A: Introduction
A few days ago as I was out praying God began to powerfully draw my attention to a theme that I believe is completely crucial to his present purposes for the church in Perth. In some ways it may sound simple, yet so we often mistakenly assume that we have a clarity in foundational matters. Put most simply, the theme is that the church as a whole does not meet with Jesus, whether privately or publicly, as if he were God. This is at the root of our failure to experience the usual range of New Testament phenomena: dynamic mission, conversions, healings, miracles, persecutions, tribulations, heresies, holiness, fear of the Lord, gifts of the Spirit, angelic visitations and so on.
I want to emphasise that the below is the product of both intense prayer and serious reflection in the Word. For those more interested in contemporary prophecy, following through my argument may seem somewhat tedious at times. For those more inclined to search the scriptures the prophetic element will be more demanding. I would encourage all readers to persist.
B: The New Testament Church Recognises Christ as God
In a basic sense, the existence of the New Testament itself is a witness to the recognition of the exalted status of Jesus. All the New Testament documents are written out of encounter with the resurrected Lord. At times this encounter was completely overwhelming. Representative witnesses throughout the New Testament demonstrate this.
Seeing the risen Jesus, “doubting Thomas” exclaims: “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28). The climax of Peter’s Pentecost sermon is that Jesus is a Messiah who has authority as Lord to give the Spirit (Acts 2:33- 36), something attributed in the Old Testament scriptures only to God (Isa 44:3; Joel 2:28). Paul’s great Christological hymn in Philippians 2:5 -11 ends with a statement: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” “The name” in the Old Testament is the name of God ((Ex 3:13-14 Yahweh). If Jesus possesses “the name” then he must be equal with God. Further, it is to God that every knee shall bow and tongue confess (Isa 45:23). Jesus will therefore be honoured as God.
Another telling example of recognising Christ’s divine status is the structure of the book of Revelation. Firstly, God and the Lamb are paired continually in an equality of function. (Rev 5:13;6:16;7:10; 14:4; 15:3; 21:12 etc.) Secondly, the whole book is bracketed by two near identical statements. A statement that “’I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God..” (Rev 1:9) and “’I (Jesus) am coming soon…I am the Alpha and Omega…” (Rev 22:13). An identification of the status of God with Jesus could not be clearer.
This is something that any genuine Christian would unhesitatingly affirm. What I want now to suggest however is that since the church in Perth is not living out the implications of Jesus divine stature it must be that we are not receiving this truth into our hearts.
C: The New Testament Church Recognises we Share Christ’s Status with God
This truth needs to be shared carefully as there are dangerous errors in either direction. On the one hand we must not in any way suggest that by salvation we are transformed into divine beings. Some in the hyper -faith movement have been accused of teaching this, Mormonism and the New Age definitely do teach it.
Such a position is an extension of the temptation in the Garden of Eden, “You will become like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:5). It is also the arch sin of the anti – Christ: “The man of lawlessness…doomed to destruction… will exalt himself over everything that is called God and worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thess 2:3-4). As creatures created by God in space and time and dependent upon him for continued existence it is quite impossible that our nature be the same as God’s.
The opposite extreme is to live as though our fundamental status has not been altered through the person and work of Christ. In practice, this is a far more common error amongst Bible – believing Christians and the one most of the church seems stuck in today.
Whilst the height of demonisation is to attempt to exalt oneself to the position of the throne of God, it is nevertheless true that God has exalted humanity to share his dignity. This is what has happened for the believer “in Christ”. The key to grasping this truth is to realise that Jesus is an inclusive figure. Just as we were all somehow included in Adam’s attempt to storm heaven and his subsequent fall from grace (Rom 5:12, 15-19), we are equally included in Jesus’ ascension into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God. “God raised us up with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:6).
Because of what God has done for us in Christ “humanity has been taken into God” (Athanasian Creed). The great difference between what has happened in the first Adam and the second (Jesus) is that the consequences of the first flow from nature and the second from grace (Rom 5:15-21; 1 Cor 15:45- 47). It is always God acting in Jesus, rather than our efforts. By grace and the power of the Spirit of God we are truly “partners in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). In Christ we are already by dignity and stature part of the new creation that Jesus entered when he went back to heaven (2 Cor 5:17; Heb 9:11). With and in Jesus, we are now at the Father’s right hand “in God” (Col 3:1-3). We are truly in the Father’s heart.
