about. But God is saying that all of it has a
release in the eternal ages. What seems
like a little faith here may carry great life within that is only released
there. God may be forming Christ in us
NOW, but the fullness of what He has formed will be released in the
resurrection THEN.
The Work of Christ Today
For he must reign, until he has put all enemies under his feet. (1 Cor 15:25)
This verse describes what Christ is doing
today – He is building His kingdom by putting all of His enemies under His
authority. His enemies once included US: “For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life. “(Rom 5:10)
The Greek word translated, “reconcile,” means, “to exchange emnity for
friendship.” This is HOW Jesus prefers
to put all enemies under His feet: By
saving them. And then by driving out all
that is at emnity to Christ from out of the lives and makeup of His people.
There is only one way in which God builds the kingdom of God. He does it by first building His kingdom -- which is His sovereignty – IN US. This is done by forming CHRIST IN US. Jesus is the King. His life is His sovereignty or realm of God. Jesus will not return until He has filled up His purpose this age, fundamental to which is forming of His Body – which is the people in whom dwell the kingdom or realm of God.
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come in a way that you can see. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21)
The Jewish concept of the kingdom of God of that day was a physical kingdom headquartered in the Jerusalem temple, ruled over by the Messiah. This was also the concept of the disciples – and because of that, everytime Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God they interpreted it along those lines. But here Jesus tells us the kind of kingdom He is talking about all through His ministry: Not one you can see, but a spiritual, inward kingdom.
The kingdom of God is the rule or realm of
God. It isn’t a certain place over which
God rules, but rather, it is God’s rule itself – over any person or place. In the OT, God used the idea of a kingdom to
convey to them what He wanted to reveal to them during that time. But in the NT, there is a great mystery
finally unveiled that was not revealed to prior generations: Christ in you, the hope of glory. WE are the temple of God in which He rules as
Lord. Thus, the picture of a kingdom is
the picture of the indwelling of the Person of Christ: Christ in you, the hope of glory, is the
essence of the kingdom.
Jesus
Christ in us equals the kingdom of God in us.
Jesus is Lord and the sovereignty that extends from His Person and His
Life is the kingdom of God. As for a
coming reigning and ruling in the eternal ages, God will only populate His
kingdom with those in whom He has established the kingdom through the
indwelling of Christ.
Otherwise
what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at
all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?
(1 Cor 15:29-30)
There
have been a number of silly interpretations given to this passage, but in
context, Paul is talking about Jesus subduing all of His enemies under His feet
so that He can return and all of the dead in Christ can be raised.
“The
dead,” for whom we are baptized are those same saints who are asleep. We are not baptized so that they might be
saved, but we are baptized into our own death – figuratively in an ongoing way
– so that the life of Christ that emerges from this can add to the Body of Christ,
of which both they and we are part.
“Death in us, but life in you.
(see II Cor. 4:12) Paul referred
to this same work in Colossians: “Who
now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the
church.” (Col 1:24) The fruition of this, of course, will be only
fully realized when we are all raised together at the Second Coming.
But you shall receive power
because the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
What
did Jesus say, in John chap.14- 16, would be the work of the Holy Spirit? The work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal
Jesus Christ TO us, IN us, and through us.
In other words, once Christ dwells in us by joining us to Himself
through the Holy Spirit, the work of that Spirit is to form Christ in us. (Gal. 4:19)
To have Christ, “formed,” in us means for Him to be, “inwardly realized
or expressed.” And as Christ is formed
in us, we are changed and adjusted so that we can be, “formed together with
Him.” (Rom. 8:29)
Paul
described to the Corinthians a little more about how Christ is formed in
us. He said, “Always bearing about in
our body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of the Lord Jesus may
also be made manifest in our body.” (II
Cor. 4:10) Well, if Christ is formed in
me and I begin to manifest Christ, then I am a witness to Him. In other words, I am EVIDENCE of the risen
Christ.
You
will note that the purpose of the Holy Spirit was never to take hold of us and
make us to look like Jesus. No. The purpose was to crucify us so that Christ
Himself might be seen. That is a witness
of Christ – a living evidence of Him.
I am the vine, you are the
branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing. (John
15:5)
To
ABIDE in Christ is possible only if I am first IN HIM. But once that is so, I have to live FROM HIM
– I have to live drawing upon His life.
Of course this is done by faith.
But it also requires that I lose my life. Christ cannot be my life if I am still alive
in myself.
Jesus
said that if we would abide in Him in that way – as a branch abides in the Vine
-- that we would bear much fruit. Now
let’s ask: What effort does a branch
have to put forth to bear fruit? None at
all. A branch does have to grunt real
hard, or become all self-conscious as to whether it is bearing fruit. To bear fruit, the branch need only abide in
the Vine. And if it does, then the fruit
is not the fruit of the branch, but OF the Vine.
The way
to bear Godly fruit is by living in the Vine.
Someone once said that those with the most Godly character are those who
are the least conscious of it, and that those with the least Godly character
are the ones most conscious of themselves.
This is a fact. If we see the
truth that we can do nothing of ourselves, and by faith fully rely upon Christ
as our life, we will leave ourselves alone.
The fruit will come. But it won’t
be our fruit. It will be HIS. Our life will be hid with Christ in God.
If you abide in me, and my
words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto
you. (John 15:7)
You
will note that this promise begins with the word, “IF.” Jesus promised that IF we abide in Him, and
HIS words abide in us, THEN, “you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done
unto you.” Well, if the words of Christ
abide in us – which means His Truth is living in us – then what will we ask Him
to do? We will ask from out of His words
that abide in us. All of our asking will
be the by-product of our fellowship and life in Christ.
