Reminding God

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD,
do not keep silent,
And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

(Isaiah 62:6-7)

In addition to being all-powerful, all-wise and everywhere present, He is also all-knowing. But does He have a faulty memory the He needs to be reminded? Then why does He set watchmen on the wall and tell those who make mention of Him to give Him no rest?

The Hebrew word behind “make mention” is zakar and means to remember, to remind, to cause to remember. “You who make mention of the LORD” are literally the Lord’s remembrancers. Their job is to remind Him relentlessly until He has established what He has promised.

God has a wonderful memory, but there are some things He chooses to forget:

I, even I, am He who blots your transgressions
for My own sake;
And I will not remember [zakar] your sins.

(Isaiah 43:25)

God has a wonderful memory, but He is not one bit offended by His people reminding Him of those things He has spoken. Consider this prayer of Jacob, and how he reminded God of the promises He made to Abraham and Isaac:

Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you … For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” (Genesis 32:9, 12 )

In the Psalms, the book of praises, we find this:

LORD, remember [zakar] David
  And all his afflictions;
How he swore to the LORD,
  And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
“Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed;
  I will not give sleep to my eyes
  Or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find a place for the LORD,
  A dwelling place for the Mighty one of Jacob.”

(Psalm 132:1-5)

The psalm writer shrewdly reminds the Lord of the vow David made to Him. I say “shrewdly,” because his real aim is to remind God of the promise He made right back to David concerning his line:

The LORD has sworn in truth to David;
  He will not turn from it;
“I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body.
  If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
  Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”

(Psalm 132:11-12)

In this roundabout way, the psalm writer brings to God’s remembrance the promise He made (this promise is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David who now rules and reigns forever).

We also find remembrances in the New Testament. Jesus said of the Table of the Lord, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” This, of course, is something we do for the sake of our own remembrance. But it can also be an occasion to remind the Lord of the promises He has made to us in the covenant of Jesus’ shed blood. It is the new and better covenant God foretold in the Old Testament. It is based, not only upon better promises, but also upon a better sacrifice (which is the lesson in the book of Hebrews). As we, in faith, take the bread and the cup of communion, we not only remind ourselves of God’s promises, we are putting Him in mind of them.

How long are we to remind God of His promises? He tells His watchmen to give Him no rest until He establishes what He has promised. This calls for faith, which includes patience and persistence. Do not give ever give up reminding God of His Word until you see all the things He has promised established in your life.

Now, if you will excuse me, it is time for me to go to the Table of the Lord.

(See also Warring With the Bread and the Cup)

Warring with the Bread and the Cup

Do this in remembrance of Me. (Luke 22:19)

Yesterday I took the Table of the Lord, and I took it in the mode of warfare. Jesus said of this Table, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” To remember is to recall something to mind, to relive the experience of something. The remembrance of which Jesus speaks is not a passive remembering, but a very intentional one.

So I took of the Table to put myself in mind of the Lord Jesus Christ, His body given for me, He blood shed for me. I took it to recall to my heart the covenant promises He has secured for me. For He said, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).

I also took the Table to put God in mind of His covenant promises to me, for I was drawing on them to see them come forth in my life. Just as one places a demand on a check by presenting it to the bank and cashing it in, I was placing a demand on the provisions of the covenant God made with me in the blood of Jesus Christ. I’m done with making my own provision for anything anymore; I’m depending upon the provision God has made for me. If I can’t have it through the covenant of God — believe me — I don’t need it and I don’t want it! For His provision is all the blessing and abundance of heaven itself.

Finally — and here is where it became spiritual warfare — I took the Table of the Lord to put satan in mind of the body of the Lord Jesus given for me and the blood of the Lord Jesus shed for me. I wanted the devil to know that I know who I am in Christ, what I have in Christ, and what I can do in Christ. I wanted to put him in mind of the fact that I belong to Jesus Christ and He belongs to me, and that I am in covenant with Almighty God. This means that to mess with me is to mess with God. I wanted the devil to know that I would not be accepting his lies and accusations, his fears, his poverty, his sicknesses, his bondages, or anything else he wants to deliver to my doorstep — I’m refusing delivery! I wanted him to recall how and where and why his head was crushed. I wanted to serve notice that I am in receipt of God’s promises and that I am enforcing the provisions of the covenant I have in the blood of Jesus, and that satan and his devils will have to clear off all that is mine.

There is, of course, much more to the Table of the Lord than spiritual warfare. There is intimate and profound fellowship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. There is spiritual nourishment, refreshment and strengthening. There is the intense joy of His manifest presence. But there is also a time for warring with the bread and the cup.

