30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 18 31-34 KNOWING THE THINGS THAT ARE SPOKEN OF HIM 13 The gospel message that must be shared to all the nations
📖 Luke 18:31-34
28Oct2020 - *The gospel message that must be shared to all the nations* - _Luke 18:31-34_ - KNOWING THE THINGS THAT ARE SPOKEN OF HIM 13 – Bible reading: _Romans 8:10-11_
_Luke 18:33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."_
Yesterday, we concluded by saying, life in His kingdom is lived from a broken and contrite spirit, surrendering and inviting the Holy Spirit to live out the life of Jesus from within us. It is no more us, but Christ who now lives in and through from within us _(Galatians 2:20)_ The self is being dethroned and Christ enthroned.
This is beautifully expressed for us here. _Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you._ The triune God were at work in the resurrection of Jesus and they now come and take residence in us. Our mortal bodies are now empowered by God Himself, who resides in us through His Spirit.
This is the good news of the gospel. The resurrection message is an integral part of the good news. We cannot stop at Jesus dying for us on the cross, or with the burial of Jesus. We must arrive at the wonderful kingdom life that is now lived through us because of the resurrection of Jesus, which we have seized by faith.
The law was good and righteous but the law did not empower us to meet the righteous requirements of God. The law only made us miserable for we were shown what was good and though we desired to do what was good, we were not able to, for we were fallen in the flesh.
God met His requirements through Jesus, who came in the flesh and met the righteous requirement of God in the flesh. In doing so, He condemned sin in the flesh. _Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (4) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit._
We identified with the death and burial of Jesus, we also identify with His resurrection. As we identify with His resurrection, the Spirit of God, who now is in residence in us, empowers and enables us to meet the righteous requirements of God. What a glorious gospel message.
We made this clear yesterday that by our own effort, we cannot please God. _Romans 8:8-10 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (9) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (10) And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness._
We must now reckon that we are always in the Spirit, though we do face temptations and struggles in the flesh. When we received Jesus into our lives, we were born of water and the Spirit. The Spirit of God has birthed us into the family of God. As we live out our daily lives and as we face the everyday challenges of life, we invite and welcome the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, to take over our situations.
This is an intentional and deliberate exercise. The Lord will never take away from us, the freedom of choice. He even strengthens us to will His will _(Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.)_ but God will not tamper with the sovereignty of our individual freedom.
As the Holy Spirit is permitted to take over situations and circumstances in our everyday lives, we will be astonished at the freedom, wisdom, strength and confidence that we can experience, for the Holy Spirit is producing His life from within us. This is the life of righteousness before God.
Friends, there is no necessity to struggle anymore for as we walk in the Spirit, we will overcome to desires of the flesh. _Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh._
This thrilling, powerful and victorious life is the life of the gospel. It is also the life in His kingdom, for we are constantly dethroning the self and we are enthroning Christ. This life in the Spirit is also our witness to the world, to which we have been commissioned.
_Act 2:32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.
_Luke 24:46-48 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to *rise from the dead* the third day, (47) and that repentance and remission of sins should be *preached in His name to all nations*, beginning at Jerusalem. (48) And you are witnesses of these things._
*Thought to ponder*
```Are you being a witness to your world of the resurrected Jesus living and operating through you?```