Victory Life KY

Two Worlds

Episode Summary

As long as a humanity can live without God, they will. Make no mistake, human nature will do everything within its power to keep us from discovering the realities of God’s new world He has for anyone willing to believe.

Episode Notes

• James 1:22-25,NLT- But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.
• Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.
• You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
• But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

• This is why Jesus made statements like, The words I speak are spirit and truth. Proverbs tells us His words are life to those who find them.

• I wanted to start with this passage because God brought a statement I’ve made several times to my attention.

• As long as a humanity can live without God, they will. Make no mistake, human nature will do everything within its power to keep us from discovering the realities of God’s new world He has for anyone willing to believe.

• Here’s something very important to remember, God didn't give us His word to condemn us. He gave us His word to reveal our true nature.

• And if you’re like me, you’re pretty good a listening to His word, it’s the whole doing that gets us.

• You see, the thing about Christianity, living this new life, actually being doers like James instructs us, we’ve got to come to terms with the reality that statements like that are only available to the born again.

• I think sometimes, for many of us we get comfortable in our Christianity and just maybe, not as aware of our new nature as we are our human nature.

• And that’s the driving thought behind our new talk “Two Worlds.”

• This is Paul’s point in Corinthians when he tells us that when we accept Jesus, we become new people. We have a new life.

• Ephesians 1:11,MSG- It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.

• And with the reality that we are born into a completely new world, which is 100% spiritual, we belong to two worlds. Natural and Spiritual.

• As a matter of fact the book of Hebrews make it very clear that only God’s word can reveal the difference between the natural and spiritual.

• Something else Corinthians reveals to us is that God’s word is designed to be discerned spiritually.

• And even though confined to this natural, according to Jesus, we’re no longer of it. Paul actually takes things a step further in Philippians, informing us that we are now citizens of a heaven.

• And I know we’ve discussed this topic many times but God continues bringing me back to this subject. I can’t help but wonder if we simply need clarity, further revelation into the realities of our new world. Our new identity.

• Remember, He didn't give us His word to condemn us, but to reveal our true nature.

• So when I ask this question, let it challenge you not condemn you.
• According to the apostle James, how’s your doer awareness?

• Seriously, how often would you say you’re applying basic spiritual principles in your daily lives?

• Can we be real? Most of us, most of the time are more committed to this natural world than our new world because its just easier, it’s more real to us. It’s what we’re use to.

• That being said, the bulk of our talk will be centered around the one book in the NT that I believe gives absolute clarity on this subject, the apostle Paul’s letter the the Ephesians.

• At its core, it reveals the mystery of God’s church in the earth.

• Just a little history, after spending over two years there, starting a successful fellowship, Paul continues his missionary journey.

• Some five years later, from prison in Rome Paul writes one of his encyclical letters. Counting on his anointed leaders to circulate them.

• The ultimate revelation in Ephesians is the church as His body, us in Him, Him in us, expressing the fullness of His reality.

• Ultimately, it’s the Lord’s appeal for all of us to participate in Jesus’ commission in 5:27 of building a glorious church without spot or blemish.

• Ephesians 1:3-6,NKJV- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HAS BLESSED us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
• Spiritual blessing, divine privileges and resources available to those in Christ in this natural world.
• CEV, For the spiritual blessings Christ has brought us from heaven.

• As we unpack this, here’s the reality we’ve got to keep out in front of us, we belong to two worlds. Natural and spiritual.

• 4, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
• 5, having predestined (guaranteed destiny) us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
• 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

• One of the dominant, recurring themes throughout Ephesians is the reality of who we are in Christ.

• Maybe our first question should be, can we bring the realities of His world into this natural world? And if so, then how?

• The very first thing we have to acknowledge and accept is that according to Paul, according to Jesus is that these realities are only available to those who believe.

• This might help, just like with salvation, Jesus went to the cross for everyone. Atonement is a finished work that is waiting for the individual to exercise their faith and reach into that world and receive His finished work.

• God had already made the provision. Remember, Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world.

• This is why back in v.6, He made us the accepted in the beloved.
• And since we’ve been accepted in the beloved, this revelation Paul gives us from the Holy Spirit is probably the key component in this letter.

• Ephesians 1:15-19,NKJV- Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
• 16, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
• 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
• 18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
• 19, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.

• You gotta get this, Paul isn’t praying for God to do a something new, he’s praying the we can see what God has already done.

• 18, “That the eyes (spiritual) of your understanding be enlightened”

• Think about this, according to God’s word, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
• We are new creations in Christ.
• We have been transferred into His Kingdom.

• This is why Paul prayed, may the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
• That we know what is the hope of His calling,
• That we know what the riches of the glory of His inheritance is.
• And that we know what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.

• It’s as we begin seeing spiritually, comprehending the realities of our new world that we can put into practice what the apostle James is telling us, don’t  just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.

• Which word do we do?
• Seriously, just take one statement from Jesus in John 14, ‘The things I do, you can do also”

• Lets not kid ourselves, the only word of God we become doers of is the word we can accept by faith.

• What we need is a NT, “such as I have” perspective. Or according to Paul’s prayer, we need revelation of who we already are in Christ.

• Seriously, according to 1 John our born again nature in this world is just like Christ. Made in His image and likeness.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23,NKJV- Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• SPIRIT
• SOUL
• BODY

• And here’s the deal, when a soul is renewed with God’s word, we believe Him. At that point our soul and spirit are in agreement, causing the body to come in line. Or in the words of James, we become doers of the word.

• But when our soul stays in agreement with our body, our human nature, human nature rules resulting in unbelief. And we find ourselves saying things like, if the power of God was working in my life, I’d see it, feel it, experience it, etc…

• And I realize this concept contradicts popular religious traditions, and this is why Jesus told us, “truth will make you free.”

• I made this statement Wednesday night and it really stuck with me.
• Truth is the highest realm of reality. Once we abandon truth, we’re left with facts. Example: “There’s giants in the land” fact. God said, I have given you the land, truth.

• Hosea 4:6,NKJV- My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
• Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God.

• This is why Jesus made statements like, The words I speak are spirit and truth. Proverbs tells us His words are life to those who find them.

• I’ll leave you with Paul’s revelation to us, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HAS BLESSED us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