Background

Not long ago I became inwardly aware[1] of a desire to get attention, or be listened to when even when others were speaking. As this was egocentric and unChristlike I began to pray asking God to reveal the root of sin. I felt him highlight the word “rivalry”[2], indicating that I was seeing others as competitors. The Spirit started to bring Christ forcefully to my consciousness and I began to see that the scope of this issue for the body of Christ was enormous. I clearly sensed that since “Jesus is Lord forever” thoughts of rivalry could never enter his consciousness, he is always aware of the favour of the Father. Being in Christ we share in this rule and favour; this is the topic of this paper.

One God one Substance

In the action fantasy film Highlander, a group of immortals struggle with each other until there is a sole survivor, as the plot puts it, “There can only be One.” This theme sums up the foundational problem behind all human competitiveness, the failure to understand and participate in the essential oneness of God; There IS only One[3].

The Old Testament declares, ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”” (Deut 6:4), but the coming of Jesus reveals that this oneness involves a complete sharing between Persons. In his own words, ““I and the Father are one.”…. you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 10:30; 17:21). The early Christian creeds spoke of Jesus and the Holy Spirit as “one being with the Father”. Inside of God there is a perfectly full distribution of what makes God to be God (his substance)[4]. Everything that makes the Father to be God is shared with the Son who shares his whole substance with the Spirit and so on in an eternal circle of mutual completing of each other. The love between the Persons of the Trinity knows no bounds (1 John 4:8). Since sharing everything that he has is the essential nature of God in himself, it is also the reason he created[5].

Who wants to Share?

Central to the purpose creation is God offering man space to act in partnership with himself. Adam was not hedged in by an infinite set of laws, but given an opportunity to share with the LORD in a special way. The command, “ “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” (Gen 2:17) was an invitation to share his innermost being with the Creator through obedience to his Word. If Adam had opened his heart to believe (Rom 10:10) then the whole of God’s life would have been communicated to him and he would have possessed the gift of immortality[6]. This never happened, because humanity believes a lie about God’s essential nature..

The serpent appears in the story as God’s arch rival. He deceives the man by denying that God wishes to share all things with us. According to the devil, the Creator kept the key to eternal life, “the knowledge of good and evil”, to himself (Gen 3:5). In this sense, the original sin, and the root of all subsequent evil, is unbelief about “shared space” between God and humanity. The consequences of this unbelief are immediate and pervasive.

As soon as the first couple believed God had not created them to partner with him in everything, they felt unworthy of the divine presence. Deep inside of them was a space where God was experienced as absent, this space is shame. Shame is a sense of the loss of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), a sense that God no longer wills to share everything with us. Condemned to die (Ezek 18:4; Rom 6:23), the human conscience is now ruled by an ineradicable awareness of being cut off from the stream of divine life. Excluded from the blessings of Eden and cast into a world where the reality of evil seemingly confirms God’s absence, humanity is constantly apprehensive of the divine wrath (Gen 3:22-24; Rom 1:18-32).

To put this dilemma in more familial terms, since the Fall no human being has ever fully believed that God is a Father who wants to share his dominion over all of reality with us. As a reaction, humans constantly create objects of worship designed to impart to them a sense of mastery over “their” world[7], this is idolatry. Even the covenant people, Israel, God’s son (Ex 4:22; Hos 11:1), committed idolatry in the most fundamental way, they say““to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’” (Jer 2:27)[8].

Against the scenario of lost partnership with God Psalm 110, a messianic psalm, is a prophetic key to the whole purpose of God[9]. “The Lord says to my Lord:“Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty sceptre. Rule in the midst of your enemies!” (Ps 110:1-2). These few lines encapsulate the totality of the divine plan, that when his anointed servant destroys all God’s enemies his Fatherly rule will be maximally distributed amongst his chosen people[10]. This way the kingdom of God will come; this was the message of Jesus.

Envy and the Unenviable

“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

Throughout his earthly existence[11] Jesus was completely filled with a consciousness that everything belonging to the Father was his, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand….All that the Father has is mine” (John 3:35; 16:15). As such it was impossible that there could abide in Jesus any spirit of envy, jealousy or rivalry.

Fully aware in the Spirit (John 3:34) that power belongs only to God (Ps 62:11), Jesus showed absolute intolerance for all rival forces that resisted the gracious dominion God willed to share with man. Incensed by the presence of evil powers and illness Christ delivered and healed all who came to him (Matt 8:16; 12:15 etc.). Jesus’ miracles were generated in the power of the Spirit (Matt 12:28) by his zealous opposition to every force that destroys the created dignity of humanity. This included conflict with the legalists of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt 23). Manifesting a remarkable presence of God that revealed these religious experts as hypocrites (Mark 7), it was inevitable that Jesus was experienced by the powers of the day as a human “rival” to be eliminated.

The Gospels are explicit concerning the motivation of the chief priests and elders in having Jesus crucified, “For he (Pilate) knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.” (Matt 27:18). The leaders understood the one categorical way to disprove the claims of Jesus to be the Christ and favoured Son of God was to put him to death as a blasphemer and sinner (Mark 14:61-64).

The anguish of the cross in every way seemed to evidence that Jesus’ claims to sonship are not approved by God, “the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”” (Luke 23:35). Their ridicule appears to be confirmed by Christ’s own horrendous cry, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34). The truth however is the opposite of what it appears.

At his moment of forsakenness the consciousness of Christ is so filled with the powers that rival God’s kingdom, sin, Satan and death, that he has no awareness of his Father. In this instant, it appears that Christ and God have nothing in common; there is no shared space between man and God. This experience of Jesus is completely unenviable. Yet it is through Christ taking into himself all the powers of evil that God’s judgment is satisfied.