God even led me to a new word from the dictionary to try to explain what he was attempting to explain to me in all this. It is “conterminous”, meaning “enclosed within a common boundary”. I want to suggest that the common boundary that we share with Jesus is the Father, who is without limit (Rom 11:36). Since the church is “the fullness of him who fills all things in every way” (Eph 1 22-23), then the scope of what God in Christ wills to do in and through the church is endless (Eph 2:7;3:10).
If we keep Jesus as the total centre of our affections, we will be the object of the Father’s attention in exactly the same way as Jesus is. This is not an arrogant statement about our efforts, but the fruit of the labours of God. It is the unavoidable implication of the teaching of scripture, “as he (Jesus) is, so are we (Christians) in this world.”(1 John 4:17).
This truth is totally amazing, yet its realisation in our experience hinges in following the manner in which Jesus’ own humanity returned to God. This was by death and resurrection. This is our primary challenge today. Only as we keep Jesus as our total centre can the boundless nature of what it means for us to be “in Christ” come to realisation.
D: Through Humiliation and Exaltation we Share Christ’s Status with God
Paul’s exhortation to the Philippian church to be like Christ does not end with the assertion of universal homage to Jesus (2:11). He carries on with a statement of consequence, “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and work for his good pleasure.” (2:12-13). He teaches that God is “at work” in the church in the same way he was at work in Jesus, the way of humiliation and exaltation (2:5-11). The New Testament repeatedly teaches that this is the divine pattern, “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that in due time he may exalt you” (1 Pet 5:6-7). “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6). Only through the deepest possible humility can we anticipate entering into the highest possible realisation of the status that we share with Jesus as the exalted King. When this happens, and it clearly is God’s will that it happen for us all, we may anticipate the following assured results.
E: The Revelation of Christ as Ascended King Transforms the Church
1. Unity
There has been a great deal of emphasis upon the unity of the body of Christ in recent times. This is commendable, but it has often overlooked the place of the status of Jesus in bringing about the supernatural unity for which we have prayed. John 17:22, “so that they may all be one as we are one” is dependent upon Jesus return to his heavenly and eternal glory (17:4-5, 22, 24). Unless we have a shift in our thinking from “Jesus of Nazareth” to the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 17:14;19:16) we will never be able to experience the oneness of the glory of God. In other words, Jesus is no longer a Galilean preacher and miracle – worker but the supreme ruler of the cosmos (Matt 28:18; John 17:2). Only to the degree that we are grasped that our friend Jesus the Christ has all the power of God will we be able to enter as a Christian community into the oneness which is eternal life.
One of the most important terms to describe the unity of the church in the New Testament is used only after the ascension of Jesus to heaven. This term (Greek: homothymadon), is variously translated by modern versions as “one heart and mouth” (Rom 15:6); “joined together” (Acts 1:14), “met together” (Acts 2:46), “raised their voices together” (Acts 4:24), “all together” (Acts 5:12), “all agreed” (Acts 15:25). (The more literalistic King James Version used “one accord” consistently.)
What was impossible before Jesus was exalted to heaven as an object of worship now became the anticipated state of the new people of God. If we are not experiencing the dynamic unity portrayed by homothymadon we must conclude that we are not fully or truly reverencing Christ as God.
2. Repentance
In some quarters today it is common to hear that we are not experiencing revival because “we are not desperate enough”. I believe this is symptomatic of a major confusion between cause and effect. It is true that there is never a major spiritual awakening without deep repentance, but repentance is a fruit of the ministry of the Spirit and not a religious work that “moves the hand of God”. Repentance is in fact a gift (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim 2:25). It is a gift intimately connected with the exalted status of Jesus. “God exalted him (Jesus) at his right hand as Leader and Saviour that he might give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:31). Repentance/forgiveness is a gift that flows in and out of the human heart as men and women believe in the content of the gospel. They repent as they obediently receive the truth that Jesus is exalted for them. The communication of Jesus’ vicarious and substitutionary life did not end on the cross but continues beyond the resurrection into his heavenly status.
That repentance is a fruit rather than a root of revival is taught in the Old Testament. A line of prophetic thought insists that repentance follows blessing. This is perhaps clearest in a passage deeply relevant to the Christian life. This is Ezekiel 36, which teaches the necessity of being “born again”. “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (36:26). The emphatic “I will” dominates this chapter; God “will” sovereignly return the people to the land from exile (v.24), cleanse the land from idolatry (v.25), put his Spirit in the people (v.27), be their God (v.28), save them (v.29) and make them fruitful (v.30). Up to this point Israel does nothing.
