THE STAFF AND SWORD MINISTRY
PART 10C
APRIL, 2013
MANIFESTING CHRIST A CLOSER WALK WITH JESUS
WHO IS YOUR FATHER SPIRITUALLY? r
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by Nancy-TONI Youngbrandt
These articles entitled "Manifesting Christ" are all about helping you in your walk in Christ so that the Spirit of God may manifest more fully and completely in each of us. In direct opposition to Christ manifesting within us, you can count on Satan working, trying to trip us up, prevent us, and to block us from a closer walk with Jesus in any way he can. From the time of Jesus' birth, to His baptism and throughout His whole walk on earth, Satan was there trying to kill Him, to turn Him, destroy Him in any way possible. So, we should expect the same. After all, Jesus warns His disciples clearly in John 15:20, "... If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will
keep yours also. " This could beg the question as to just who Jesus was referring to here when He said "they" who persecute and "they" who kept my saying. Is He speaking ofthose in the world or those who profess to be fellow believers? Regardless, I see the bigger issue is: what makes one person persecute while another will keep Jesus's word and try to live by it? Well, the difference is a spiritual one. More specifically, it comes down to who one's spiritual father is. Is a person's spiritual father actually Father God or is their spiritual father Adam? It is important to realize that before we were saved through Christ Jesus, that when we are born into this world, our spiritual father is automatically Adam. Ever since the Fall, from the beginning of our time here on earth, that original sin has tainted both our inner and outer lives. This original sin also gives Satan a direct link to us through which to work and we often don't even realize it. It is only when we accept and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that that link has the opportunity of being conquered, but we must first learn to put it under the Blood of Christ and then begin to make the transition to come out from under the influence of our former father, fallen Adam, to enter into a new relationship with our true Heavenly Father. If we don't, then we will remain under the influence of Satan
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through our fallen Adamic nature. Sure, we still have Salvation through Jesus Christ, that doesn't change; however, if we want a closer relationship with Him and more of Christ's Spirit in our lives, then the old, Adamic life will have to be crucified with Christ. And if you think that there is no way Satan could move through you, just look at Peter's example in Bible. At one point, he comes to be shown just who Jesus is and is praised for it. He is told that God has revealed this to him and that because of this God will build His church upon this rock, Peter. No sooner does this occur then we next we read of Jesus rebuking Satan speaking through Peter. Wow — what a flip-flop!! What was going on?? Of course, then it gets worse for Peter as he ends up denying Jesus not once but three times, despite Peter's insistence that he would not. And, this is who God is going to use to build His Church? Well — yes! The beautiful, happy ending in Peter's story is that after His resurrection, Jesus comes personally to Peter and then basically forgives him for each denial with love. He asks Peter three times if he loves Him, to which Peter says yes. Each time Peter says yes, each time Jesus tells him to "Feed my sheep," minister to His people. Through love, Peter is restored. But how did this happen to Peter? Because if this was in Peter, it's very likely that any one of us might do the same thing in his situation. In praying about this article, the Holy Spirit began to show me more and more the depth of the Fall and its effect upon us all spiritually and even down to our physical bodies. Since Scripture tells us that Jesus was the last Adam, we cannot fully appreciate all He did for us without looking at the first Adam. And once we can better understand by the Spirit of God, Adam's Fall, the better we can understand how Satan works through that sin in our lives and how in Christ we can obtain the victory over that original sin.
THE FALL OF ADAM Let me begin by putting forth what the Spirit of God has shown Chuck-JOHNEL and myself about the beginning of creation and the Fall of Adam, and then give you some Scriptures to back it up. The key points to understand for the purposes of this article begin with Genesis 1: 1 — "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We believe that God created literally Heaven and the Earth, with light, water, ground, plants and animal life being created in a Heavenly realm and an earthly realm. In this sense we are not talking about Heaven being the stars and planets in the universe but Heaven, where God resides. We believe that what took place first was in the Heavenly, spiritual realm and then later in the earthly, physical realm. The same goes for the creation of man. Man was first a Heavenly creature before being made an earthly being.
