“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” (NIV, 1 Peter 3:18)
Hello and good day to you. I pray the Lord bless you.
I pray the Lord reveal to you, his journey and story, who he became by the hand of God.
That the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ would burst forth from the scriptures and shine the light of God’s truth in your heart and mind. That you would receive new insight and understanding in the mysteries of Christ and the grace of God.
I pray the Lord extend the boundaries of your dwelling place into new experiences and adventure in him.
And I pray Christ would choose you, yes you, for a deep work in him. He would be pleased to advance his kingdom in and through you.
Be surprised and amazed at the goodness of God. Let Jesus use you to advance his kingdom.
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The Shifting Sands of Time
Somewhere along the way the story of Christianity shifted from being first and foremost the story of Jesus Christ – “his death to sin to walk in newness of life – his personal cross, baptism,” to the story of what Christ did for us.
The church is filled with the goodness of what Jesus did for us, Christmas, Easter, etc., but, what about his journey? And is there something deeper he desires?
It also shifted from being the story of the convert’s baptism in Christ, i.e., putting to death the sinful deeds and practices of the body, made alive in the spirit, to a host of other endeavors and efforts.
Where is the deep intimacy, connection and union in Christ the scriptures promise?
The baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, which Christ pioneered, made perfect in the hands of his father, is not commonly taught or understood.
And yet it is the heart of the gospel – the body of scripture, the pattern for you and me.
Seemingly, Christianity has become more about our choices and what we initiate with the Lord as opposed to being “taken” into the Lord’s corral, under his harness, in his stable, fed and cared for by him.
A time of separation from being ruled by the cares of this life and relationships. A time of nurturing, developing deep intimacy and connection with Christ.
A time of preparation, cleansing and healing. A time of sharing hearts, learning the heart of your Lord and King.
A time of learning the goodness of God – falling in love with your Lord.
The Scriptures are replete with references to Christ personally coming to each and every member of his body to initiate a deep work of the Spirit; cleansing, healing, and obedience.
That our whole body, soul, and spirit would be found blameless in Christ.
This series shares many of the Scriptures speaking to Christ “coming, appearing, taking, and revealing,” himself to you and me, to transform and sanctify us in all things Christ.
Jesus is visiting his church today in unprecedented ways. He is providing his church with resources and care unequaled in past generations.
Christ is restoring the foundations of truth and grace.
The wind of God is blowing away centuries of sand, traditions, to reveal the foundations he laid in Christ for us to stand on.
He’s bringing the church back to the “main thing,” Christ – to be fathered as he was fathered.
God’s grace is here not to leave us in sin and unrest, but to cleanse and heal the deep fabric of who we are, what we believe, and how we live.
Unprecedented grace is here, now, in Christ, to those called and chosen by God for union with Christ.
Will you accept his invitation to be made like unto the Son of God?
Today is the day to heed the call of God and permit Christ to choose you for the deep work of his Spirit.
My friend, tremendous change is on the horizon both in the church and in the world.
Now is the time to submit yourself to Christ for preparation, cleansing and healing – readied to walk through the powers of sin and darkness approaching on an epidemic scale.
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Drilling Down in the Scriptures – First Things First
The writings of the New Testament are first and foremost about Christ.
The heart of the gospel is the story of Jesus, his birth, maturation, perfection, ministry and martyrdom.
Who he became and what he achieved by the work of God has seemingly lost center stage in church counsels.
The shift, teachings and traditions passed down from generation to generation, has made us the focus.
It’s become all about us, and what God did for us through Christ. The story of Jesus is blurred. The gospel has lost some of its’ impact and influence.
Who is this Jesus? How can we know our journey and calling if we don’t know his?
This shift has had tremendous implications and influence over the centuries.
How can we truly understand our journey if we do not understand the story of the one who made all this possible?
The one who put to death the hostility of his own flesh, made alive in Spirit by his heavenly Father, to walk and minister in resurrection life and power.
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(You might be thinking, if this understanding of Christ is so important, why has it been hidden, buried under traditions? Why would God allow it to be hidden?
This is a series in itself. Suffice it to say, the revelation of God’s word in the church unfolds from generation to generation.
God sparked the reformation in Luther’s day and look how far it has come. Look at the moves of God just in the last 100 years and how deep the church has gone.
Greater revelation will continue to be graced on the Church as she approaches maturity and closure. The Millennium is on the horizon and God will grow up the Church in all things Christ between now and then. The question is – will we be a part of God’s plan in the final season of the church.
The revelation of Christ and the pattern he desires to complete in you and me will become more important and paramount as the day of the Lord approaches.
Let’s not be like those who died in the flood, like Lot’s wife who looked back, or like those who died in the wilderness, but heed the call of God to be readied by him.)
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First Things First, continued
From his perfection comes all the promises of God to you and me. Peter, James and John saw the glory of the new creation, the completed and perfect man, the second Adam, Christ, on the Mount of Transfiguration.
(With the shift from “Christ” to “us” through centuries of traditions, the attribution of the terms death and resurrection shifted from “dying to sin to walk in newness of life” to “Christ on Calvary.”
We too easily attribute the terms death and resurrection to Calvary over and over again.
On the contrary, most instances of the terms death and resurrection refer to the saint’s baptism into Christ, the revelation of Christ in grace (1 Peter 1:13) – putting to death the lower nature to walk in newness of life – the resurrected life Christ pioneered before Calvary.)
It seems we’ve been trained to look at Jesus and see what he did for us first. Our holidays, festivals, traditions and teachings, center around what Jesus did for us.
Please don’t take me wrong, we would not be talking about him nor have the understanding and relationship with Christ if he had not died for us.
But that would not have been possible had God not perfected Christ, making him into his image and likeness, the expressed word and radiance of God made flesh.
Jesus’ story is greater than us. We are part of his story and not vice versa.
We are the fruit of what he accomplished, or I should say, what he and his father accomplished in him through Christ’s obedience and Christ’s faith. Yes, Christ practiced faith just like you and me.
Christ’s journey to perfection – overcoming sin, flesh, the devil and the world, putting to death the hostility in his flesh – being made new in spirit, is heralded and trumpeted in the Scriptures.
(Romans 5:19; Romans 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:21 – 23; Ephesians 2:14 – 15, see interlinear (A) for “the hostility, of the flesh of him”; Ephesians 4:20 – 24; Philippians 2:6 – 8; Colossians 1:15, 1:18; 1 Peter 3:18)
Christ, and Christ alone, having become perfect, redeemed mankind, and in a way, even himself. Though Christ never sinned, he became obedient and was made perfect by God. In that sense, he redeemed himself.
He could not have pioneered and accomplished what he accomplishes in us, if it was not first accomplished in him by the hand of God, his Father.
His redemption was the first redemption. He is the firstfruit. He is the firstborn. (1 Corinthians 15:23; Colossians 1:15)
Every seed planted by God bears the DNA of Christ. He is the fruit from which all seeds in the garden of God will be planted.
Unlike us, who wrestle with certain sins time and time again, and strongholds and the like, sin never took root in Christ, yet, he faced the same weaknesses of the human condition as we, and he put to death the appetites and desires of the flesh, once and for all, and was made perfect.
Blessings, Drake
(NIV) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™
(A) The New Greek – English Interlinear New Testament by Translators Robert K. Brown and Philip W. Comfort, Editor: J. D. Douglas. Copyright © 1990. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
