Monthly Archives: November 2020

23 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF THE NEW COVENANT- PART 2

Christian Life, ,

23 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF THE NEW COVENANT- PART 2

We have spoken about the New Covenant as God’s promise to do for His people what the Old Covenant could never do. We have looked at the purpose of the Old Covenant, to prepare His people for the coming of the Messiah who would be the New Covenant to Israel and through them, to fulfil God’s promise to Abraham to be a blessing to all the nations on earth.

Now it’s time for us to study the New Covenant in greater detail so that we can understand what it has done which the Old failed to do and how it can empower us to overcome our enemies and prepare us for our role in eternity as God’s sons and daughters.

Since a covenant is a legally binding contract between two consenting parties, and since it cannot be broken unless one or the other party fails to fulfil its terms, we need to understand why the New Covenant can never fail.

Let’s look at this important fact first. What makes the New Covenant infallible where the Old Covenant failed?

At Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with His people. He offered them a marriage contract with terms that they accepted.

“Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure (a marriage proposal in Hebrew culture) from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.” So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him. And all the people responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord .” Exodus 19:5-8 NLT

Israel’s history proved that they were incapable of keeping this covenant. They were guilty of spiritual adultery by their idolatry, and God eventually divorced them by sending both Israel and Judah into captivity in foreign lands.

“During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what fickle Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree. I thought, ‘After she has done all this, she will return to me.’ But she did not return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution.”

Jeremiah 3:6-8 NLT

But that’s not the end of the story. In His mercy, God promised restoration and, in the end, a new contract that could never be broken.

“In those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in the north. They will return to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance forever.” Jeremiah 3:18 NLT

God knew that His people would fail to obey His covenant before the foundation of the world, so He planned a covenant that would never fail.

“The day is coming,” says the Lord , “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:31-32 NLT

Since His covenant had to be contracted between Himself and the human race, His plan was to send His Son into the world as a human being to represent the human race, just as Adam represented all mankind as the first human being He created.

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” Romans 5:12 NLT

God’s New Covenant would stand or fall on the faithfulness of His Servant, Jesus.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:6-7 NIV

We know that God accepted Jesus’s death (blood) as the ratification of the New Covenant, (just as the Old Covenant was ratified (signed) in animal blood), because He raised Him from the dead.

“… and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 1:4 NLT

So, Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant by dying to pay the debt of the whole human race for disobeying God’s law. He is now the New Covenant, which He signed and sealed with His own blood.

“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.   “This is my blood of the  (new, some manuscripts) covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.” Mark 14:23-24 NIV

Since Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Old Covenant with its rules, regulations, and rituals, it has become obsolete. We are no longer obliged to keep its terms and conditions.

“If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it…. When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.” Hebrews 8:7, 13 NLT

“The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Hebrews 10:1-4 NLT

THE TERMS IF THE NEW COVENANT

Since a covenant is contracted between two parties and, since the New Covenant was contracted between the Father and the Son, what are the terms of this New Covenant that make it different from the Old Covenant?

GOD’S PART

  1. All sin is forgiven and all remembrance of sin is removed.

“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:14 NLT

  1. Sin’s power over us is broken. We are no longer obligated to obey its demands because grace has replaced the law.

“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” Romans 6:14 NLT

  1. Through faith in Jesus, we are no longer “in Adam” but “in Christ”.

“Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:19, 21 NLT

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

  1. All guilt, shame, and fear have been removed.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 NIV

  1. We have boldness to enter the Most Holy Place.

We have direct access to the Father through Jesus who is our eternal and heavenly High Priest.

“There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” Hebrews 7:23-25 NLT

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT

  1. We have received Christ’s Spirit, we have been adopted into God’s family, and have been made co-heirs with Christ of everything that belongs to Him.

“So, you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” Romans 8:15-17 NLT

“So, don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you— whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 NLT

  1. Our inheritance is the divine nature which God gives us through His promises.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT

  1. All of God’s promises become ours through simple agreement.

“For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.” 2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT

Jesus has fulfilled all of God’s promises and now  we are free to receive them by faith by speaking the  “amen” –  “let it be so” to the appropriate word. Our prayers become “thank you” in place of Old Covenant prayers which were “please” prayers.

  1. We have been rescued from the dominion of darkness…

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,” Colossians 1:13 NIV

  1. Set free from the yoke of bondage to the law…

“So, Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” Galatians 5:1 NLT

  1. No longer under the curse of the law

‘But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” Galatians 3:10 NLT

  1. We are the body and bride of Christ

“For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.” Ephesians 5:23 NLT

“For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2 NLT

WHAT IS OUR RESPONSE TO THE NEW COVENANT?