The
saint who knows Christ is going to ask Him to do HIS will. Would we seriously want to ask God to do
something He does not want to do? Would
we actually want Him to answer that?
No. The saint wants God to do HIS
will, and only HIS will.
The
purpose of God here is clear: We, as a
branch, are to grow to where we are extensions of the Vine. As extensions of the Vine – or we might say
members of His Body – we are going to grow to where we ask Him to do His
will. To, “ask,” comes out of a
readiness and desire to embrace. And He
will do it because He always desires to do His will – that is why it IS His
will. There is no picture of struggle
here. It is a branch growing to be so
much one with the Vine that the Vine can do His will in and through the
branch. The branch will ASK for this.
For the law having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers
thereunto perfect. (Heb 10:1)
If you
were standing outside next to a friend on a sunny day and their shadow was
being cast on the sidewalk beneath you, would you carry on a relationship with
their shadow? Nope. Why?
Their shadow is a true representation of them, isn’t it? It is actually only there because they are
there. So what is the problem? Well, the shadow isn’t alive. It isn’t the person themselves. You cannot know a shadow or have a
relationship with them.
The Old
Covenant was a shadow of Christ. It
truthfully represented Him. But it was
not alive. Under the OT, the Spirit
could be WITH people. But the Spirit
could not be IN people. The New Covenant
is not the shadow, but the reality of Christ Himself. This is why all through the NT we are told
that to try to remain under the law is death – Christ will be of no effect to
us – it will be like He isn’t even in us.
It will be like trying to live in a relationship with the shadow of
Christ. Christ is not a shadow. He is Life Himself – the Living embodiment of
all that was in the OT. The New Covenant
is Christ in us.
Reconciled to God
God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them. (II Cor. 5:19)
Reconciliation is the bringing of two parties together – the Greek word
means, “to exchange enmity for friendship.”
But you will never read in the Bible that God ever needed to be
reconciled to man. No. Man needed to be reconciled to God.
Jesus
Christ reconciled the world to God by His finished work. But not by changing God. No. Rather,
He changed the human race by making a new creature. Everything that stood between God and man was
IN MAN as a race – and Jesus took that upon Himself on the Cross and died. Indeed, Jesus not only did a work that
reconciled man back to God, but HE IS that reconciliation in each believer. Those who believe become one with God through
Jesus Christ.
Now,
you will note that Jesus completed this work of reconciliation for the entire
world – not just for believers. But we
do need to believe and be raised in Christ to enter into that
reconciliation. Thus, it is possible to
refuse to believe – possible to refuse reconciliation to God. In that case, there is nothing more God can
do for us.
The Finished Work
God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them. (II Cor. 5:19)
God has
already forgiven the entire human race because of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ has FINISHED His
redemptive work, God is finished forgiving.
And His forgiveness is total for every sin ever committed, or that will
be committed.
Our
faith does not contribute to this finished work. Nor can our unbelief subtract from it. It is a finished reality for us -- regardless
of whether we believe it or not. Thus,
our faith doesn’t convince God to forgive us.
Rather, by faith we embrace this Truth that He already has.
No one
is really going to believe and embrace God’s finished forgiveness for them
unless they know they need it. This is
why we must be convicted of that need and brought to repentance and to the
renunciation of the old life. Faith in
Christ is not merely a religious tenet to follow. It is the outcome of seeing the Truth of God
in Christ.
The
gospel of Jesus Christ states that in Christ God was reconciling the world to
Himself – completely apart from our faith or works. That forgiveness is full and final in
Christ. But only those who believe will
be joined to the Lord and be saved by His life.
May 30
Christ of No Effect
Christ is become of no
effect unto you, whoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from
grace. (Gal. 5:4)
The words, “of no effect,” actually mean,
“as if you are separated
from Christ," in NT Greek. This is
the result of living the Christian life on the basis of my own righteousness –
using rules, laws, and standards. That
was the Galatian error.
We are encountering a Truth here that is
very serious – life in Christ depends on it -- not in the sense of WHETHER I am
saved, but in the sense of Christ as my life AS a saved person. If I try to live under law I may as well be
separated from Christ. He will not
function AS my life. But if I live under
grace, then all my union with Christ will result in a flow of Christ AS my
life.
Now, do we actually think that Paul is
talking about doctrinal issues? That all
we need to do is understand the doctrine of law and grace, give assent to it,
and we have it? No. This is a faith issue. And again – whether Christ is functioning AS
OUR LIFE is at stake.
Paul states this same Truth in a positive way elsewhere: “I suffered the loss of all things, that I may win Christ, and be found in
him, not having my own righteousness, which is of law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ.” (Phil.
3:8-9) We have to lose all righteousness
based in anything about ourselves – and only then will the life of Christ
within us actually function as our life.
Indeed, only then will we be found in Him.
The Galatian Solution
Christ is become of no
effect unto you, whoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from
grace. (Gal. 5:4)
If
Christ is of, “no effect,” to us, we may as well be separated from Him. Christ will not be our life. We will have carved out another life, based
on law-keeping. This is what happens
when we replace CHRIST IN US with the keeping of laws as the means of living
the Christian life. What could be more
serious an error?
If we try to live on the basis of ourselves and our works, then we are deceived – and by definition Christ cannot be formed in us because we are forming ourselves according to law. This Galatian error had only one solution. Paul said to them, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you!” (Gal. 4:19) The phrase, “formed in you,” here could read, “inwardly realized and expressed.” This is God’s purpose in His people and the solution to all things – it is what happens if we walk with all of our faith solely in Christ as our life.