The resurrection demonstrates that God’s age long purpose of sharing his universal dominion with humanity has been satisfied. Jesus said, ““All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” ” (Matt 28:18). That Christ is “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36) is the unanimous testimony of the New Testament writers, “Now in putting all things in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.” (Heb 2:8). This means that Jesus has only one purpose in salvation, to share all that the Father has shared with him with his people. “I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15).

The Distribution of Christ

Having received all things from the Father, Jesus “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor 15:25). He achieves this by pouring out the Holy Spirit to establish his Lordship (1 Cor 12:3) by the proclamation of the gospel, the gifts of grace and works of righteousness. The agency for establishing Christ’s rule is the church.

Foundational to the growth and maturation of the church are people who have insight into the fullness into which Christ brings his people (Eph 1:22-23; Col 2:9-10). Apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral and teaching ministries are called to impart the importance of the “new creation” in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). Many of these ministries have articulated that the old divisions of “Jew …Greek …slave … free …male …female” (Gal 3:28) have been overcome by our oneness in Christ. Sadly, far fewer have proclaimed that participation in the new creation means entry into a new sort of space, the space of the kingdom of God where rivalry is impossible for all that Christ has is ours. “For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Cor 3:21-23).

In this new covenant vision, rather than being a potential “rival”, each created person exists to receive the fullness of Christ. In whatever sphere(s) God has placed a believer, they are to rule as ambassadors of his Son (Rom 5:17)[12]. This is what it means “to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:18-19). Believers with this mind set are gripped by a realisation that the space in which they live and move and have their being is the boundless love of God. The implications of this revelation are massive.

2010 a Release of Fathering[13]

I believe the Lord is unveiling new insights into spiritual fathering. A shift is happening from a view of the organised church as the hub of God’s action to seeing that the presence of the divine kingdom continually creates new space for ministry. Where many folk have contended for power, position, control and influence within the narrow parameters of institutionalised religion, we are moving into a form of life where men and women with spiritual authority will, by Word, Spirit and prayer, continually create spaces for the whole people of God to express the fullness of the life of Christ.

Fathers multiply fathering, and it is my sincere expectation that in 2010 many who have been reluctant to father others will experience a release from overbearing/authoritarian models of fatherhood. Childhood traumas induced by a lack of space to fully express oneself will be healed, and the distorted leadership that speaks strongly “my vision” will be seen for what it is – an expression of radical inner insecurity concerning one’s own sonship.

The manifest presence of God will become far more commonplace, not merely in the realm of signs, wonders, conversions, but especially in the practice of spiritual discipline[14]. A true father gives leaves no empty space for disobedience. In the parable of the “prodigal son”, the rebellious son was never without the inner awareness of his father’s provision (Luke 15:11-32)[15]. Paul confidently describes his intimate relationship with the Corinthians, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor 4:15). A little later, though located hundreds of kilometres away, he boldly states concerning church discipline, “For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor 5:3-5). The apostle knew by faith in Christ that sacred space has no boundaries but is filled with the loving discipline of the Lord. Where such fathering becomes the norm we must anticipate a mass movement amongst the people of God.

The Josephs are Coming

Returning to our pivotal scripture, Psalm 110, the prophet foresees a revival spearheaded by the young, “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.” (Ps 110:3).

Symbolically, I believe these young ones[16]are “Josephs”. Joseph stands out in scripture as specially loved by his father and hated by his jealous brothers because of his vision of ruling over them[17]. In their rivalry they delivered him to slavery and injustice in the land of Egypt (Gen 37). Nevertheless, all that was in his dreams came to pass because, “God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.” (Acts 7:9-10). The mature Joseph could say to those who had betrayed him, ““you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people”” (Gen 50:20).

Like the first Joseph, these young ones will have suffered cruelly from rivalry, particularly in the church, but will come to realise this has been a precious sharing in the sufferings of Christ (Col 1:24; Phil 3:10) for the sake of their brethren. These men and women will walk a sacrificial lifestyle, be other-centred and radiate a presence of God’s favour and extraordinary wisdom that will attract many to the Father. In the likeness of Christ they will be free from territoriality and release many into ministry throughout their spheres of influence.

Conclusion

At the climax of history we will all hear the words, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev 11:15). We shall be totally gripped by the fact that God’s age old plan to share his rule with a human being has come to pass. In Christ, we shall fully share this rule, judging both the angelic and human world (1 Cor 6:2-3). At the End we will possess an infinite clarity that no created or redeemed son of God was ever truly our rival. Such a revelation can come to us NOW.

Today we are “seated …in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6) and can share this vision of a world without competition NOW. There are rival powers to be opposed, but they are not our fellow human beings (Eph 6:12), and certainly not our brothers and sisters in Christ, but the evil powers of sin, Satan and death. In the Spirit we must oppose such forces with the same fire as our Lord, with the zeal for the kingdom of God which led to his death at the hands of evil men (John 2:17). If we are identify in this way with Christ we shall surely be persecuted as rivals by the powerful of our day- whether in the church or the world, yet just as surely we will experience his resurrection power as Lord (Phil 3:10).

The benefits of such a way of life are indescribable: an end to the insecurities associated with Fatherlessness, the final burial of the centuries of conflict that have divided the people of God and a marvellous release of many Josephs into the entire world. Let us believe that in Christ we can share in God’s will to share his whole substance with all his creatures, so bringing about the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21).