The passage now takes a different direction. “Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your dealings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds.” (v.32). Repentance comes from within the new heart of Israel as it is enabled through it’s softened condition to realise the gracious character of God despite its natural hardness and idolatry.
This is not an isolated passage. Jeremiah 32:36- 41 and 33:6- 9 both speak of the sovereign action of God in returning the exiles to their homeland with a heart to fear and obey him which is followed by righteousness. Likewise, Isaiah 44:22: “I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” Finally, Hosea 3:5 says, “Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.”
The language of these passages is essentially covenantal, the expressions “their God … my people” (Jer 32:38; Ezek 36:28; Hos 3:5) show that the action described is characteristic of the nature of God’s relationship with Israel and not incidental. It is the very heart of God to bless into repentance.
The structure of the New Testament opens this truth up fully. The restoration and blessing that God has brought for all humanity in Christ is the ground of the possibility of the call, gift and exercise of turning to him for salvation. If the sum of God’s blessings can be encapsulated in forgiveness, this is a completed reality that is offered to men and women through Jesus (Luke 24:47). The eternal spiritual blessings of the Father bestowed in “in the heavenly places” in Christ (Eph 1:3) include “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Eph 1:7;Col 1:14). In other words, repentance flows from (heaven sent) forgiveness and not vice-versa. This order is evident in Peter’s Pentecost sermon, which is a model for all subsequent preaching of the gospel.
Peter commences his address by referring to the immediate power and presence of God manifest in the “other languages” given to the assembled church to proclaim to the assembled multitude “God’s deeds of power” (Acts 2:4 -15). He authenticates this strange phenomenon by interpreting it as a fulfilment of Joel 2:28- 32 where the Spirit is poured out on all flesh so that all prophesy (Acts 2:17-21). He then moves on to recount the central facts of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:22– 32). To all of this the apostles were witnesses. Peter then proclaims the exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God, his receiving the promise of the Spirit and pouring him out on the disciples so that the assembled multitude could “see and hear” the action of the heavenly Lord (Acts 2:33-35). In other words, the things that the crowd had undeniably witnessed for themselves in the speech of the disciples, and Peter, was the testimony of the exalted Jesus to his own status through his spokespersons. They were there and then on earth testifying with spiritual authority to heavenly realities that they could only have been intimately acquainted with if they sharing in Jesus’ heavenly position and power.
Their manifestation of the gift of the Spirit of the “last days” (Acts 2:17) was a visible witness that the end time blessings prophesied in the Old Testament had come upon Israel. Since this was already true, anyone who accepted Jesus as Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36) could receive the promise of the Spirit and forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38b). Baptism and repentance (Acts 2:38a) do not cause the blessing but appropriate it on a personal level.
The basic pattern of the apostolic preaching is:
1. The distribution of a blessing.
2. The attributing of this to the exalted Christ.
3. A call to turn to God to receive this blessing in fullness.
Acts 3 is an especially clear example:
1. A lame man is healed unconditionally in the name of Jesus (3:1- 10) and “in the presence” of the assembled crowd (Acts 3:16).
2. This is attributed to the “glorified” Jesus who is in “the presence of the Lord (God)…in heaven” (Acts 3:13; 20- 21).
3. A call is made to “repent …so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord …God…sent him (Jesus) first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” (Acts 3:19, 20, 26).
What I have already argued appears in summary form in Acts 5:31-32. The context is the trial of the apostles before the Sanhedrin because they have been ministering signs, wonders i.e. blessings, among the people in the name of Jesus (Acts 5:12- 16). The sequence in time, though not in the order of the text, is
1. The blessing par excellence, the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 3:14), is given to those who obey and believe in Jesus. The power of the apostolic witness through miracles is the evidence that this is the case (Acts 5:32).
2. This is due to the power of Jesus whom “God exalted to his right hand as Leader and Saviour.” (Acts 5:31a), in order that:
3. “he might give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:31b).
I will now move briefly to the structure of some of the epistles to support the principle argument that repentance flows from a revelation of blessing. In general, Paul’s letters start with an exposition of what God has done for us in Christ before moving on to a section containing ethical exhortations. Romans is the clearest example, though Ephesians and Colossians also portray this pattern.
1. Romans 1-11 is a sustained argument concerning the faithfulness of God in justification (1-5), sanctification (6-8) and election (9-11). All this is “blessings.”
