“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)
Good day to you. I hope you’re receiving inspiration from this series.
A lot is happening in Christendom.
God is breathing new revelation in the knowledge and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is here, now, walking in the midst of the Church (and in the midst of those outside the Church), choosing sons and daughters who are thirsty and hungry:
Those who are broken, bound, troubled by addictions and sin.
Those who want Jesus but do not know how to find him or where to go.
Those who are outside the kingdom, opposed to Christianity and all it stands for (Christ sees the underlying afflicting hurts and wounds and knows the path to the deep cries of their heart).
Those who have not heard of Christ, bound in troubles and darkness.
And those who look great on the outside, but need Jesus on inside.
Jesus is doing an unprecedented deep work in men and women across the globe – sparking unparalleled intimacy and passion for Christ.
An intense (not anxious or panicky) and accelerated work of God occurring in those who bear his name.
What people have prayed for years is here, now – personal ministry from the Lord.
We are on the threshold of deep waves of the Spirit coming upon the Church – new moves of the Holy Spirit about to break forth on the horizon.
The call of the hour is to seek God and prepare. You and I will the need Christ’s living water to sustain the “revelation” of the Son coming upon this world.
We do not want to be caught unawares, lacking oil in our lamps.
Let Jesus bring you out of the darkness of this world into his glorious light, giving you a fresh banquet of manna from his Word and Spirit.
He is committed to you and will fight on your behalf to have the all of you.
Now is the time to be readied by Lord for all he has purchased and desires for you.
****
I’ve written this series to share what the Lord has given me – his desire for a deeper relationship and the scriptural support for it.
Christians around the world are experiencing the deeper call of God in this season of church history, “taken” into Christ, the revelation of Jesus in grace.
I hope those who read my posts will:
See the wonder of God’s word – a fresh serving of the Word of God.
See the deep well of living water in Christ waiting just for them.
Understand first and foremost, the adventure and story of Christ – the one he pioneered and desires to “take” us into.
Understand there is much more to apprehend in Christ, and most importantly, Christ is here to help and lead us deeper in him.
Have their hearts ignited for the deeper things of God, to say YES to Jesus when he “comes” personally to you and begins a deep cleansing and healing work in your life. (1 Peter 1:13 and Hebrews 3:14, see an interlinear for the later reference)
Be alerted to the deeper call of God in this hour, and the certainty of his call in this season and move of God.
Learn from those who have gone before us, from “types” in the Old Testament, the lives of those around us – and our own mistakes – to make the best use of the remaining time we have.
Be better instructed in the word and work of God, the heart of the gospel – inner cleansing and healing – God’s will for every son and daughter.
Receive care and love from Jesus and the community of Christ established by him to resource his presence to you.
Be better equipped and matured to advance the kingdom of God and sphere of influence.
****
The resurrected life of Christ in your life and mine separates us from other beliefs.
A journey and work of God spanning decades – transformed from glory to glory into the likeness of Jesus – putting to death the deeds of the body to walk in newness of life.
A new creation – a vibrant life in Jesus. A tangible, spiritual, relationship with the Lord Jesus.
What an awesome opportunity we have today – to be cleansed and healed by the greatest doctor of all time, and the added bonus to receive his nature, a new creation.
Is there anything in this world comparable to a new creation in Christ? I think not!
New Testament Death
I was taught the word “death” in reference to Christ in the Scriptures referred in one form or another to Calvary.
However, I’ve come to understand the term “death” in many places, if not most, in reference to Christ refers to him putting to death the deeds of the body, being made alive in the spirit – to walk in newness of life, “the resurrection life,” and not to physical death, i.e., Calvary.
This is the heart of this series – the resurrection life Christ pioneered for you and me.
The perfection of Christ, “… he learned obedience from what he suffered,” (NIV, Hebrews 5:8), “… he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” (NIV, Romans 6:10)
Christ, the forerunner, firstborn, first fruit, pioneer, perfecter, describes Christ’s victory over sin’s temptation from within and without, made alive in Spirit, made perfect – King, Priest, and Prophet – passing through the heavens, the word made flesh.
