The ABC’S of Becoming Free
in the Lord Jesus.
1) Inside the Person of Christ are deposited and hidden of all of God’s
blessings, riches, and treasures that benefit us today and forever.
Col 2:2 That their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3
In whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Col
1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is
revealed to his saints:
27
To
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ
in you, the
hope of glory:
·
Please
look with me at two of the many riches that are hidden inside of Christ
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
·
Greek (paraphrase): To Him who has power to
perform in a manner that is abundantly above and beyond all that we request of
Him, or think in our minds. He can only
do this however, according
to, or limited to, or the “fencing in”, of the dunamis power that
operates effectively within us.
1 Cor 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
·
Greek
paraphrase “Christ;
God’s dunamis power.”
·
Upon close
inspection of 1 Cor. 1:24, we find out that God’s dunamis power is not
something that we ask God for! Neither
does it say that Christ gives to us God’s dunamis power. This verse tells us that Christ
HIMSELF IS God’s dunamis power. This is why I always refer to what
Watchman Nee taught the church at beginning of the 20th century, and
of the which it still has not gotten a hold of!
·
Brother Nee says that God does not give to us
bunch of blessings. He gave us one
thing, His Son.
Hebrews
1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds;
·
All that God is, and has for us, lives IN or
INSIDE His Son. God has given us His
Son to dwell within us, as a treasure chest of all that He is, all of His
possessions, and blessings.
·
The devil
deceives the church and robs it of its time and power by enticing it to ask God
for a variety of blessings, when it should be asking the Lord for a spirit of
wisdom and revelation. This is so that
Christ, God’s treasure chest, is revealed within each believer, along with all
God’s bounties dwelling within Him.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
·
Ephesians
3:20 tells us that God works within us a manner which is abundantly above and
beyond what we desire. However, God’s
activity is “limited to” or “fenced in by” the dunamis power that is manifested
through our lives. This very power is what gives to God the ability to work
effectively.
1 Cor 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
·
In
Corinthians, we see that this “dunamis power” is Christ Himself. Therefore, the
quantity and quality of Christ’s revelation within us is the boundary or limit
to which God is allowed to operate within us abundantly and beyond all that we
ask or think.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
·
All
spiritual blessings occur in Christ (let’s say in the sphere or world
belonging to His revelation). The more is His revelation within us, the
more that that the totality of God’s spiritual blessings already inside of Him,
will become an experienced reality to us.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the
head of all principality and power:
·
Let us look
now at Col 2:9, 10. Fullness,
in New Testament terms, is the substance or makeup of an object that defines it
to be what it is. The fullness of Coca Cola, is the fluid within the glass
bottle that contains all of the ingredients, and formula, that labels it
exclusively, and independently, of anything else in this world, as Coca Cola.
·
Inside the
Person of Christ is deposited the very being, substance, and makeup of Almighty
God which defines Him exclusively as God Almighty.
·
This Christ,
which contains the fullness of Almighty God, has been given to us.
This is why in verse ten we find out that IN Christ, we are already and forever
more complete. Our experiential
completion is equal to the manifested fullness of God as it is revealed in us.
Once again, we must remember that the immense treasure of God’s fullness as
experienced by us, is limited to, or fenced in by to the manifestation of
Christ within our lives, who is also the power of God to effectively bring
forth God’s fullness into our lives. Do we need anything more than this?
2) How are all of these treasures revealed to us?
I
Cor 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto
the Greeks foolishness;
I
Cor 2:2 For I determined not to know
any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
·
In both instances
above, Christ crucified is in the Greek perfect tense.
·
The Greek
perfect tense is defined, as a once and for all accomplished event in history
with an eternal impact. Therefore, though Christ was crucified 2000 years ago,
the effect of His crucifixion is as powerful for us today, as it was 20
centuries ago. Because Christ is God’s
treasure chest, the effects of His crucifixion dwell permanently inside Him.
This very Christ, still crucified today, has been given to us as another of the
treasures that lives within Him.
·
Why does God give to us “the treasure
of Christ as permanently crucified” to dwell within us? This is what I
term as the “law of crucifixion” or “the law of the cross”. A law tells us that under a specific set of
circumstances, specific results will always occur.
·
With our
every individual act of obedience towards God, “the law of crucifixion” (which
is the permanently crucified Christ) kicks in, resulting into what
is described in the next two verses out of 2 Corinthians chapter four.
2 Cor 4:10
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11
For
we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
·
The
revelation of Christ, and the treasures within Him, becomes a progressive
reality inside of us by our obedience.
Every act of obedience towards God activates the law of the cross that
reveals the treasure of “Christ crucified”, which destroys our
self-life and manifests Christ and His treasures.
3) How do we become free?
2 Cor 13:3
Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not
weak, but
is mighty in you.
·
2 Cor 13:3 tells
us that The Christ which has been given to live within us, is always mighty and
powerful in ability. His might and
ability becomes a reality in proportion to His revelation.