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THE FALL OF ADAM continued We believe that since God's creation began in the Heavenly realm, Adam was a spirit and when God created Eve from Adam, that Eve was Adam's soul-life. This all happening in the Garden of Eden in Heaven. You see, the Garden of Eden is in the Heavenly realm, or celestial earth, and this is where the serpent tempted Adam and Eve and they partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we believe the serpent was the Devil, also known as Lucifer, who tempted Eve to partake of the fruit. In partaking of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were basically rejecting God's dominion over them and were now choosing to judge things on their own, apart from God. This act worked to sever the relationship Adam had with God up to that point. Adam then made it worse by actually accusing God when confronted by God about what had taken place. By becoming an accuser, as the Devil who tempted them in the first place, spiritually Adam put himself under the power of the Devil and had to be removed from the Garden of Eden in Heaven. It was then, when God kicked them out of the Garden of Eden, that they were put here on Earth in a terrestrial body, which are coats of skin. Adam still had dominion over the earth but because of sin and Adam's Fall, sin would now enter in and taint God's creation from here until Jesus came. Sin is still effecting us all today but now through Christ we have a way of gaining the victory over it; it doesn't have to have reign over our lives. We also believe that it was after Adam's death, after his time on terrestrial earth ended, that he spiritually became Satan, also known as the prince of this world.
WHAT IT SAYS IN SCRIPTURE I know that this is a lot to chew on so let's take a closer look at what Scripture says to back this all up. The first issue I'd like to address is that creation and the Garden of Eden were in a Heavenly realm first, then an earthly realm. The first Scriptures I notice are in Genesis and how each one says that the "heavens and the earth" were created, in that order: heaven first, earth second. We see that in Genesis 1: 1 but also in Genesis 2:1 and Genesis 2:4, referring not only the places but God's children as well. In Genesis 2:1 it says: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them ." And in Genesis 2:4 it tells us, "These are the generations of the
heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. "(The words `host' and `generations' referring to God's children.)
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WHAT IT SAYS IN SCRIPTURE continued What many fail to take into account is that just as in the physical earth we have plants, animals, and even bodies, so there is life in Heaven — all kinds of life. There are plants, animals and human life in Heaven, but it's just different since it is a spiritual dimension. We see the Apostle Paul wrote of this in I Corinthians 15:40 — " There are also celestial
bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial another." Later in verse 44 he explains specifically that there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. Later in 2 Corinthians 51 Paul wrote this: "For we know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle (our physical body) were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." I also like what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, ..." So now we can go back to Adam in the Garden of Eden in Heaven before the Fall. Here in Genesis 2:7 we see God forming man out of the dust of the ground — a ground in the Heavenly realm. God also made trees to grow from this ground, including the Tree of Life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There is no denying that these two trees are not physical trees on the earth, but are trees in Heaven, and they remain there to this day. They never were here on earth. How do we know this? Well, look in the book of Revelation in your Bible. In chapter 21, John shares how he saw a new heaven and a new earth, and even a new Jerusalem. But as you read further, there is no doubt that this new Jerusalem is in the heavenly realm for in Revelation 21:22-23 it tells us: "And I saw no temple therein: for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. "Then in Revelation 22:2 we see where the Tree of Life is, and always has been - " In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life ...", in the heavenly realm. This is important to know because this means that the fall of Adam and Eve took place in this realm as well. So it was from Heaven that Adam and Eve were removed and put down here, for it was then that God clothed them with coats of skin — the physical body needed to live on earth. If they weren't clothed with `coats of skins', the natural body, then they would have no way to operate in this realm. This is when mankind came to live in earthly bodies — because of the sin of partaking of knowledge of good and evil. This is important because it explains why Jesus had to die for our sins physically, since the Fall of Adam affected us not just spiritually, but physically as well. It is all tied together. And it really
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WHAT IT SAYS IN SCRIPTURE continued opens up Scripture in a wonderful way to receive more of the depth that it has to offer.
HOW ADAM BECAME SATAN The second issue I'd like to address is just this: How Adam become Satan spiritually. To begin, let's take a look at just what position Adam held prior to the Fall. In Genesis 1:26-28 it tells us this:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the ea rth , and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. ... Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the ea rth ." Later, in the 2" d chapter, after God created Adam, it tells us in verse 19 that after the Lord God created the living creatures, that each one was brought to Adam to see what he would call them. You could say that Adam was literally as a prince over God's creation: he was given dominion over all that was created, and given the privilege of naming it all. Then when Adam fell from Heaven and was put here on earth, that princely position was still his, God didn't take it from him, but God did remove him from Heaven, where the sin could not be allowed to stay, and so Adam became the prince of this world instead.