2. The whole book is built on the foundation that Jesus has been “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by resurrection form the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Rom 1:4). This is the theme of the exaltation of the Saviour.
3. Chapter 12 therefore begins with a statement of consequence. “I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice…be transformed by the renewing of your minds… (12:1-2). This is the element of repentance, based on the “mercies of God” outlined in the rest of the book so far.
What this brief foray into the New Testament letters helps us to see is that repentance follows blessing in the Christian life, and not just for the unbeliever. “It is the kindness of God that is meant to lead you to repentance…” (Rom 2:4).
3. The Fear of the Lord
I have approached this subject in two recent articles, the first of which ended with, “I am not sure how one asks for the fear of the Lord, but it would seem to be a great priority in our prayers.” Working with this paper has helped me realise that gift – nature of godly fear arises out of a revelation of our joint status (Rom 8:17) with the exalted Christ.
The Old Testament background to this theme is found in the passages already discussed. In Jeremiah, God promises, “I will give them one heart and one way, that they fear me for all time, I will …never draw back from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts… (Jer 32:39 – 40). It is the divine prosperity and goodness that will bring fear and trembling upon the earth (Jer 33:9). Hosea 3:5 confirms that the fear flows from the blessing: “Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.” An outpouring of unmerited privilege (grace) upon Israel moves them to fear lest they harden their hearts and lose the blessing. (The precedent for this was the falling away of their ancestors in the wilderness Ps 95:8-11 etc.)
Likewise, the call to “work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13) is based on the teaching of God’s work of humiliation and exaltation in Christ being repeated in us. Our fear of God will be reduced wherever the extent of his goodness for us in Jesus is reduced.
New Testament warnings designed to draw out holy fear are not threats of punishment, but are constantly grounded in statements about the richness of the Christian inheritance. It is a church having peace, built up, increasing in numbers and comforted by the Holy Spirit that “lives in the fear of the Lord” (Acts 9:31). The covenant promise of the indwelling Father moves us to “perfect holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 6:17-7:1). Confidence before the judgement seat of Christ means a knowledge of the fear of the Lord (2 Cor 5:10-11). It is “so great a salvation” that we must not “neglect” (Heb 2:1-4). Only the church with a deep consciousness that it meets around Jesus in heaven will worship God in reverence and awe (Heb 12:18-29). Only those who may rightly call God “Father!” are able to live in reverent fear. (1 Pet 1:17). The Hallelujah chorus of the redeemed in heaven includes a cry for all creation to fear God (Rev 15:4; 19:5).
The conclusion seems unavoidable if, to our natural minds, paradoxical, the greater the awareness of blessing the greater the desire to fear God.
4. Mission
There is a general failure in the church to connect the Great Commission to the exalted status of Christ. In a broad sense the connection is probably affirmed but at a deeper level it is not.
The resurrection of Jesus must precede the command to “make disciples of all nations” for two reasons. Resurrection is both the sign of his victory over all that holds humanity in captivity, and that as the resurrected Son of God does he possess “all authority in heaven and earth” and so can be everywhere present with the disciples in their task of filling the earth with the divine presence (Matt 28:18 -20). The Jesus who commands us to disciple nations needs to be seen as the resurrected human being (1 Tim 2:5) in whose body dwells all the fullness of God (Col 1:19;2:9). The Jesus who sends us into the world is no longer Jesus of Nazareth but the ruler of the universe.
The foundation for mission is that the Jesus who gives all gifts for ministry is “the one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.” (Eph 4:10). He does not fill everything with his presence in some mystical manner, but through the obedience of “the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Eph 1:22– 23).
Only as the church realises that it lives in communion with a Christ whose complete will it is to share his boundless fullness with his Bride (all that he has) can it naturally and spontaneously spread out into all areas of human existence: geographical, cultural, social, and so on. It may be true that considered in myself I have a boundary, but “in Christ” I have no boundary, only a centre, Jesus. The revelation of this truth will inevitably and irresistibly thrust the church into global engagement. “For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” (1 Cor 3:21-23).
The revelation of the universal nature of the people of God is conveyed by the Holy Spirit. Properly understood within the context of scripture, to be “baptised with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5;11:16; 1 Cor 12:13) and “clothed with power from on high” is to be immersed into the body of Christ and living within the immensity of the Godhead. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3).
Where the church is not vigorously engaged in outreach of an intensive and extensive nature it needs to cry out to God for an outpouring of the Spirit so that it may enter into a far deeper realisation sharing in the stature of the exalted Lord.
