The Psalm 23 Adventure, Part 53

 

August 18, 2017

 

We could very well run long again today, but I need to connect all of the dots for you as we wrap up this discussion on the cup, so let’s get started.  Let me cover some of the same ground that I did last week in order for you to see the connection.

 

II Corinthians 5:17-19:  So then, if any person is grafted into and immersed in the Anointed One (and His anointing), he is a new fabrication -- a newly formed being; the previous life [the lifestyle and the old characteristics thereof] has perished; you can see and perceive for yourself that every part of one's being is an unprecedented substance -- a new species.

 

And all that has happened and taken place has its origins in God, Who did this purposefully to reconcile and restore our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, Who has given us that same ministry, namely, that God was and is in Christ, restoring the world to that intimate relationship with Himself, and not indicting the world for its sins and failures;

 

He has committed to us that Word (and the responsibility) of reconciliation and restoration.  (RAC Translation & Amplification)

Now, watch as we see what is unfolding.  We are becoming the cup-bearers to the world!

 

The picture that Paul draws is that not only was Jesus in the Father, but that the Father came to earth IN JESUS!

 

Have a look at another scripture.

 

Colossians 1:19-22:  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.

 

This passage is a revelation all by itself.  Go back to the Cross and take a look at Jesus hanging there.  It isn’t just Jesus: it is you hanging there; it is me; it is all of us hanging there on the Cross.

 

Look at what Paul says once again.  “For it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus) should all fullness dwell.”

 

What “fullness”?  ALL — A L L fullness!  That’s us, folks!  Think about this for a minute.

 

(1)  Jesus was/is the Word (John 1:1-3).

(2) Jesus was/is the Life (John 1:4, 14:6).

 

(3) Jesus was/is The Light (John 1:4, 14:6)

(4) Jesus is The Way (John 14:6) and there is no other way!

(5) Jesus is The Truth (John 14:6) "the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

(6) Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah (Maschiach), the Anointed One (Mark 8:29, 14:61-62, I John 2:22, 5:1)

(7) Jesus is the Resurrection (John 11:25)

(8) Jesus is The Name Above Every Name (Philippians 2:9)

(9) He is the I AM (Revelation 1:8)

(10) Jesus is LORD (Philippians 2:11, Acts 10:36, Revelation 17:14) and He is LORD of Lords!

(11) Jesus is Peace (Ephesians 2:14)

(12) Jesus is the Alpha and Omega -- the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8, 11)

 

We've really only scratched the surface with these descriptions, titles and appellations.

 

Paul properly expressed it when he wrote (and this is from the Amplified Bible), “For it has pleased {the Father] that all the divine fullness — the sum total of the divine perfection, powers and attributes — should dwell in Him permanently.”

 

And this is where Paul takes it the next step to show what happened when Jesus took us into Himself.

 

Colossians 1:21-22 (Amplified Version):  And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence.

 

Are you seeing it now?

 

When Jesus hung on the Cross He took us into Him.  He put us in Him as He hung on the Cross so that we [that is to say, our sinful nature and flesh] — in and through Him — would die.

 

But Jesus didn’t leave things there.  We didn’t just die in and through and with Him: we experienced resurrection with Him, in Him, and through Him.  When Jesus rose from the dead, we rose too because we were in Him!  Remember how Paul said that all the divine fullness existed in Christ — how everything is made complete in Him?  We, too — because we are in Him — are complete.  Here’s how Paul continues in his letter to the Ekklesia in Colosse:

 

Colossians 2:9-13 (Amplified Version):  For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form — giving complete expression of the divine nature.  And you are in Him, made full and have come to fullness of life — in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature.  And He is the Head of all rule and authority — of every angelic principality and power.

 

In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh [the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts], [Thus you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.

 

And you, who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh — your sensuality, your sinful, carnal nature — [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having (freely) forgiven us of all sins.  (See also KJV)

 

When Jesus rose from the dead, therefore, because we were (and are) in Him, we also rose from the dead.

 

We’ve already talked about the fact that Jesus provided death cancellation for all of us by keeping our appointment with death.  In fact, we were in Christ when He hung on the Cross, keeping our appointment.  When Jesus rose from the dead, coming out of that tomb, we were in Him.

 

If I seem to be repeating myself, I am, but my objective is to say this in as many different ways as possible so that we all get this revelation.  I personally believe there is no revelation more important than this.

 

Everything that Jesus does in our lives, everything we accomplish, our growth and spiritual development, our ministry, the miracles that we perform and participate in — all hang on our being in Christ when He died, and then rose again from the dead.

Death cancellation means we don’t have to put up with death.  Resurrection from the dead means that death has no power or hold of any kind over us.

 

It also means that we are free from all disease, infirmity, sickness and pain — since they all stem from the dying process.

 

Thus, “He that eats and feeds on my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells continually in me, and I [in like manner dwell continually] in him.”

