As He Was, Pt. 2 - The Mandate

"On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him."
Mark 4:35-36

I am focusing on the words, "...as He was" from this passage recognizing that, in order to represent Him to the world, we must understand "how He was".

Today we focus on His role in restoring our mandate.

God set us in His beautiful creation with a mandate. It is found in Genesis, Chapter 1:28 “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue, and have dominion”. It was a mandate that expressed God’s heart in involving man in His conquest to fill the earth with His glory. God was counting on man to do his part. He trusted Adam to take the instruction he was given and to faithfully conduct himself.

Our authority to carry out this mandate was forfeited when, in the Garden, Adam submitted to the serpent ("You are slave to him whom you obey" - Romans 6:16).

The Old Testament laws were enacted to teach us about the need for redemption and to begin our way back to partnership with God. Blood became necessary. A precious and perfect sacrifice was necessary. One could only be made clean through an act or ritual conducted by a priest and a blood sacrifice declared to be perfect.

But the priests made it a business. They set themselves up to be the ones to benefit from the plan of God. THEY were the important ones. THEY were the holy ones.

Religion prospered. But the people lost sight of God. And, distant from their Creator, they lost sight of themselves and their purpose.

From Isaiah Chapter 1:

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.
When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
Your New Moons and your appointed feast my soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them."

Thankfully, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). For 33 years He walked in the flesh as our example. And then He fulfilled His role as Redeemer - the Perfect Sacrifice, once and for all. His blood was shed to provide access to God for every Believer, not just the privileged.

As Redeemer He bought us back. As Our Example He showed us what God is like and what WE can be like.

Our mandate is restored as we re-engage in His purpose, understanding the weight of the matter that God has set upon us.

Jesus is our example. He shows us the way. What He did - AS HE WAS - we can do AS HE IS, because the same Spirit lives in us.

More tomorrow.

As He Was

"On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him."
Mark 4: 35-36

This is a familiar account that shows the magnificent freeing power of Jesus. It can be read in full at Mark 4:35 - 5:20.

Why must we cross over? Because there are crazy people out there who are unable to free themselves from their bonds. Their behavior and their spiritual condition bind them to themselves.

We must cross over to the other side. What is on the other side for you? What person? What neighbor? What fellow worker? What family? What people? What nation?

And what will you bring with you?

From Mark chapter 4, verse 36: "They took Him along…as He was."

There is great confusion in the church world over “how Jesus was”.

In the 2,000 years since God was with us in Christ, religion has re-shaped His image.

It’s not a new strategy of the enemy. It’s straight from the Garden. If the enemy can get us to question what God has said or done (Genesis 3:1), he will be successful at compromising the truth in us. And compromised truth will only bring a compromised victory, which is what we have today. Sure we have had some success. We have vibrant music and meetings and great preaching. Beautiful buildings and TV shows and church programs. But it’s hard to accept this as the life for which Jesus died. I may be willing to give MY life for what we have in the church today, but I don’t think I would give my son’s life.

It is the same for God. I believe He envisions something more. And if we can find our way back to the Truth, we will finally be set free - and be alive enough to set others free.

If His seed in us is virtuous, the fruit is virtuous. And we will cross over our boundaries of religion and philosophy and man-made doctrine and see the demoniac set free. If we are going to do this, we must do as the disciples did in Mark, Chapter 4 and take Jesus along "…as He was”.

More on this tomorrow.

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit IN Us

We must take care not to reduce the ministry of the Holy Spirit only to speaking in other tongues. Or to experience the Holy Spirit as a distant dove that will occasionally light on us - if we pray really hard.

Jesus said of the Holy Spirit:

"It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away,
the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are mine:
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."
(John 16:7b-15)

Jesus gave us commandments through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-3).
We receive power through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:7-9; Romans 15:19; Ephesians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).
We understand things to come through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:16; 4:25).
The Holy Spirit is witness to things with us (Acts 5:31-33; 15:28; Romans 9:1; Hebrews 2:4; 10:14; 1 John 5:6-8).
The Holy Spirit IN us validates us for service (Acts 6:3, 5; 18:25; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Corinthians 12:8-11; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 3:3; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13).
The Holy Spirit opens our eyes (Acts 7:55; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Ephesians 3:5).
The Holy Spirit speaks to us (Acts 8:29; 10:19; 11:12; 13:2; 16:6-8; 20:23; 21:4; 21:11; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:7; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; 22:17).
The Holy Spirit translates us (Acts 8:39).
We are comforted by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31; Ephesians 1:19).
We are led by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:4; Romans 8:1-9, 14, 26-27; Galatians 5:16, 18; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20).
The Holy Spirit empowers us to love (Romans 5:5; 15:30; 2 Corinthians 6:6; Colossians 1:8).
The Holy Spirit carries righteousness, peace, hope, and joy (Romans 14:17; 15:13; Galatians 5:5, 22; 1 Thessalonians 1:6).
We are taught by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 9:8).
We are united in the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 13:14; Ephesians 2:18, 4:3-4).
The Holy Spirit frees us (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Our offerings are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16).

