The Word Works!: THE BELIEVER'S AUTHORITY IV

So declares the prophet Isaiah, “…the old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, God’s Word goes on and on forever…” (1 Peter 1:24-25, MSG; also in Isaiah 40:6-8). This is the Word that conceived the new life in you. Do you get this! If the Word that conceived us goes on forever, then we go on forever. Our bodies may die, yes, but remember that we are spirit beings and not bodies. The body only allows us to function in the earth realm. That’s why when Jesus had to come, there had to be a procedure. He just didn’t come in spirit, but a Spirit in a body. He couldn’t have the right to function here if He was a spirit. Demons and other angels of darkness have absolutely no right to be here. That’s why you can cast them out (Matthew 10:8). It takes knowledge. Your body is your right to function here. When people die, do you see them around? No! Even Papa God Himself cannot just wake up and say He’s coming here. This is why He works through men; he functions in us when we allow Him to.

Thank God for the life of Jesus. The relationship between the perfect God and a sinful man is restored permanently. But then, this rich relationship is only enjoyed by those who receive Jesus as their Lord and personal Saviour (Romans 10:9-10). You see, there are two types of persons in the world. The born again Christian and the natural man. Immediately one becomes born again, the natural life he received from birth (Adamic) ceases, and the life of God begins. Such a person becomes a different man altogether, with no record of the past (2 Corinthians 5:17). When God looks at us, He only sees Jesus; He only sees the righteousness of Jesus and nothing of our own. We have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27; Colossians 3:10). We look exactly like Jesus; it's just that we're being renewed in knowledge to really understand who we have become (Colossians 1:9). There is no difference between us. We look like Jesus in the spirit and not physically. If it were a physical thing, we all should look the same.

Christianity is spiritual. It's faith at work, and faith considers not the material or physical world. If there was a difference between the born again Christian and Jesus Christ, we wouldn't dare go to God. There had to be a separated high priest to be a mediator between God and us. We cannot make our way to God on our own (Galatians 3:10). God's Word says that “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). And “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:47). We have been quickened by the Spirit of God, we are from above. Consider Jesus’ statement to the Jews: “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). This is John the Baptist’s description of the heavenly born: “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all” (John 3:31).

We are untouchable! Pilate told Jesus that he had the power to crucify and the power to release Him, when He was brought before him after His arrest. Do you know Jesus' reply to him? Read this: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above…” (John 19:11). Jesus always had the mentality of a Champion. Consider His other statement: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). It's not easy to say you're one with God. To the Jews and other religious leaders, this was blasphemy; how much more saying that you're one with Him? No wonder they always sought to kill Jesus because of the words He spoke. They were too big for their religious minds. And do you know the good news? Our Lord Jesus said we are also not of the world (John 15:19). And in John 17:14 He said: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world?”

Why would Jesus make such a comparison? He's saying here that we're not of the world, even as He's also not of the world. Period! Take this: “I am the vine, ye are the branches…” (John 15:5). If He's the vine and we're the branches then we're one. The branches cannot do without the vine; they work in unison. The same life that flows through the vine flows through the branches, and together they bear the same fruit. That’s why we can do nothing without Jesus (John 15:5; Colossians 3:17). He’s the source and Life-Giver! He said, “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26). How come? Jesus wasn't conceived like every other man. Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and she conceived; no sperm involved. We see in John 1:1, 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is the Word made flesh. We also get to know that the Word and God are one. And the same Bible tells us that “…as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). The born again Christian is born of God. He's born of the Word (Jesus), and the Word is God. Jesus could testify He’s one with the Father because He knew He wasn't conceived by a man's sperm. So it is with every born again Christian. We have a second birth, born anew by the Word of God. We are dead to our old selves (Romans 6:4, 11). John chapter 1 says the born again Christian isn’t born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (which are all fleshy), but of God. We were born by the Spirit of God (1 Peter 1:23).

We are Adam's children, because he is our father: “…death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression…” (Romans 5:14). Why is the world suffering all because of a decision Adam took? We weren’t there with him but we were affected by his action. That's why Jesus had to come (1 Corinthians 15:22). He quickened and made us alive unto God by dying on our behalf, and resurrecting the third day. Jesus is love. He took my place, so that I will take His place. What manner of love! When God looks at us, the only person He sees is Jesus, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28). The Message Bible translated it this way: “We live and move in him, can't get away from him!” It's impossible to separate us from Christ; we live in Him! No comment!

If we are in Christ, then we're where He is now, and have whatever He has. We’re joint-heirs (Romans 8:17). Christ also lives in us (Colossians 1:27). While Jesus was with His disciples, He always talked about His departure. To comfort them He promised to send the Holy Spirit. He said to them: “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:19-20). Jesus is in the Father and we are in Him. Oh, this means that together with Jesus we are in the Father. Not only are we in Jesus but the Father also. The believer in Christ Jesus is justified! As regards its nature, justification is the judicial act of God, by which He pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, that is, as conformed to all its demands.