Battle With Your Baptism

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God? (1 Samuel 17:26)

When David asked this concerning Goliath, he was not engaging in idle name-calling or WWF-style trash-talk. No, he was getting to the very heart of the matter — his covenant with God.

Circumcision, the cutting away of the male foreskin, was the covenant sign God established with the children of Israel. All men of God, young and old, bore this sign in their body and were constantly reminded by it that they were in covenant with the Living God. The essence of covenant is in exchange: All that we have belongs to Him; all that He has belongs to us. Our enemies are His enemies; His enemies are our enemies.

Goliath was uncircumcised; he had no such covenant with God. Goliath was a Philistine, an enemy of covenant Israel, and therefore an enemy of God Himself. So David understood that when Goliath defied the armies of Israel, he was actually defying the armies of the Living God — and this would not stand.

But why did Saul and his armies allow Goliath to carry on in this manner? Surely Almighty God knows how to vanquish His enemies. But the problem was that Saul and his men had forgotten how to trust in God and walk in the authority of His covenant provisions.

David, however, understood his covenant position with God very well and was thus undeterred by the size of the Philistine armies or even the size of Goliath himself. He was ready to take them all on, fully relying on the Living God with whom he and all Israel were in covenant. He knew it would be more than enough to prevail in any battle. So David defeated Goliath, cut off his head and sent the Philistines fleeing.

But what does this have to do with baptism? Just this: As circumcision was the sign of covenant with God under the Old Testament, so baptism is the sign of covenant with God under the New. It belongs to all those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, and identifies us with the people of God.

Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we all shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believer that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (Romans 6:3-9)

John said, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The Son of God took on flesh, becoming fully human as well as fully divine, and identifying Himself so thoroughly with us, took on all our enemies and defeated them at the Cross. For all those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, the devil and his works no longer have any authority over us.

Baptism is an ordinance, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ has ordained it for us. But it is also a sacrament, that is, an outward and physical sign of an inward and spiritual reality. All who have received Christian baptism have received a precious sign from God that we belong to His people and have covenant relationship with Him.

David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God?” Today, we can face any enemy or adversity and say, “What is this unbaptized circumstance that it should defy the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is battling with our baptism.

Martin Luther understood this very well. He hung a plaque on the wall of his study which read, “I have been baptized.” This was his battle cry whenever the devil came after him with lies and accusations. He said, “The only way to drive away the devil is through faith in Christ, by saying: ‘I have been baptized, I am a Christian.’”
Whenever the devil comes railing after you like Goliath, with deception, condemnation, sickness, depression, poverty, fear — whatever — remember that he is an “uncircumcised Philistine.” He has no covenant with God. But you do — and your baptism is the outward, physical sign that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has destroyed all the works of the devil. God has given you this sign so that you may remember who you are — and whose you are — and walk in the covenant promise of God and the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Yet in all these things were are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:31-37)

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we enter into covenant relationship with God. Baptism is not the cause of that relationship, but it is the outward sign God has given to show that we have covenant with Him. Remember your baptism — the sign of who you are in Christ — and go do battle against the things that do not line up with the authority of heaven.

Painting the Target

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

Many modern weapons use laser-guidance technology. A laser is used to “paint” the target, and the laser-guided weapon locks on to this signal with pinpoint accuracy. It’s quite effective.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Notice that this is in the imperative mood. It is not a polite request, but a powerful command: Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!

This is a most potent weapon in our spiritual arsenal as we do battle against the evil one, enforcing the victory of Jesus over all his works. Think of it as painting the target.

Wherever we see the works of poverty, sickness, demonic bondage — anything that does not line up with the kingdom of God and His rightness — we can shine this laser beam on it and give the order, “Kingdom of God, come right here!” Wherever we see things that are out of order with the will of God, we can paint the target and call for the will of God to be done there on earth exactly as it is being done in heaven.

As long as we are in this life, until Jesus comes, we are in spiritual warfare. But Paul gives us this wonderful assurance:

Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every though into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

In the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord Jesus has given us a very powerful weapon for this warfare.

Know your weapon. Lock and load. Paint your target with the laser light of prayer.

Only One Word

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

There has always been only one word from God, and it is summed up perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is commentary.

But there is a progressive unpacking, a progressive illumination, a progressive unveiling, a progressive revealing of what that Word means. Whatever one chooses to call it, let there be agreement that no true understanding of that Word can be at odds with what has already been revealed.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect expression of everything God has always wanted to say.

No Strangers in This House

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

There are no second-class citizens with God; if you’re in, you’re in all the way, with full benefits. Paul addressed this particularly to non-Jewish believers in Christ. Once they were strangers and foreigners, now they were fellow citizens with full membership in God’s household. Non-Jews do not have to become Jews, as some erroneously taught (Paul addressed this error in his letter to the Galatians). Nor do Jews have to become non-Jews, as some of the traditions of men within the Church have held, and as some non-believing Jews have insisted. No, in Christ, the “middle wall of separation” (v. 14) between Jews and non-Jews has been abolished. For God is doing a new thing, making one household.

