The Power of Christ in Us

“Christ in us is mightier than death, mightier than sin, triumphing over principalities and powers.” – Smith Wigglesworth

With a revelation such as this, how could we not want to risk it all for the Kingdom of Heaven? I’m getting more and more enlightened in the meanings of the scriptures as I read with the presence of the Holy Spirit. When we are called to die to ourselves – this is talking about the old man, our old flesh before we accepted Christ. The Law (the old testament) will try to keep us in its power. The letter [the old covenant] brings death, but the Spirit [revelation of the new covenant] brings life. The more I read the books in the New Testament, the more I see the difference between the two covenants

Preceding this last 18-month period I really had no specific idea about the differences or purposes of the two testaments. Of course I understood that before Jesus died that people had to offer sacrifices for atonement of sins, and post Jesus’ death this was no longer necessary. But I had no idea about what these covenants bound us to. Or why it was so important for people to convert (other than the obvious reasons that they could not be saved without believing in Jesus and what He did.) I’m grateful for the teachings of Joseph Prince and Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton for their teachings on this subject, which then inspired me to search the scriptures to see if what they were preaching was indeed true. I was not disappointed.

I’ve known Jesus since I was 5 years old. And in that time there have been very few moments where I have been excited to read the scriptures. Of course, I have enjoyed scriptures, but not thirsted for them. I have read the Bible out of a sense of duty, but it rarely broke out of habit. All of this changed in this last 18 months. I admit that I’m still not hungering like I want to, but I can say that my time spent reading has been more revelationary and intimate.

Until recently, I and, I imagine, many of my Christian friends believed that Christ came to die on the cross for us, as us, in order to reunite us with our Heavenly father. To paraphrase, he bought our ticket to Heaven. But something that doesn’t match up with that idea is, why did Jesus perform so many miracles? He didn’t need to do anything supernatural for us to get into Heaven. All that God required was a perfect blood sacrifice. And that would have been fulfilled solely through the death of Jesus. So what’s with all the miracles? Why did Jesus perform so many? So people would believe he was the Messiah? To prove he was the Son of God? I’m not sure. Despite the miracles there were still many people who didn’t believe in him. And who were the main culprits? The apparent experts in the law. Those who, if were interpreting scripture through the Interpreter, would not have been able to ignore the arrival of the Saviour of the World. They were the ones who should have been Jesus’ biggest advocates. But what happened? They were too comfortable in the Law that they had wrapped themselves in but imprisoned those they were called to help. “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) In this passage ‘letter’ is referring to the Law.

What does this even mean? This was always a scripture that barely bleeped on my radar until now. Let’s go back to the Israelites leaving Egypt. Pharaoh let them go and as they approached the Red Sea they saw the Egyptian army and complained to Moses that it would have been better to stay in Egypt than die out here. After they made their miraculous escape, they were quick to forget that act of love from their God and continued to complain about being thirsty, hungry, wanting meat… It seems like they complained about anything they could!! But in that journey, from Egypt to Sinai there were no deaths for complaining. No deaths for rebellion. There are no recorded deaths at all! This was because they were governed under grace at this stage, which lasted for about 3 months. It wasn’t until they got to Sinai and the Israelites claimed that they could do anything the Lord told them to (Deuteronomy 19) that the Ten Commandments were given to show the Israelites that they would never be able to uphold the standard. This was to keep them dependent on Him, but this didn’t last. From Sinai on, people started dying for all those things that grace had previously saved them from. But what was the key separation here? Only selected prophets and judges were able to have a personal interaction/relationship with God. When righteous people from the Old Testament died, they were not able to enter Heaven, but had to wait in Paradise. It wasn’t until the Saviour came, that those saints were freed to enter Heaven.

From the moment of Christ’s death, the veil in the Tabernacle was ripped showing us that any person – man, woman, slave or free, and (soon to be revealed) Jew or non-Jew – may enter the Holy of Holies and commune with their Father. We can see in Matthew 27 that it wasn’t at point of death that the Saints were redeemed, but at the point of resurrection – only after Jesus had taken back the keys of the Kingdom. This is the part that is particularly exciting for me. Where in Matthew 28 Jesus tells the disciples that “All authority in Heaven has been given to me. Therefore go… And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Why did the disciples need the authority Jesus gave them? Why did he perform so many miracles? Only for making disciples? Only for gaining converts? I can’t believe that anymore. It was a convenient point of view. Very comfortable. Low risk. But I don’t want to make excuses anymore. Not now that I know the truth.

The glorious truth that Jesus came to earth first and foremost to restore relationship with the Father. But the equally exciting truth that Jesus provided, through his grace, the authority and opportunity to live a life like he lived. If this were not true, then he never would have told the disciples that they would do greater things than he. Of course this kind of lifestyle was released to us through communion with the Holy Spirit. If Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing – then that’s our benchmark.

At first, I thought that chasing a lifestyle such as this was taking the place of seeking intimacy with God. But on my journey I have been finding out that seeking God and seeking a supernatural lifestyle can go hand in hand. It’s not that you have to replace one with the other. Really, it’s very difficult to have one without the other. And God, in his grace, is prepared to meet us where we’re at. He’s not restricted to one doorway. He goes one better. He doesn’t even need to use doorways. And I want to impact this world for him. I’m not happy with human speed if I can have supernatural speed. I’m not satisfied to communicate my human love if there’s an option involving supernatural love. I’m not happy only gaining converts for the Kingdom if I can expose people to the most fulfilling relationship of their life. I’m ready to take the next step – whatever that may be.