The Holy Spirit will show us Christ (Romans 1:4).
We are sanctified/justified by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:2).
The Holy Spirit quickened the body of Christ (1 Peter 3:18).

The Old Testament prophets and Gospel-period believers experienced a Holy Spirit that was UPON, AROUND, or THROUGH them.

We, after the cross and Pentecost, experience a Holy Spirit that is IN us (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:14; 1 John 3:24; 4:13).

The Holy Spirit doesn't seek glory, but points us to and reveals the ministry of Jesus IN us. And we will do greater things.

Genetics

One of the major influences on who we are is in our DNA. It is how God designed us genetically to fulfill the plan He has for us.

He has placed there certain qualities - physical, emotional, and intellectual - that, even before we meet Christ, "bend" us a certain way.

Character and talent starts here. Research has shown that - in the womb - different babies respond in different ways to the same stimuli.

We won't debate the source, but even weaknesses are as deep as our DNA.

We can't accept this as final. Our work, after Christ, is to "bend" to the New Birth.

When it comes to character, deal with your weaknesses. Let God change you.

When it comes to talent, expand on your strengths. Let God grow you.

His Overture

God is calling us, I believe, to be the most alive and fully-awake people on the planet. People who pursue our dreams, born of a destiny that He shaped when we were in our mother’s womb.

No loving parent dreams of mediocrity for their child. Neither does God have that dream for you. The very miracle of birth is the fanfare at the beginning of an orchestral adventure that is intended to bring us to a greater knowledge of our Creator and of His plan for our lives. Along the way we encounter Him in all His love and glory and, in that crescendo, we awaken to the fact that the value of our own life has been determined by the price that He paid to buy it back! How could we be so selfish as to spend that life without an all-out pursuit of Him and His purpose for us?

What is in your heart to do? What did your Creator intend for you? Launch out. Go. Cast the net on the other side. Cross over. Lift up thine eyes. Write the book. Sing the song. Enroll. Buy the ticket. Live the composition He wrote for you.

Has God indeed said...?

My sense is that we, in the church, are educated beyond our obedience. And that restraint, though necessary, is not the missing ingredient.

What we need is guts.

The electronic PC culture has turned us into tame sycophants, observers, courtiers and attendants, rather than pioneers, pathfinders and persuaders.

From the beginning the God-given mandate was to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion..." (Genesis 1:28). Brute language that, in today’s culture, seems threatening and presumptive. We are however, for the most part, really nice folks who live decent lives, rather than bold victors with a mission to reclaim the Earth and its inhabitants under orders from our Creator-King.

In eating from the tree, we submitted to another entity who had no interest in seeing us fulfill that mandate. The serpent’s lie in the garden, in the form of a question, is the same lie today... “Has God indeed said…?" (Genesis 3:1).

The subsequent shame and disorientation caused us to cover ourselves, inhibiting our ability to be fruitful and to multiply. It rendered us useless in fulfilling the mandate established for us. Although we had been created in the very image of God, we submitted to a low-life being that lacked the reproductive power and potential of Our Creator. Spiritual vertigo set in and we spun until Jesus came into our lives.

It took the shameless, sinless Son of God and man to redeem us, restoring our glory and re-establishing our mandate, setting our feet upon the Solid Rock. “It is finished” (John 19:30) from the cross and “It is done” (Revelation 21:6) from the throne re-declared the intent of God and countered the question the enemy posed.

"Yes!", we may boldly declare, "God has indeed said".

The Value of Trust

God trusted Adam and Eve with His plan for taking back the Earth from an enemy that was here before they were.

Genesis tells us of a five-fold mandate and confirms that man has the Divine Nature of the Almighty (the DNA, if you will) to carry it out. He is, after all, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28).

Adam and Eve's trust in God would be evidenced by their obedience to Him in carrying out the mandate.

satan attacked that trust ("Has God indeed said...?") and they chose disobedience. It's a tragic situation when a human being, created in the very image of God, submits to a low-life serpent.

It's the same today.

When we elevate the lie of our common enemy above the trust and obedience to Our Loving Creator, we forgo the privilege of walking in our Divine Nature, and the opportunity to fulfill our mandate.

Let's be people who trust His Word, His Son. He won back our right to submit to God and to resist the enemy (James 4:7). He bought us back - redeemed us - for His higher purpose.

The Greatest Gap of All

It's nice to know - and to see evidence - that we believe in God. But what a revelation to recognize how much God believes in us!

Let's look at the facts:

1) He placed us here, in an unfriendly environment (the enemy was already here!), and gave us a powerful mandate (Genesis 1:28),

2) He paid a precious price to buy us back,

3) He freed us from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2),

4) He expects us to do what He did and greater! (John 14:12)

Wow. What faith He must have - in US!

No doubt there are significant gaps between the real and the ideal and the seen and the unseen, but there is no gap between what God expects and what is possible! He lives in a realm where anything is possible. He invites us to believe what He believes, to strive for what He sees, and to go where He leads!

The greatest gap is the gap between what we believe about ourselves and what God believes about us.

Bridge the gap by believing what God says about you and by acting on His Word!


Today's Daily Bread: Ephesians 1.