The concept of household runs very strong in this passage, particularly as revealed in the Greek text. The Greek word for “house” is oikos, and we see some form of this word six times this short passage:

• Once non-Jews were foreigners. The Greek is paroikoi — those who dwelt alongside the house, but not in it. They were resident aliens, not citizens. But now in Christ, we are fellow citizens with the saints, God’s “set-apart” ones.
• Now we are part of the household of God. The word is oikeoi — of the house and part of the family.
• The household of which are now a part is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, with Christ as the chief cornerstone. The word for “built” is epoikodomeo — to build a house upon its foundation.
• This building is perfectly fitted together. The word is oikodome — the architecture or structure of the house.
• All who believe in Christ, whether they are Jews or non-Jews, are being built together. The Greek is sunoikodomeo — building, not two, but one unified structure.
• We are being built together into dwelling place of God. The word is katoiketerion — a habitation, an abiding place, a residence.

The foundation of this house is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, for that is who the apostles and prophets proclaim. Indeed, Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone, the one by whom the whole structure is brought into perfect alignment. All who believe in Him, whether Jew or non-Jew, are brought together, just as two walls are brought together at the corner and perfectly joined.

This house is a spiritual house, that is, it is a work of the Holy Spirit. Once we were outside of the house, separated from God. But now, we are not merely inside the house with God, but we are the house of God — He dwells within us!

Once we were far away. But now through faith in Jesus Christ we are brought into such intimate relationship with God — and each other — that He has made Himself at home in us.

What Does It Mean to Pray?

Then He [Jesus] came to His disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41)

Jesus said, “Watch and pray.” But what does it mean to pray? And how does one pray for an hour? The Greek word for “watch” means to keep alert, stay awake, be vigilant. Often, we do not know how to pray because we do not know how to watch with the Lord. If we watch, He will show us; if we listen, He will tell us. Then it is hard not to pray.

The flesh may be weak — but the spirit is willing. As believers in Jesus Christ, we not only have our human spirit born from above, but we also have the Holy Spirit. If the human spirit is willing, how much more is the Spirit of God in us willing.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pry for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)

As I wrote in God’s Word in Your Mouth,

The Holy Spirit “helps” us. This is the Greek word sunantilambanomai, which speaks of two parties laying hold together, each one doing his part, to obtain a goal. The Holy Spirit does this by interceding for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, but which perfectly express the will of God for us. The whole creation groans, we groan within ourselves, the Holy Spirit groans within us — all working together to bring forth good. (p.22)

Paul talked about “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). “All prayer” means all kinds of prayer. “In the Spirit,” means that we are to let the Holy Spirit direct our prayers.

When you begin praying, don’t be in a hurry. Take your time and pray slowly. As you do, you may find that you feel an inward desire to expand upon some particular point. That is the Holy Spirit prompting you, and if you listen carefully, He will give you words to pray back to the Father. Go with this as far as the Spirit leads you.

When you come to the end, sit quietly and contemplate what the Spirit has given you. If you wish, you can pick up the prayer where you left off, and continue until the Spirit gives you more. When you come to the end of your prayer time, simply give thanks and praise to God and welcome His healing power at work in your life. (Healing Scriptures and Prayers, pp. 6-7)

Soren Kierkegaard said "A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening."

Smith Wigglesworth said that he rarely prayed for more than ten minutes at a time — but that he also rarely went more than ten minutes without praying.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection learned how to practice the presence of God, and speak to Him everywhere, so that his time in the kitchen was just as precious as his time in the chapel.

My own prayer time often includes singing hymns and praises to the Lord, reading the Scriptures and letting them springboard me into prayer, praying in tongues, quietness and listening.

Prayer is not about an hour, but about a life. The flesh may be weak, but the spirit — and the Holy Spirit — are more than willing. So do not attempt to pray by the flesh, by your own strength and ability, but pray by the Spirit.

Calling Those Things Which Do Not Exist

God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. (Romans 4:17)

In this verse, we see how God operates: He calls those things that do not exist as though the did. It is His action that is in view in this passage. Abram's job was simply to believe.

Oops! Did I say Abram? I mean Abraham, for that is what God changed Abram's name to. God called him “Abraham,” which means “Father of Many Nations.” In renaming him “Abraham,” God was calling something that did not yet exist as though it already were.

