Not Against Flesh And Blood

Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh And Blood

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12 KJV).

The spiritual world is real and there is a continual war between the Kingdom of God, and Satan with his demons and his forces of evil. Many people will tell you that this is not true, but that is only because they have not seen, heard, experienced or accepted the supernatural as have the vast majority of people. (A survey by the very reputable Pew company found that 82% of people do believe in the spiritual world, this is more than 4 out of every 5 in the whole world).

Many scientists will tell you that they find truth by following the "scientific method". Now the scientific method explicitly excludes any possibility of any spiritual or supernatural reality .. so basically it is flawed; they are trying to find fact and truth by looking at less than half of all that there is! So sad.

Happily many scientists do recognise the spiritual realities, indeed many of the great scientific advances over many centuries, and during our present time too, were made by people who love God and were in awe of Him and His vast, glorious and hugely complicated universe!

In the past Australia was a very popular immigration destination because our culture was so egalitarian and inclusive; we were known as the nation of "a fair go" and everyone was accepted for who they were. Immigrants would happily assimilate into Australia's broad, peaceful and harmonious culture while keeping the distinctiveness of their original ethnicity. Sure, there were occasional cases of discrimination (as I have seen in every country I've been to); but over all, Australia was a peaceable, well-balanced and wealthy nation with many great fundamental freedoms.

I won't tell you the names I, a Kiwi, was called when I first came to live in Australia, but the names were not intended to wound, just to prevent me getting too uppity, and to be sure to remember that I was not born Australian and therefore was not as blessed as they were! (I found the same thing when I was in Afghanistan before all their troubles of recent decades).

Australia largely followed the Christian way. What did Paul say? "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). Yes, this was how it was when I came here and when I brought Trish, my wife, here.

But now, and for some time, a tiny minority on the far political left have carefully planned, and are executing, massive cultural changes and reducing our long established and hard won freedoms, not just in our country but in every Western democracy. This is social engineering as all the totalitarian regimes do it; it is the opposite of democracy.

Much of the erosion of our freedoms is contrary to our laws or United Nations charters and agreements that our countries have signed. So are illegal. None-the-less the changes continue .. Deception and intimidation, even outright lies, ridicule, scorn, name calling and other anti-social methods are used to influence our population while also marginalising truth and shutting down discussion or conservative opinion.

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:4-5).

Political correctness is now a big part of what our media presents to us. By definition what is politically correct is untrue; if it were true then it would not be being "politically corrected". This same minority have effectively taken over our whole system of education so that our children are growing up being told what to think. An open and enquiring mind is no longer welcome in our universities .. (See Note 1).

The Christian newsletters I receive are clear in their concern; these activities always have a spiritual root. The newsletters quote warnings from history and from Scripture. Humankind has seen these uprisings many times and always amid much suffering.

Isaiah lived and wrote about 2800 years ago, he saw  things then much as we see them today:

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

And:

"Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice .. " (Isaiah 59:14-16a).

Paul, when writing to Timothy, makes it plain that we are to show courage in times like these, to be encouraged and not discouraged (Romans 1:12), but to be ready to seek God's will for us (Romans 12:2), and to follow His leading (Mark 8:34).

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV) ..

"a sound mind" .. Paul is saying that although this is largely a spiritual problem we are to respond to it with all of ourselves, spirit, soul, mind and body.

Our "sound mind" and our "spirit .. of power and love" enable us to identify and understand the spiritual world around us. We can receive the gift of discernment of spirits: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).

Satan and his many demons are also spiritual, and we are reminded: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (1 Peter 5:8-9). This will require that every aspect of who we are is sharp and part of our response.

At some point in your life you may have completed a survey to see if you are a "left brain" or a "right brain" person. I know I did and concluded that I was "right brain" with some left brain qualities. Some work I did years ago necessitated my forming a small business and operating through that; I called it "Eagle Creative" because I love eagles (Isaiah 40:31) and needed to be very creative if I were to succeed ..

These are the kinds of thing associated with:

Left Brain	Right Brain
reason	intuition
cognitive	subjective
task-oriented	relationship-oriented
verbal	visual
facts	feelings
language	arts
mathematics	music
linear	spatial

(Neil Anderson, "Living Free", 1999, Monarch Books, p 30).

Jesus put me right about my "right brain" thinking. He wants us all to use the "sound mind" God has given us, as well as our more subjective or creative attributes and our spiritual gifting. He gave us a complete brain, indeed a complete person, so that we can think and reason and feel, build and sustain relationships and be creative as He is (Genesis 1 and 2).

