SENT BY CHRIST...SENT AS CHRIST Christ Jesus is truly the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the only begotten Son of God. He is the incarnate of the Father of all creation, the Head of the Body, His Church, which means He is actually a member of the Church being the Chief Cornerstone the builders rejected. I have said all of this in order to address the vague confusion about what is God ordained and what man-made when it comes to the Christian life. There seems to be this post-modern idea that Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture are inferior to what many call the move of the Spirit. Considering that the Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit it would serve us well to see what the words of Jesus himself has to say about mans involvement in the Kingdom work of Christ. After Jesus ascended to the Father and then appeared to His disciples for the first time, His words to them were quite revealing about mans involvement in the Divine Work. After greeting them with Peace be with you!, He gave them an assignment, As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Christ Jesus literally transferred the authority that once was held only by God to His apostolic team. He was continuing to commission and empower them with the authority that at previously belonged only to God. Likewise in the Gospel of Matthew (16:19), Jesus declares to Peter, And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Clearly, the authority of Christ was promised to be given to mankind through the apostolic authority He had called and chosen and in turn would continue to be in the hands of the Church. Later in Matthew (17:19) Jesus uses His own words to confirm the authority given to the Church via apostolic transmission, Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. In consistent dialogue, Peter then comes to Him and says, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus responds, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Once again, the power to forgive proves that man has been given the command and authority from God to establish, on earth, Sacred Order and Divine Protocol in communion with apostolic authority, it is in the hands of mankind and the Church. The ultimate power to forgive sins demonstrates the powerful endowment given to mankind to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. This is the call of apostolic authority, given by Christ, to agree and establish apostolic doctrine and order on behalf of Christ, through the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we come into agreement we actually confirm the presence of Christ in His Church. When the apostle Paul was confronted by our Lord and the road to Damascus, Jesus asked him why he was persecuting Him (Jesus) when it was actually the members of His Body that Paul was attacking. Once again, the commission and authority given to men, Jesus sees as His very on self. Dont fear man-made order that God has blessed through His apostolic community. Jesus is still building His Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against Her, His Bride.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 00:42:59 +0000
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