4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
·
The Greek
further tells us in verse four, that in the same way that a tree lives from its
roots as they obtain nutrients found in the soil, we must live our lives rooted
in the power of God, as it is released in proportion to the revelation of
Christ.
Philip 3:21 Who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself.
·
Another
vital treasure dwelling within Christ, and one, which we will refer to in the
remainder of this study, is “the Christ whom subdues all things to
Himself.”
·
To subdue, is
a military term comparable to a general with an army in perfect submission,
hierarchy, and order, beneath him.
·
One of the
most important desires of Christ is to subdue all that is not of Him in this
military and hierarchal order. The verses immediately below, all use the very
same Greek word found for the subduing in Philippians
3:21; thus showing a vital part of the mind of God towards us in the finished
work of Christ.
1
Corinthians 15:27 For he hath put all things under his
feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
·
1
Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also
himself be subject unto
him that put all things under him, that God
may be all in all.
Ephesians
1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 6:10 ¶ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power (dominion) of his might (inner strength).
· Christ ability to subdue is an absolute necessity for u, since it is the work of Christ to set us free.. Subduing however, can also have a very negative connotation. Dictators, such as Hitler, Castro, and others, focused their whole lives on the subduing of people. Christ, likewise, focuses much of His work in subduing, but only of things that are evil and harmful to humanity.
· In the case of evil dictators, the subduing of peoples is called dominating, or exercising dominion over them. This evil exercise of dominion accomplishes a power as it is carried out, called the power of dominion or domination, in proportion to the strength of the dictator.
·
In Eph 6:10
we find this exact principle at work.
Translated for us it commands us to be empowered in the Lord and in
the domination or dominion exerted by His strength.
·
This
dominion or domination is what gives the Lord the ability to subdue all things
unto Himelf.
·
Are we
beginning to get the picture? The
revelation of Christ within us, triggered by the law of the cross through our
obedience, reveals the Christ who dominates and subdues all, thus setting us
free!
·
Let us look
at another example.
Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened(dominion) with might (dunamis power) by his Spirit in the inner man;
·
Greek:
That God’s power deposited into your inner man through the Holy Spirit will be
seen or translated as Christ’s dominion within you.
·
The results of this subduing or dominion
whisks us right into verse seventeen.
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
·
To
dwell, is defined as a inhabitant being in
comfortable control of his home, thus allowing him to live in the peace and authority
which has been purchased through that control.
·
Christ
desires to dwell in this very fashion within our hearts. He can only do so in believers that fully
obey Him, allowing “the Christ that dominates and subdues all evil”
to set them free, so that He may dwell and exercise the full authority of
the kingdom, through them.
·
Let us
finalize our study by analyzing the life of the believer as seen in Eph 1:19-23
Eph 1:19
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe,
according to the working of his mighty( inward strength)
power,(outward dominion)
·
Greek
paraphrase. The exceeding greatness of this power is funneled into those who
continuously believe. The inward
strength of God, which is displayed as His outward dominion, is translated as
the exceeding greatness of His power, which is funneled into the believer. This
funneling is limited to the continual believing of the Christian, which in turn
is defined as the uncompromising moment-by-moment obedience to God’s rhema
word.
20
Which
he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly places,
·
He
wrought This is very
powerful!
·
The Greek
perfect tense is used with this verb.
As we know, the Greek perfect tense is an accomplished event in history,
having an eternal impact.
·
Which He wrought, can be
defined, as the working through, or the accomplishing of something with
absolute effectiveness, resulting in its becoming fully operational.
·
The
exceeding greatness of God’s power; the translation of the dominion of the
strength found within God, is fully and eternally operational inside the Person
of His Son! This very Christ lives
within us, beloved!
·
The
effective and full operation of this dominating or subduing power can be proved
in that Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father after His
resurrection. One who sits down can
only do so after conquering all; it is the position of rest.
·
This is why
we always see Christ sitting down in the parables of His kingdom and
glory. His sitting down is the result
of His absolute victories, thus allowing for the release of His glory through
the works of the kingdom
Matthew
8:11 And I say unto you, That many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of
heaven.
Matthew
19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, That ye
which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in
the throne of his glory,
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Matthew 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto
you, Hereafter shall ye see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven.
21
Far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in
that which is to come:
·
Herein is
another aspect of God’s dominion fully operational within Christ, in that He
was raised FAR IN DISTANCE above all that is opposed to Him.
22
And
put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all
things to the church,
·
The full and
effective operation of the exceeding greatness of God’s power inside of Christ,
is not only witnessed that in all things to Christ, He rose far above them in
physical distance, but they are now likewise subdued in a military fashion
under His feet.
·
Finally and
most important, THIS VERY CHRIST which has the full operation of the exceeding
greatness of God’s power resident within Him, has been given to live within us!
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in
all.
·
Greek:
Fills all things in all people.
·
To fill all
things in all people, is the fullness of Christ’s revelation, which reveals the
Christ who has the full operation of God’s dominating power, which sets us
free!
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