Now what do you suppose Abram and Sarai began to call him when God renamed him “Father of Many Nations.” They, of course, began to call him Abraham, “Father of Many Nations.” That took an act of faith on their part, and it was also an act of calling. They saw that Abraham was old, and as good as dead, in the child-fathering department, and yet they called, in agreement with the Word of God, for the “Father of Many Nations” to manifest.

God's way is to call things that do not exist as though they already were. We see this reinforced in Hebrews 11:3. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

All that is seen was not made of that which is visible, but that which is invisible — the Word of God. The natural world which we experience by our senses actually has its origin in and is dependent upon the spiritual realm. For God, Who created the heavens and the earth, is Spirit.

Now, in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, He did it by His words. “Let there be light ...,” etc. God called for things that did not yet exist as though the already did.

That is how God operates. But how are God's people intended to operate.

Look again at Genesis 1. In verses 26-27 we see that God created man, male and female, in His image. That was a sign of God's authority being delegated to them. That was important because of the mandate God placed on them in the very next verses:

“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing tat moves on the earth.” (v. 28).

In Psalm 8:6, we see that they were given dominion over the works of God's hand and all things were put under his feet (this was restored to fallen humanity in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God who is Man who perfectly fulfills this dominion).

What was Adam to multiply upon the earth? That which he was and possessed: the image of God.

What was Adam to do with the earth as he multiplied: Subdue it and have dominion over it.

How was Adam to subdue the earth and exercise dominion over it?

Look in Genesis 2, a close-up account of how God made Adam:

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (v. 7)

Notice that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils — from God’s mouth into Adam’s body. The breathe of a person is that by which one actually utters words. We breathe them out. In 2 Timothy 2:17, Paul says that all Scripture is given “by inspiration of God.” The Greek word for “inspiration” is theoneustos, and literally means “God-breathed.” God breathes out His Word.

So God breathed, with His word-speaking capacity, into man’s nostrils, and man became a “living being.”

There are ancient versions of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Targums. These were translations from Hebrew into its cousin language Aramaic, for there were many Jews who lost the mother tongue in Babylonian captivity. Many Jews in the time of Christ, including Jesus Himself, spoke in Aramaic, and parts of the Hebrew Scriptures were actually written in Aramaic.

There is one such translation, known as the Targum Onkelos, which deals with the events of Genesis 2. And it renders “man became a living being” this way: “And man became a speaking spirit.”

God, who is Spirit and who speaks things into being, breathed His speaking faculty into the nostrils of man, and man became a speaking spirit.

Now, notice a few verse down in Genesis 2, where God gives Adam his first assignment:

“Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” (v. 19)

God, who breathed into Adam’s nostrils, brought them to Adam, who was created in the image of God, given the mandate to subdue and have dominion over the earth, and then watched to see what Adam would call them.

Notice that God did not tell Adam what to call them. He simply let Adam work within the divine mandate and merely observed what Adam called them. Whatever Adam called them, that was its name.

What was Adam doing? He was subduing the earth and having dominion. How was he exercising that dominion? By the words of his mouth. He called the animals something, and whatever he called them, that is what they were. That is, he called things that did not exist (the nature and character of the animals) as though they did. And so they were.

In the Bible, names are significant. They are powerful words that have meaning. They call forth destiny. They establish things in the one being named. God called Abram Abraham, “Father of Many Nations,” and that was Abraham’s destiny. Adam called the animals by certain names, and that is what they were.

Adam and Eve, of course, plunged mankind into sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver us from that fallen condition. We can see from how He taught His disciples what some of the ramifications of that redemption are. For example, in Mark 11, when Peter noticed that the fig tree Jesus cursed the day before had now withered, Jesus said,

“Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” (Mark 11:22-23)

What was Jesus teaching them? How to exercise dominion with their words.

Now, it is very important to understand that this authority and dominion are only properly exercised within the will and purpose of God, as established by His Word. We are to pray, act and think in Jesus’ name, that is, according to how Jesus Himself would pray, act and think.

We are to call things that are in accordance with the plan and will of God, believing what God has said in His Word and confessing it (that is, agreeing with it).

Having the image of God, the Spirit of God, the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the parameters of the will of God as expressed in the Word of God, we can call things that are not as though they were and expect to see them come to pass.

No Wall of Separation

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:14-18)

Paul is addressing the relationship between believers among the Jews, who were of the Circumcision, and believers among the Gentiles, who were of the Uncircumcision (these were those who were not of Israel, but who believed in the God of Israel).

In the Temple complex, there was a place known as the Court of the Gentiles. It was for the God-fearing ones, but it was only the outermost court. A partition kept them from entering into the full worship and fellowship of covenant with the Jews. It was actually a physical enclosure that surrounded the Temple proper, and it was death for a Gentile to pass beyond its gate.

