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The Coming Increase of Christ in His House
God intends for His people to so receive the abundance of His grace and His righteousness, that we would reign in life more than death has reigned through Adam’s sin (Romans 5:17). In other words, He intends to shape the world by the power of His life within His people prior to the return of Christ more than death has.[5] The Lord’s goal is nothing less than a people filled and overflowing with His life, and living accordingly.
Jesus Christ is our example. The conclusion we draw from observing His earthly ministry is that after all was said and done, His life conquered death (John 2:19; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20). Christ’s resurrection makes this compelling proclamation; God’s life is more powerful than death and it triumphs over death.
And it is His life that has been poured into His people. Believers do not simply talk about God; we have His very presence in our hearts (Romans 8:9). He is as much on Earth today through the presence of the Holy Spirit as He was through the incarnation of Christ two thousand years ago. The Holy Spirit is not some portion of the deity; He is not one third of God. The Creator of Heaven and Earth is present on Earth dwelling in a people. This reality is what defines Christianity.
We have simply lost our way if we allow ourselves to be defined by the buildings we meet in, the Christian leaders we relate to, the evangelistic methods we use, the doctrines we hold to,[6] etc. The house of God is to be known primarily for one thing—God lives there. And where God lives, death has no future.
All of us want to see the light of God increase among the nations. How the world needs illumination! Even though the Lord has called His Church to this task, the world is filled with darkness. Why? The answer lies in the fact that it is not religion but life that illuminates the souls of men. In Christ was life and that life was the light of men (John 1:4). Jesus, filled with the life of His Father, stepped into a world of great darkness and proceeded to turn on the lights (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:13-17). In fact, while He was on Earth, He was the only source of spiritual light available for the whole planet (John 9:5).
But as the light began to dawn two thousand years ago in the nation of Israel, those more involved in a religion about God than they were with God himself, rose up to extinguish that light. Remarkably, John’s two-fold testimony some years later was that the darkness never really did comprehend what the light was all about, and that the same light continued to shine on Earth even after Jesus had gone back to Heaven (John 1:5).
Today, the light persists in the nations through the lives of God’s people. Even if it is somewhat dim compared to how it shone in Christ two thousand years ago, that light continues to get brighter. The Lord has a declaration to make: “My life, which is the light of men, conquers death!”
The great spiritual conflict today remains between life and death. And that war is being fought not only in the world, but also in the house of God. Religion is the counterfeit of life. It illuminates nothing and produces death. On the other hand, God’s life illuminates the human soul and exposes death for what it is.
As a result, the religious spirit hates and opposes the life of God, and seeks to crush it in the hearts of people. Even as the religious spirit in Israel sought to extinguish the light in Christ, so also throughout Church history it has sought to extinguish the same light in faithful believers among the nations.
But the life of God will triumph and His power to illuminate the darkened souls of men will increasingly be released as His people come to live consistently in harmony with Christ, alive in us.
Above all else, the Church is about Christ, and He is our life (John 14:6). Unfortunately, many who once believed and came to deeply love the Lord Jesus have lost their way. In losing sight of Him, they have lost the road of life. Jesus is both the road to life and the road of life.[7] Just as the road leading to life was narrow, and there were few finding it two thousand years ago (Matthew 7:14) the road of life once found must not then be taken for granted. We must continually seek and discover Christ in the daily experiences of the Christian life.
The enemy seeks to obscure Christ from our sight. Satan doesn’t mind us filling our lives with Christian terminology, many meetings and activities, even supporting our choices with Christian doctrine, as long as the person of Christ doesn’t fill those activities. The Christian life can so easily become an empty shell. If Christ doesn’t permeate our Christian experience, we then settle for a lifestyle that over time will cloud our eyes from beholding Him. In fact, those very activities will take His place. How subtle the enemy is.
Whatever then takes God’s place in His own house becomes a false god. But false gods have no staying power. While they may abide for many years in the Church, yet when God arises, they crumble before Him and the road of life is again revealed. But such awakenings bring opposition from those who have grown comfortable with the status quo.
Clearly, the great spiritual war between life and death must be won in the Church. Life must triumph over death among us if it is ever to bring the kind of change that God intends for the nations.
Today much of the Church is literally powerless before the suffocating veil of spiritual death afflicting the nations. The reason is because too many of us find our identities in the Christian life rather than in Christ who is our life. But if we would humble ourselves before Him and consistently receive from Him the abundance of both His grace and His righteousness, we would then find the beauty of His holy character and purpose filling our vision.
Worship would then spring up from our hearts and we would become thankful for all He has done and continues to do in us. Faith would rise up in our hearts expecting Him to reveal himself in even the seemingly mundane experiences of daily life. Illumination would come to our souls and would then filter out to those around us who think that darkness is light and that life without God is normal.
But what is usual is not necessarily normal. Two thousand years ago, the only normal man to walk the Earth stepped up to the plate and announced that those who had seen Him had seen God. (It took God to be a man and reveal normalcy.) The light of God began to shine and many who enjoyed the darkness reacted quite negatively. But God had promised something through the prophet Isaiah. The light would dawn in Israel and would slowly increase among the nations (Isaiah 60:1-7). Even kings would come to the rising light. And what would be God’s objective? He would beautify and make glorious His house (vs. 7, 13, 14).
Today, the war for the soul of the nations is being fought in the Church. And most do not seem to understand the issues. The light that illuminates the world is found only in the life of God. We must return to Him with all of our hearts and be filled with His life. Our gatherings must become feasts of life. The living presence of God must become our focus. Christian leadership cannot change the world. Apostles cannot change the world. But a people filled with life will shine and the nations will be confronted with the light that exposes delusions.
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