Warriors of the Kingdom of God
Gen. 1:26 For the most part of last year, we were discussing Gen. 1:26 and our purpose… the reason that God created us. We know that we lost that purpose through sin and we know that Jesus, the Son of God, the Word of God laid aside His deity and became the Son of Man, the last Adam SO THAT He could restore our purpose to us. Jesus, the Son of Man, the last Adam, became the perfect Lamb of God and in so doing He entered into a covenant relationship with the great “I AM”… on our behalf and now forever, our purpose has been restored to us as covenant partners IN CHRIST. Everything that Jesus did and went through was to restore Gen. 1:26 to us who have believed in what He did. So today we are discussing the next part of that verse… namely dominion…
Vision on the 19th January… I am standing on a mountain overlooking the desolation in the valley below but where I am is not desolate. I am standing far above it. I am not part of the desolation… I’m not going down into the desolation. As far as the eye can see, there is desolation.
As long as I stand staring at the land of desolation…that I am not a part of…it has power to affect my soul.
But I am part of another Kingdom, the Rock that I am standing on is unaffected by what I am staring at.
What’s happening down below has nothing to do with me…I am wasting my time by observing it.
Paul OR Saul on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians thought he was doing God’s will! Although he was not blind on the outside he was blind on the inside. When you’re blind on the inside, you call what’s wrong right and what’s right… wrong. When God knocks him off his horse…he sees a greater light. Sometimes failure is on purpose so that you can get the greater light. The light that we have seems like light until the greater light comes. Humility is a sign of conversion.
Paul who was given the spirit of revelation and wisdom in that moment, now, armed with this insight goes on to write 2/3rds of the New Testament.
- I can show you people who are in prison, they have eyesight but no insight.
- There are people living under the bridge near Alberton City, they have eyesight but no insight.
- There are people in church who have eyesight but no… insight.
Today I believe that the Holy Spirit our teacher will give us the spirit of revelation and wisdom so that we can turn from looking at the familiar sights of desolation to live the life He has created us for.
We are expecting a Christian life of comfort and painless faith. Jesus, however, came to arm us with a sword!
The position and authority of the Warriors of the Kingdom of God
The throne of Christ, the Son of God.
Hebrews 1:2-3 – (God) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His (God the Father) glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things (how?) by the word of His power, when He (Jesus) had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Can you imagine that moment…the moment when the victorious Lord Jesus Christ is about to enter the throne room of heaven?
Psalm 24:7-10 Sounds of a shofar / trumpet… A shout is heard… there is a hush in heaven…
Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.
The Gates, the everlasting doors open and myriads upon myriads of angels fall down in the presence of the King of glory as He enters through the door and makes His way towards the throne.
Revelations 3:2-11 – …a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. 7 lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the 7 Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne were 4 living creatures full of eyes in front and back. V8 The 4 living creatures, each having 6 wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come”. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down to worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.
Into this atmosphere, the Son of the Living God is slowly making His way to the throne…He stops and waits before His God and His Father…
Hebrews 1:8-13 – And the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Creator, Jehovah Elyon… the Lord Most High speaks… to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre (the symbol of authority) of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hand. They will perish, but You remain; And they will grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.” But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
Our Lord and our Saviour ascends to the throne, turns and sits down… it is finished!
God the Father, instructs the Lord Jesus Christ, to be seated on the throne. His job is done, (It is finished – John 19:28-30) He is at rest…YET… even though Jesus defeated the enemy… God says sit UNTIIL I make Your enemies Your footstool.
Strange thing to say to Jesus… did He or did He not defeat the enemy? After all… Why did Jesus come to the earth?
1 John 3:8 – He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, (why?) that He might destroy the works of the devil.
What are those works?
John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
- Was Jesus, the Son of God manifested (revealed) on the earth? Yes!
- Did He destroy (end the existence of something, annihilate, obliterate, defeat utterly) the works of the devil? Yes!
John 19:25-30 – Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by. He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His Spirit.
Passover and the Day of Atonement are not the same thing – Passover is about the blood of the unblemished lamb rescuing the Children of Israel from the angel of death and through that they were released from slavery. They would however have to keep making atonement annually for their sin because Jesus had not come yet. Symbolically, Jesus, our Passover Lamb, by His shed blood rescued us from spiritual death and released us from the slavery of sin.
Leviticus 16:15-22 The day of Atonement was the one day in the year that the high priest made a sacrifice for the sins of Israel. He took two goats and sacrificed the first on the altar as atonement – or reparation – for their transgressions. (Lev. 17:11 – For the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul).
The second goat symbolically became the scapegoat (or sin-bearer) for the sins of the nation of Israel. The high priest would lay his hands on the scapegoat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel. The scapegoat bearing all of the sin of Israel was then sent into the wilderness.
These two sacrifices only covered the sins they had made unintentionally, in ignorance of the law. The sin committed deliberately had no atonement. However, when He died on the Cross, Jesus Christ became our scapegoat, our ultimate sin-bearer – taking away all our transgressions, whether intentional or unintentional (Isaiah 54:4-5).
“It is finished.” What though? Jesus had fulfilled ALL righteousness and now truly could be God’s perfect Lamb who had come to take away the sin of the world.
