Resurrection Life
April 17, 2014
Resurrection Life
John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Resurrection means a rising up as from a seat. In this scripture Jesus communicates to Martha that the resurrection isn’t just an event for a future date in history. Resurrection is the Spirit of Life and it is resident in the person of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Those who are in Christ Jesus walking according to the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, are walking also in the principle of resurrection life. The other part of that is that we are no longer walking in the principles and laws of sin and death. As faith is the inverse of fear and unbelief, so resurrection life is the inverse of death. It is that which rises up and unseats death. We see this truth in Romans 8:10-11,
“And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Even now are we experiencing resurrection life in us as we are being transformed from death to life in Christ Jesus. There is a spiritual principle of life at work in us that is powerful and life giving. It is greater than death itself. Death obviously is still having it’s time and place even among the most spiritual of men, but under the direction of the Almighty even the powerful enemy of death must bow to the resurrection life of Christ. Even death could not hold Him in the grave. The destiny of our walk is to know death to that man of sin in our former nature. That death to self is bringing us into the resurrection life of Christ Jesus. Hebrews 2:14 says, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” We see then that power of death is held in the devil’s hands. Jesus dealt satan a deathblow at the cross through His death. What we must grasp is through that principle of death to sin and self there arises the Spirit of Life. The crushed grapes yield the wine. The seed that is planted and dies, gives way to the life within in it. What Christ has done as the head, He will accomplish through the body. In Philippians 3:10-11 the apostle Paul declares, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead (or more literally, “out of the dead”).” Christ is at work in us today to deliver us out of the power of sin and death that still is at work in our mortal bodies. He is the Life Force within us. The fellowship with His sufferings and the identification with His death are made more and more real to us the closer we walk with Him. But the death that works in us is giving place to life, His resurrection life that is also at work in us. It has the power to quicken and give life even to our mortal bodies. We see it in a measure now, but soon without measure in those who are the partakers of the first resurrection. In that first resurrection are those who rule and reign in Christ. Revelations 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” As Paul goes on to say in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Pursue and lay hold of His Resurrection Life.
blessings,
#kent
When We Doubt
February 12, 2014
When We Doubt
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
When We Doubt
There is a thief the comes to steal,
The identity he says that is not real.
He brings with him doubt, fear and unbelief,
He comes to rob my faith because he is a thief.
What if all my faith is in vain?
Then I can hold on to all my guilt and shame.
What if this message of the cross is just a lie?
Then wretched and most miserable of men am I.
Let me return to the sin and death from which I came,
Let me forsake life and hope if God’s Word is just a game.
Let me return to when my heart was perverted and my walk was lame,
If all roads lead to God, then Jesus why did you come to die in vain?
The Jews passed down the account of all the works that God had done.
They did this so they would not forget all the battles by Him they won.
Take some time to recount all of your blessings, one by one.
You will be find yourself amazed at what the Lord has done.
Intellects want to rob your faith through philosophical clatter,
But what you know in your heart is really what does matter.
What you know to be real in your heart, let no man steal,
Christ in you, redeemed by the blood, that is what is real.
Satan and man can throw up all kinds of smoke and mirrors,
But in the end it is the power of Christ that removes all doubt and fears.
If you embrace the lie it is to your shame,
You’ve been stripped of the truth of why Christ came.
There remains no other sacrifice to take away your sin,
You’ve been robbed of life and power that is only found in Him.
Beware of your reasoning that tells you that Christ is a fairytale,
Lest in that time when all hope is lost, your heart will begin to fail.
If Christ be a lie I will still embrace Him until the end,
Because I have experienced His love and know Him as my friend.
No, I don’t understand the mystery of all of His ways,
But I believe when He calls me up, in Him I will be raised.
So you go ahead and embrace the lie if you will.
But I choose to embrace my Savior still.
I have identified with Him, and so I am no longer my own,
I am becoming flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone.
I will not let fear, doubt and unbelief rob me of the identity that is mine.
In Him my life is hid and out of His righteousness my life will shine.
I know who I am and I will not let anyone take that from me.
For in Christ I live and through His blood I have found my liberty.
Poor indeed is the man that let his faith be robbed,
In the day of judgement bitter tears he will sob.
Stand your ground and hold fast the truth proclaimed,
When faith has stood the test, His promises you will claim.
Kent Stuck
The Peace of Christ
March 4, 2013
Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.
The Peace of Christ
The peace of Christ is a gift that Jesus gave and left for His followers to have. It is an attribute of the Spirit that we carry within us. Remember when Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Christ is the peace in the midst of all of life’s storms. It is found in our spirits, not our mind, will or emotion. His peace is that secure place of His rest wherein we abide under the shadow of the Almighty and under the wing of His protection. In that place there is no fear or anxiety because it is the attribute of His presence and the storms of this world can not enter into that place. This place and attribute of peace is what the Lord wants us to live out of. It is what is to rule in our hearts, our decisions and is to guide our actions. That place of peace is His salvation actively working in our lives.
Ephesians 2:17 says, “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” That peace is His salvation that not given just to take us to heaven when we die, but to make us realize that are to be living out of heavenly places right now. Colossians 3:1-4 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” If you died and your life is hid with Christ in God, then where do you live and where do you live out of? When we know how to live in our position, then we will learn how to live in our peace, because “the kingdom of heaven is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).”
When we are living out of emotions, or our intellect or self-will, then we are living out of the realm of the soul and not the spirit. If we have died and our life is in Christ then His Spirit and His peace must have dominion over every aspect of our soul and all aspects of our soul need to be in submission to the spirit, that is the temple and habitation of God’s Holy Spirit. God is never moved, or upset or worried about the conditions and circumstances of this world. He is always at peace and that is that place He has called us to live out of and be ruled from. It is out of the peace of God that we move in the will of God. That is the place of His rest and we abide there by our faith and confidence in Him.
Don’t make major decisions out of place of strong emotion, but subject all of your soul to the peace of His Spirit and He will lead and direct you into right decisions and choices. God is here to bring order to our lives through the sovereignty of His Being. As we walk in the Spirit, guided by the peace of the Spirit, our hearts are ruled by that peace and in Him we live, move and have our being.
Blessings,
kent