30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 20 27-40 He is not the God of the dead but of the living 17 Luke 20 37-38 Fulfil our task as God’s kingdom builders
📖 Luke 20:27-40
05Apr2021 - *Fulfil our task as God’s kingdom builders* - _Luke 20:27-40_ - HE IS NOT THE GOD OF THE DEAD BUT OF THE LIVING 17 – Bible reading: _Ephesians 2:5-7_
_Luke 20:37-38 But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB.' (38) For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, *for all live to Him*."_
We have been considering this truth that *all live in Him*. The resurrection of Jesus is about us living in Him. The resurrected life of Jesus has already begun now but the life of resurrection, in its full bloom, awaits us in the age which is to come.
We have some glimpses of the age to come by which we are refreshed. The age to come is about a kingdom, where the Lamb is in the midst of the throne of God.
_Revelation 7:15-17 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. (16) They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; (17) for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."_
When we walk in the Spirit, here on earth, and we are able to experience the presence of the Lord in a realistic manner. Then, in the eternal kingdom of Jesus, it will be a complete experience. If the life in the Spirit, even now, is such a joy, how will this truth be in eternity? We can only extrapolate to some extent and take the help of the description given by John, for the age to come. I’m not able to find words to describe the reality to come.
_Revelation 22:1-5 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (2) In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (3) And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (4) They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (5) There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever._
We will reign with Jesus forever and ever. We need to be living now in the realm of the eternal kingdom. The eternal kingdom is the ultimate reality and it is this reality that should grip us here on earth.
Our life here on earth is not a life of drudgery and anxiety. We know that our life here is temporary. We are pilgrims, we are passing through and our time here can come to an end at any time but till that moment, we live a life of exuberance and joy, for we live in the realm of the eternal kingdom.
Reigning with Jesus begins here on earth. _Ephesians 2:5-7 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and *made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus*, (7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus._
Since we are to reign with Jesus, both in this age and in the age to come, we engage with our enemy right now by pulling down the strongholds of the evil one and establishing the rule of God here.
The evil one is able to execute all of his wicked schemes because the ones who were mandated to pull down the strongholds of the enemy are not fulfilling their task.
We, the church, are not doing what we have been mandated, tasked, empowered and enabled to do. We are the ones who are to stand in the way of the evil one and tell him to flee, for this is God’s earth, God’s world, God’s creation and we are His children.
We must confront the evil one, head-on and tell him, “We will not allow you to execute your plans, we will fight you and we will put you to flight”. Our eyes are now opened, we now know who we are and therefore in the name of Jesus, we repulse you and your hoards. We put you to flight and we bring the rule of God here on earth.
We ought to tell satan, to his face, that he has taken over this world, by deceit. The authority to rule this world was never given to him. It was given to man. Now the church has been reinstated by the work of Jesus on the cross to once again bring the rule of God, here on earth _(Colossians 2:14-15/ Hebrews 2:14-15)_
This has to be the stand of the church
_II Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, (6) and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled._
May the Lord enable us, the church, to fulfil our task to pull down the strongholds of the enemy.
*Thought to ponder*
```The devil laughs, mockingly, for the church is not conscious of her place in the plan of God.```