The shed blood of the perfect Lamb of God was applied to the “lintels” of humanity to rescue them from “death” and to release them from captivity and so He bowed His head and surrendered.
What lay ahead for Jesus as the scapegoat was that God the Father transferred ALL SIN upon His head. Next came the righteous judgement of the righteous Judge and the appropriate sentencing and finally our scapegoat, the Lord Jesus Christ had to endure the wrath of God poured out on the total sum of ALL sin that Jesus carried. Three days later, the full price having been paid…when each and every one of us was justified, declared redeemed…our Lord and Saviour was raised from the dead.
Romans 4:24-25 – Righteousness shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
It is finished! Clearly Jesus did defeat His enemies (which are also our enemies) and destroy his works (Col. 2:15) … In fact…
Ephesians 2:4-6 – But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He has loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses.
- Made us alive together (past tense) with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and
- Raised (past tense) us up together, and
- Made us sit together (past tense) in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Where then… are those who believe… seated?
Ephesians 1:20-21 – which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (NOW!!!)
So why does the God of all creation, the great “I AM” tell Jesus to sit UNTIL I make Your enemies Your footstool…?
John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Question: A thief is someone who steals something that belongs to someone else. Does satan need your car, does he want your wife, your husband, your job…? No! So what is he trying to steal that belongs to you and I? Why does he want to destroy you and I?
Isaiah 14:12-15 – How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit (Read Ezekiel 28:11-19).
What is the one thing that Lucifer wanted? He wanted to be like God.
What was the reason God created us? Genesis 1:26-27.
Now, here we are, the undeserving, the unremarkable, being allowed to sit with Christ in heavenly places and to have the privilege of being transformed into the image of Christ.
The war that we face is satan – trying to stop, “Let Us make man in our image.”
Ephesians 1:22 – And He put all things under His feet, (the lowest body part), and gave Him (Christ) to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him, who fills all in all.
The feet are part of the body (the church)…God put ALL THINGS under the feet (the body, the church) of our Lord and saviour, the King of kings, the one who has all authority and all power.
Luke 10:18-19 – And He said to them, “I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold I GIVE you THE AUTHORITY to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over ALL the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
This is our God given inheritance in Christ and it is the ordained commission of the Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Christ, not externally…but internally. The scripture in Eph. 1:22 The fullness of Christ, who FILLS all (every one of us) in all (every part of us). However, there is a process taking place in us by which the Father, by His Holy Spirit, is making that an operating, experiential truth in our lives!
Like fruit that grows on a branch, we are going to manifest His authority and power over all principalities and powers and might and dominion.
Ephesians 6:12-13 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, (because we wrestle against principalities and powers) take up the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Colossians 1:25-27 – of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Ephesians 3:9-11 – and to make all see what is the fellowship (connection, the relationship, the bond) of the mystery, (Christ in us, the hope of glory) which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent (what was the intent, what was the purpose?) that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known (how?) by the church (the body) to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose (Genesis 1:26) which He (the Father) accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is our purpose to make known to the principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God. We have this right because Jesus has already accomplished our redemption (He has redeemed Gen. 1:26).
The mystery which is Christ in us, the hope of glory is and always was the only way for Gen. 1:26 to be fulfilled…why? Because Jesus is the revealed express image of the Father…”if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”. Yet He is not just the pattern, He is the Way, the truth and the Life and He lives in and through us. We are not robots, we are infused with His (manifold) wisdom, His power, His nature, His character. We are, each one of us, unique but our hearts beat in time with His heart. We are one.
Did the Word, the Life, the Truth and the Light have to defeat the devil for Himself, really?
No, of course not! It was man that was in captivity and living in darkness. The Word humbled Himself and became a man (the last Adam) to fulfil God’s righteous requirements of the law as a man. As the unblemished Lamb of God He redeemed all mankind by taking the full wrath and punishment for mankind’s sin and in doing so He re-established man’s dominion on the earth. As man, He defeated the devil. As man, He established a new covenant, signed in His blood, with the great “I AM.” He is God the Father’s covenant partner. He is seated on the throne and has all authority and power but we, His feet, need to learn to operate in His authority which He has given to us. Hence, when the feet learn to rest in the accomplished work of Christ (faith), they will experience the effects of operating in His authority and power in all things.
Satan’s strategy then is to destroy Gen. 1:26-27 by attacking your faith and the only way to protect your faith is by being absolutely one with your armour.
However, the good news is that what the enemy meant for evil, God will use for good and so the author and the finisher of our faith will use the enemy’s attack to train us and discipline us to grow stronger and mightier as long as we don’t get distracted by fighting the symptoms and not the source!!
What we need is not just knowledge of the Word BUT deep revelation of His Word AND THEN to do the Word.
There will come a time when the enemy is no more!
Right now however, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are working to develop real faith in us...so that we rest in what Christ has already done for us!
The truths to recognise about the footstool:
The feet on the footstool are at rest…they are not applying weight or pressure to subdue to footstool.
The footstool has zero power to throw off the feet.
We, the feet have been given Christ’s authority over the footstool.
We are comfortably resting in what He has accomplished.
Rest is a product of faith in God… not knowledge about faith… real faith that comes from knowing Him… and knowing my rights.
We have authority over the destroyed works of the enemy.