These were issues of enmity and division that could not simply be ignored. They had to be addressed properly and judicially, so that the stipulations of the covenant would be satisfied. That is what Jesus did through the shedding of His blood. He fulfilled all the requirements of the old covenant, and established a new and better covenant (Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:6).

He has became our peace, our oneness, our wholeness. There is no longer any division between Jews who come to Yahweh and non-Jews who come to Yahweh. We all have the same access to the Father by the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus Messiah, the Anointed One.

The moral law remains, but the ordinances of separation no longer apply. We are one in the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s purpose, to bring salvation to the world through His covenant with Israel, is fulfilled in Him.

It does not matter if you have been far away (Gentile) or one who was near (Jew), the gospel of Jesus the Messiah is the dynamic power of God for salvation (forgiveness, reconciliation, restoration, deliverance, healing) to all who believe, “for the Jew first, and also for the Greek [Gentile]” (Romans 1:16).

The Covenants of Promise

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh — who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands — that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-13)

Paul is speaking to believers who had once been Gentiles — that is, they were not of the Hebrews, but of the nations that surrounded the Hebrews, and considered pagans. They were called “uncircumcised.” Circumcision was the sign of the covenant God made with the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Old Testament.

Remember when David asked, concerning Goliath, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?” He was not engaging in pre-battle trash-talk. He was properly assessing the situation: Goliath was uncircumcised; he had no covenant relationship with God, no right to expect any help from the Almighty.

Israel, on the other hand, did have such a covenant relationship. They knew God as Yahweh (a name expressed in our English Bibles by the name LORD in all or small caps). Elohim is the name by which God expressed Himself in creation; Yahweh is the name by which He revealed Himself in covenant. Israel have every right to look to God to rescue and provide for them in every way — though they often failed to exercise that right by putting their trust in Him.

But David remembered and asked his countrymen, “Who is the uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26). Then he proceeded to take Goliath’s head off — literally! He knew, because of the covenant and because he bore the covenant sign of circumcision — that God was on his side.

Now back to the uncircumcised Gentiles, which Paul’s readers once were. They were without Christ. The word “Christ” is a title, not a name. It is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Messiah. In English we would say “Anointed One.” Jesus is the One who was anointed by the God of Israel to deliver His people. In Isaiah 10:27, we discover that the function of the anointing is to completely remove burdens and obliterate yokes and bondages. That is what Jesus the Anointed One came to do.

But the Ephesian Christians were once Gentiles and were without Christ. The Greek word generally translated “without” is a bit more intensive: they were apart from Christ, outside of Messiah, separated from the Anointed One and the anointings that could set them free from every burden and yoke.

Not only that, they were alienated, excluded from the commonwealth God had established with Israel. They had no rights of citizenship with Yahweh. They were strangers to the covenants of promise. They had no reason to hope in God and expect anything from Him. God was not on their side.

However, Paul goes on to write that little three-letter word that reverses all that has gone before, the word but.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Gentiles were outsiders to the covenant Israel enjoyed under the Old Testament. But now in Jesus the Anointed One there is a New Covenant, just as God promised his people in the Old Testament:

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers I the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)

This is a new and better covenant and it is mediated to us by the Anointed One: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).

The old covenant was established by the blood of bulls and goats. But the New Covenant was established by the blood of Jesus, Lord and Messiah. On the Passover night before He was crucified, Jesus took the ceremonial bread and cup, saying,

This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me … This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:19-20)

It is by this blood, shed for us, that we who were once far off from God and strangers to the covenants of promise have been brought near. That is, we now have a place and a promise and a citizenship with God, and it is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we have received a circumcision of the heart, by which God now says of all those who receive Jesus the Anointed One, “This is My people.”

But God … Before & After

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

My wife will tell you that I am a sucker for “before and after” pictures. Before and after the diet; before and after the makeover; before and after the plastic surgery; before and after the home improvements. This is why I like to watch This Old House on PBS, to see how a decrepit old structure is renovated.

Paul gives us a before and after snapshot in Ephesians 2:1-10. The before is seen in verses 1-3, about how we were dead (not merely sick, but dead) in trespasses and sins; how we walked according to this present age and the prince of the power of the air; how we conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh; and how we were by nature under the wrath of God.

Then he shifts gears in verse 4 and gives us those beautiful words, “But God …” The before shot was pretty grim; the after shot is absolutely glorious. And it all turns on “But God …” There are volumes in that little word “but.” Whatever our condition was before, it makes no difference, for God is much greater than all of that and it cannot stand up to the pleasure and power of His will.