We can be both internal, so we know what is going on with our self, and external so we know what is going on outside (Ephesians 5:15) and with others (Matthew 22:39). God created us to be able to understand facts and feelings, mathematics and music, logic and things spatial, things verbal and things visual and things spiritual ..

We are told to both "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:15-20), and to "let the Word of Christ dwell richly among you" (Colossians 3:15-46), so that we will be equipped and free to  "sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,  always giving thanks  .. "  (both the above Scriptures). Not the one thing or the other, not just spiritual and not just intellectual, but both so we can be a complete person for our Lord:

And we are also to clothe our self fully in Jesus Himself so that we "can take our stand against the devil's schemes". As you read these verses you will see that every piece of God's armour protects us in a way that Jesus Himself already has covered for us (Romans 13:14):

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people" (Ephesians 6:10-17).

God is teaching us through Scripture to be ready to respond to any situation by seeking revelation and clarity from the Word, and from Jesus by the Spirit of God, so that we can use the knowledge and skills we have gained in the church and in the world to shape our prayers and our actions. At the same time Jesus will protect us from the "flaming arrows" of the world.

Jesus always goes before (Matthew 10:38), even when we must speak: "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,  for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:19-20).

Jesus is the ultimate revelation in the universe, He is "truth" (John 1:16), and He is "light" (John 1:4). Jesus draws us to Himself and never lets us go: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). We are equipped with Him and in Him ..

Once again I am reminded of the song:
"Fix your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face.
For the things of the Earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace".

We are spiritual people in a world which largely thinks in physical terms. At the same time, we are all affected by "the rulers ... the authorities ... the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". I choose to look to and cleave to Jesus!

"But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by faith preserve the soul" (Hebrews 10:39 Amplified).

And also, let us keep praying (Ephesians 6:18).

Hallelujah.

Note 1:

In November 2018 the Australian Prayer Network published an article by John Anderson, former deputy prime minister of Australia and leader of the National Party from 1999 to 2005, here are excerpts:

We Cannot Let The Aggressive Secularists Drive Out Religion

" .. how are 25 million people going to live together with their deepest ideological and religious beliefs in the vastly different Australia we now live in .. How are we now going to respect diversity and still promote liberty while maintaining the harmony that has been so much the hallmark of our national life .. We are atomising and fracturing in the context of the rise of powerful ferment over beliefs and ideologies ..

We are witnessing a global resurgence of religion and ideology.  We are also living through a clash .. between liberal traditionalism and cultural Marxism, both of which emerged out of the Enlightenment. 

The emergence of social media, which was supposed to create a virtual global public square .. has also created virtual global tribes, and we have a vast new machinery for transforming civil disagreement into civil hate.  These forces are potentially so destabilising that they may threaten our governability.

History teaches that the long arc of Christian influence on society has proven to be hugely beneficial.  No doubt it is easy to find serious moral blemishes in Christian history, but it was also out of Christianity’s capacity for reform that the solutions evolved .. "

We are in the midst of spiritual problems .. let us do what Jesus asks of us .. we know that we can always trust Him ..

One thing He asks often is that we unify .. (John 17:23, Ephesians 4:3, Ephesians 4:13, Colossians 3:14), so let us do all we can to unify the church; to become unified with other Christians, unified in personal relationships, and in groups, and more ..

"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove" (Matthew 10:16 Message).

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

Bless you .. bless us all in Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

Inside Out

Extraordinary Possibilities      (PoJ119)

(2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come".

(2 Corinthians 5:17 Message)

"Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!".

After coming home from our wonderful two weeks of camping and bush-walking by the sea down South, my wife Trish and I spent ages de-cluttering and sorting out our stored stuff. The shed where we keep our camping gear has shrunk over the years as we have acquired more and more equipment. We emptied it all out and unpacked and sorted and found that we were are able to give away lots that we no longer need. I built some shelving and we repacked into standard sized plastic boxes we can stack. When we finally got finished it was a great improvement. But living day-to-day through this time was hard with all the mess and simply knowing how much there still was to do.

So from time to time I felt rather oppressed ..

And then I would remember that I belong to Jesus and quickly brighten up!

It is so good to know that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). That's me! I am a "new creation" in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), Jesus lives within me, by His Spirit (Galatians 2:20), and I within Him (John 14:20)! It is so good to remember these things in such a practical way - so I have been pondering what "new creation" means.