Unlike the Old Covenant which demanded perfect obedience to all its laws, the New Covenant has only one requirement – love.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 NIV

According to John, we will maintain a good conscience if we obey the two commandments of the New Covenant.

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” 1 John 3:23 NLT

There are two important parts to this command.

  1. Believe in Jesus’ name

To believe means much more than to give intellectual assent to a fact or truth. Believing implies throwing your total weight on Jesus, accepting and acting on the truth of who He is and what He has said.

Jesus’ name is more than the way to distinguish Him from other people. In Hebrew thought, a name is a prophetic utterance of character. Everything that Jesus is is expressed in His name.

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 NIV

Therefore, to believe in the name of Jesus is throw one’s full weight of trust and obedience on Jesus because His name means Saviour and He saves His people from their sins.

  1. Love one another

We are not commanded to love Jesus in Scripture. Our love for Him and for our fellow believers flows from His love for us and is produced by the Holy Spirit as part of the package of salvation.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5 NIV

Everything Jesus promised us comes from His love for us and everything He requires of us is our loving response to His love.

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NIV

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21 NIV

What are Jesus’ commands?

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” 1 John 3:21-23 NIV

TO SUM UP

Let me tell you the about the beauty of the New Covenant.

  1. Jesus has done all the work for us.

He has perfectly obeyed and fulfilled all the requirements of the Old Covenant.

He has died in our place to pay the debt of our sin.

He has reconciled us to the Father and restored us to God’s family as His sons and daughters.

He has unmasked and overcome the devil.

He has given us the Helper to live in us to provide the power to live a new life.

He has given us all the promises and the power we need to live a godly life.

  1. Our response is very simple.

Three words encompass everything that  explains our part in the New Covenant.

DONE – Jesus has done it ALL… believe it.

REST – in the finished work of Jesus… believe it.

LET – allow the Holy Spirit to produce what is in you… believe it.

“Now we who have believed enter that rest,…” Hebrews 4:3 NIV

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13 NIV

“LET no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 NIV

“LET the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

LET the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:15-16 NIV

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.  This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED FROM START TO FINISH BY FAITH. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:16-17 NLT

And so, my brothers and sisters, we who now participate in the New Covenant have a new life and a new focus.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”Matthew 6:33 NLT

W e are no longer concerned with what happens to us because we live in a fallen world. We cannot escape, but we live above the trials and troubles that plague us all in this life. We don’t have to fight the devil and his demons.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” Colossians 3:1-4 NLT

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

22 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF THE NEW COVENANT- PART ONE

Christian Life, ,

22 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF THE NEW COVENANT- PART ONE

In this study, I make a distinction between the Old and New Covenants and the Old and New Testaments. “Covenants” refer to the legally binding agreements God made with His people. Although “covenant” and “testament” mean essentially the same thing, “testament” usually refers to either the first or second part of the story of the Bible.

Many of God’s children have not yet understood the significance of the New Covenant. They hark back to the Old Covenant in many of their beliefs and practices and try to blend the two in their Christian walk in the world.

For example, there are prayer practices which are based on Old Testament incidents and others which have no reference to anything in Scripture, yet they form the basis of modern prayer movements.

“Prayer walking” is one such practice, probably based on Israel’s conquest of Jericho, which has no counterpart in the New Testament. Identifying strongholds and altars and “pulling them down” is another such practice which is not found anywhere in the Book of Acts.

Some believers even go as far as connecting “leylines” to unmask the enemy, and carry out rituals to overcome the power of the principalities and powers over cities, towns and “high places”. This is, firstly, a waste of time and energy and, secondly, an insult to the work of Jesus on the cross. His final declaration before He died, says it all. “IT IS FINISHED!”

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” Ephesians 1:19-23 NLT

Some practices blatantly contradict what Jesus has accomplished through His death and resurrection. So called “spiritual warfare” is one such activity that ignores His conquest of Satan, misrepresents the clear message of Scripture and takes the focus of our attention from the transformation of our inner lives to our circumstances with their problems and inconveniences.

“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15 NLT

“… But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 NLT

“For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6 NLT

Other sections of the church insist that certain parts of the law are still binding on believers. One such group makes observance of the seventh day obligatory and even teaches that the mark of the beast is worship on a Sunday.

