Life in Christ Jesus Podcast

The Church and the Glory of Christ

The Church which is His Body X – The Church and the Glory of Christ
In Exodus, God declared His Name Jehovah to Moses.  In the name of Jehovah God began to reveal Himself as the God of Deliverance, as the God of Covenant with His people, and as the God in the midst of Israel.  Israel came to be known as His people, and Jehovah as their God.  Throughout the wilderness journey and into Canaan Jehovah would make Himself known.  
In this picture that God painted through Israel’s History, He was showing His hearts desire to be in relationship with a people, not just any people, but a people for His Name, for His Nature.  God would reveal Himself that He would be known to the Israelites, and that through this knowing they would make Him known to one another and to the earth.  This desire of God’s heart came to its culmination in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Here God reveals Himself in a people.  Here he is made known.
Let’s consider God’s Glory.  God’s Glory was known in Israel as a Cloud and Fire.  God led them forth from Egypt as a Cloud and Fire.  This Cloud was protection to them when they came to Red Sea from the Egyptians.  This Fire was warmth and light in their camps.  This Cloud filled their tabernacle in the wilderness.  
Exo 40:34 “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys: 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.”
In the wilderness, the earthen vessel erected by Moses and Israelites housed the Glory of God.  God Himself had come to dwell with and among His people Israel who had been brought out of Egypt to a land of promise.  A land where God Himself would be the provider and the provision provided.  This was all speaking of the relationship that we have in Christ in the Church.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians that we have this treasure in earthen vessels.  Now God is not filling a tabernacle or temple made with hands but is filling the Church which is the Body of Jesus Christ.  We are filled with the Glory of Jesus Christ.  God Himself is in His House.  You and I that are His are the very House that He has come to in His Glory to fill us within Himself.  
John 17:20 “Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me. 22 And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me. 24 Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” 

The Church which is His Body - Set Apart to HIm

The Church which is His Body – Jehovah M-KaddeshTHE LORD WHO SANCTIFIES
God declared himself to Moses at the burning bush as the I AM THAT I AM.  As He began to reveal Himself to Israel, He began to reveal Himself through the Jehovah names.  One of which is Jehovah M-Kaddesh, which means the LORD who sanctifies.  Let us hear this.  The Church which is His Body.  We are sanctified or set apart to Him.  We are His Body.  
God said to Israel, “I will be your God, you shall be my people.”   God led them out of Egypt unto Himself.  They were set apart to Him, to what He is.  We could say being sanctified is what He is being made known in you.  Exodus 19:4 “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself.”  This was the reality God brought to Israel.  God Himself was in their midst.  He dwelled in the Tent of Meeting and the Temple.  He filled the place with the Cloud of His presence.  God came to Israel and brought Israel from cruel bondage unto the unlimited supply of Himself.  Glory to God!
Now Jesus says in John 14:3 the same thing.  “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”   In verse 10 of this same Chapter, it is declared that Jesus was IN the Father.  Hear this.  I will come again and receive you to myself that where I AM.  Jesus declares I AM in the Father.  Now He says, He is going to bring us to where HE IS.  We are coming to where he is the I AM.
As we travel down through John 14, Jesus declares that the Father shall send another comforter.  When this comforter comes, the Holy Spirit, we SHALL KNOW!  Know what?   “At that day you shall know I AM in the Father, you are in me, and I AM in you.”  We shall know where He is.  We shall be where He is.  We have been set apart by the Holy Spirit, through the work of God in Christ, to where He is.  The DAY the Holy Spirit came, we know we are in Him.  We have been received to the place of where He is, IN THE FATHER.  “I AM IN THE FATHER, You are in Me, and I AM IN YOU.”   
Now we are set apart to what the I AM is.  Jesus declares the I AM that He is in John’s Gospel.   I AM The Bread of Life. I AM The Light of the World.  I AM The Door of the Sheepfold.  I AM The Good Shepherd of the Sheep. I AM The Resurrection and Life. I AM The Way, the Truth, and the Life. I AM the True Vine.  He declares, I AM COME that you may have life.  We are now the Body of the I AM.  Jesus Christ our Lord is revealing Himself in all of these names or identities that He is, and we are the Body who Minister’s Him in the Earth!    Glory to God!
 