ACCUSING GOD When looking at the Fall of Adam and Eve, it is easy to overlook the evidence in Scripture that a rebellion had already taken place before their story begins. How do we know that? Well, just think about who it was that tempted Adam and Eve in the first place: the serpent. The serpent was already in a fallen state to be able to tempt Adam and Eve in the first place. Further evidence can be seen in the first four verses of Genesis. Here we read, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep..." If one looks further into the
meaning of "without form, and void," you'll find it means lawlessness. If you read enough of Scripture, you'll also see that darkness is almost always associated with sin, rebellion, and disobedience; while the things of God are associated with Light. Further, the light and stars are Scripturally referred to as the children of God. So next, when we read, "And God
said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." ( Genesis 1:3 -4) Here we see god creating His children of light and dividing them from the darkness, the sin and rebellion
there in His creation in a portion of His children swept up in the darkness.
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HOW ADAM BECAME SATAN — ACCUSING GOD continued Years ago, Chuck-JOHNEL was told by the Apostle Paul in the Spirit that the key to understanding Genesis is found in the Book of Revelation, and that certainly is the case here. To understand the initial division of the children of light from the darkness and who the serpent is, we need Iook no further than Revelation 12. Here we are told in verses 3-4
there appeared another wonder in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to earth ..." So the that"...
great red dragon caused one third of God's children to fall and be removed from Heaven. A great battle was fought and they lost; and "neither was their place found any more in heaven." (Rev. 12:8) In the New Testament there are many Scriptures speaking of the children of light and the children of darkness, with one such Scripture being Ephesians 5:68, to give one example. Here it tells us: "... because of these things cometh the wrath
of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:". I found it so interesting to see just how far back in time this all began — in the Beginning of Creation. Now back to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. So just who was this serpent? Well, the answer is in Revelation 12:9 where it says: "... the great dragon was cast out (of Heaven), that old serpent, called the Devil , ..." It was the Devil in the Garden tempting Adam and Eve. It is important to note that the word "devil" means "an accuser." This is certainly true when you look at what the serpent said to Eve, as he was appealing to her to partake of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent was ACCUSING GOD of being a liar and of wanting to hold back Adam and Eve from being like God. This challenges directly what God had told them specifically not to do by telling Eve, "Ye shall not die: For God doth know that in that day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:4-5) So they partook of the fruit and right away
they knew they had done wrong, for they went and tried to hide themselves from God. However, Adam really got into trouble when God came to him to find out what had happened. Did Adam humble himself and confess to God what he'd done? Did he accept responsibility and cover his woman before God, seeking God's forgiveness for the sin they committed? No!! Instead, Adam accuses God ofputting him in the position in the first place by saying to God, "The woman whom thou ga y est me, she gave of the tree, and I did eat." (Gen. 3:12) At first glance, one could he was blaming Eve but really Adam was blaming God, for it was God who gave her to him to begin with. At this point, Adam become the second accuser, a
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HOW ADAM BECAME SATAN — ACCUSING GOD continued devil with a little `d', in the Bible. But to make matter worse, the Fall of Adam sweeps not just a third , but the rest of mankind into his sin condition as well. We know this because of what the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. There are several Scriptures which explain this but let's look specifically at I Corinthians 15:22. Here it says:
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Then we have Romans 5:12, 18-19:
"Where, as by one man sin entered into the world , and death by sin; and so death passed unto all men , for that all have sinned : ... Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Here we see clearly that what Adam did affected us all, for it says that because of Adam sin entered into the world and that because of sin, death passed unto all mankind, for all have sinned. This goes back to the fact that Adam was given dominion over the world, he was made prince of this world in the beginning. So it is into his dominion that we are born into this world. In the New Testament there are several specific references to the prince of this world, but now his name is no longer Adam but Satan. And yet Satan operates so clearly through the sin of Adam, and the way he behaves, speaks and acts is so like Adam, we believe that upon his death from this world, Adam became Satan spiritually. At the least, Satan works through the Fall of Adam and the Adamic sin nature in this world, or Satan could also be Adam spiritually the result is the same. In I Corinthians 2:12 Paul wrote: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world ,
but the spirit which is of God ; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." Then in Ephesians 2:2 we read, "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the
course of this world , according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." I picked these two Scriptures because they help illustrate two points: one, that the spirit of this world is opposed to God and the prince of this world works in the children of disobedience, those fallen ones who are at enmity with God. Now we can look back at Revelation 12:9 where we left off with the serpent, the Devil, being cast out of Heaven as well as Satan, who it says, deceived the whole world.