Still others enthusiastically observe Jewish feasts and even travel to Israel to celebrate there. They do this, apparently, to identify with the Jewish people in the hopes, perhaps of breaking down hostility between Jew and Gentile.

All of these practices contradict the letter and spirit of the New Covenant.

THE OLD COVENANT

So, what was the meaning and purpose of the Old Covenant?

  1. The Abrahamic Covenant expressed, in embryo, God’s purpose to bless all the nations of the world through the Jewish nation to be born from Abraham and Sarah.

“…. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3 NLT

God fulfilled His promise to Abraham by growing the nation of Israel through Isaac, the promised son, the nation through which He sent His Messiah to die for the sin of the world.

  1. The Mosaic Covenant was a covenant between God and His people, Israel. It was essentially a “ketubah”, a prenuptial marriage covenant detailing God’s requirements for an intimate relationship with Him.

The Mosaic Covenant was an interim covenant. In other words, it was not the covenant to bless all the nations on earth that God planned from the beginning through Abraham. It was a “training” covenant, or a betrothal covenant to prepare the bride for her marriage to her groom.

The terms of this covenant had a specific purpose in the lives of God’s people, to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of God’s eternal covenant with Jews and Gentiles.

The Mosaic Covenant was designed to teach God’s people…

  1. That God is holy and separated from His people. They could only approach Him through an elaborate system of sacrifices and rituals.
  1. That sin is infectious and pollutes not only the individual but the whole nation. Sin required blood to atone for its offense to God, to cleanse from its pollution and quarantine to protect from its contagion.

The law, according to Paul, awakened sin and provoked the sinner to rebel.

“When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.” Romans 7:5 NLT

  1. That God required perfect obedience to all the details of His law. Any transgression cut His people off from Him. Hence, the Old Covenant was a covenant of death because no one was able to keep it perfectly.

“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. Just as the Lord has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 8:19-20 NLT

  1. Essentially, the Old Covenant showed the people how impossible it was to please God through trying to obey the law.

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20 NLT

Both Isaiah and Jeremiah in the Old Testament and Paul in the New, reached the same conclusion…

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own….”Isaiah 53:6 NLT

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9 NLT

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 NLT

Israel’s history proved that the Old Covenant, with its emphasis on “do this and you will live” could never restore His people to fellowship with Him. It only revealed how sinful they were and brought judgment and punishment on the whole nation until they eventually became slaves to Rome.

What, then, is the value of the Old Testament and the Covenant it describes, for us?

  1. Without it, the person and life of Jesus would make no sense. Who was He? What was His origin and ancestry? How do we know He was authentic and what He said was true?

Prophecy, through the history of the Jews, supplies all the anwers. “The New is in the Old concealed. The Old is in the New revealed.” The Old Testament is the first half of the whole. The story of the Bible is incomplete without it.

  1. Paul gives us another purpose for the story of the people of God written in the Old Testament. Their failure to obey God’s laws is a warning to us.

“I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”  And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.; 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 NLT

  1. The law (both the law of conscience for the Gentiles and the Law of Moses for the Jews) was our guardian until Christ came and set us free from slavery to sin.

“Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” Galatians 4:1-5 NLT

THE NEW COVENANT

Entwined in the history of Israel with its rebellion, sin, failure, and judgment, is the golden thread of a new covenant that would have the power to deal with sin and the sin nature. It promised forgiveness of sin and a new heart, the restoration of the Holy Spirit within, which mankind lost through Adam’s sin, and the power to overcome sin’s hold and live in fellowship with God.

This new covenant was to be brought about through God’s Messiah. He was to be given as a covenant to the people.

“I, the Lord , have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,  to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:6-7 NIV

“He (God) says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 NLT

“This is what the Lord says: “At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you and give you to the people as my covenant with them. Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel and assign it to its own people again. I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare.” Isaiah 49:8-9 NLT

God’s promise of a Messiah and a New Covenant was not an afterthought. It was the bright light of hope that shone through the darkness of Israel’s dismal history. Its first glimmer began in the Garden of Eden when God promised to Satan, the perpetrator of the deception, that…

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 NLT

Woven into the story of Israel’s failure is the hope that God would make a New Covenant that would no longer depend on fallible man’s imperfect obedience but on the perdect obedience of one who would stand in man’s place and take the rap for man’s sin.

Isaiah, of all the prophets who had visions of the  Messiah in the Old Testament, paints the clearest picture of what He would do.

‘My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” Isaiah 53:2-6 NLT

“But it was the Lord ’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord ’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.” Isaiah 53:10-11 NLT

The entire New Covenant is contained in this one person who was able to do what the entire nation of Israel could never do.