Satan may come and say, “See, God, I have all these under my power and influence — they are spiritually dead to You.” Then God utters one Word, “But …,” and reveals something that strips the devil’s claims of all force:

• The richness of His mercy
• The greatness of His love
  

So rich and so great are these, see how far they lift us up and set us free. For even though we were dead in trespasses — willful rebellion against God — He has:

• Made us alive together in Christ
• Raised us up together with Christ
• Seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ
  

One we were spiritually dead, but now we have been given new birth by the Spirit of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. We have also been raised up together with Christ. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now at work in us, so that we now truly live and move and have our being in Him. God has also seated us together with Christ on the throne of heaven, the place of ruling and reigning.

How far we had fallen; how greatly we have been redeemed; how highly we have been lifted up in Christ Jesus, to the glory of God. “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Once we lived according to the corruption of this present age, but now we are part of the age that is breaking into this world, an age that powerfully demonstrates God’s grace and favor.

Now, it is not about us, but all about Him.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

It is not about our works, but about His grace. This grace brings salvation, which we receive through faith, but even that faith does not come from us — it is a gift that comes to us from God. Once we walked in the works of the world, but now we can walk in the works of God. There is no room for bragging here, except in God, who has created us anew in Christ Jesus.

Do you find yourself in the “before” shot of Ephesians 2:1-3? God has a wonderful “after” for you, and it can begin now, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Prince of the Power of the Air

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Ephesians 2:1-3).

The power of the air refers to the realm of demonic spirits. They have no more place in heaven, having fallen when they rebelled, along with satan, against Almighty God. As disembodied spirits, they have no place on earth, unless they can find a body to inhabit. (The Greek word sometimes translated as “demon possessed,” is daimonizomai, and is better understood as demonized, that is, having a demon.)

All that is left for them is the region between heaven and earth. So Paul refers to it as the power of the air, the atmosphere that surrounds. The Greek word for “air” is aer. A. T. Robertson notes that, “Aer was used by the ancients for the lower and denser atmosphere and aither [ether] for the higher and rarer.”

The Greek word for “power” here is exousia, the same word used in Ephesians 1:21, where God seated Christ in the heavenlies, “far above all principality, power, might and dominon, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.” The word for “prince” here is closely related to the word for “principality,” and they both refer to a ruler.

Who is this evil prince? It is the one of whom Jesus said,

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. (John 12:31)

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. (John 14:30)

The ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:11)

In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul refers to him as “the god of this age,” and he is none other than satan. He has been judged and cast down, for though he tried to destroy the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus has defeated him instead. For Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and heal all who are oppressed by him (Acts 10:38).

The Lord Jesus Christ also sent out His disciples with divine authority to do the same:

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18).

Soon this fallen prince and his demons will not even have the lower atmosphere for their habitation.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Then it will be that “the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

The prince of the power of the air may have once held powerful influence in your life when you were dead in trespasses and sins, but if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, God has made you alive with Christ. The works of the devil have been destroyed, and that destruction is now in the process of being enforced upon him. Soon he will not even have a platform from which to propagate his lies and accusations, but will be cast into the depths of hell.

The Fullness of Him Who Fills

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

This is an expansion of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, beginning in verse 15, in which he asks the Father to reveal the exceeding greatness of His power toward all believers. This is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies — far above all principality, power, might and dominion, and everything that can be named in this age and in the one to come. All has been placed under His feet. All these — principality, power, might and dominion — refer to angelic beings and demonic powers. Christ is above them — not merely above, but far above.

But what of the church? What is our role, our place?

God has given the Lord Jesus Christ to be head over the church. We are explicitly identified as His body. Christ in not a disembodied head, nor are we a headless body. Rather, we go together with Him. We are intimately related to Him, as close as your own head is to your own body. We are not merely in close proximity to Him, but integrally related with Him.

Now consider this: If Jesus is seated far above all principality, power, might and dominion, and all these are placed under His feet — then we, as His body, are also seated far above all principality, power, might and dominion, and all these are placed under our feet, as well. Indeed, in the next chapter, Paul notes that God has already raised us up (exalted us) together with Christ and seated us together in Him in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6). Christ is in the place of ruling and reigning; and as His body, exalted and seated with Him in the heavenlies, we are in the place of ruling and reigning also.

What is the fullness of Christ? According to Paul, we are — all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the fullness of Christ, for we are His body. Just as your body is the fullness of you, so we, as the body of Christ, are the fullness of Him. Your body is all about you; His body is all about Him. We represent Christ in every way, for He has filled His body all in all, that is, fully and completely in everything.

