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Starkman
Registered Member
Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1747
| Posted 6/25/2007 7:52 PM (GMT -6) |   | It's almost embarrasing. Well, okay, it is embarrasing!
Here I am, a Christian of almost 30 years, and I just now realized one of the greatest truths Scripture teaches: the rule and reign of Christ and us, seated next to the Father's right hand, the Lord having destroyed the work (death) of the Devil, and all this power and authority vested in us in order to further the kingdom of God and to push back the powers of darkness...wherever we go!
Check this out (all Scriptures are ESV).
We have the Great Commission, Matt 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Now, it's so easy to look at this and say, "Oh, sure. We all know this," but it's what drives this passage--the behind-the-scenes--that makes this so awesome. Check out what's really being said here: First, ALL authority in heaven AND in earth is given to Jesus (this is where Psalm 110:1 comes into play:The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool”). Note Jesus' statement in Luke 10:22f - All things have been handed over to me by my Father - and Paul's confirming statement in I Cor 15:25-26 - For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death
Flat, plain, and simple, Christ is reigning and ruling in and over HIS kingdom RIGHT NOW! Remember Jesus' words to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world.". The Kingdom Christ rules over (and it will include the physical one day) is COMPLETELY CHRIST'S and is all about the kingdom in which Satan had been running rampant. There are no if's, and's or but's now, though; Jesus rules over the principalities, powers and rulers, this kingdom being far more significance at this stage in the game than the physical kingdom of planet earth general. Let this sink in: HE DEFEATED SATAN AND HIS MINIONS TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO! This is more than the Christus Victor theme; it's about what this means as to our responsibility.
Heb 2:14 is critical here: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Ah, but it doesn't stop here. Christ didn't just rise from the dead to ascend to the Father's right hand to rule; He did something even more awesome: He founded a church, His "body" to share the same darned rule with Him, to share in the fight and victory with Him.
First, we start with Col 1:13 - He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son to start the show. Ah, and now it's time to kick in the last part of the Great Commission: with full authority, kingship and rule in hand, Jesus points the guns to us: "YOU," He says, "go," in full confidence of His power, and make disciples. How is this possible?
Luke 10:18-19 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. and Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
and...
Eph 1:19-23
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
and
Eph 2:1-6
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
And most amazingy...
Eph 3:10
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Let's sum this up.
For too long I have played the cop-out game: first it was "the rapture could happen any moment" early in my Christianity. Then it was, "Well, the whole human race is going to hell in a hand basket," so I stopped witnessing (I didn't even love people much, so how was I going to witness anyway?), and then it was, "Well, America's on her way to hell in the same hand basket as the rest of the world," and so I continued my pulling away, all the time not realizing just what resides in me as a Christian, a pillar of the temple of God, my body being the temple of the Holy Spirit. I'M CALLED TO KICK BUTT, TAKE NAMES AND ASK QUESTIONS LATER!
I see now that my job is to not insult the Lord Jesus any longer by degrading His great and awesome power that is fully able to kick the hell out of (or into) Satan, but I am called to 1) go; 2) to make disciples; and 3) to do so knowing that the kingdom is mine (that I'm a joint ruler with the Lord), and that IT IS THE FATHER'S PLEASURE TO HAVE GIVEN THIS RULE TO ME! If we will let that sink in, we will realize that this is not only life and death, but it is the very purpose of our lives; to walk in the knowledge that we are royal, protected beyond anyone or anything from being able to hurt us (take us away from the Father), and that we possess weaponry and armer to stomp the living hell out of any evil thing that dares lift its head in our presence. Oh, yes, there will be trials, tribulations and turmoil, and yes, there will be persecutions, but IN ALL OF THESE WE WILL BE DELIVERED. And when they kill our body, we'll yell out while we are dying, "And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony." End of discussion!
wherever we are, whatever ground we walk on, we are ambassadors who can fight as well as perform diplomatically. We are to make it clear to principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness that WE AM HERE, that Satan will not have his way since we are here, that we intend, big time, to push back the kingdom of darkness wherever we are and wherever we go. WE ARE TO TAKE DOMINION OVER THE ENEMY BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN TOLD TO DO SO! We are not told to take back any country for God," but we are to take people's souls back for God.