When Trish and I were new Christians we learned about "life in the Spirit" and "every member ministry" because this is what our excited Christian friends had discovered and shared with us.

The extraordinary possibilities of these faith positions made me see that I now live from the inside out.

We also learned that our "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God" (1 Corinthians 6:19a).

This certainly is "new creation" .. imagine, me, a temple where God lives? How Jesus must love each one of us that He would bless us like this, what grace! Paul goes on to say:

"for you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (6:19b-20).

Me being a "new creation" came at a price, a price that Jesus willingly paid to have me, and you, as one of His own.

"As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him -  you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises [excelencies] of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:4,9-10).

Clearly we are secure in this place God has put us, this is not a temporary or transient position.

Isaiah tells us what we were like before our salvation, "all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (Isaiah 64:6), note Isaiah’s use of the present tense.

But we are under Jesus' New Covenant; in the instant we are saved Jesus firmly moves our "uncleanness" and "filthy rags" into our past. I can certainly see this as true of my past life, and can see the contrast in what He has been doing in me over all these years since He drew me to Himself.

Jesus gives His righteousness to me "by grace" (Romans 3:22), I am no longer a "sinner" (Luke 15:10, compare Luke 18:13); now I am a "saint who sometimes sins" (Neil Anderson, "Living Free", 1999, Monarch Books).

I now know a beautiful "freedom" (Galatians 5:1) and peace, "my peace I give you" (John 14:27).

Back in the days of the hippies and flower power, people would say "if it feels good, do it". That is living from the outside in! Today we still see lots of hedonistic, consumerist and purely entertaining or recreational activity; the world is now no different - it is all from the outside in.

Paul found the same thing in his day, just two or three decades after Jesus ascended to Heaven and formed His church, with all the excitement and commitment seen in the Book of Acts. He felt called to write to the Christians in Galatia, admonishing them, when he learned that they had moved a long way away from the Christian life they had been baptised into. They were again looking to the Old Testament law for their salvation, especially the rite of male circumcision, a change to a man's outside.

As Christians we are asked that we may experience "circumcision of the heart" (Romans 2:29), as we change on the inside, as we come to "know" a life-giving saving faith in Jesus (Romans 6:6). 

(Another aspect of the Galatians’ "foolishness" (Galatians 3:1) is that circumcision was only for men, they seem to have had no special rite for women to be affirmed as God's people. Perhaps women were expected to be second class citizens of the Kingdom of God, just as they were in the Old Testament in Judaism, and only the men could speak or be fully in the inheritance. But this is false; in Jesus "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), we are all included).

I often see that Christians are very different from everyone else, mainly for two reasons. Firstly Jesus has come to live in each one; the Bible does not say that this is symbolic, but in many verses says that it is real, "for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Also we are set free; not just free from sin but also our desire to sin decreases and continues to do so - we are being "sanctified" (John 17:19). We are also set free from death and ultimately will live eternally with Jesus in Heaven (John 3:14-16, John 4:14)!

Secondly, if we listen out for God's voice, (sometimes just a small soft whisper, perhaps during our prayer times, or when we spend time in our Bible, or as we fellowship with other Christians, or when we sleep and dream, or even during the busyness of our days), He will share with us what His will is for us, each one.

God created every person for a purpose. God doesn't make two snow flakes the same, let alone two people. We are all unique! Every single person has a God-given destiny - Your country, and your neighbour too, needs you and the "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Jesus wants our help: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

All this begins for us when be become Christian, then opens up more in a profound way after Jesus has baptised us in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:8). We can seek for this baptism. A.B. Simpson wrote: "the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and to unite us personally with God, and to be in us, not only a Spirit of power and a preparation for service, but a Spirit of life, holiness, and fellowship with the Divine Being" (1896, Holy Spirit In The New Testament, 12).

I am careful about where I fellowship. I seek out meetings where the people are aware of who they are in Christ (John 14:20) and how their lives have been enhanced - people who are grateful to Jesus and ready to unify with other Christians (Ephesians 4:1-3, 1 Peter 3:8), and are keen to serve where-ever Jesus leads them (John 12:26).

I go to events which are not just led from the front but where people can share and contribute to what God is doing, as Holy Spirit leads. We tend to sing joy- and gratitude-filled songs, most of which call Jesus by name and are full of Biblical truth and theological depth (very few of these songs are new).