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HOW ADAM BECAME SATAN – ACCUSING GOD continued In says specifically this:
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Remember — after the Fall, the serpent was cast out of the Garden in Heaven. Remember -- After the Fall, Adam was cast out of the Garden in Heaven into the earth. Remember — just as by Adam, all die – the whole world – so it says Satan deceived the whole world. Who else but Adam had such authority to deceive the whole world? On a side note, it was important for to the Devil to bring Adam into his rebellion so he could set up his own counterfeit kingdom. The Devil, Lucifer, was working from one of God's laws, what we call the Law of Double and Set to establish his rebellion and kingdom of his own. In Genesis 41:32 it says, "And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh
twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." The Spirit of God showed Chuck-JDHNEL that this was actually a Law of God, that if a thing is `doubled' it becomes `set' according to God's Law and will shortly come to pass. The Devil was actually using one of God's Laws to form his own kingdom. The Devil, until the Fall of Adam, had not doubled it so he as the serpent was still allowed in the Garden of Eden in Heaven. However, once Adam fell and accused God, thus joining in the Devil's rebellion, they had to ga. They could no longer be allowed in Heaven, but would be cast out: the Devil going to Hell, Adam coming to earth for a time. After Adam's time on earth, there is no Biblical record of where he ended up. We believe that spiritually speaking, Adam became Satan, working for Lucifer's kingdom and working with the Devil to bring death to all mankind and destroy the Kingdom and children of God.
JESUS CONFRONTING SATAN Whether or not you're ready to accept or are comfortable with the idea that Adam became Satan, one thing perhaps we can agree on is that Satan works through the Fall and sin of Adam to get at us all. In reading the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as they tell of Jesus's time on earth, one thing becomes clear: Satan tried everything at his disposal to try to prevent, stop and hinder Jesus every step of the way. And while Satan did not succeed with Jesus in the least, that doesn't mean he gave up and walked away. No! Instead, Satan is working just as intently today to try to kill, prevent, stop or hinder Christ from manifesting in anyone of us. For this reason alone, I believe it is important to know our enemy and how he operates, and to see how Jesus handled Satan then so Christ in us can handle him now.
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JESUS CONFRONTING SATAN continued
From the time Jesus was born, Satan first tried to kill Jesus by moving through Herod to order all children under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding area to be put to death. Of course he was unsuccessful as the Lord God sent an Angel to warn Joseph to arise and go to Egypt and to stay there until further notice. God knew what Satan was up to and kept Jesus out of harm's way until the appointed time. The first time we read of Satan directly confronting Jesus is in the temptation in the wilderness, just after Jesus is baptized by John. In Matthew 3: 16- 1 7 it says:
"And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, 10, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending li ke a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It was after this that the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Here in Matthew 4:1-11 we see that the "devil", with a small `d', is Satan, who is tempting Jesus. With that in mind, let's also remember the original temptation the serpent, the Devil (with a capital `D'), made to Adam and Eve. It was in Genesis 3:4-5 where the serpent basically accuses God of being a liar and encourages Eve and Adam to take matters into their own hands, to be as "gods", knowing good and evil, thus being able to make judgements apart from God. The serpent told Eve,"... Ye shall not surely die: ( which God had told them would happen in Genesis 2:17) For God doth know that in that day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Now we fast forward to Jesus in the wilderness where He has fasted for forty days and forty nights, and was hungry. It tells us in Matthew 4:3-4 the following:
"And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." So here we are again, the Tempter tempting Jesus, as with Eve and Adam, to take matters into His own hands, to use His God-given power to make something happen apart from God's direction. The temptation was to go contrary to God's leading to fast, to produce something to eat, to disobey God's word and will as surely Adam and Eve did when they partook of the forbidden fruit_ Instead, Jesus responded by first making it plain that there are more important things that food for our bodies, but rather the Word of God would be Jesus's `food', the thing from which all life flows. Jesus also would later make it plain that He would do NOTHING except what God the Father showed Him to do. He also said that if he judged, it was a just judgment because He sought not His own will but the will of the Father