“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”

But it was the Lord ’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord ’s good plan will prosper in his hands. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.” Isaiah 53:7-10, 12 NLT

Where Isaiah paints the picture of the one who IS the New Covenant, Jesemiah and Ezekiel describe what the New Covenant would accomplish.

“The day is coming,” says the Lord , “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord . “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord .’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord . “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:31-34 NLT

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT

When did this New Covenant come into effect?

“For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”  For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NLT

Jesus announced, on the night before His crucifixion, that the New Covenant would come into effect and be ratifief by the shedding of His own blood.

What happened to the Old Covenant? Does it still apply? Do we still have to obey the laws of the Old Covenant, and especially the Ten Commandments which are the core of the Old Covenant?

Let’s look at what the Bible says.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OLD AND NEW COVENANTS

  1. The Mosaic or Old Covenant was between God and Israel, not the Gentiles, therefore it doesn’t apply to us. Does that mean that we don’t have to keep it? No, it does not because God’s moral law (contained in the Ten Commandments) is written into our conscience. Everyone is born with a conscience.

“Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.” Romans 2:14-15 NLT

Therefore, the law of conscience is universal and everyone is under obligation to obey it.

  1. The Mosaic Law, written into the Old Covenant, demands obedience for its promises to be effective. The New Covenant is fulfilled, not through obedience but through faith. The Old Covenant said,” Do this, and you will live… ”  The New Covenant says, “Believe, and you will live…”

“The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.” John 20:30-31NLT

 

It is, therefore, impossible to live according to both the Old and the New Covenants because the one cancels the other out.

Paul had an altercation with Peter because Peter, intimidated by Jewish believers, who insisted on obedience to the Law, was drawing back from fellowshipping with Gentiles.

“You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Galatians 2:15-16 NLT

What happens when believers try to keep the law?

“Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.” Galatians 5:2-4 NLT

Paul struggled with legalists who tried to force Gentile believers to become Jews by being circumcised. We can substitute any of the Mosaic laws for circumcision and the result is the same.

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

This includes copying any rituals or practices in the Old Testament to get God to act that are not authorised in the New Covenant.

The operative words in the Old Covenant are  “obey” and  “do”.

The operative words in the New Covenant are  “believe” and “done”.

Our manual for understanding the New Covenant is found in the New Testament. We need to use both the Old and the New Testaments for the purpose for which they were written.

What happened to the Old Covenant, then?

“If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it…. But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the Lord , when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah…. When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.” Hebrews 8:7-8, 13 NLT

According to Hebrews, it will “soon” disappear. Why has it not disappeared already? The Old Covenant still has a purpose….

“Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.” Galatians 3:23-25 NLT

So, the law (of conscience or the Mosaic law) was necessary in our lives. It revealed the nature of sin in us and our need for a Saviour. However, when we believed in Jesus, we were set free from the necessity to obey the law.

Why? In the, New Covenant, we have the Holy Spirit and God’s word written on our hearts.

To go back to the law in any form is to take on the burden of perfect obedience again, and to cut ourselves off from the power of God’s grace.

In the next study, we will examine the New Covenant more closely because the New Covenant gives us all the tools for overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

A SHORT NOTE ON ROMANS 10

Christian Life, ,

A SHORT NOTE ON ROMANS 10

In my notes on prayer, I said that Paul did not pray for unbelievers to be saved, nor did he encourage his readers to pray for unbelievers, not even their own family members.

However, he did pray for his own unbelieving people.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.” Romans 10:1 NLT

Why did Paul pray for his own people but not for unbelieving Gentiles to be saved? What made the difference?

While I was pondering this question, the Holy Spirit began to teach me what the Word says.

GENTILE UNBELIEVERS

In John 16, Jesus explained the Holy Spirit’s ministry to three different categories.

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.  Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.  Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.” John 16:7-11 NLT

The first category is unbelievers. The other two categories, believers and Satan and his demons, are not our concern for now. The only ministry the Holy Spirit has to unbelievers is to convict them of sin. Why is this?

Let me explain.

The Holy Spirit ministers through the Word which is His tool to reach the minds of people. Since unbelievers do not have the Word in them, how can the Spirit lead them to faith in Jesus? He does not impose anything on them from without. He works from within.

Firstly, creation itself is a witness to the reality of God.

“They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”Romans 1:19-20 NLT

Secondly, the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers through conscience. Everyone is born with a basic awareness of what is right and wrong.

“Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.” Romans 2:14-15 NLT

Since there is a witness in every unbeliever to the reality of God and His moral law through creation and conscience, the Holy Spirit is able to use these” tools” in unbelievers to awaken the conviction of sin.

The next step in the process of salvation is found in Rom. 10 :17

“So, faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Romans 10:17 NLT

I said that prayer for unbelievers will not save them. Why? Faith in the message comes about through hearing, not prayer. Again, only when an unbeliever has heard the gospel can the Holy Spirit awaken faith because the gospel message is planted in the mind through preaching.

This is the reason that Paul wrote…

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:21 NLT

JEWISH UNBELIEVERS

How is it, then, that Paul could pray for the salvation of Jewish unbelievers but not for Gentile unbelievers?

Paul explains this in Romans 10.

“For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.  But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:… ” Romans 10:5-8 NLT

Paul was quoting Moses’ words in Deut. 30…

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.” Deuteronomy 30:11-14 NLT

What was Moses saying?

God’s Word was already in the minds of the Jewish people because they had been taught it from birth. Parents were instructed to teach their children the words of God’s Covenant at every possible time and opportunity.

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9 NLT

The Jewish nation, then, as a whole, is God’s chosen people. They have God’s Word in the Old Covenant, even if they don’t believe or practise it. Potentially, the Word is in them and the Holy Spirit, therefore, has the tools to awaken both conscience and faith.

In Romans 9, Paul explains the reason for unbelief in some Jews, if not most. They stumble over the message of the cross. It is an offense to them. However, there is another reason for unbelief… election, a mystery only God can fully explain which we can’t go into here.

BELIEVERS

What about Paul’s numerous prayers for believers? I think the explanation is simple. The Holy Spirit lives in them and the Word is written on their hearts.

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord . “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord .’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord . “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT

In response to the conviction of sin and faith in Jesus through hearing the message, the Holy Spirit transformed our hearts and came to live inside us, bringing with Him, potentially, all the truth and power of the Word as we read and respond to His work through the Word. Now, as we pray for one another, the Holy Spirit has the “tools”, the Word in us, to activate spiritual growth and maturity.

However, there is a condition which we must consider carefully. We set the level of our own spiritual growth and maturity by our responsiveness to the Word.

Jesus warned His hearers…

… “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given —and you will receive even more.  To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” Mark 4:24-25 NLT

Why is it so important that believers grow in grace and spiritual maturity?

  1. The level of our understanding of everything that Jesus did through His death and resurrection will determine our response to the powers of the kingdom at work in us.

“You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17-18 NLT

  1. As representatives of God’s kingdom on earth, we are here to point the way for unbelievers, by our lives and the message about Jesus that we speak. We must therefore be walking in the light, not perfectly but purposefully, before we can point others to Jesus,
  1. We are serving an apprenticeship for the life to come. Our rewards in heaven depend on our faithfulness and obedience to God’s calling to be restored to the image of His Son.

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:10-11 NIV

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:28-29 NIV

So, then, based on what we have learned, how do we pray for Gentile unbelievers, Jewish unbelievers and all our believing brothers and sisters?

  1. UNBELIEVING GENTILES

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV

1a. We can ask the Father to activate their conscience in response to the moral law in them through the Holy Spirit.

“And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.” John 16:8-9 NLT

1b. We can pray that they will get the opportunity to hear the message about Jesus.

“So, faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Romans 10:17 NLT

1c. We can ask God to give them faith to receive the message and to turn to the Lord.

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” 2 Corinthians 3:16 NIV

  1. UNBELIEVING JEWS

“We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 3:13-14 NLT

2a. Pray that the Holy Spirit will activate the law in their hearts.

“When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.” Romans 2:12-13 NLT

Why the law?

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20 NLT

  1. From here, we pray in the same way as we pray for Gentiles.

“But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 NLT

  1. BELIEVERS

There is a smorgasbord of prayers we can pray for believers because everything that Jesus has done is for us.

When we pray for Christian brothers and sisters, firstly, the Spirit can only apply the Word that is in us. Therefore:

3a. Ask the Lord to activate a hunger for the Word so that the Holy Spirit can remind us, through the Word in us, of the appropriate word according to our need.

3b. Pray that the Lord will write His word on our hearts, according to His promise in Jer. 31:33…

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord . “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33 NLT

3c. Pray the pattern, not the problem. God does not respond to problems. He responds to faith in His promises.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:3-8 NLT

It all depends on the Word and the Spirit that are in us.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF PRAYER

Christian Life, ,

21 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF PRAYER

Now this is a huge subject! So many streams of thought, but in this context, let’s look at prayer as it contributes to learning to live with God as our Father and in the love and harmony of God’s family in the environment of a hostile world. Remember, we are living in God’s kingdom in the middle of enemy territory.

