Just Like

"And death is defeated because Jesus Christ is alive."

THE CHURCH has become too human when we are supposed to be supernatural. We aren’t reborn in spirit simply to live eternally but to make a difference. To affect the atmosphere around us. But in our humanity, Satan isn’t over here or over there, he isn’t affecting our youth or our elderly. Our government. This is what we tell ourself. We ignore him, and in so doing, signal acceptance. Or we make too much of him and shrink God down to mini-size.

We are meant to do what Jesus did, except only He is the sacrifice. He healed the sick, cast out demons; His life affected believers and non-believers. He made government think twice about what He did. He altered education. The apostle Paul sets an example. He called all he knew dung. Being of the upper social class, learning the pharisaical knowledge in the temple, being zealous, none of it was anything when placed next to who he’d become through Jesus Christ.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Over time, the devil through religious thinking today has, just like with the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, removed the complete work of the cross and the presence of the Spirit from the temple. Which is us. We are the temple. We’re too afraid of offending God to obey what is written. However, Jesus sets our example. He walked on water and commanded the storm to cease. He raised a mother’s son during the funeral, as He was passing by. He opened the eyes of the blind and cast out demons. He raised the dead. His apostles did as Jesus did and saw great miracles. Peter and John used Jesus’ name to heal a lame man that everybody knew. The apostle Phillip was translated from the desert of Gaza to a town miles away (Act 8:39-40).

Has God changed from who He was in Acts 10:38? Jesus Christ is the same forever, we are assured (Hebrews 13:8). We are afraid to walk by faith. But can God protect His own? Yes! He proved this with Peter and with Paul, on repeat.

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)

Some say these things have passed, that healing and deliverance died out with the apostles. But nowhere are we told apostles have vanished. Nor prophets, nor pastors, nor teachers. All are the work of the ministry. We have John’s revelation as proof. Here is Christ in all His glory and the end of all suffering, which was God’s plan from the beginning. The devil isn’t interested in healing anyone; he is the source of demonic oppression and possession. He is a thief who steals, kills, and destroys—finances, mental stability, physical strength, relationships. These are Jesus’ words in John 10:10. Jesus also called him the father of lies (John 8:44). There is no truth in him. So presented with God’s power to heal, have we become like those who surrounded Jesus? They said He did the work of the devil. What are we to believe? Look at Jesus’ reply. Satan’s “kingdom” isn’t divided between demons that heal and demons that kill. God’s kingdom isn’t divided between light and darkness. Heaven has no shadows at all, and I saw it. There were no shadows.

“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” (Matthew 12:25-28)

James 1 says God isn’t tempted by evil and tempts no one to do evil. Need I say, healing is a good thing? Our trust in God comes through our love for Him and His for us. He is forever merciful and will go to the utmost extent, still, to rescue. We spend too much time reasoning it out in our minds instead of trusting God completely. What we don’t understand, we fear, then we criticize and condemn others for being different. Romans 8:1 and John 3:17 say there is no condemnation coming from God. Condemnation comes from us, but we are commanded to love all people. Everyone. Good people AND bad people.

Perhaps I should boil it down for you. John 3:16 begins at salvation. For God SO LOVED the WORLD (not just the church) that He GAVE His only-begotten Son that WHOSOEVER (that’s anyone) believeth in Him SHALL NOT PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE. That word PERISH does not specify how. It doesn’t say perish only spiritually. Or perish only mentally. Or perish only physically. It means PERISH IN ANY MANNER. God’s life is seen all around us. The skies are His handiwork. The sun emerges “as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber (Psalm 19:5).” The ocean tides continue to flow as He set them. Babies are born every second of every day, and it still takes a man and a woman to conceive them and a woman to carry them. This will continue forever because God is everlasting. He is eternal, before time and He will be forever after time.

He began time to end it. He does not give this honor to the devil. He defeated the devil. We are to submit to God and then, because His is Lord, we resist the devil. If we know the devil killed one person, then the devil is behind killing everyone else. Death is on this planet because he enticed Adam to sin. And death is defeated because Jesus Christ is alive. We must stop being human in our thinking, IN OUR DOING, and lean into the Spirit who lives within us. We must learn His voice and set our hearts to obedience. We must realize we don’t know everything, and we have misunderstood much, and seek Him for teaching, for wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17). There will come a day when prophecies will cease, a day when we have full knowledge, but for now, we are looking into a mirror and walking away, forgetful.

Christ in us, that’s the Anointed One (He is forever anointed) is how we live well. The deception is that we can’t, that we are weakened by the work of the enemy. We sit down and give up and call it reverence, but God is asking us to stand up and come boldly into His presence and go out and be like Jesus. Just like.

“At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” (Ephesians 1:23, MSG)

HEAR "Eternal Life Makes A Difference" with Becky Combee.

Photo by Wilfried Santer on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com