(Hebrews 6:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Hebrews 2:10, 12:2; Hebrews 4:14; John 1:1; and 1 John 4:2)
There is a difference between Christ “dying to sin,” and “dying because of our sins.”
The first is Christ’s personal journey to perfection, his personal cross, the second, Calvary, the cross for us we rejected, would not carry, and murdered him because of it. (Acts 7:52)
Much in the New Testament is about the first death – dying to sin – because that is the pattern for us, the journey we take, supported by many, many Scriptures.
A few of which I’ve noted here and in previous posts.
Hebrews 7:26 says Christ was separated from sinners.
His separation was his journey and adventure, made perfect by the handiwork of God – his putting to death the deeds of the body to walk in newness of life.
We see through a glass darkly.
We do not know the details of Christ’s life, just like our own and others (the details of sin’s wounds and brokenness passing down through the generations, to us, and Christ as well, see the preceding post on the hostility of the flesh Christ inherited through his mother’s ancestral line).
But we know Christ faced what we face, but unlike us, he never embraced sin, overcame the hostility in his flesh to the law of God, fulfilling the law by faith, in grace, in obedience to his heavenly Father. (Yes, Christ operated by faith in grace just like us – see my previous post.)
Christ is the only one to apprehend perfection in God, making one new man out of the two, the law and the flesh. (Ephesians 2:14 – 15)
Fear of Death
Jesus faced the “fear of death” that subjects every man to slavery. (Hebrews 2:15)
This is not the fear of physical death, but the fear of being “known” by God (of knowing and being known) being taken into his presence, vulnerable, naked and exposed, facing, though very subtle at times, the consequent human fear of rejection, abandonment, and disqualification, because of wounds and brokenness in need of cleansing and healing.
The fear of death is overcome under the care and love of God by learning to receive mercy and grace in areas contested by shame and condemnation – receiving healing and restoration through faith.
(Yes, Christ had to wrestle with the assaults of shame and condemnation as he overcame the hostility in his flesh (Ephesians 2:14-15) he inherited from his mother’s side of the family. (See the preceding post for more on this topic.))
Christ was not immune to our struggles! However, unlike us, he overcame the hostility in his flesh by faith through grace, and not sin.
Overcoming the fear of death, i.e., putting to death the deeds of the body to walk in newness of life, cannot be accomplished through our practiced ways of living, I mean to say, “our practiced ways of Christian living.”
Only Jesus can take us into “grace” for cleansing, healing and restoration. We are utterly dependent on Jesus to “come” and clean us up.
It is a work of God by grace through faith only Jesus can accomplish in our lives.
The fear of death is multi-faceted embracing much of who we are, what we believe and how we live our lives.
It is easier to be angry and bitter, resentful, and hateful then it is to forgive and pray for the well-being of those who bring harm to you.
The natural inclination is to judge, believe lies, live out falsehood, and curse others, yourself, and God.
This is the way of the flesh we begin life as children. The way of works, the fallen nature.
Instead of being “known,” running to God for everything we need, we turn to the flesh, just like our ancestors – embrace our wounds, brokenness and sin – in vain attempts to remedy and “complete” ourselves.
Christ overcame the “fear of death,” (i.e., what it’s like to not embrace sin, to rest in the exertion of his Father’s embrace) exposing himself to the care, love, and grace of his Father, refusing to take matters into his own hands, choosing righteousness in the face of sins’ temptation, learning obedience, the ways of God. (Hebrews 2:9 – 15)
The fear of death is the fear of turning away from our wounds and brokenness, to be known by God (and others) in our fallen state, believing, at some level, Christ is insufficient to cleanse, heal, and restore our lives, body, soul and spirit.
Or said another way, the fear of letting God see you, to be known by him and others he uses, and the fear of letting God take you deep in him, a path you have not traveled before, a path where your life is in his hands.