First of all, what is prayer?

We have unfortunately made prayer a formal activity confined to specific times and places, when we pray aloud or in our minds, starting with “Dear Lord Jesus…” or “Dear Heavenly Father…” and ending with “…in Jesus’ name, amen.” You must end with “Amen” so God knows you’ve finished praying! It’s almost like signing off a radio communication, “Over and out.”

That’s not prayer. That’s our idea of prayer. It actually contradicts Paul’s instruction to “pray without ceasing” or, better, “never stop praying.” How can we pray all day and all night if we pray our “dear Heavenly Father” prayers?

  1. Prayer is a family activity

More than anything else, children need a father. He gives them the security of an identity, and protects and provides for them in their weakness and vulnerability.

A good father is always available for his children. He listens and understands, gives good counsel and does not judge or criticise. We talk to our dads about everything. We tell him stuff, we ask advice, we make requests, we share our ideas, we go to him for comfort, reassurance, help, even affirmation and praise.

God is our Father and He is always with us. He wants us to treat Him and trust Him as our perfect Father. He wants to be part of the most personal and intimate details of our lives. He’s always available.

  1. Our Father knows what we need

Much of our “praying” is taken up with needs. We have to inform, explain and advise God about our needs in case He forgets. After all, He does have a world full of people to take care of, who also have needs.

This kind of praying comes from a low view of God as our Father. We see God through our earthly father which is a bad perspective, not a Biblical one.

Our Father is more to us than the checkout at a grocery store. He is our Father, the one who has our best interests at heart and has the wisdom and power to care for us in every way.

  1. Prayer is our access to all the resources of the kingdom

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT

Everything we need to live as God’s children in a hostile environment, a depressed economy, and a disease-riddled planet is at our disposal.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Living in this world is a dangerous business

A father’s role is to protect his children from danger. Earthly fathers can’t always do this, but our Heavenly Father can. He has legions of angels at His beck and call.

“Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.” Hebrews 1:14 NLT

He dispatches them in a flash to stand between us and danger.

“For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” Psalms 91:11-12 NLT

He never permits anything that does not work for our good.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 NLT

As much as we need protection from the natural and physical dangers around us, how much more do we need to guard our minds from the deception that can destroy us and our destiny in this life.

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

How can we be safe from Satan’s devices?

God has provided armour that protects our thoughts… God’s armour is found in God’s Word.

“Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11 NLT

There is protection in humility.

“And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:6-7 NLT

  1. Our Father understands our hearts

Sometimes it’s difficult to understand with our finite minds the meaning of what the Bible is saying. Take this Scripture, for example.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Romans 8:26-27 NLT

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in us. We know that but what does it mean? There is such an intimacy between the Holy Spirit, the Father and us that the Holy Spirit who understands our frail humanity, takes the jumble in our minds and hearts and presents it to the Father with perfect clarity.

I don’t understand all the details of this interaction but it comforts me to know that my muddled mind and emotions never hinder God’s responses to me. This produces a peace inside me that is unaffected by the chaos around me.

  1. Prayer allows us to participate in God’s business

What is God’s business?

4.1. The kingdom is God’s business.

“… Your kingdom come, your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 NIV

We make prayer so much about ourselves, our needs and wants that we forget that we are here to fit into God’s bigger story. We know that Jesus spent time finding out what the Father wanted Him to say and do.

“Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19 NIV

When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are not dispassionate spectators but enthusiastic participants, involving ourselves in the Father’s business as partners with Him.

Jesus gave us this instruction,

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 NLT

The greatest blow to Satan and his thirst for control is to do whatever we can, by word or deed, to represent the kingdom of God where we are. In partnership with the Holy Spirit, like Jesus, we should be on the alert for opportunities to put God’s kingdom on display.

4.2. God’s family is His business

The New Testament is dotted with “one another” instructions. Why is this? Caring for one another is one of the only two commandments in the New Covenant.

“And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.” 1 John 3:23 NLT

I don’t think we can be more loving than by praying for one another. Paul’s letters are full of examples of the prayers he prayed for his fellow believers. His concern for them was  reflected in what he prayed for them. We can learn much from him about what to focus on when we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16 NLT

There are no examples in the New Testament of prayers for the salvation of unbelievers. I wonder why? Was Paul not concerned about their salvation? Of course he was, but Paul viewed them from God’s perspective. A study of Romans 10 reveals that it is believing the gospel, not prayer, that saves people.

So, prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth and for our fellow believers is a powerful weapon in our arsenal of weaponry against our common enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are in this together. We have one goal, to fulfill God’s purpose for us.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18 NIV

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:10-11 NIV

We are one family in Christ, living together in love and harmony, preparing for our eternal home with the Father by living under His authority in this evil world.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

20 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM -THE POWER OF UNITY

Christian Life, ,

20 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF UNITY

“Unity” is another major theme in the Bible but, unfortunately, misunderstood by many who corrupt God’s word through their misunderstanding.

We must never confuse unity with uniformity. The Bible uses the Hebrew word for unity, “echad”, often translated, “one” which, in context, can only mean “one” in the sense of more than one functioning together to achieve one purpose and one goal.

Look at God’s instruction for marriage.

“This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” Genesis 2:24 NLT

“One” here is the Hebrew word “echad”.

There is a another good example in Ex. 26:1-12. God gave Moses instructions for making the curtains that were to cover the tabernacle. Both inner and outer curtains were to be made of pieces of cloth or animal skins joined together to make one single covering. The word for one here is also “echad”.

In these two examples, “one” cannot mean uniformity or a single person or thing but rather unity in diversity. So it is with the Godhead… three persons who function together in perfect harmony because they are of the same essence, nature, character, and purpose. They work together to fulfill one purpose and one goal, a universe that reflects the unity of the Godhead in the way each part interacts in perfect harmony with every other part under the control and authority of its Creator.

The early Church, through the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, reflected this unity as they lived together in harmony as one body under Jesus as Lord.

“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer…. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity —” Acts of the Apostles 2:42, 44-46 NLT

“All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had… There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.” Acts of the Apostles 4:32, 34-35 NLT

They stood together under persecution and, through their unity, God did amazing miracles among them and through them.

“As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God…. After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Acts of the Apostles 4:23-24, 31 NLT

“The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.” Acts of the Apostles 5:12-14 NLT

When problems arose as the church grew, the Apostles sought solutions that would restore unity.

“But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” Acts of the Apostles 6:1-4 NLT

As soon as unity was restored, God’s favour tested on the church again.

“Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them. So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.” Acts of the Apostles 6:5-7 NLT

The initial state of the universe, according to Genesis 1:31, was very good. The word” good” here, means “functional”. Everything in all of creation functioned together in harmony and unity, perfectly reflecting the nature of God who is good… functional.

This unity is so powerful that, after sin entered the world and the world became dysfunctional, God had to scatter the people by confusing their languages because they united together in their rebellion against Him.

“At one time, all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.” Genesis 11:1-8 NLT

Unity of purpose and goal can, therefore, be used powerfully for both good and evil.

What happens when unity is broken?

In the natural world, when man interferes with ecosystems, the result is death to that system. When the balance is disturbed, the most powerful element takes over and destroys the system.

In human families, the microcosm of society, families are destroyed through disunity. Consider the issue of adultery, for example. Long before the act of adultery, when the unity between a husband and wife is disrupted, adultery has already happened in the heart. Disharmony produces discontent, disrupts family life and results in dysfunctional families. “The rest, as they say, is history.” Adultery is the end product of disunity.

Hence, marriages are doomed from the start if both partners do not understand the goal of marriage – to become one as a reflection of the unity in the Godhead.

God’s focus is to build a family of redeemed children who live together in loving harmony in preparation for their life in His eternal home. Therefore, we must look at the importance of unity in the body of Christ and the way to preserve this unity.

  1. THE SOURCE OF UNITY

Jesus is the reason for our unity in the church.

In the early church, the great rift was the age-old race issue… Jew versus Gentile. Before they became believers in Jesus, Jews were taught to hate Gentiles as part of their “religion”. They had nothing to do with other races if they could help it.

“Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.” Ephesians 2:11 NLT

Gentiles were not only alienated from Jews because of racial hatred, but also cut off from God because of sin.

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God…. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.” Ephesians 2:1-2, 12 NLT

However, as a very real part of His work on the cross, Jesus destroyed the hatred between Jews and Gentiles and united them into a new race which does not recognise any of the artificial distinctions created by a godless world system.

Paul, writing to Gentile believers in Galatia, said…

“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” Galatians 3:26-29 NLT

Our new life in Jesus enables us to have a new attitude towards other believers who are different in colour and culture from ourselves.