The Church which is His Body VIII - Son of Man III

The Church which is His Body VIII – Son of Man III
All men were dead in Adam.  Jesus came as Adam.  He came into man.  He was God, but came into man.  As a man He died to bring this mankind to death, the death of His cross.  We could say, He executed death to death.  He gave death the deathblow.  This is the death that was in Adam.  God becoming man, was to free man from the bondages of death.
In Romans 6 Paul writes, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”  Hear this!  As CHRIST WAS RAISED is how we walk in new life.  Our new life is as Christ in His resurrection.  We must get ahold of this.
Jesus was raised out from among the dead.  The dead was in Adam or the natural man.  We walked according to the course of this world, the dead.  We had our conversation there.  Jesus is out from it. We walk out from it, as we walk in Him.  Our newness of life is comprehending Christ who is out from the dead, and walking in Him.  “As we have received Christ Jesus the Lord walk in Him.”  

The Church with is His Body VII - Son of Man II

The Church which is His Body – Son of Man II
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 
Jesus was a very particular Son of Man.  He was the Son of Man the scriptures declared.  “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.”  Jesus is this specific Son of Man.  The Son of Man, declared by the Prophets, written of in the Scriptures, and revealed of the Spirit.  This Son of Man was born of woman, and birthed of God.  God was born into man.  
His name is called Immanuel, God with us.  Jesus is God in Man, or the Son of God and Son of Man.  He was born into man to deal with the condition of man.  The only way God could save man is to take upon Himself man.  Through being birthed by Mary, God came into man.  As a man he came for the purpose of dying the death of the cross. As God, He could not die.  Therefore He fashioned Himself in a man, a perfect man to die the death of the cross. 
Phillipians 2:6-11 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
He was the form of God and made himself in the likeness of man through the Word of God.  God spoke the Word and became what He spoke.  Now being found in fashion as a man he became obedient to the death of the cross.  This scripture says He took upon himself the form of servant.  Jesus is God’s servant as the prophets declared.  He came as the servant of God to open the blind eyes, to cause the lame to walk, and bring forth life in those who were dead in Adam.  He did this by being put to death in fashion as a man, and being raised by the Spirit of God.  
Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.”
Now through Him we are put to death in the flesh.  We are brought into His death, that we may live through His life.  We have been freed through the offering of His Body to death.  In His Body of the flesh He put to death, death.  He put to death the man of sin.  We are free from all that is in the man, and we are brought to all that is in Christ.  He is our righteousness.  He is our comfort.  He is our peace.  We find all these things in Christ.  Glory to God!

The Church which is His Body VI - Son of Man

The Church which is His Body – Son of Man
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 
Jesus wasn’t just any Son of Man.  He was the Son of Man the scriptures declared.  To understand this, we must go back to the Old Testament and read.  For example, Daniel declares the Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days and receiving of the Kingdom of God.  This is one of the obvious examples of the Son of Man.  However, if we search there may be many instances referencing the Son of Man.  
In Isiah 7, the Bible declares that a virgin was going to bring forth a Son.  Here we go, Son of Man.  Jesus was the Son of Man that Isaiah 7 is declaring.  This is a sign to the land of Judah.  Go back and read closely what Isaiah declares of this child who is born, and what is coming upon Judah.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the Son of Man and the Son of God according to the scriptures.  Glory to God.

The Church which is His Body V- The Christ

The Church which is His Body V – THE CHRIST
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 
“Thou art THE CHRIST, the Son of the Living God.”  Let us hear this.  We are the Church which is His Body.  Jesus called Peter Petra or a stone.  Peter said in one of his epistles that we are lively stones built up for a spiritual habitation of God.  The Apostle Paul said we are built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ for a habitation of God by the Spirit.  He says we are built up in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  As we know Him, we are built for God to inhabit our hearts.  In other words, the more knowledge, not brain knowledge, but knowing Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, the more of the reality of God that is within us.  
Notice, I did not say the more of God that is in us.  I said the reality of God.  The reality of the one that dwells within.  We are built in Him for God to inhabit us.  As I see Jesus Christ by the Spirit, God fills my heart in that seeing of Christ.  It is this building I yearn for, to be built up in Him!  Glory to God!
Now Jesus was THE CHIRST for a purpose.  Christ means the anointed one.  If I search the scriptures, I will find in the Old Covenant that they were anointed for purpose.  The Priest was anointed to offer the offerings unto the LORD.  They did not just offer them.  Moses didn’t simply say to Aaron you are a Priest.  Aaron was anointed with an extremely specific oil to operate in the Priests office, Leviticus 8:12.  This symbolized the anointing of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.  He was anointed for the purpose of offering Himself unto God by the Spirit.
Jesus is our Great High Priest.  As the Priest of God, He was anointed to offer Himself.  He is the Anointed of God, The Christ.  As our High Priest, He offered Himself.  Therefore, He is highly exalted and given a name above every name.  He was also anointed King.  Jesus is the King Priest, and He reigns over death and hell.  He conquered them, and He redeemed us to Himself.  We live in His dominion.  Glory to God!

