Angelic Conflict part 259: The Lords Power Over Death – Heb 2:14-18; Isa 46:8-11; Psa 90:4; Luk 7:11-17; 8:49-56; Joh 11:41-46.Title: Angelic Conflict part 259: The Lords Power Over Death – Heb 2:14-18; Isa 46:8-11; Psa 90:4; Luk 7:11-17; 8:49-56; Joh 11:41-46.
The reality of the spiritual life given to mankind at the cross is displayed by the person on Christ during His public ministry during the incarnation.
Our Lord's miracles over nature, as well as His healings, exorcisms, resuscitations, and especially His resurrection, were definite acts of war that accomplished and demonstrated His victory over satan. These acts routed demonic forces and thereby established the kingdom of God in people's lives and in nature. But their primary significance was eschatological. People are still obviously being demonized [at least demon influenced]; all people still get sick and die; storms still rage and destroy lives; famines are yet prevalent and starve thousands daily. But Jesus' ministry, and especially His death and resurrection, in principle tied up the strong man and established the kingdom of God and the restoration of a new humanity in the midst of this war zone. In doing this, He set in motion forces that will eventually overthrow the whole of this already fatally damaged satanic assault upon God's earth and upon humanity.
All of the Lord's resuscitations must be viewed as acts of war against a cosmic foe who had been mastering mortality for far too long.
Heb 2:14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Heb 2:16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Christ raised three people from the dead during His ministry so that He could reveal His power over death. He raised each one of them with a word.
What is it about the word of God or the gospel? Words combine to create thoughts. Thoughts can be true or false. They can be commands or responses. They can be abstract or plain; concrete and clear or wishy washy and confusing. God's word consists of God's thought and therefore His essence and character as they relate to mankind. God alone is eternal life and so His word is alive. God's essence contains infinite power and so His word is powerful. Therefore, His word breathes life and power into that which is dead, but words are just words if they are not understood and believed.
Application of faith to God's word in the believer transforms him from death to life; first in position and then in experience.
Before this was available to every person in the CA, Christ displayed His power over death as well as the power of the word. He raised each person with a word. The dead could not have faith, but our Lord could and did. Our Lord's impeccable faith made the word spoken to have power over death and resuscitated them. This is a display of the power of the kingdom of God, which now has application in spiritual resurrection. [example: tithing]
Act 19:13-14 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
Act 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"
They had no power in their words because they didn't believe in Christ, but even if they did it is likely that they would not have been ordained by God to do this task. Believing falsehood has no power as does not believing the truth. What makes faith effective in power is the object of faith which must be from God and ordained by God, i.e. in God's will, to the believer.
Anything that violates God's perfect essence contains no divine power. A person looking to them is cut off from divine power.
Our Lord's miracles were ordained by the Father and the Lord had absolute faith in the power of the Father's commands to do them. Hence it is vital to understand the hypostatic union.
Hypostatic union - Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever.
These theological terms are vital to understand if we are to understand the application of Christ's ministry to our own lives. We cannot, nor will ever, be deity or operate as deity - not even little deity as is sometime falsely taught.
Kenosis [Phi 2:7] - our Lord laid aside the use of His deity during the incarnation.
We understand what it is to be human because we have the spirit of a man. We must study under the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit in order to know the small and finite aspects of deity that have been related to us in God's word. When standing of the threshold of the finite and the infinite and time and eternity we must admit that there is much that we cannot understand. However, there are some things that we can.
God is not in time while mankind is. We live in past, present, and future, while God does not. Therefore God does not need faith, nor does He need hope. To God, the end is the same as the beginning. To Him a thousand years is a day and a day a thousand years.
Isa 46:8 "Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors.
Isa 46:9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying,' My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure';
Isa 46:11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
Psa 90:4 For a thousand years in Thy sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night.
It is impossible to identify with this, but we can believe that in God, in deity, in the eternal, self-existent One that events in time are as if they have already happened [He's already seen the movie], but not so with us and therefore, not so with the humanity of Christ. He had to operate in faith and trust in the word of His Father in things, to Him, that were yet future.
This opens up another aspect of His temptation to use His deity. He could have flicked on the deity switch at any time and all the need for faith and trust would have vanished in an instant and the suffering, the cross, the resurrection, ascension, and session would have been already done in a moment, but if He did so, there would be no salvation for us.
Joh 12:27 "Now My soul has become troubled [agitated or stirred up]; and what shall I say, 'Father, save [deliver] Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
A flip of the deity switch and in a moment this agitation and trouble in His soul vanishes.
Joh 12:28 "Father, glorify Thy name." There came therefore a voice out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."
Joh 12:29 The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him."
Joh 12:30 Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.
The voice is for their sakes because faith doesn't need to audibly hear God's promises.
Joh 12:31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
Joh 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
Mat 26:38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved [very sad], to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me."
In like manner, just as the humanity of our Lord, we are taught about the future without actually experiencing it, so we have the choice to believe the word of God and to have hope in the future or not.
This doesn't at all mean that we never, ever doubt, but it does mean that when we do doubt or live in fear of the past, present, or future and that battle between doubt and faith is raging in the soul that we eventually trust in the promises from God.
Rom 8:24-25 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
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