(Part 2/3 – A summary of the Sunday morning teaching on 10-Aug-14, in AFT Church, English service. From the series The Law of Faith) Creation was given to man: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country” – Mark 12:1 This is what God had done too with creation. He had created the earth, put man in the Garden of Eden, gave him everything that he needed and let him be in charge of it. Man, however, handed it over to satan. God could not revoke that decision when man handed over the authority to satan, Because it was a legal transaction done by the man who originally had the authority. It is like leasing out a piece of land. Once it is leased out, the original owner (the lessor) cannot do with it as he wishes; it is now in the hands of the man to whom it has been leased (the lessee). Until the period of lease is over, it is as thought the lessee is the owner of the piece of land. Let’s see some verses to help us understand. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men – Psalm 115:16 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein – Psalm 24:1 These two verses seem contradictory to each other. So who does the earth belong to? God or man? It is like the lease arrangement. The creation belongs to God. But it has been given to man. As mankind, we are responsible for possessing it and taking care of it. Since man is now the authority on the earth, if God wanted to do anything on the earth, He could do it only through a man. In Romans 3:10-12 the Bible says: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one” So in order to restore authority to man, God could not use just any other man, because all men have fallen into sin. There was none who was righteous.That is why God had to send Jesus as a man to redeem the earth & restore it. Jesus did everything as a man: When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened – Luke 3:21 All the others took baptism, because they had sinned and repented. But why did Jesus also take baptism? Even John says that it was he who needed to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way round. But Jesus tells him that He needs to be baptized in order to fulfil all righteousness. Just like an ordinary man, Jesus too took baptism. The latter part of Luke 3 gives the genealogy of Jesus. He was considered as Joseph’s son. Though Joseph wasn’t really Jesus’ father, the Bible lists Joseph as his Father. That’s because it’s very important that Jesus had an earthly body and had an earthy lineage starting from Adam. So Jesus came in the form of man, in an earthly body of flesh, blood and bones. That is why He insisted on being baptised like normal men. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased – Luke 3:22 Some ask why Jesus needed the Holy Spirit. He was after all the Son of God. But Jesus did not come the earth as the Son of God, He came as the Son of Man. Jesus showed us how to live on this earth as a man. All men need the Holy Sprit. That’s why Jesus received the Holy Spirit after baptism. In fact, till He received the Holy Spirit, Hehadn’t started His ministry. In order to fulfil His purpose on the earth as a man, Jesus needed the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all – Luke 4:14 Jesus did not do anything till he was thirty years old. And yet when He started at thirty after being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit, He healed the sick, chased demons out, worked many wonders and miracles that He became well-known throughout all the region and everyone praised Him. So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him – Luke 4:16 Here he speaks as a man. That’s why He says that the Holy Spirit is on Him. He had come as a man to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recover sight to the blind, to set the captives free, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. He came to do all of this as a man, who had received the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit. He did everything as a normal human being. He did not use his powers to destroy the people who put Him on the Cross.Jesus was sent in the proper route to reclaim what the devil had stolen from man at the Garden of Eden. So, Jesus does everything as man, because He wanted to honor the authority that God had given to man during creation. Proper way to enter: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep – John 10:1,2 In this verse Jesus calls the world as the sheepfold and the people as the sheep. He clearly emphasizes that He came into this world through the ‘proper entry gate’ as a man. He never took a round-about or illegal route. But satan always uses illegal and indirect routes to enter the world and destroy people. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:10 Again Jesus talks about how He came & how satan comes. He talks about the purpose with which satan comes; to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus wants us to clearly understand the difference between Him &satanwith respect to the way they come into this world and do things. This is very important for us to understand. When you look at your ‘birth certificate’ it is a proof that you are of this world and explains the way in which you came into this world. You did not jump out of some spiritual cosmos. There used to be a TV Serial about an alien who landed on the earth on a flying saucer and people were fascinated about this program. It showed how he walked around the world without any birth certificate or any immigration clearance. He just appeared out of nowhere and therefore is not a ‘legal entity’ in this world. The way in which we enter the world is very important. But we are NOT like that. We are legal entities in this world with a birth certificate. We can through the right way & channel. And because we are a legal entity, we also possess legal ‘authority’. In fact, it is the devil who needs to be afraid of us and our authority and not the other way around. If something enters our house, it is our responsibility to drive it out before we go to sleep. In the same way we need to drive satan out of every possession that God gave us through Jesus Christ and establish our authority. Being a man with an earthly body is not an ordinary thing. According to spiritual laws we have the highest authority on earth. As Christians, we are even more powerful because, in addition to having this body we are born-again and the Holy spirit has come to reside in us. This makes us people with tremendous power and authority. This is what Jesus did for us through redemption. to be continued…
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 19:23:13 +0000
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