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JESUS CONFRONTING SATAN continued which had sent Him. He said specifically in John 5:19-20: "... Verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." Then in John 5:30 Jesus further explained: "I can of mine own self do nothing: as
I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." Clearly Jesus was not going to partake of the sin of Adam but remained true to God the Father. He truly was without sin, more specifically the Adamic sin which would have given Satan opportunity in Jesus's life. For this reason, even as Jesus's death drew near, He told His disciples, "... for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." (John 14:30) Now we come to the second temptation in Matthew 4:5-7. "Then the devil taketh Him up
into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written
again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Here we see another tactic of the enemy: if he can't get us to take matter into our own hands, then he tries to get us to attempt to force God's Hand, to cause God to act — which is the
opposite of the way He operates. We are here to do God's Will, not the other way around. This is most profoundly expressed by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here Jesus knows what God's Will is and yet Jesus expressed His desire with this prayer: "... 0 my Father,
if it be possible, let his cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." ( Matthew 26:39) He then prays a second time a similar prayer, "... q my Father, if this may not pass from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Matthew 26:42) Each time Jesus made it plain: not His will, but God's Will be done. This is our role model and proper place in the Kingdom of God. Finally, we come to the third temptation. Up until now it could be said that the tempter here was the same as in the Garden of Eden: the serpent, also known as the Devil. However, because Adam was given dominion over the earth and made essentially prince over this world, we believe that indeed it is Adam, who became Satan, who was doing the tempting here. This would explain this final exchange between Jesus and Satan.
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JESUS CONFRONTING SATAN continued In Matthew 4:8-11 it tells us this:
"Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world , and the glory of them; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Thus saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." After that, Satan seems to go for a more indirect form of attack: working through people around Jesus, even His disciples, namely Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot.
PETER'S TURN Now I would like to look more closely at what happened with Peter. He is a perfect example of someone that Satan is able to work through due to the Adam sin with mankind, despite the good intentions of Peter. In so many ways, what happened to Peter could happen to any one of us. His reactions could have been ours, and often are, but also the way Jesus dealt with Peter and what happened to him is the quintessential Christian walk. He is a sort of prototype for the Christian experience. Let's start with the events just prior to Satan first speaking through Peter. What I find most interesting was that just like when Satan moved to tempt Jesus just after Jesus was baptized with the Spirit of God, so Peter manifested Satan just after the Spirit of God moved on Peter to show him who Jesus really was. It starts in Matthew 16: 13-19 where it explains the exchange between Jesus and His disciples this way --
"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it into thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
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PETER'S TURN continued Sounds great, right? Well, this no sooner takes place when we read in the next verses how Jesus began to share with His disciples how He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. It then says that Peter then began to rebuke Jesus, saying, `Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee." Jesus then turned and said to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest notthe things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matthew 16:21-23)
Oh my—what a change! What happened? Didn't Peter just mean well by not wanting Jesus suffer and be killed or was Peter making a judgment apart from God? You see, Peter was partaking of the knowledge of good and evil and making a judgment, a determination, not discerning or seeing God's plan in what Jesus was saying. Did Peter not see that what he was saying was challenging God's will and purposes at work in Jesus's life? Apparently not! Therefore, Satan moved through the Adamic sin in Peter to speak against the will of God. Unfortunately for Peter, Satan didn't stop there. In Luke 22:31-34 Jesus would warn Peter that Satan desired to have him, that he may sift Peter as wheat. Jesus warned Peter by saying, "... Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And said unto him,
Lord, I am ready to go with thee to prison, and to death. And He said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."
