This is War (Part 1)

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

In studying for a Systematic Theology test last semester, I became extremely encouraged over the truth of the Holy Spirit dwelling within the church, and what that means for her. Throughout the Old Covenant, we see the presence of the Holy Spirit in creation (Gen. 1:2), and in the annointing of prophets, priests, and kings for rule (1 Samuel 16; Judges 11; Psalm 51; Moses; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; David; etc). In Ezekiel 36, Isaiah 2, Psalm 2, Joel 3, etc., we read of God's promise to usher in a new era of Spirit-annointed authority. That new era has been ushered in by Jesus Christ, and it arrived to the sound of a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2). The promised Holy Spirit has come to His church. War has been declared.

I am currently having a dialogue (over facebook; great invention!) with a sister in Christ about the Holy Spirit. It has been a stimulating conversation. She once remarked, accurately, that the majority of the North American church today lacks the power she was meant to have. "Where did it go? Where is the radical, wreckless pursuit of Christ that characterized the early church?"

I have been developing my thinking on my sincere belief that the majority of the church is in a severe identity crisis. True Kingdom preaching and teaching are on the brink of extinction in most local churches. I venture to say that because the doctrines of the Kingdom and the doctrines of the Spirit's role in the life of the church have grown cold in the hearts of our church leaders, the faith of the church has decended to a whisper.

Where are the lions who roar at mountains and they move? They have been held in our man-made cages so long that they have forgotten they are the KINGS of the jungle! There is power in prayer, and prayer is most powerful when we pray in faith claiming who we truly are in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We must approach the throne boldly, claiming Christ's righteousness, lest we trample His work underfoot by saying it was not fully finished. Church, JESUS BOUGHT OUR IDENTITY; why are we so fearful of claiming it before our Father? Faith that is not placed in the FINISHED work of Christ is no faith at all. And without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).

The point I am attempting to drive home here is that our identity in Christ has been SEALED with the the promised Holy Spirit. And this means everything. "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:13-14). What is so vital to see here in this text is that it is not our grasp of God that seals us; it is His grasp of us. It is the Spirit that seals us, guaranteeing us the right to be called the children of God, heirs to the Kingdom (John 1:12-13; Col. 1:12-20; 2 Cor. 5:17). "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:3-4). WE ARE WHO GOD'S WORD SAYS WE ARE.

"The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give" (Is. 62:2).

"...I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:33).

"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Gal. 4:6-7).

What we see throughout Scripture is that there is a war of the worlds. There is a dominion of darkness and a dominion of light. "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:13-14).

The problem with most preachers and teachers today is that they stop there. We discuss sin, we discuss creation, we discuss atonement, we discuss the attributes of God, we discuss church discipline, we discuss evangelism. We discuss the truth that the church has been redeemed and purchased by the blood of Christ. These are all great things to discuss; they are absolutely vital. However, we so often stop at redemption, failing to continue on to who the church has been redeemed to be. The church has been redeemed to glorify the Father in reigning with Christ as He makes His enemies His footstool, and in glorifying the Father by enjoying Him forever.

The following passages speak of who the church is in Christ:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together IN CHRIST--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up WITH HIM and seated us WITH HIM in the heavenly places IN CHRIST JESUS, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us IN CHRIST JESUS" (Ephesians 2:4-7).

What are these verses saying? They are saying that IN CHRIST we have been elevated above the angels (Hebrews 1:14). Hebrews 1:14 depicts angels as serving the church. We have been raised with Christ. We are children of the King.

"What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31)?

“Those who contend with the Lord will be shattered; against them He will thunder in the heavens. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; and He will give strength to His king, and will exalt the horn of His anointed" (1 Sam 2:10).

“Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet" (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).

“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son" (Revelation 21:7).

“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).

So what does this mean? How does this apply to the church today? It means that the church should act like the heir of the Kingdom that it is, and quit apologizing for it. The church will, IN CHRIST, judge His enemies. The church will, IN CHRIST, inherit all that God the Father promised; the most amazing inheritance being God Himself. The doctrine of the triumphant Kingdom is not taught enough from our pulpits today. If it were, hell would surely quake in fear at the thought of the church of Jesus Christ truly living in light of the truth that she is more than a conquerer (Romans 8:37) IN CHRIST JESUS.

Heaven and hell are in the balance. The world is on fire. This is war.

Where are the lions?

For further study, please check out this article from John Piper at Desiring God Ministries