The people at these meetings are fed, we are enriched by Jesus, His life and His Word, and often by Communion. The fellowship is rich. It would give a wrong impression to call these gatherings "services". The life flows out into the city when the meetings conclude and we disperse. What happened on the inside goes out! It is not just church buildings, not just leadership people, and not just Sundays.

"What God has done for us in Jesus is so perfect, so complete and so total, that there is nothing more that we can or could ever do to make things better. All we can do is accept it! It happened on our inside and shows on our outside" (Kerry Kirkwood, sermon, April 2018).

Barry Chant, founder of Tabor Bible College, said: "Living in the image of God is not trying to be what we are not .. rather it is simply becoming what we already are" ("Creative Living", 1999, Tabor Publications, 49).

I find that I am so changed on the inside that I want my outside, that part of me which inter-acts with others, to reflect what is there. Thoughts of living as the world does is frightening to me, I do not want to live without God's love, or grace, or meaning, or purpose, or hope!

Paul writes that we are to remember who we are in Jesus and what He has done on our insides, and in our life, and to live out the truth and fullness of it, spirit, soul and body! "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Likewise, each of us is a part of Jesus' earthly body today. Jesus' human body is in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, ruling and reigning. We are to be His physical manifestation here on the Earth; His heart, compassion and voice, His hands and feet. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose"  (Philippians 2:13).

As we live our Christian life we grow more into the image and likeness of God. How beautiful and awesome! I, who was once simply John, am now John with Jesus added, Holy Spirit added, and also with gifting added and my spirit made alive, to enable me to do the works God wants me to do with His power. I know that that is totally beyond what I could ever do as I used to be or in my own strength and skills.

Spiritual gifts help in our life here. They are given so that our spirit is equipped and strengthened. They add to us inside, and enable us to be more effective on the outside.

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,  who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter [of the law] but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ESV) ..

"The Holy Spirit gives life / makes alive" .. as I write this I am finally getting over a very nasty cold and chest infection. I needed antibiotics to overcome the infection, so my gut flora were devastated and I was very uncomfortable. But because I spend so much time with Jesus and His people I have been delighted to be "made alive by Holy Spirit", and have not felt defeated! Thank you Jesus, I am so grateful! It could have been a very difficult time ..

When Elohim God created humankind, They (Elohim is a plural word in Hebrew and includes Father God, the Son Jesus and Holy Spirit), said that each and every one of us were to  "rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). This is a part of our work, yours and mine .. we are to be stewards of all that God has made, effectively servants of the Creation, and at the same time it's rulers, overseers and workers, it's keepers. This is now our rôle. For us to be asked to share in Jesus' work on Earth and to steward it's resources is a great honour, and is yet another way we can worship our lovely Lord.

The Hebrew Old Testament words for "work", (avad) and "keep" (shamar), are the words for worshiping God and keeping His commandments.

God is connecting the inside-ness and outside-ness of each one of us as we grow in Him and in wholeness .. any walls between our spiritual and our worldly life are being softened, even removed .. So it is all one .. our Christian life, that is our life in Christ and in Holy Spirit, is as one with our life and our work in the world and our work for Jesus and His Kingdom.

It truly is becoming inside out and really is "not just Sundays"!

Praise Jesus ..

(See Note 1)

Favourite Scriptures

"'In the last days', God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Acts 2:17-21).

"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:10).

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).

"[Jesus'] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with perseverance, and perseverance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:3-8).

"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Do all things without grumbling or disputing;  so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God, above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:12-15 NASB).

Hallelujah!

Note 1:

Thinking about: "It is all one .. our Christian life, that is our life in Christ and in Holy Spirit, is as one with our life and our work in the world and our work for Jesus and His Kingdom .. "

Hindus and Muslims have told me that they see themselves in a similar way, as a unified one-ness, although their relationship with their gods is not intimate, or even close, as ours is with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are not children of their god(s) or even included in godly things as we are, but they clearly are people of their own faith ..

"God has revealed Himself in time and space". Our Christian faith is based in history and geography, many, many historical hi-lights are recorded by strong witnesses. Jesus lived, His miracles, His crucifixion, death and resurrection were observed, marvelled by many (more than 500 people) who recorded what they saw and knew to be real. "This is not the case with many cults [and religions] which base their faith in mystical time and space". (Neil Anderson, "Living Free", 1999, Monarch Books, 112).