• We bear all the authority of Christ on earth. Before He ascended to heaven, Jesus declared, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Then He commissioned His disciples, authorizing them with all His earthly authority.
• We have the authority to ask “in His name” (John 14:13-14). Whatever we ask in His name, the Father will do (John 15:16; John 16:23-27). We don’t have to ask Jesus to ask the Father; we can ask the Father directly in Jesus’ name. That is, we have the same authority to ask that Jesus has.
• We have the authority to bind or loose on earth what has been bound or loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:18). As we agree together concerning anything, it will be granted by our Father in Heaven (Matthew 18:19).
• We have the authority to command the Kingdom of God to come and the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Jesus specifically gave us this authority in the Lord’s Prayer. He taught us to pray in the imperative mood: Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven!
• We have the authority of His perfected love. “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God; and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:16-17).

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the fullness of Him who fills all in all. It is all about Him, His authority, His power, His goodness, His righteousness, His love. Through faith in Him, we abide in Him and He in us. As He is, so are we in this world, for we have received His fullness.

The Dispensation of the Fullness of the Times

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

Redemption, forgiveness, grace — this is the revelation of the Father’s will. It is His good pleasure and freely determined purpose. Because it pleases Him, it must have everything to do with faith, for without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

The overarching purpose of God which has now been revealed is to gather all things together in unity in the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring heaven and earth together in Him. For He is the God-Man who now rules and reigns over all forever and ever — and we rule and reign with Him (Ephesians 2:6).

We are now in the dispensation of the fullness of times. A dispensation is an economy, an administration, a stewardship. In the dispensation of the fullness of times, the stewardship is to bring all things in heaven and earth together. We have not yet reached the completion of the fullness of times — that is still to come — but the administration of it has already begun.

• It is an administration of the New Covenant, which is established in the blood of the Lord Jesus, and of which God has made us able ministers: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as minister of the new covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).
• It is an administration of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ: “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship [dispensation]” (1 Corinthians 9:16-17).
• It is an administration of the grace of God: “For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you” (Ephesians 3:1-2).
• It is an administration of the Word of God: “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship [dispensation] from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations but now has been revealed to His saints” (Colossians 1:24-26).
• It is an administration of the Lord’s Prayer. For the Lord Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven!” and all things in heaven and earth to being gathered together under His lordship.

The dispensation of the fullness of times has begun, and all those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ have been made able ministers of it. How will you exercise your stewardship today?

The Inheritance of Grace and Peace

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:2)

Grace and peace are a gift from our heavenly Father. It is a matter of inheritance, for fatherhood always brings inheritance. We do not work for it, or try to show ourselves worthy of it — we simply receive it. It comes to us because we have been reconciled to the Father by His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus removed the barrier of sin by taking it on Himself and nailing it to the cross. He has destroyed all the works of the devil that separate us from God (1 John 3:8).

Grace is the favor of God. It means that we are backed up by all the power and authority of heaven. That is why God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is more than enough to deal with every obstacle and hindrance we may encounter.

Peace is not just the absence of conflict, or even mere calmness. Paul use the Greek word to write to a Greek-speaking audience. But being a Jew, he had the Hebrew idea of shalom in mind. It is a word of wholeness and means that there is nothing lacking and nothing out of joint. This can only come from God, who alone is able to restore things to wholeness.

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace belong to you in abundance. They are a gift from the Father. Are you walking in your inheritance?

A Blessing for Everything

There is a line in The Fiddler on the Roof, where Motel the tailor asks the Rabbi, “Rabbi, is there a blessing for a sewing machine?” The Rabbi answered, “There is a blessing for everything.”

Years ago, I came across a Jewish blessing for after using the privy. Going though some old notes the other day, I came across it again:

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has formed people in wisdom, and created within them numerous orifices and cavities. It is revealed and known before the Throne of your Glory that if but one of them were to be blocked, or one of them were to be opened, it would be impossible to exist even for a short time. Blessed are you Lord, who heals all flesh and performs wonders. My G-d, the soul which you have given within me is pure. You have created it, You have breathed it into me, and You preserve it within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it within me, in Time to Come. So long as the soul is within me, I offer thanks to You, Lord my G-d and G-d of my fathers, Master of all works, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You Lord, who restores souls to dead bodies. (Mangel, N., 2001. Siddur Tehillas Hashem Nusach Ha-Ari Zal, Otsar Sifrei Lubavitch, Brooklyn. p. 6)

Yes, there is a blessing for everything.

Living Out of Righteousness

Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). If you will focus on loving Him, you will end up keeping His commandments. If you will seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (God's way of doing and being right), everything else will be take care of (Matthew 6:33).

Now, righteousness is not something you achieve or attain. For if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you have already been made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Righteousness is now your starting point, and your discipleship is learning to yield to Him, letting His life come forth in you.

Legalism is about conditioning God’s love and acceptance upon keeping a particular rule or discipline. That is foreign to God’s righteousness, for we are accepted by God on the basis of the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith in Him — nothing more, nothing less.