Where have I been all these years? What the hek did I think the kingdom of God was all about, to just wait it out until I die? What a complete insult to all that Jesus did, to the Father's good pleasure of having given me His kingdom. This all hit me like a bullet this morning as I was doing some studies on Preterism. Whether (partial) Preterism is true or not, one thing's for sure: It ain't "The Late Great Planet Earth" yet, and until it is, I'm going to load up for bear and make it known in this town I live in (a rural Minnesota town) that I am here, that I won't let people just rot anymore in their Midwest, slave-to-Satan, locked-in-oppression Lutheranism. I'm not sitting by anymore and watching these rural towns just fall into hell as if they were made for it. I'll have a fight on my hands (spiritually), but who the hek is going to be able to prevail against me if I fight in prayer? That's what I have been called to do. We all have.
To close this post, I want to emphasize again that Christ is...Is...IS ruling right now. Yeah, it's the now/not-yet thing, but that doesn't take away a thing with regard to what we are as children of the King and what that means with regard to the Great Commission today. If the King is reigning until all enemies are under His feet, then it is our job to to make that happen.
I sure hope this ministers to a few of you. This is a life-changing event for me, particularly after I've come to understand something about loving people for who and what they are.
Thanks,
Starkman
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One Love
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 6/25/2007 10:04 PM (GMT -6) | | Thanks so much for sharing this, Starkman. Paradigm shifts rock!
God be with you on your continuing journey, my brother! 
Blessed be the One who Reigns!
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be One, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be One as we are One— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete UNIty. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to SONship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. | | Back to Top | | |
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Sahid
Megistered Rember
Date Joined Jun 2004
Total Posts : 2013
| Posted 6/27/2007 5:14 AM (GMT -6) | | It doesn't look like God is ruling. It looks a lot like Bush, Jintao, Singh, Putin, Chavez, Khamenei, and Abdullah are ruling.
There's got to be practical theology. The Old Testament heritage is that God intervenes in the workings of the nations, most notably in the exodus and exile. It seems to me that Jesus held to this basic understanding: that God is a real player in everything from world politics to the prayers of barren women.
If God is ruling in a real and present way, how is that rule manifested in the dark places of the world? The complaint of Habakkuk should be our complaint (or at least we should take his complaint into account). For instance 75 million people are born each year, and (at least) 220 million children are sexually abused each year. Odds are that you and I both know quite a few sexual predators personally.
I agree that God is Lord. I also admit that countless millions are in conditions that are unthinkable to people like me. It's not enough to simply confess both of these two be true. I think we must find a way to 'integrate' both claims.
I'm on board with you when you say that Christ has destroyed the power of Satan. But what better demonstrates that the power of Satan is intact than the fact that the sexual abuse rate for minors is 3 times higher than the birth rate? I don't mean to be overly critical, but we should be well-informed of just how ridiculous 'Jesus is Lord' sounds to most ears. To the ears of many, 'Jesus is Lord' practically amounts to 'We firmly believe that Jesus will eventually act as Lord.' It's a distinction that packs a fairly enormous punch. I enthusiastically applaud and thank you for everything said in this thread. But before it is preached to the masses, we should consider the truth that it is laughable if not deeply offensive to those same masses.
Peace and love,
Zach
Watch me fly. Freedom like wings and I will use them. Freedom like wings and I will spread them wide. - Stavesacre | | Back to Top | | |
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Starkman
Registered Member
Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1747
| Posted 6/27/2007 2:08 PM (GMT -6) | | Hey Zach,
Jesus was quite clear: the "world"--that is, it's kingdom of existence as it had been rolling along up to, and beyond, Jesus' time--is NOT His kingdom. In this world, we will have tribulation, as Jesus said. Why, because HIS kingdom is something quite separate (until that great last day) from the kingdom of Bush, Jintao, Singh, Putin, Chavez, Khamenei, and Abdullah.
You want to bring these two into an integration that can make sense of Jesus' reign and the sexual abuse of children. On the one hand, that's never going to happen; Christ made it clear; He didn't come to judge the affairs between brothers' inheritance (Lk 12;13)--this is the realm of the sexually abused. This is not, however, the realm of Jesus' kingdom, at least not as far as manifested reign goes (which will happen one day, we are told). On the other hand, it is a fact that because Jesus destroyed the works of Satan this will eventually manifest itself in the eschaton, when death, the last enemy is put under His feet. Until, though, we wait.
Kellie Kopeland (Kenneth Kopeland's daughter) wrote this book called Protecting Your Family. The thrust of the book is that if we will "Plead the blood" of Jesus both day and night over our family, nothing (and I mean nothing) bad can happen to them (this she derives from the Exodus Passover event; the blood was put over the doorposts of the Hebrew homes, and that, to Kellie, is the proof that pleading the blood today will give us that same exact protection. I disagree with her, because of your points exactly, Zach.