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

In

In Father, In Jesus, In Holy Spirit, In Me, In You

John 14:20 - Jesus' words: "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you".

Some years ago, I started to see the many Bible verses which talked about God being in me, and me being in God. I do not remember preachers or teachers bringing this forward .. just a quiet recognition from my own Bible reading.

I always thought that Adam and Eve had a really good thing going in the very early part of the Creation, you know, before the Fall. They lived in a glorious garden in what I am sure was a really great marriage, (after all, it was God Himself who put them together). They helped God to name all the "kinds" He had created and all the many, many species within each "kind", and even got to walk and talk with God, in the garden at the end of each day! Such a lovely thought .. hanging out with God almighty, the God of all creation! (My wife, Trish, is a brilliant and enthusiastic gardener so we live in a place nearly as gorgeous as that first couple. We also walk and talk with God! How wonderful that is!)

But this being "in" that I found in my Bible, is so much more than Adam's and Eve's experience. A really radical concept. It is to do with our spirit being the main part of us, greater than our soul or our body. I see it in a similar way as when I add milk and honey to my mug of tea. I now have a brew where one cannot distinguish the different inputs but, instead, have something new and better and sweeter too. Recently I was told that I am a sweet guy! Thank you Lord! People used to point out how disenchanted, angry and inflexible I was. Definitely I am much better, in every way, with Jesus added to me, and Father God, and Holy Spirit! How rich my spirit has become, and my life.

I have long understood that Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection made it possible for God and humankind to be fully re-united for the first time since the Fall (Ephesians 1:9-10), and that this is where all humankind are headed (2 Peter 3:9,13), perhaps not in my lifetime but certainly I will see it from my place in Heaven.

After the Fall, God cast Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden, they became outcasts (a very sad word), and He even posted "cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life", to prevent their return (Genesis 3:23-24). Then Jesus cast Himself in, with us on Earth, to rescue, redeem and save us. He cast Himself in - what an amazing and costly thing for God to do - yet He did do it as the only way to pay for all our sin and redeem us for Himself. We know Him as Jesus our Messiah.

Surely all this in-ness is a part of the "every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), part of the "glorious inheritance" (Ephesians 1:18) that is promised for all Jesus' people.

Here are some of the very clear, and very striking Bible verses I have added to my "In Father, In Son" list on my laptop.

Jesus' words:

"I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive; for it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you" (John 14:16-17).

"Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father" (John 10:37-38).

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4); "abide" means "live"; our position is that we live in Jesus!

"My prayer is .. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21).

And Paul's words:

" .. you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). 

So this is where our righteousness comes from, and our wisdom and our growing sanctification, it is all Jesus! we don't have to rely on ourselves - praise you Lord!

"Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17 Amplified).

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness" (Colossians 2:6-7).

As I ponder these many Scripture verses I am overwhelmed by how I am so very beloved of God - God chose me, a disinterested sinner whom He had created in my mother's womb all those years ago. For each one of us, this was a sovereign choosing, we had no virtue and played no part in it. Then God showered us with gifts beyond price:

•  We were "chosen" in Christ before the Creation of the World (Ephesians 1:4)

•  It was God's pleasure to "predestine us for adoption to sonship" (so, whether we are a man or a woman we are fully included in God's inheritance, just like the first-born son in Bible times) "through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:4-5)

•  We are saved by Jesus' work, we were redeemed and washed clean "through His blood" (Ephesians 1:7;  Hebrews 13:12)

•  We are established by God in Christ ".. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

•  We are blessed, in Christ, with "every spiritual blessing" in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3); "every", this means that there are no spiritual blessing that we do not have!

This "in" study is very exciting! All the blessings were simply given to us, some were given before we were born ..

But there is something Jesus wants us to do, in fact, He commands it. Once we belong to Him, Jesus desires that we are baptised in the Holy Spirit.

John Baptist told the people about this and it was reported in all four Gospels, and in Jesus' words in Acts:

"John answered them all, 'I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire'" (Luke 3:16; see also Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 1:5,8).

“Baptise" means "to immerse", so we are immersed in water for our believers' baptism and then are immersed in Holy Spirit to be, in a sense, completed - filled with Holy Spirit and fire (Acts 2:4).

Three of the Old Testament prophets declared this future pouring out of God's Spirit on His people (Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 2:28-29). From this we know that this was eternally planned.

