Thursday, January 30, 2014

Vessels of Power

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, prayed that we be '...strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might...' [Colossians 1:11] and that He would grant us '...according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner man...' [Ephesians 3:16]
Remember—we are one Spirit with the Lord [1 Corinthians 6:17] and the Word multiplied [Acts 12:24]—the Spirit of HIm Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us [Romans 8:11]
Keeping those facts in mind, let's look at Hebrews 1:3 '...He [Jesus] upholds all things by the word of His power.'
His power is so great that it UPHOLDS ALL THINGS—all things—by just the WORD of His POWER! And He is in us, making us whole, making us complete...'For in HIm all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in HIm you have been made complete...' [Colossians 2:9,10]
Yikes
Now I realize that this truth is too big, too wonderful to completely wrap our brains about...the same power that upholds all things is in us...we have this treasure in these earthen vessels! [1 Corinthians 4:7]
Okay, I can hear you out there...put down the pitchforks and torches! This is the Bible I'm quoting, and it's about time that we found out what's really in it.
Jesus said in John 14 that He, the Father and the Holy Spirit—all 3 persons of the Trinity—would come and make their abode with and in us. This is echoed throughout the New Testament, but somehow we've missed the enormity of this spiritual fact. Yes, those of us who are old enough have seen the flannelgraph of the throne in our hearts that either self or Jesus sits upon....we've heard that when we accept Christ He comes to live in our hearts, whatever that means. Is He living in my blood pump?
At best we've seen Him as some kind of spiritual hitchhiker—along for the ride, there to help us if we're really good and earn it somehow. A kind of living compass, to make us feel guilty when we says a bad word. We completely miss the truth that we died on the cross with Jesus, were buried with HIm in baptism, raised up and seated together with Him in heavenly places [Colossians 2:12, Ephesians 2:5,6]. As Paul said, we were crucified with Him, and now He lives in and through us.
We are indeed new creations—real sons and daughters of God, sisters and brothers of Jesus, the Firstborn of Many Brethren.
So What?
What does this mean to us? Who cares, really?
God cares—He's equipped a powerful race of God-inside men and women to administer His kingdom on the earth—to enforce Satan's defeat and fill the earth with His glory—the glory that dwells in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. But instead of walking in power and authority on the earth, we've been crippled by heresies and error. Be poor, stay sick, live in false humility, be politically correct, etc. Don't expect too much, spiritual gifts and weapons are optional, everything's passed away, blah blah woof woof.
NO!! NO!! Now is the time for the fulfillment of Isaiah 60:1..."Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you." Jesus said "You are the light of the world...let your light shine before men in such a way that they ay see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven." [Matthew 5:14,16] John 1 makes it clear that He is the light...He is the light shining in us! The Word multiplied!
It is time to realize who we really are in the earth—the Body of Christ—which is spiritual reality and not just a nickname for believers. We are vessels of power—the same power that just the word of it upholds all things—vessels of the glory of God, full of love, created in righteousness and holiness of truth [Ephesians 4:24]. Meditate on these truths until you see yourself like Jesus...and realize that that was the point all along.
Hallelujah!