By Rick Lange
http://bibleprophecybyricklange.blogspot.com/
Posted with authors permission
Jesus called His disciples to be first hand eye witnesses to His life, death and resurrection as well as reporters of her miracles, his teachings, his parables and His fulfilment of prophecy.
On the other hand Jesus called Paul to present to us the theological implications of all that Jesus was and did. As such the larger amount of space is taken up by Paul, for it includes not only his theology, but how it was put into practical life by the early Christians.
Paul’s life also testifies to the truth of Jesus commission to do the works of Christ in terms of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and with signs and wonders following.
It was left to Paul to explain to us the transfer from the Old to the New Covenant. He taught us how the Law functioned to bring us to repentance at the foot of the cross where we die to the Law and we are born again by the Holy Spirit to now be empowered by the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus Christ in His ministry.
So the laws could testify to the validity of Jesus Christ in HIS fulfillment of countless prophecies and types and shadows, but the Law was also inadequate to produce in us that which Jesus was looking for in joint heirs. He was calling not for bean counting law keepers, but people who, by HIS Spirit would become more than conquerors… continuing His ministry in the world and giving witness to His resurrection power by doing the same works that He had done.
In this assignment Jesus promised that He would be with us until the end of the age… that He would never leave us or forsake us… that we would receive power after that the Holy Spirit had fallen upon us and that by His Spirit we would become first hand witnesses as well. The church of Jesus Christ was to be more than an organization with members. It was to become a supernatural entity… a light on a hill… a vibrant, miracle working continuation of that which Jesus had started and demonstrated.
So when people choose not to believe what Paul said about the Law (Galatians and all of his books) and what he said about the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit; (1 Cor. 12-14) they have effectively discounted most of the New Testament, and when they likewise avoid the prophecies of John, they are left with a very thin and easily broken Covenant and a weak and lifeless church.
If then we are to remedy this situation and to prepare ourselves to receive the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the harvest, then we need to revisit these largely dormant truths and prophecies.
Many long held tradition may have to be broken in order to re-enter the supernatural realm that Jesus intended the church to be.
There may not be a single church in America that is fully ready for the revival that Jesus wants to bring. This spirit of revival may exist in some of the persecuted underground churches in places like China, but very few if any in prosperous nations.
Don’t get me wrong, many want this revival, but very few are actually fasting and praying and calling out to God for it.
I know that my previous article on the Codes of God’s identity will be controversial to some, but please understand. We need breakthroughs and they aren’t going to come by maintaining the status quo. The bible contains the codes we need to complete the harvest, but we have made most of it null and void by our traditions.
So rather than seeing this as just another theological argument, please see it as my turning over rocks to see what we are missing in terms of the Gospel of the Kingdom that must be preached to every nation and verified with signs and wonders following. It seems that we have gotten stuck somewhere halfway between the Old and New covenants and stuck in a rut. After all, it is much easier to maintain traditions than it is to go out and to do the works of Christ.
So a prayer for revival must include a willingness to move beyond some traditions. We need a new I willingness to lie all on the altar… and a willingness to step out by faith to do the works of Christ. It must be borne with a new sense of compassion and love for the lost and an abandonment of the complacent self.
We really need to pray for revival! The clues to all that we are being called to do are in the Bible waiting to be believed and acted upon.