Doctrine of the indwelling Christ part 4. Christ as the Shekinah Glory. John 14:20

Title: Doctrine of the indwelling Christ part 4. There are two periods in which there is no sacred building; the Church-age and the eternal state.

 

Veterans Day 1985 “Ronald Reagan, ”

We celebrate Veterans Day on the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, the armistice that began on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. And I wonder, in fact, if all Americans' prayers aren't the same as those I mentioned a moment ago. The timing of this holiday is quite deliberate in terms of historical fact but somehow it always seems quite fitting to me that this day comes deep in autumn when the colors are muted and the days seem to invite contemplation.

 

We are gathered at the National Cemetery, which provides a final resting place for the heroes who have defended our country since the Civil War. This amphitheater, this place for speeches, is more central to this cemetery than it first might seem apparent, for all we can ever do for our heroes is remember them and remember what they did -- and memories are transmitted through words.

 

Sometime back I received in the name of our country the bodies of four marines who had died while on active duty. I said then that there is a special sadness that accompanies the death of a serviceman, for we're never quite good enough to them-not really; we can't be, because what they gave us is beyond our powers to repay. And so, when a serviceman dies, it's a tear in the fabric, a break in the whole, and all we can do is remember.

It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.

 

 

In our study of the indwelling Christ we have begun to look at the Shekinah glory of the OT, the theophany that is TLJC.

 

We have noted the blowing of the trumpets and the breaking of the pitchers in the battle that gained a victory for Gideon and for Israel. The trumpet represented the word of God, and the breaking pitcher represented the breaking of the hard outer shell that is the old man so that the indwelling Shekinah Glory can shine out.

 

For this to occur, which is the will of God for every believer, the old man must be considered dead, which is retroactive positional truth, and the new man alive, which is current positional truth.

 

 

 

/Retroactive positional truth - you are identified with Christ in His spiritual death, physical death, and His burial. In such we are separated from human good and evil. This is the status of the old man.\

 

/Current positional truth - you are identified with Christ in His resurrection life. This is the status of the new creature in Christ.\

 

In Rom 6 the command was given to consider, which is not to just sit around and ponder, but to believe in the sense of absolute faith before any decision is made to live under the authority of the old man or old sin nature.

 

/ROM 6:11

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. \

 

In Eph 4 we have a different command.

 

EPH 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside [put off from oneself] the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

 

/ “lay aside the old self,” Isolated sin = rebound. Evil = rebound and enforced humility under doctrine to change your thinking.\

 

Evil, like spirituality, can be in infancy or maturity. The more mature evil is in the heart of the believer, the more difficult it is to recover.

 

When evil is in the thinking of the believer God will institute divine discipline. In infancy there will be warning discipline. If the pattern of evil is not broken then there will be intensive discipline. And if the evil continues to fullness then there will be dying discipline.

 

The only benefit to the plan of God from a person under evil is in being a people test to those who are advancing spiritually.

 

EPH 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind [soften the shell/break the pitcher],

 

EPH 4:24and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 

 

2 Cor 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness [GEN 1:3]," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

 

2 Cor 4:7But we have this treasure [indwelling Christ coupled with His word] in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves;

 

Further instruction is given to us to show us how the light of Christ will shine through. We’ve had consider, put off and put on, and now suffering.

 

/Undeserved suffering produces cracks in our hard hearts so that the Shekinah Glory might shine through.\

 

2 Cor 4:8we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;

 

2 Cor 4:9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

 

2 Cor 4:10always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

 

/ “dying of Jesus” - identification with Him in His death. Sin is paid for; human good and evil have been rejected. “life of Jesus” - identification with Him in His resurrection life.\

 

Why does God use man when He could defeat His enemies Himself in a second? We are in a conflict and mankind is the witness for the light of God.

 

It may seem impossible for you. Remember Gideon and his excuse for not going - youngest son in the smallest family from a not so recognized tribe. Is this mission impossible?

 

/Mark 10:27

Looking upon them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."\

 

/Matt 17:20

And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' [idiom for doing what others say is impossible] and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. \

 

The mustard seed is the smallest of the seeds but it grows into a large tree. So here the Lord speaks of a small amount of faith in spiritual infancy, however that faith is in the greatest object - TLJC. With continued PVTD that faith will grow to incredible strength.

 

If you are a born-again believer then you have the indwelling Christ and God has a plan to use you as a hero, albeit an invisible one. Are you up to the call? Are you ready to take the battlefield with the word of God and the indwelling Trinity?

 

/The battlefield in the Church-age is the soul. Will Christ be at home in our hearts through doctrine?\

 

Our next example of a theophany: The cloud and glory of the Lord, Ex 40:34-38.

 

/c. The title, Shekinah, refers to the invisible presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy of Holies, enthroned on the mercy seat between the cherubs, Ps 99:1; ISA 37:16.\

 

As Shekinah, Jesus Christ indwells the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, Ex 25:21-22. As such, He is declared to be the God of Israel, LEV 26:11-12.

 

Shekinah Glory, then, is defined as theological nomenclature designed to explain the relationship between: Jesus Christ and client nation Israel. Jesus Christ and the Church as the royal family.

 

This makes the Jew unique amongst all the people during the dispensation of Israel. At the same time this makes the body of Christ unique during the dispensation of the Church.

 

Your individual uniqueness is the fact that you have been called out from the world as a saint. This is the doctrine of sanctification. As a body the Church is called out from the world and therefore unique in history. That’s the doctrine of ecclesiology.

 

/In the dispensation of Israel, Jesus Christ indwelt a building; first the Tabernacle, and then two temples. In the dispensation of the Church, Jesus Christ indwells the body of every believer.\

 

 

If the indwelling of Christ in the sacred buildings of Israel is unique and without precedent in human history, how much more is the indwelling of Christ in the body of every believer unique and without precedent!

 

Shekinah Glory is a title for our Lord Jesus Christ which establishes a link between two unique categories of the dispensation of Israel and the Church: the eternal and infinite Son of God dwelling in buildings, and the eternal and infinite Son of God, now the God-man, Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union, indwelling your body as a believer.

 

Ex 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

 

Ex 40:35And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

 

Ex 40:36And throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;

 

Ex 40:37but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.

 

Ex 40:38For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

 

/[slide: Exodus, all route suggestions are hypothetical]\ Israel is the picture of the believer’s soul. God was leading them to the promised land but they continued to disobey God. They would follow God on foot but not in their hearts.

 

The cloud by day and the fire in the cloud by night meant that the motivation, security, life, and blessing of Israel was tied into the God of Israel.

 

Israelwas ruled by God; she was a theocracy. The Jews were guided by the God of Israel as they followed that cloud. The cloud was security in bivouac and guidance on the march. At any time, night or day, a Jew could pause to look at the cloud and know that the God of Israel dwelt in the Tabernacle. Whatever was bothering or worrying him, the Jew only needed to look at the cloud and be reassured of his security and blessing.

 

This guides us in the application of the indwelling Christ in our bodies.

 

/Jesus Christ in you is a guarantee of security and blessing. \

 

So the theophany of the cloud revealed the fact that Jesus Christ was present though invisible as the Shekinah.

 

/LEV 9:23

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.\

 

Would you rather the visible manifestation because it might be easier to believe, or would you rather have the invisible, which takes more faith, but provides so much more power?