Thursday, April 3, 2014

Watching Over His Word

'Forever, O LORD, Your Word is settled in heaven.' [Psalm 119:89]
'Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it."' [Jeremiah 1:12]
"So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." [Isaiah 55:11]
Put these verses together and you get WOW!!
First, the Hebrew word translated word in all three of these verse is dabar...which means both word and thing! God's word is the thing He intends it to be when it comes out of His mouth! [Hint: read Genesis 1...]
We also know from Hebrews 4 that God's works were finished from the foundation of the earth, and that He has, in fact, rested from His works.
Put all of this together and you can see what Isaiah saw in 40:8...'The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.'
His Word stands forever...and by the way, the word word in this verse is dabar, too! Word, thing...all the same to God!
Past or Present...I'm Confused
What's really interesting is that, even though His Word is settled forever and His works are finished from the foundation of the world, in both Isaiah 55:11 and Jeremiah 1:12, He uses an active present tense to describe His watchfulness over His Word or thing. What does this mean?
The key is in the two passages in the Gospels where Jesus gave us the power to bind [forbid] and loose [allow]. He said what you bind/loose [present tense] on earth shall have been bound/loosed [past perfect] in heaven. [Matthew 16,18]
These are quantum verses! They demonstrate the time lag between what's already finished in heaven and what is coming to pass in real time in the earth.
Earth is time-bound because of the reality of her physical nature. She orbits the sun, producing repetitive seasons; she rotates on an axis, producing repetitive days. In this physical plane, or reality, time exists.
But heaven is a different plane of existence! We see the two planes intersect often in the Bible, the curtain pulled back for a moment...Hagar's well, Jacob's ladder of angels, Elisha's heavenly army, the mountain of transfiguration and so forth. We see the heavenly realm exposed on a grand scale in the book of Revelation.
And in that place, on that plane of existence, God's works are finished and He has entered His rest! In that place, His Word is settled forever...in that place, we are already seated with Him in Christ Jesus! [Ephesians 2:6]
That's Great, But I Live on Earth...
Not exactly. As Christians, we exist on two planes. We live in a physical, time-bound, earth-based body; earthen vessel, temple of God, etc.
But in heaven, we exist in Jesus, seated at the right hand of God The Father!
The Father is watching His Word to perform it in the earth, because it's already finished in heaven. It is settled forever, and that's a fact...but it is coming to pass in the earth, and He has promised that it would not return to Him without accomplishing what He desires and without SUCCEEDING in the matter for which He sent it!
God said that His Word is His desire and that it WILL succeed in the matter for which He sent it. Hallelujah!
A Tale of Two Cities
So here we are, on earth, and in heaven, at the same time. His Word for us—every promise—is already accomplished in heaven. And, we have the promise of 2 Corinthians 1:20 in the earth: 'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him [Jesus] they are yes...'
In heaven, you are already healed, rich, perfect, according to His precious and magnificent promises. In the earth, He is watching over His Word—His thing, His promise—to perform it. But how?
The how is how He accomplished everything else in the earth...He had people speak His word and it came to pass in the earth.
One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 68:11,12.
'The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host: "Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home will divide the spoil!"'
Get the picture. The men have gone out to fight...the Lord gives the command, or word, of victory to the women, and the women proclaim it! And they become a great host--a great, strong, abundant army behind the army! Talk about the woman behind the man! They proclaim—announce or preach—the word, and it comes to pass through the physical actions of the men fighting!
So much for the great debate about women preachers! Ha!
We see this again and again...we call it fulfilled prophecy, but in layman's terms, it's really simple. God says a word [thing], man speaks it into the earth and it comes to pass.
Good News
The good news is that this doesn't just work on the grand scale of prophetic history. It works every day, individually and corporately, in the lives of men and women who will obey and speak—announce or proclaim—His Word into the earth!
For example, He said in Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 that by His stripes—His scourging or wounds—we were healed. First, this is already settled in heaven, already finished. Second, He is watching over that Word to perform it in the earth.
What's our part? To see it as done—finished—and speak it out! To proclaim or announce it into the physical earth to bring to pass what is clearly His finished will! Jesus prayed "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." [Matthew 6:10] And don't forget 'For as many as are the promises of God, IN HIM THEY ARE YES; therefor also through Him is our AMEN—so be it—to the GLORY OF GOD through us.' [2 Corinthians 1:20, comments mine]
The Greek word for done in this passage is ginomai, which means to come to pass or to be made or finished! He intends for His Word—ALL OF IT—to be finished in the earth as it is already finished in heaven!
Start seeing His work as finished and speaking it over your life today. Walk in the victory of His finished work, on earth as it is in heaven. Hallelujah!