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” Colossians 3:10-11 NLT

How did this happen?

“But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.’ Ephesians 2:13-15 NLT

Through Jesus’ sacrifice, every barrier and distinction has been removed. We all stand before God with only one status, son or daughter of God. It was the death and resurrection of Jesus that destroyed the artificial barrier of racism and restored people of every race, colour and culture to one family in Christ Jesus.

  1. THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKES US ONE IN JESUS

Unity is a hallmark of the Holy Spirit’s work in the true church of the Lord Jesus.

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NIV

  1. BELIEVERS ARE TO MAINTAIN THE UNITY CREATED BY THE SPIRIT

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3 NIV 

Maintaining unity is the responsibility of every member of the body of Christ. One person’s attitude or behaviour can shatter this fragile unity because unity is a partnership between each individual and the Holy Spirit. We can only keep this unity as we are led by the Spirit.

True unity is impossible outside of the reconciling work of Jesus and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Any other attempts at unity will fail without the supernatural work of the Trinity. The only other power that unites people is the power of evil working through the old nature against God.

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:32 NIV

WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF UNITY?

  1. HUMILITY

I put humility first because, without humility, pride and self-will makes unity impossible.  Self-will is deeply ingrained in the old nature. It is idolatry because it raises self even above God.

Jesus described Himself as “humble and gentle” and He is our perfect model of humility.

“. .. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart…” Matthew 11:29 NLT

We must never confuse humility with being an easy push-over. Humility demonstrates strength, a choice to submit to and serve others. Humility puts your will under submission to authority,  except where truth is compromised.

Being a push-over shows weakness, especially when you compromise your convictions under the pressure of others.

Humility expresses itself in different ways.

  1. Submission

“And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 NLT

Jesus is the model of submission. He submitted Himself to the Father’s will, no matter what it cost Him. He submitted Himself to the will of those who condemned Him to death because it was the will of the Father.

“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth…. But it was the Lord ’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief….” Isaiah 53:7, 10 NLT

“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.” 1 Peter 2:21 NLT

So we must submit ourselves to God first and then to one another in the body of Christ and to those in authority over us.

“Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.” Romans 13:1-7 NLT

It is important to understand that God never calls us to submit to bullies, tyrants or dictators, especially in the church. There is no such thing as a one-man show in the leadership of the church. Jesus is the Head of His body, the church. Even the practice of the leadership or the church being a “covering” is not Biblical. Paul said,” To his own Master he stands or falls.”

Each of us is accountable to Jesus. Leadership in the church is to teach, guide and discipline under the authority of the Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not to make rules and punish rule-breakers.

“And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches….As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t Lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example…. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:1-3, 5 NLT

Submission has an unexpected spin-off. Jesus had an encounter with a man who clearly understood authority and submission.

“At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed….

I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” Luke 7:2-3, 6-9 NLT

This man understood that authority and submission go hand-in-hand. He recognised the power of Jesus’s authority because Jesus was clearly under a higher authority.

This works in everyday life as well. For example, the effectiveness of law enforcement lies is the submission of those who function under their superiors. Police officers who take the law into their own hands, create chaos.

It seems, then, that submission is an attitude we adopt towards others in all our circumstances without compromising our obedience to God’s Word. It’s a choice we make which helps to smooth our relationships with the people we interact with every day and especially in the family of God’s children.

  1. Obedience

Submission and obedience go hand in hand and must apply on every level of society from children obeying their parents to  citizens obeying the government.

Obedience to the Word of God is the path to submission and humility. Only through the Holy Spirit’s power can we keep the unity if the Spirit in the bond of peace.

  1. TRANSPARENCY

What do I mean by transparency?

“Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” Colossians 3:9-10 NLT

Lying to one another us easy and we do it in many different ways. We wear masks in the way we speak and act that covers our real selves.  We have a ” real” self and a “pretend” self, the one we want people to think we are.

Transparency also demands humility because transparency involves being honest about our “bad” side as well as our “good” side. Transparency puts us on level ground with one another, teaching us not to judge or criticise and to be patient and tolerant with one another.

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:12-13 NLT

  1. LOVE

I’ve left love for last because sincere Christian love is the glue that holds us together and makes true unity possible.

There can be no unity outside God’s love in us. Loves is the motive for wanting to maintain the unity of the Spirit. In the

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14 NLT

In the end, love and unity in the body of Christ are the powerful witnesses to the world that we are God’s family of sons and daughters.

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 NLT

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” John 17:21 NLT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.