Of course, it goes without saying that Peter did indeed deny he knew Jesus three times when confronted after Jesus's arrest. It is easy to feel compassion for Peter as I believe he was sincere when he told Jesus that he was ready to go to prison and even death with Jesus, so why did Peter deny Jesus? I believe the answer lies in Jesus's response to Peter after the first time Peter manifested Satan, and that is that Peter had not died to his self-life. Or as Christian author Andrew Murray put it, Peter had not come to the end of himself yet. I agree with that because when you turn back to Matthew 16:21-23, that was when Jesus rebuked Satan in Peter, and then go to the next verses, this is what Jesus said: "... If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 16:24-25)
I belie belierJiere Jesus is speaking of our inner life, our self-life. When Jesus says, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross," Jesus is speaking of our Adamic self-life which must be crucified, must die in Christ Jesus, for us to gain our true life in Christ, as God intended.
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PETER'S TURN continued We must be willing to give up our old, Adamic self-life to gain our true life in Christ. If we seek to have onto our self-life then we end up denying Christ as surely as Peter did that fateful night during which he surely feared for his life.
BEING CONVERTED The good news that Peter's story shows us in its entirety is that the love and grace of God is always there for us if we humble ourselves, repent and seek forgiveness. However, another aspect to this caught my attention by the Spirit of God. It is when Jesus tells Peter: "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art conve rted, strengthen thy brethren." The word convert' means "to change into something of different form or properties." So there was a change coming for Peter, a he no doubt went through quite a death to self after his denial of Christ. However, Jesus didn't just leave him to sort it out on his own, but rather Jesus made it a point to go to Peter after His resurrection and forgive Peter for each time he had denied Christ. Peter was told by Jesus to then, "Feed my sheep," take care of my followers. In a lot of ways, I would say that Peter went through his own spiritual resurrection at that point. After denying Christ, it says that he "wept bitterly," no doubt a very heart-breaking experience for Peter. He was then found back at his boats fishing, probably feeling unworthy to minister to God's people after all that had happened. And yet Jesus doesn't condemn him or rebuke him but rather asks Peter if Peter loves Him, to which Peter assures Jesus that he does indeed love Him. To which Jesus blesses him with the commission to `feed His sheep', minister to the children of God. Peter's own life in Christ was resurrected at that point. In Peter we can see what the Apostle Paul would later describe in I Corinthians 15:42-45: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Another Scripture that would apply to what Peter experienced would be Romans 6:5-8: "For if we have planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the li keness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."
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BEING CONVERTED continued The way I see these Scriptures applying to Peter is this: what was sown by God in Peter when Peter was operating in his natural man, the old man subject to Satan through the sin of Adam, was raised in Peter's spiritual man after Peter's denial and death to self that followed. What Jesus had sown in the corrupt vessel of Peter before Jesus's death, was raised up by Jesus to incorruption after Jesus's resurrection when Jesus came to Peter and forgave him. Certainly, for Peter, what was sown in dishonor was raised in glory; what was sown in weakness was raised in power.
MY OWN EXPERIENCE I have found in my own walk with Jesus that before Jesus moved me into what He had for me, each time was preceded by an intense, prolonged period of death to self. In the months
prior to Jesus called me to work with Chuck-JOHNEL in the ministry I went through a dark, bleak time of death to self I then went through a similar period of time prior to Jesus showing Chuck-JOHNEL that I was the wife God had sent for him. Each time I had to cease from my own efforts to make something happen, and trust Jesus and God to make it known what His Will was for me. And it didn't end there. When we first started working together I became quite aware that my first thoughts and feelings were often the opposite of what the Spirit of God was revealing. For the longest time it seemed to work that if I felt strongly or was opinionated about something, it would be the opposite of God. Why? Because I was operating more in my "old man", the natural man, the part of me still subject to Adam and the sin condition we are all born into. However, as time went on and the more I prayed to give up my self-life to abide in Christ, the more I began to discern God's Spirit. The more I began to experience the difference between God's Spirit and my own, the less power it had over me and my own conversion continued to take place. As more time went on, the more the Spirit of God quickened and opened up the Scriptures to me as never before. I now understood what Paul meant when he wrote in Ephesians 4:22-24 — " That ye put off concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." And in Colossians 3:9-10— "... seeing that ye have put off the old with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him." Indeed, I began to see that our conversion doesn't just happen the moment we are saved but rather it begins at that time. It is sown within us but it is sown in a fallen spiritual state, one that must die and be raised up by and in the Spirit of God; we must truly be born again.