 

Colossians 2:13-15:  And you, being dead (nekros: a corpse) in your sins (paraptoma: intentional and unintentional error, lapse or deviation) and the uncircumcision of your flesh (akrobustia: metaphor for non-covenantal state), hath he quickened together (suzoopoieo: reanimate con-jointly) with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out (exaleipho: obliterate) the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

 

And having spoiled (apekduomai: divesting oneself wholly and completely) principalities and powers (arché & exousia: “chief” authorities [archangels or demonic authorities] and “superhuman” magistrates or controllers — demonic powers), he made a show of them openly, triumphing (thriambeuo: “noisy iambus”, to make an exclamatory procession) over them in it.

 

The picture that Paul draws here is that of Jesus loudly proclaiming — even singing clamorously and poetically — and putting on exhibit Satan himself and all his demonic forces to show and demonstrate that their power and authority was finished.

Satan had committed a crime for which he was judged and sentenced.  His crime was thievery and murder.  He killed someone — Jesus — who was not subject to his authority.

 

We have already noted in the past that under universal law, slaves were considered as property.  They were not regarded as human beings, and therefore had no right to protest their treatment by Satan.

 

Jesus took us with Him, in Him, and was in us when He went to the grave and was buried in the tomb.  By the same token, when Jesus was raised from the dead by the Father, we were raised in Him, with Him and He in us.

 

Notice exactly how Paul phrases this.

 

Colossians 2:13:  “He re-animated [us] con-jointly with Him; and at the same time obliterated, demolished and wiped totally clean the decrees of judgment (and accompanying sentence of death) that had been written against us.”  (RAC Translation & Amplification)

 

So what happens each time we eat and drink at the Table of the Lord?  We eat and drink of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Thus, we have “Christ in us!”  But notice, once again, how Paul parallels this to Water Baptism.

 

Colossians 2:12 (Amplified Version): [Thus you were circumcised (and entered into His Covenant) when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.

 

We enter into the Covenant through Water Baptism.

 

(1) The corpse of sin gets buried.  The “non-person” slave, subject to Satan is put in the grave.

(2) We as new, reanimated, living, breathing creations — re-made in the image and likeness of God — come forth from the grave as beings not subject to the Law of Sin and Death.

(3) Just as Jesus did, we make an open show of principalities and powers in triumph and joyful, noisy song by virtue of having entered into this New Covenant.

 (4) Water Baptism not only engages the Covenant for us with Him, it also puts on notice Satan, his archangels, his magistrates and all his demonic foot soldiers that their power or authority over us has been broken and demolished once and for all!

(5) Without Water Baptism, even though we were in Christ and He was in us when He died and was buried, and then rose from the dead, no covenantal step has been taken on our part to demonstrate our    acceptance of the New Covenant.  Without Water Baptism — and this is an act of faith — nothing has taken place that says to Satan and his armies, “Your authority and power over me has been broken.  Your right to torment me, your right to steal from me, your right to take my life — without legal consequence — has been broken by the Blood of the Lamb.”

 

Remember how John saw this picture?

 

Revelation 12:11:  And they (the faith-filled and faith-acting believers) subdued, conquered and prevailed over Satan, gaining complete victory by the Blood of the Lamb [shed through his painful beatings and suffering, and death on the Cross] and the Word of their testimony [the evidence, report and record given] (that they too were in Christ when He died and rose again] spoken, sung and acted upon in Water Baptism; and they did not love, adhere to and cling to their souls, their mindsets and their old thought processes, willingly and determinedly putting their souls, their mindsets and their old thought processes to death. (RAC Translation and Amplification)

 

What precipitated this statement by John?  What was it that he witnessed when he was transported into the Heavenlies in and by the Spirit?

 

Revelation 12:10:   And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

 

The accuser — our accuser — is finished!  But that “finishing” is accomplished through faith.  We finish him by the Word of our testimony.

 

We give evidence, first-hand testimony as personal witnesses by virtue of the fact that we were in Christ when he died, that we were in Christ when He rose from the dead, and that we have entered into the new Covenant with Him.  We further give first-hand testimony to the fact that He became The Lamb That Was Slain which took away the curse and all our sins.  Finally, we can testify that we have acted upon the Covenant extended to us by being buried with Jesus Christ in baptism; and that we have been raised to New Life in Christ!!  We are in Him!  We are in Him!  We are in Him!  And He is in us!  He is in us!  HE IS IN US !!!

 

NOW you see why the cup is running over!  It’s inevitable because of what has taken place in our lives and the Covenant we entered into when we declared that The Lord is my Shepherd!  That Covenant initiated a process in our lives that has brought us to this day.  Our cup truly runneth over!

 

 For those of you who’ve been participating in our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call, we just want to let you know that beginning with the month of July and continuing until the first Monday night in October, we will be taking a break for the summer.  We’ve found during the past three years of doing this call that participation during the summer months drops significantly because of folks taking their vacations, and being involved in other activities.  That said, we will resume our prayer calls on Monday night, October 2nd.

 

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available by Skype.  If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener.  If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!

 

.

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

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