It is also the fear of what it may look and feel to be free from sin, wounds and brokenness – the practiced way of living you and I have become familiar and accustomed.
The fear of leaving the old for the new, even for life long Christians, accepting Christ’s call for the deep things of God, heading for the promised land on a route only God knows, under his care and love – the fear of dying to the old way of living to walk in newness of life.
Sin, the Short Version
We embrace sin partly because we do not want to be known to God or others, through deception, family and ancestral ties, and because that’s what the fallen nature outside of grace and faith does naturally.
Sinning is natural to the unhealed and ungraced areas of your life and mine.
Christ born into grace, was taught (by faith) by his Father to be “known” as a child, to bear his weaknesses, wounds and temptations to his Father for care, love, healing and resolution.
He learned how to be known and in so doing he learned to know his Father.
He learned transparency with his Father, and his Father became transparent to him, changing his nature from glory to glory as Christ put to death the deeds of the body, being made alive in Spirit.
Jesus knows you and I can not face the fear of death in our own strength. We are incapable of redeeming ourselves.
He has faced the fear of death on our behalf and will walk us through cleansing and healing in grace and love.
Christ bore his personal cross in the revelation of his Father by grace. We too must bear our cross in Christ.
Pioneer
Christ pioneered (Hebrews 2:10; 12:2) the process, the journey of cleansing and healing from the fear of death, the hostility in his flesh.
That we might grow up in all things Christ, learning to refuse iniquity and choose righteousness.
This is the baptism of Jesus Christ – the baptism he walks us through when he takes one deep in him.
And the Scripture says, “and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (NIV, Hebrews 5:9)
It was man who sinned and it would be man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, through which redemption would come.
Christ overcame the hostility in his flesh, being tempted in all points like us (Hebrews 4:15) but, never embraced sin.
This is the dying to sin and walking in new life that Christ experienced first, the pioneer, first fruit, and firstborn of our faith.
Jesus Christ did not model Christianity, he is Christianity. He faced every weakness and temptation of the flesh like us without embracing sin.
He overcame the fear of death, being known and knowing his Father. His adventure and journey are ours as well.
The second Adam, the man Jesus Christ, fully human, overcame the brokenness of generational sin and wounds passed down to him through his mother’s line without sinning. (Hebrews 2:14 – 18)
Christ felt the pain of sin’s wounds, the brokenness of the body, soul and spirit, the power of sin, the curse upon mankind personally and first hand in his own life.
How else could Jesus be our great high priest, king, and Lord, if he did not truly pioneer our faith and overcome all things?
How could he truly relate to us in our wounds and sins, battling against the forces of evil under the stewardship of brokenness, if he did not face many of the same difficulties?
How could Christ know the pain of wounds and the brokenness and the power of sin if he did not experience it?
How could he pioneer our faith and empathize with us and suffer for us and mankind?
And how could he be fully human and not experience what we experience, excepting embracing sin?
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, and put to death the appetites and desires of the flesh, once and for all, and was made perfect.
****
Jesus purchased the right and privilege for us to have free and unfettered access to the heavenlies.
There is a price to pay in receiving care, love, mercy and grace from the Lord and others – it is to face the fear of death – to be known and know.
The five virgins without oil were instructed to, “… go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’” (NIV, Matthew 25:9)
Will you take his offer and not be like those who waited until it was too late?
The Christian pilgrimage is for us to apprehend the “resurrection life” heartily, this side of heaven. To finish the race well, here, in Christ.
We are to be changed into the likeness of Christ, partakers of the divine nature, joint heirs with Christ here and now, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the handiwork of God.
We are to pass over Jordan, into the resurrection life, cleansed and healed, having little strength except the strength of God.
A place in the Spirit the natural man shuns, but the Spirit ushers us into, overcoming the fear of death – new life in the Spirit of God.
His mercy forgives what we’ve done, and his grace and revelation embrace our heart, desire, and passion for him.
Nothing in this world compares to the glory and love of God – be persuaded and say YES to all Jesus has for you. You will not be disappointed!
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.™