When it was coming to the time when Jesus would ascend to Heaven He told His disciples not to act yet, but to wait until: ".. you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Acts chapter 2 concludes with a description of how these new Christians were able to live; they were a tightly grouped, strong, generous, sharing and loving community; all their needs were met; they prayed and worshiped and were filled with joy.

When the Pilgrims first arrived in America they appear to have followed this powerful and free way of living with Jesus at the centre. For years there was no sickness and no fighting among them, until they started to claim land and other things as their own. It seems that humankind still has a lot to learn, and a lot of growing to do in Jesus.

This baptism in the Holy Spirit brings "fire" and "power" into our lives .. it enables us to "do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:6,10), to live closely with Jesus and with our Christian brothers and sisters and to be "Christ's ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20) in the world.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit comes after our salvation, our justification and redemption, when all the amazing and glorious "in" things are added to us and we are brought into Jesus' family and Kingdom. Sometimes this "second baptism" happens immediately and for others it happens later. Please read Acts chapter 2; Jesus had left His followers and ascended to Heaven. The confused, frightened, bereft disciples were completely transformed by this baptism. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, became a giant for Jesus and immediately gave a powerful sermon. Then in Acts chapter 3 he and John, with one word and Jesus' power, healed "a man who was lame from birth" (Acts 3:1-10). The whole book of Acts is one of the greatest adventure stories I have ever read!

Baptism in Holy Spirit completes us in Jesus. All we need then is to cleave to Jesus (John 6:29, Acts 11:23 Amplified), share our love, allow time in Scripture, fellowship and prayer, so we can continually grow, and to persevere when things seem not to be going well, and be grateful (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

" God has chosen to make known .. the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Amen.

PS: The words "in Christ" appear 86 times in the NIV New Testament. During my childhood it was understood that to "eighty-six" a person was to absolutely put them out of the game. Whilst working on this piece it occurred to me that we Christians have yet another great tool to put Satan in his place, we can "eighty-six" him with Scripture, reminding him how clearly the Bible reinforces our "in Christ" position, AND that Satan has much less power and influence than he tries to tell us that he has! This is what Jesus did, in the wilderness, when Satan tempted Him (See Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 4). (If my children were reading this, they may well say "ha ha" at this point!)

Bless you, bless us all. Amen

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Praise Jesus. Amen.

All

Packed Full Of Superlatives

Lately, while I have been reading my Bible I have been surprised by the number of superlatives it contains, you know, words which cannot be bigger, words like: eternal, every, and its derivatives: everyone, everything, everywhere, also: always, boundless, full and fullness, and perhaps the biggest: "all" - "all" means "without exception". Years ago we regularly had a preacher who would say "all" means "all", and then give us the look!

In my favourite Bible, above Colossians Chapter 1, I have written ALL in big letters and marked verses 15 to 20 as being special; they are so wonderfully descriptive of my hero brother and Lord, Jesus.

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:15-20). (The word "all" appears seven times in these few verses; Jesus surely is the "all" of God, and of all the Universe!)

This is the same Jesus who came to the Earth as a human to "destroy the works of the evil one" (1 John 3:8), and redeem all humanity from their sins. Here was God, incarnate on the Earth, Creator, Saviour and Head. I see His humility as a big part of the "all" that He is. Glorious God humbled even to death on a cross for us, fallen humanity, (Philippians 2:8). The cross was the worst death the ancient Roman Empire could devise. Our Jesus submitted Himself to it for me, and for you.

No-one else in all of history could do what Jesus has done, praise God. "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26).

What a mighty God we serve. It's not surprising that Paul rejoices that he is able to preach the "boundless riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). And later in the same book to declare that our mutual ministries, our sharing in Jesus' work on the Earth, will grow each and every one of us "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). These are among my favourite Bible verses, just packed full of superlatives!

Early in our Christian walk my wife, Trish (who indeed was Christian but I was not there yet), and I were taught about Spiritual Gifts, and that Christian life includes serving our Lord God, and also other Christians in the church and the people of the world. I found this very daunting. It seemed like a very big ask. I have heard others say the same thing adding things like "God will want me to marry an ugly girl and go live in some drought ridden, threadbare, corrupted country thousands of miles from anywhere; and besides, what can I do? What skills do I have as a preacher or missionary? I'll likely just get in the way". Then the person will smile and begin to tell about the miracles, and how beautiful and (nearly) perfect his wife is, and the delightful children they have been given and are privileged to raise together, and the exciting places they have been to, and the amazing people they have met and worked with and helped, and how Jesus has always, (another superlative), gone before!

