| << | Contents | >> |
Articles 2014-2017
The great spiritual war for the earth is intensifying. And all believers in Christ have been drafted into the conflict. While Satan is the ruler of this world (John 14:30) – this present world system responds to him and his tactics, yet he is a squatter. It has all been promised to someone else. And the way that God decided to remove the unlawful and false ruler was to start with a man named Abraham.
When God called him to come and follow Him, Abraham responded in faith, and the Lord accounted it to him as righteousness. And what God was initiating with His servant, He intended to impact the whole world.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Heir of the world? Really? It was true that God had promised to Abraham that his name would be made great and that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:2 - 3). He would become the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4) and his offspring would possess the gate of their enemies (Genesis 22:17). Clearly there would be great victory for the seed of Abraham. But the book of Genesis does not use the exact words that Paul did – that Abraham and his seed would be the heir of the world. Yet God revealed to Paul that His promises in Genesis meant exactly that.
And though Israel was the natural descendant of Abraham, yet Heaven had more in mind. New Testament apostolic insight reveals that more comprehensively, the seed of Abraham was Christ and all who belong to Him – both Jew and Gentile.
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
This means that the world belongs to Christ and is our inheritance. America does not belong to the elites of society – the educational, entertainment, political, or economic “powers that be”. It belongs to God’s anointed Son.
In our day, the elites of the world arrogantly proclaim their plans for the nations. Many envision a global unity centered in man. But two recent incidences took them by surprise – 1) our latest presidential election and 2) Britain’s decision to withdraw from the European Union. Though many involved in these two events did not know the Lord and acted accordingly, yet the events themselves brought a significant disruption to the plans of many. I believe that God was behind this interruption. After all, He is the One who promised to shake the nations. Today, we see a certain measure of reaction.
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
I realize that there are many more applications to the second Psalm than how I use it in this article. The early disciples saw its importance for them in the first century (Acts 4:23 - 28). I am sure as well that the Church has seen its relevance time and again since those early days. But we must see the war unfolding before us in this present generation. God does have a strategy. And David’s prophetic words have specific relevance for us.
While our president is not the one that many of us would have chosen, clearly God has placed him in the role of leadership in this nation. And in doing so, He has interrupted the plans of many. And they are trying everything they can think of to remove this “aberration of history”. But while they confidently promote their concepts of normalcy, the Lord mocks their arrogance.
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision (Hebrew, LAAG – “to mock, deride, ridicule”).
But He does not stop there. Notice the warning.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
A new intensity is emerging in God’s articulation of His Good News. Let the world take note. His anointed king of the nations, Jesus, has been installed with all authority in heaven and on earth. And the repercussions for the world will be massive.
Notice David’s prophetic insight into Jesus’ words at the time of His resurrection.
I will tell of the decree: the Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
When was Jesus begotten? Some have suggested in eternity past. Others point to His birth in Bethlehem. But Paul clearly connects David’s statement in Psalm 2 to Christ’s resurrection.
And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.”
At His resurrection, Jesus became 1) the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18), 2) the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15), and 3) the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29). As a result, we gather together today as members of the Church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12:23).
What else did the Father say to Jesus on that glorious day?
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
Is this promise from the Father to His Son in the process of being fulfilled? Does the future belong to Christ or to the powers of darkness? Should the perspective of the media hold primary sway in our thinking? Or is there a prophetic word of warning to the nations that they are both buying and propagating a lie? The truth is quite startling.
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
While these words will be ultimately fulfilled at the final judgment, they also have application today. The second coming of Christ will not be totally disconnected from His work in history but will be its culmination (Ephesians 4:10 - 16; 5:27). His words about dashing the nations in pieces are not words of compromise but of unyielding commitment and resolve. No matter what the nations come up with to further their agenda, they will continue to beat their heads against the solid rock of Heaven’s steadfast tenacity. His kingdom is coming on earth because He told us to pray for it. Millions have responded and prayed that specific prayer over the course of many centuries. And Heaven has heard.
Notice scripture’s warning to earth’s elites.
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
The only safe place to be in the time of God’s judgments is in Him as our refuge. May we draw close to Him and learn to abide there. The years ahead will be too dangerous anywhere else.
Notice again Paul’s words in Romans Chapter 4.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Because God’s promise was not based on His people’s efforts to keep laws but on His gracious gift of righteousness, its fulfillment is assured. Law is static; righteousness is a gift that bears fruit. And the full fruit of Calvary’s impact on humanity is still coming into clarity.
For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs (i.e., of the world), faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
The Law cannot bring us to our inheritance. Looking into it shows us our failures and what we deserve as a result. And if we just got rid of it we would then have no violation of specific written commands. But we would still be in our sin. Sin existed long before the Law was given (e.g., consider the days of Noah). But when we believe in the Lord like Abraham did, we find Christ as the centerpiece of all scripture including the Law. And He brings both hope and the power to change.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring–not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
God wants us to enter our inheritance; the nations belong to Him. And they are an inheritance for which we must fight. Multitudes must yet turn to Him. It is not that everyone will get saved; it is that many more will be coming into God’s kingdom than we have had faith for.
And we will only enter our birthright by faith as He releases His grace among us. In His arsenal to distribute among us He has grace to prophesy, grace to be intercessors, grace to be apostles, grace to be homeschoolers, grace to share our faith with others, etc. If His promise is based on our striving to keep all His commandments, the Church will simply fail at her calling. But since it is based on faith and empowered by grace, Heaven has guaranteed our success. Read the above verse again. Nowhere in this section of Paul’s writings is he referring to Christ’s return. That glorious day will be the culmination of the war. But the spiritual intensity of the present day requires that we both humble ourselves before Him so that we might be recipients of His grace and then that we believe in Him who promised that though the land before us has many giants and walled cities, we will prevail. The price He paid is simply too high for us to be complacent. Let us press in to know Him. Let us wait upon Him. Let us listen for the next step each of us must take in the unfolding conflict.
Donald Rumble – August 2017
Search Comments
This page has been visited 0049 times.
| << | Contents | >> |
10 per page