Plead the blood
Finally, it was not my point to say that this truth needs to be preached to the masses. No, no. That wasn't my point. What DOES need to happen, though, is that we Christians realize that wherever we go, wherever we walk, whatever home, store and place of work we enter, we take into those places the reality of the kingdom of God. We don't have to say a word. We just have to know that the reality of Jesus' reign, where with Him we sit, is present in a way that pushes back the control and strangle hold of spiritual darkness over those who are wanting to be set free. That's all my point is, Zach.
This isn't about changing the world, this present kingdom. It's not about taking dominion over governments. It's about walking in the awareness of the reality that we really are a frangrance of Christ, to those who are perishing and to those who are being saved. What this means is that we are not to sit on our thumbs waiting for the rapture (that fad seeming to have really faded, however), and we are not to give up when, like me, we live in a town that is so oppressed, so turned-over-to-Satan, so down-in-the-dumps that to the naked eye it will seem absolutely impossible to expect anything to ever spiritually change. No! That thinking has to stop. That's not acceptable. Until the Lord tells us, "Nope, even if Daniel were to stand before Me, I'm not changing My mind," we are to take dominion over the evil that permeates and reeks in our cities and towns. How? First by faith. Then by prayer. Then by presenting ourselves before God, ready to take marching orders to go out and alert the enemy that we are here! It's up to God at that point. (I can't remember where it is in the book of Acts, but the Lord told Peter or Paul that He had many people to be saved in this one particular town. That's what I'm talking about: "Lord, send Me, and let's kick the hell out of evil together!"
I hope that clears things up a bit.
Thanks much,
Starkman
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Starkman
Registered Member
Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1747
| Posted 6/28/2007 10:30 AM (GMT -6) | | Hey Zach,
If we are excluding 'this world,' then what works of Satan are destroyed? What reality does the kingdom of God have? What is this 'spiritual darkness' if everything 'this worldly' is excluded?
Perhaps I muddled things up. Jesus did say "This 'world' is not my kingdom." That means there must be a "world" that is His kingdom. It may be "along side" of this world, and it may even be in it--"The kingdom of God is among (or within) you". To make the point, Jesus presented this kingdom by demonstrating the power of the kingdom of God in this world: loosening the infirmities of men, but He drew the line in this manner when they wanted to put Him on the throne. Further, He didn't find ministry in judging "worldly" affairs (something God ultimately will do in the new eschaton; things will be governed in perfection), and finally, He made it clear that though the kingdom of God had arrived, there would still be tribulation. All of this to say that there are two worlds gonig on here. they may criss-cross and intersect, but, nevertheless, they are two different worlds. (And no, I don't want to be dogmatic and turn this into some sort of Platonic approach to an unacceptable dualism. But there is a dualism here of some sorts. Jesus' own words testify to this.)
Satan had a particular control over the world of the unseen, in that he reigned through the power of death. He has now, however, fallen. He has no dominion. I mean, these are basic principles in Scripture, however we wish to interpret them. What we do know, though, Zach, is that this is not yet manifested (at least not fully) in the world where the material exists, at leat not fully. At the moment, the rein of the kingdom of God is is directed to the unseen world, the spirit of men whose eyes have been blinded by the power of darkness and death but who can come to see the light of life. Simple, basic stuff, really.
Clearly, there are still problems going on in our physical world, such that at times it seems as if God is a million miles away or has just completely abandoned the world. But such is far from the truth; for He is actively reigning and ruling in the heavenly realm, the realm that affects mortal man at the heart of the matter, desipite what happens in the physical world.
This isn't anything new. It's just that I finally saw the reality that when we are told that Christ has risen, that He has ascended to the right hand of the Father, that He is seated on this throne, and that we are raised, ascended and seated with Him, I realized what this meant; truly, wherever I "walk" (or any Christian walks), I carry the message and power of the King, of His kingdom, and of His power and authority to press back the power of darkness in that unseen world. Ultimately, it is God who backs this up by administering His power (I have no say about that part of it), but it is sheer magnitude of truth that strikes me; God wishes to run His reign through the hearts of men. That's staggering and something I have just come to realize.
Once again, Zach, this isn't any new truth or anything that isn't basic. I just finally caught on. That's all.
Thanks,
Starkman
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