Spiritual gifts enable us to do God's work despite the many shortcomings of our abilities and skills, our patience and endurance, our wealth or experience, our knowledge of Scripture and Christian doctrine.

Paul's letters to the Christians at Corinth address his concern over the rampant immorality associated with the paganism, (godlessness), of the people there. This had begun to infect the Corinthian church with factionalism, self-promotion, greed, faithlessness, idolatrous worship, and sexual licentiousness.

Then, in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 Paul details to us some of the ways we become "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) when we are "born again" (1 Peter 1:23). At the moment of salvation we are brought into the person of Jesus and become part of His family and of the church on Earth. Scripture refers to the church as the ecclesia or gathering-of-the-people (not as an institution or building!) and also as "the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12), and "Christ's body". There are many parts to a human body and the parts each serve the purpose or function for which they were designed and included; in the same way, in Jesus’ Earthly body each and every one of us will have a unique role:

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for [each of] us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

Likewise each of us is Jesus' earthly body today (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus' human body is in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, ruling and reigning. We are to be His physical manifestation here on the Earth. His Holy Spirit fills us and binds with our now awakened human spirit to teach, guide and help us.

Much of Paul's purpose in writing 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 was to show us how Jesus' mighty power can still be used to do His work here. He gives us gifts, by His Spirit. These are called "spiritual gifts", (in some translations "spirituals") (1 Corinthians 12:1), because they are given by Holy Spirit and add to our spiritual abilities. Paul makes it plain that he wants us to understand the kinds of gifts Jesus gives, and their purpose and their power. 

All the gifts are to help people. 

They enable us, as week and powerless as we may be, to do the "greater works" Jesus promised (John 5:20).

There are many kinds of gifts:

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:4).

The gifts enable us, in Jesus, to serve people:

"and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord" (1 Corinthians 12:5).

Every Christian is included in this gifting and enabled to hear from God, to pray, speak, act, heal and help others:

"and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone" (1 Corinthians 12:6, note the superlatives).

The variety of gifts are given so that, through the whole body of Christ, all Jesus' work on Earth can be accomplished:

"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good"  (1 Corinthians 12:7).

Here are some of the gifts:

"To one there is given through the [Holy] Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues (spiritual languages), and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines" (1 Corinthians 12:8-11).

God decides who will receive the different kinds of gifting. But remember, by prayer we can ask Jesus for anything; so if your heart desires a particular gift, ask God, perhaps you will be able to bless many people: "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

For a long time I desired the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10). I asked and I asked, meanwhile I kept looking at the spiritual landscape around me, and the spiritual content of my pondering and prayers, trying to see what Jesus saw. Then I found that I could see; Jesus had given me this precious gift. Thank you Lord.

 God always looks at our heart (1 Samuel 16:7), but He also loves our obedience (Deuteronomy 5:33), Psalm 119:96 says "To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless" .. "boundless", with no limit, (another superlative)!

One of the great joys of this time of Bible reading has been all my surprises, the number of passages I've read many times before and suddenly discover that in His Word, right here, Jesus inspired His human author to use the maximum word, the superlative, to really nail down what He wanted to say.

I've touched on just a few examples in this piece, but there are a great many. We can enjoy our Bible, after all it is another face of Jesus who is the "Word of God" (John 1:1). Another face: He is every aspect of the "full", (another superlative), "armour of God" (Ephesians 6:10-20); "finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes".

And, Jesus is fully the content of the 13th Chapter of 1st Corinthians. This is known as the "love" chapter and is sandwiched between the two chapters which teach us about the spiritual gifts. If you read this through, and where you see "love", read "Jesus", you may get a new and fuller understanding of love. I did and I was humbled; for many years I've thought of "love" as being a "doing" word, a verb, and not so much an emotion. Now I see it as more all-encompassing and reflective of  what Jesus is doing in me by His Spirit (Philippians 1:6, Ephesians 4:13, 1 John 4:16).

"He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;  he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;  as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:9-12).

From The Beginning

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). "After six days the Creation was completed. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31). "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array" (Genesis 2:1).

So at the very beginning of time, and matter, and life, "all" was "very good", I think that God likes superlatives; He does not want to do things half-hearted or in a lackadaisical way. He is our God of the superlatives and full of lovely surprises.

And Into The Future

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Yes! Amen!

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Praise Jesus.