In addition to the pardon of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Romans 5:1-10). It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Romans 10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:6-8). The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith is called a “condition,” not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and His righteousness (Romans 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Philippians 3:8-11; Galatians 2:16). The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time our sanctification; and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Romans 6:2-7).Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (Romans 6:14; 7:6). But then, salvation is not all about the forgiveness of sin. If that’s the case there wouldn’t have been any need for Jesus to rise from the dead. His death on the cross would have been enough; it paid for all our sins and guaranteed complete propitiation. However, that’s redemption, and not Christianity!

Redemption refers to saving someone by paying a price. So when Jesus died, He paid the price for man’s redemption with His own life; He did that for all humanity, not for Christians. The Christian isn’t the man that Christ died for. Look at it this way: when Jesus hung on the cross, in the mind of God, we were all hanging there too (in Him), for He was our representative. When He cried out, “It is finished!” and gave up the ghost, we also died in Him. Now, here’s the big thing, which Satan didn’t see coming and the angels still marvel at and seek to look into: Christianity began, not when Jesus died, but when God raised Him from the dead; at the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ gave us something far beyond redemption; it ushered us into a newness of life. We’ve been raised up together with Christ (Ephesians 2:6).

Salvation comes by believing in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the subsequent confession of His Lordship. A Christian (amongst other things) is one who identifies with the resurrected Christ. The Christian has no past (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is a new species; one that never existed before. No wonder James declares that “Of his (God’s) own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). Being born again, therefore, you’re not the “redeemed”; you’re the fruit of the redemptive work of Christ. Redemption was consummated with His death, but Christianity came from the resurrection. Halleluiah! The Bible tells us that we shall reign as kings in life. We shall reign over sin, sickness, poverty, defeat, depression, and over the devil and all his plans. All you’ve got to do is to find out the secret to reign in life. But, oh, thank God for the Bible and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals those secrets to us as we meditate on God’s Word.

God has already blessed us with all that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We are destined to reign in life. We are called by God to be a success, to enjoy having enough - that we are blessed to be a blessing, to enjoy health and to enjoy a life of victory. We are to be lending to not just people, but nations (Deuteronomy 15:6). The Bible that said: “And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]” (2 Corinthians 9:8, AMP). We are blessed to be a blessing! By God’s divine power He has already given to us all things - through the knowledge of Him! It’s not His desire that we live a life of defeat, poverty and failure. He has called us to be the head and not the tail! (Deuteronomy 28:13). Whichever field you’re in, God wants you to prosper.

If you’re a business person, God wants you to have a prosperous business. If you’re a homemaker, you are anointed to bring up wonderful children in the Lord. If you’re a student, God wants you to pass all your classes. If you’re trusting the Lord for a new career, He doesn’t just want you to have a job. He wants you to have a position of influence so that you can be a blessing and be an asset to your organization! We are designed to reign in life because Jesus is the Lord of our life! When we reign in life, we reign over sin, we reign over the powers of darkness, we reign over depression, we reign over poverty and over every curse, we reign over sickness and disease, we reign over the devil and all of his plans. When Jesus and the disciples were on the stormy sea, Jesus reigned in life! You remember I shared with you the policeman and the authority behind him. He didn’t have to be strong; all he had to do was raise a hand for moving vehicles to stop.

He can do that because he’s invested with the authority of the government he works for. The power to reign does not depend on our background. It does not depend on our education, on how we look, or how much savings we have in our bank account. The power to reign is based entirely on Jesus alone! Romans 5:17 declares: “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” Reign, as the verse refers to, is the Greek word “basileuo”, and it means to be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign. It is used of the governor of a province; it is used of the rule of the Messiah. Metaphorically, it means to exercise the highest influence, to control. Those who receive abundance of grace shall reign in life. You realise the verse never said “the abundance of grace”, but “abundance of grace.” In order words, grace is unlimited. The more you can take, the more you reign in life.

The earth is our province, it is our domain so we reign here. If you have made Jesus your Lord and Saviour, you have received this abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness that Romans 5:17 talks about. We sometimes think that we’ll reign with Jesus during the Millennium. This is true, but it’s not the whole truth. Others teach that we’ll reign in Heaven, or the Sweet By-and-By. This is also true, but it’s still not the whole truth. In both cases, either because of wrong teaching or the lack of right teaching, the impression is that we can’t expect much in this life. Some people even preach that having more material blessing in life is going to earn you a lower position in heaven. We’re to help others with our material blessing (Psalm 112:9), and He that gives to the poor lends to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17). So is it the will of God for us to be poor? Absolutely not!