The Church with is His Body IV - Son of God, Son of Man

The Church which is His Body IV – Son of God, Son of Man
“Matthew 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 
 
In simplistic form, Son of God refers to Jesus being born of God.  While Son of Man indicates He is born of man, or in man.  In John’s Gospel Jesus said that He came forth of God and came into the world, and that He was leaving the world and going back to the Father.  I believe He is speaking of His birth.  The way He came into the world was as the Son of Man.  He was born of Man, “a virgin shall conceive.”  That which was born of Her was of God.    
 
The reason Jesus was born of man goes back to the beginning of the creation of man.  God gave dominion to man in the earth.  Through man came sin, and death by sin, which passed upon every man.  All mankind was bound to that which was in man.  Jesus had to be made in the man to redeem us from the state of being of man, Galatians 4.  Without His redemptive act, we would have no escape from the man that we were born into.  
 
David illustrates this in Psalms 51.  He cries that he was born in sin and shapen in iniquity.  This was the state of being in the first man.  He was a man of sin.  As Son of Man, Jesus put this man to death.  He took Him to the cross and crucified the first man.  We were baptized into His death, that we may live in His Life. His death was to the Man of Sin.  His Life is as Son of God, the Life out from God.  Our salvation is in Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God.  We die with Him in His death, and we Live as One of with Him in His Life. 
 
Jesus as Son of Man paid the penalty for man.  Sins and iniquities were placed upon Him.  “He that knew no sin became sin for us, that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  We are made righteous in Him, who was raised out from the dead.  In Acts 13:33, the writer quotes Psalms 2. “ 32And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers, 33 that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”  Notice this closely.  Jesus is proclaimed the Son of God in the resurrection from the dead.  Here is where we are made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, in that He raised Jesus from the dead, and we share in His eternal and incorruptible Life.  Glory to God!

The Church which is His Body III

The Church Which is His Body III
God has a building program.  Now, we get really excited when we begin to build a new building for the Church.  Many of us call the building’s we build the church.  However, as great of a building we may build it lacks expression of the Lord Jesus.  Now, it may be built to express those who congregate in the building, but the building can never express the Lord.  In fact, you can take that same building that is built for a congregation of believers, then sell it and use it for auto repair.  The building is simply a building, and not the church of the Lord Jesus.  God doesn’t dwell in buildings made with hands.  We need to hear this folks. 
With that said, GOD HAS a building program.  In Exodus when Moses ascended into the Mount and received the pattern.  Moses was told to build the Tabernacle according to the pattern shown in the Mount.  The Tabernacle was not just thrown together by Moses and Aaron, and a bunch of Israelites.  God revealed the pattern in explicit detail.  Everything was in detail, and everything had to be according to what GOD SHOWED OR REVEALED to Moses.  There could be no deviation, or it would be corrupted.    
Peter declared of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 16, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  Jesus said The Father in Heaven revealed or showed this to Peter.  Flesh and blood did not reveal it.  Peter’s own intellect did not come to it.  Even Jesus standing there in the flesh did not reveal it to Peter, but The Father revealed it unto Him.  Jesus said, “Upon this rock (He is the Rock) I will build my Church.”  Here is God’s BUILDING PROGRAM. Christ Jesus revealed in you and me.  This is how we are the Church and as the Church how we express Him, Whose body we are.  “When the Holy Spirit shall come, He will take of mine and shew it to You.  The Holy Spirit takes Jesus Christ and reveals Him in our hearts in His death, burial, and resurrection.  Glory to God.