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WHO IS YOUR FATHER SPIRITUALLY? I realize this has been a long article but I was led to take my time and be thorough in explaining what the Spirit of God was showing me. The main point being to help make the reader aware that whether you are a believer or not, we all start out under the dominion of fallen Adam when we are born into this world. Spiritually speaking, before we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, Adam is our spiritual father and the sin of the Fall operates
in our souls and even our natural bodies. This gives Satan an opening through which he can affect our lives. However, the more we receive Christ, the more we partake of His Life, death and resurrection by the Spirit of God, the more we enter into a close relationship with Jesus. The more this happens, then the more we become and manifest that we are the children of God, and not of the devil. We literally come out from the influence of one father
to be the children of our Heavenly Father God. The Apostle Paul wrote quite specifically about the ADOPTION of the sons of God. This word alone tells you that even the sons of God had a previous father from which they are called to come out from and into Father God and a relationship with Him as our Father
alone. Just look at what Paul wrote to the Romans and the Galatians on this subject.
" For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God . For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption , whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." ( Romans 8:14-17) And then in Galatians 4:3-7 it says,
"Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage to elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of the sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Being led by the Spirit of God, that is a big key here, for it says "FOR AS MANY AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THEY ARE THE SONS OF GOD." That goes for anyone, whether male or female. It has to do with operating out of our spirit-man in Christ which makes us a son of God. It means more that just believing on His Name, that is a start, but it also means partaking of Jesus Christ Himself, of getting to know Him personally and
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WHO IS YOUR FATHER SPIRITUALLY? Continued intimately, of abiding in Him and having Him abide in us. It means getting to know His Spirit and having His Spirit do its work in and through us. It would be a mistake to presume a relationship we don't really have. I find in Scripture two examples of professing believers who presumed a relationship with God they did not have. The first that comes to mind is in John 8:31-44 which goes like this: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him , If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
They answered Him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commiteth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with m y Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father . Then said they unto Him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceed forth and come from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is liar, and the father of it." Here we see that these are those Jews who believed in Jesus and who considered themselves the sons of God because of their people's tie to Abraham, and yet Jesus made it plain that Abraham was not their father, for if Abraham were truly their spiritual father then they
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WHO IS YOUR FATHER SPIRITUALLY? Continued would do the works of Abraham and love Jesus as surely as Abraham loved God. The fact that inwardly they wanted to kill Jesus tells you that their father was not God the Father but indeed the devil, Satan. Jesus also warned us also of false prophets and those which come to us in "sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." ( Matthew 7:15) He further cautions us in Matthew 7:21-23 that:
"Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And I will profess unto them,, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Doing works in the name of Jesus doesn't mean a person actually knows Jesus. Jesus's name has power in and of itself, however, we are to be as Jesus and do nothing except the Father shows us, or Jesus shows us. The fact that Jesus doesn't know these people tells me that they are operating out of the Adamic man which wishes to be as a god, using God's power as they decide by partaking of the knowledge of good and evil rather than by word or direction from God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit.
IN CLOSING ... I realize that for many this is a lot to take in. However, I pray that it will encourage you and challenge you to press into a closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ by His Spirit. That is the only way you will ever grow and understand the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus told us in John 4:24 --
"GOD IS A SPIRIT: AND THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH." And as Paul explained in I Corinthians 2:12-14
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual . But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for
they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. "
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WHO IS YOUR FATHER SPIRITUALLY? Continued In other words, as long as our natural man is under the influence and dominion of the Fall of Adam, we cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they will be foolishness to us. Neither can we know these Spiritual Truths by our natural, carnal mind (which is at enmity with God), because they are spiritually discerned. It's like when Jesus taught that new wine must be put in new bottles or the bottle will break and both the wine and bottle are lost. In this case, the new wine, the things of the Spirit of God, must be put in a new vessel and not our old sinful, carnal, self-centered self but our spirit-man in Christ. It is there that we can contain it: we can take it in like in the Parable of the Sower, to where it will be planted with us, take root and bear much fruit by the Spirit of God. That is all I have to share at this time. I urge you to take this to the Lord Jesus in prayer, abiding in Christ, allowing God's Spirit to reveal His Spiritual truths to you personally. I pray that your spiritual eyes and heart be opened to receive all that God has for you, as you come to your true, Heavenly Father: God.