5. Exalted Worship
I struggled to find an appropriate title for this section that would sum up what seemed to be the character of New Testament worship. I settled on “exalted worship” as it seems to best fit the true adoration of Christ and of God in our grace-filled sharing with the glory of Jesus.
A range of New Testament texts speak of the church in the present time as a heavenly reality. Our earthly worship therefore draws its reality from the heavenly realm. In Ephesians we are “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (1:3), “seated with him (Jesus) in the heavenly places” (2:6), struggling with and revealing the wisdom of God to the evil spiritual rulers “in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10;6:12). It is “Jerusalem above” that is “our mother” (Gal 4:26). According to Hebrews we “have come to Mount Zion…the heavenly Jerusalem…to innumerable angels…to the assembly of the fist born enrolled in heaven…” 12:22 – 24). It is the heavenly Jesus who proclaims God’s name “in the midst of the congregation” and presents “the children” of God to the Father (Heb 2:11-14).
Most strikingly relevant are the worship scenes in heaven in the book of Revelation. At the centre of these pictures is the conquering Lamb, once slain but now alive again (Rev 1:18; 5:6). He is accompanied by a vast multitude who “sing a new song”, which is the song of those “who have been redeemed from the earth” (Rev 14:1- 5). A central theme of the heavenly anthem is the redeeming work of Christ, signified by his blood (Rev 5:9, 12; 7:9, 14; 12:11). Another outstanding feature is the emphasis on the goodness of God’s judgements (Rev 14:7; 15:4; 16:4 – 6; 18:8, 20; 19:1 -2).
These two great themes are related. In biblical thought the judgement of this world and its ruler Satan comes about through the death of Jesus on the cross (John 12:31-3;Col 2:15). The liberation of the earth from sin, Satan and judgement comes through the shed blood of Jesus. Through Jesus, the church on earth is in communion with the church in heaven, and so should be captivated in its worship by those same elements which grip and stir to praise our brothers and sisters above.
The vast amount of contemporary Christian songs however contain little or no reference to the cross, or, if they do, it is merely a past reality. Likewise there is inadequate exposure to the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God. Mention of the judgements of God as an item of praise is apparently unthinkable in present singing and preaching. This is clear evidence that we are mostly out of touch with the heavenly world.
6. Persecution
This is as inevitable consequence of the exaltation of Jesus in the church as all the above. It is interesting to note that the key term discussed under “Unity”, (Greek: homothymadon), is not only employed for the unity of the church but united opposition to the spread of the gospel (Acts 7:57;18:12;19:29). The preaching of Christ as Saviour and Lord in the power of the Spirit always has a double effect, on the one hand unity of devotion, on the other side animosity. Proclaiming and living the exclusive claims of Jesus as Saviour of the world means that the people of God will have many enemies. The more we move into the sphere of the exaltation of Jesus the greater will be the activity of evil powers. Spiritual warfare is in exact proportion to the church living out its true identity in the “heavenly places” (Eph 1:3; 2:6;3:10;6:12).
There is considerable talk in our day about “changing the spiritual climate over a city”. There is truth in such discussion, however there is only one key to this happening in a realistic way, the exalting of Jesus above everything else. He must have what is his due, “first place in everything” (Col 1:18). Otherwise so-called “spiritual warfare” is no more than talk.
F: Conclusion
This paper began with reference to some intense experiences of Jesus in prayer. In these I began to become very aware of his divine status and that by grace we share this position with him. I was left with an inescapable sense that the honouring of Jesus as God was the key to the transformation that we are all seeking for the church in our time.
I have attempted to show from the Bible that this position is true to the central thrust of the New Testament. I followed this with reference to six major results of the centralising of Jesus in the church: unity, repentance, the fear of the Lord, mission, exalted worship, persecution. None of these factors is dominant in the broader church as we know it in this nation and city.
What then are we to do about this? Amos 3:7 springs to mind, “Surely the LORD God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” The greatest of all secrets revealed to the holy apostles and prophets is the glory of Christ (Eph 3:4 -10). This is the Father – given insight into the man hidden in heaven but who is ruling the universe “for the church” (Eph 1:22). If God is raising this issue at this time it must be his will to pour out on the church the things I have been discussing and illustrating in this paper.
Prayer is always to be the product of insight. My sense is that we need to pray for something as profound as it is simple. We need to ask for a re–experience of what transformed and converted us at the beginning of our spiritual journeys. Let us ask God together to “meet Jesus”.