Matthew 6:10 NIV Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
As we have considered the fellowship of God’s Son, it is obvious that God wants His kingdom to reign on earth.
This was a part of the Lord’s lesson on prayer. It was also part of the Apostle’s Creed that the Church should have a worldwide place and impact. The Church is not to be shoved off into a corner and become insignificant, unseen, and irrelevant. God has set the household of believers up to be a lively example and reflection of the Kingdom of God in heaven. That is why God the Father has blessed us in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
God has made it possible for believers to freely enjoy and demonstrate Christ’s power and might in this world.
He has released us from the bondage, chains, and control of our sinful past. He has prepared us to stand strong, bravely resist, and stand our ground against the adversary. God has given us everything that is necessary to live the overcoming and victorious life. Christ Jesus has become our righteousness, peace, and joy, so that we may be enabled to stand.
Jesus Christ is our victory. As a physical, active, dynamic body, the body of believers is the living temple of the Holy Spirit.
Think about this fact.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV84 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
From within the temple, the Holy Spirit establishes, empowers, and achieves the Father and Son’s work on earth. The Holy Spirit is working within us and through us to do this.
As long as the church remains on this earth, the Holy Spirit will be actively working to achieve God’s objective.
Ephesians 3:10-12 NIV His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Before Christ ascended back to the Father in heaven, He made it clear that believers would be given power to carry on His work and ministry on earth.
God is determined to have the same power, authority, and rule on earth through our lives as He has in heaven.
To this end, the Lord taught the disciples to pray that God’s rule would be established in their lives and situations now. This is why it is crucial for believers to assume their rightful position in the world. We need to come into a fuller understanding of Kingdom principles, activities, and power. Each of us must seek and possess the power of the Holy Spirit to be and do what God has planned.
1 John 4:4 NIV84 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
The One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. The word and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is continuing through the church. Watch what Jesus said about this.
John 14:15-17 NKJV If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
The body of believers, the church, has become a divinely chosen agency for change in this world.
We are Christ’s representatives in this world. Through us, God’s love, mercy, grace, and power is to be demonstrated to the world. By or through God’s power we are agencies of change. God has given His Spirit to enable us to carry on the ministry and purpose of the Kingdom of God and Christ. We are made mighty in God to carry out His purpose in this world, (2 Corinthians 10:4).
The Holy Spirit directed Paul to clarify the position, power, and purpose of the church in 2 Corinthians 10.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV84 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
What is this saying?
God has given believers everything that is necessary to conquer anything that rises up against God’s plan for blessing, favor and victory. This power that is working within us enables us to conquer a negative and destructive thought life. We are not of the world and we are not like the world.
Ephesians says we have been seated with Christ.Our hearts have been captivated by Christ. We have been given the Holy Spirit’s supernatural power to demolish strongholds, arguments, and every pretension that sets up against the knowledge of God.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 AMP For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ.
This is a spiritual battle in our mind and spirit. It is more than a mental adjustment. At the very basic level of our life, we are given the power to live victorious in Christ, through the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 3:10 NIV His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms…
God has made a dramatic change in us.
- When He saved us, He changed us.
- When He changed us, He gave us His Spirit, power, and authority.
- When He gave us His Spirit, power, and authority, He connected us to the ministry of Christ.
- When He connected us to the ministry of Christ, He made us overcomers and conquerors.
God’s intent was to display through the church what He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To carry this out to completion, the heavenly Father has equipped us and filled us with His Spirit. God is saying, “These are the ones I have called into the fellowship of My Son.” Since we have been made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, we must be equipped with power. We must take every effort to become established in the faith and be built up in Christ Jesus. We must show evidence of our relationship and fellowship with Christ by being covered with His righteousness and filled with His Spirit.
There is a practical component here that impacts our daily lives. God has implemented everything that is necessary to facilitate this in each of us.
How does God make known through us His manifold wisdom?
First, He has filled us with His Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit lives in us and is given the lead in our lives, we become a living demonstration of Christ. We no longer fit into the world’s mold. We are changed by His power. Your old nature, habits, and culture are transformed by His power.
Second, because we have been filled with His Spirit, we have become the voice and manifestation of the power of Christ to the world.
Acts 8:33 NKJV In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”
You need to know that God is depending on you to speak up for Him. You are here for this purpose. God has elevated you from your past failures and sins. He has brought you into Christ’s victory and righteousness. He has made you to be His light in this world.
Third, all of the power of God has been invested in our success.
God has identified you as His very own. He has made you the temple of the Holy Spirit. He has inhabited His temple. The impact of this is greater than you supposed. You have been called out of darkness and have been brought into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
God has set us up for success. We have received from the abundance of His grace, mercy, and love. As a result, we are being displayed as instruments of His grace, mercy, and love. We have been made an extension of His body, voice, and power. His Spirit, power and word have been invested in us. We are living instrumentalities of Jesus Christ to demonstrate His victory, glory and purpose. We have been made to be the expression of His outreach to a needy world.
We must do something that is worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ with our lives.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a precious price and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