Don’t come to God based on your own righteousness — you’ll never make it. But come and receive the righteousness He has already provided for you through the Lord Jesus Christ. You will be “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), and He will bring forth His righteousness into every area of your life.

Ascension: Receiving Us Unto Himself

In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3)

Some Christians, when they hear the word “mansions,” think of large estate houses, one for each believer. Then they begin to speculate, even fantasize, about what their houses will look like. But that misunderstands what Jesus was saying. The Greek word for “mansions” actually refers to abodes, rooms, dwelling places. Jesus was not talking about a bunch of houses scattered across the countryside; He was speaking of one house only — “My Father’s house.” It is a house of many abodes, enough for everyone who receives the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus told the disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Many Christians think He was talking about the Second Coming, that Jesus is now busily preparing our place in heaven with Him, and that one day He will come and take us there.

But that, I believe, is a misunderstanding also. Jesus is not preparing a place for us — He has already prepared it. We are not still waiting for Him to receive us to Himself — He has already received us. The coming He spoke of is not the second coming, but the resurrection. Don’t get me wrong — I do believe that there is a Second Coming, but that is not what Jesus was talking about here.

When Jesus spoke these words, the crucifixion and the resurrection were still future, although they would very shortly come to pass. It is by these great acts of redemption, salvation and victory that Jesus has prepared a place for each one who comes to faith in Him. He has not only cleared the way for us, but He is Himself the way (John 14:6). He died, was buried, and on the third day God raised Him from the dead. On the evening of that third day, Jesus came to His disciples and received them to Himself:

So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22)

Jesus so thoroughly identified Himself with the disciples that He gave them His peace and commissioned them with the same commission He had received from the Father. The He gave them His Spirit. They were now dwelling in Him; He was now dwelling them.

This giving of the Spirit is something Jesus had spoken of only days before, in John 14-16, in the context of His going to prepare a place and coming again to receive His disciples. Now it had been fulfilled.

He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

On the fortieth day of His resurrection, Jesus told the disciples to wait in the Jerusalem for the promise of the Father — the Holy Spirit coming upon them in power. The Spirit of God had been in them, but now He would be on them. After leaving this instruction, Jesus ascended to heaven.

The apostle Paul clearly understood that Jesus has prepared a place for us and received us to Himself, for he wrote that God “has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). This may seem hard to understand, but if God says that is where He has seated us, then that is where He has seated us. It is not a future expectation, but a present reality. This is the place Jesus has prepared for us, and He has received us to Himself, for we are seated there in Him.

Are you abiding in the abiding place Jesus has prepared for you? If you have received Jesus, Jesus has received you. Contemplate what it means to be presently seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, in the place of ruling and reigning with Him.

Ascension: The Name of Jesus

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

The sequence of Jesus’ redeeming work is: incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, exaltation.

• Though He has always been fully divine, the Son of God became a bondservant (God is love; love gives and serves) and took on human flesh.
• He humbled Himself, even to the point of death on the cross, where He took on all our sins, sicknesses and bondages.
• God raised Him from the dead in victory over all the works of the devil, even death ( 1 John 3:8: Hebrews 2:14).
• Forty days later, as the disciples watched, Jesus ascended to heaven, where God has highly exalted Him above all things, and given Him the name which is above every name.

At the name of Jesus, every knee must bow and every confess that He is Lord. This, too, is part of our salvation, for Jesus has not been glorified in His divinity only, but also in His humanity. He is the God-Man who reigns forever and ever. This does not take anything away from God, but honors and glorifies Him.

It is not only at the coming of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue confess; but it is at the name of Jesus. Certainly we look for His return, and the completion of all things in Him, but our job at present is to lift up and glorify His name. For that is what will cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess His eternal lordship.

Do you know the God-Man who reigns forever? His kingdom is breaking into the earth, and His reign is the completion of our salvation. The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the death, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). His glory day will become your glory day, too.

Ascension: The Gifts of Christ

But to each one of us grace was give according of the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended” — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:7-16)

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor and teachers — these are known as the “ascension gifts” of Christ to His Church. He Himself is the embodiment of all these things, and because He has ascended to heaven, He is able to multiply these things in His body, the Church, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Christ loves the Church. At the ascension, when God exalted the Lord Jesus, “He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).

The Church is the fullness of Christ — it is all about Him, and He fills it with every good thing. These ascension gifts are given to equip the body to do the work of the ministry, to bring the body of Christ to unity and maturity, operating in love and truth. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), and the purpose of God is to conform us to the likeness of Christ in these things (Romans 8:29).

All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ are part of His body, and He takes very good care of His body. Every believer is joined to each other. Each one has a part to play and a contribution to make, that the whole body may be built up in love.