Resurrection From the Dead, Part 16

 

October 12, 2018

 

A couple weeks ago, I quoted a statement that I’ve heard on numerous occasions during the past weeks.  One of the oft-used phrases I’ve heard from both a dentist and a medical doctor in the past few weeks is, “Your health begins in your mouth.”  I got to thinking about that and realized that there’s more truth in that statement than meets the eye.  No statement could be more applied to the confession that comes out of our mouths regarding our deliverance from death, the curse of death, and the power of the Resurrection as it applies to our daily living.

 

Have you ever noticed how Jesus only commanded the keeping of two statutes, customs or ordinances for us as believers?  Both of them incorporate the end of death and the cancellation of our appointment with death.

 

The first of the two commands comes in the observance of the Table of the Lord.

 

I Corinthians 11:23-26 (NASB):  For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;  and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,

 

“This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

 

The second of the two commandments came after Jesus was crucified and had risen from the dead.  This second of the two commandments had the force of the Throne of God backing it in terms of its demonstrative authority and power.  Both Matthew and Mark record this command:

 

Matthew 28:18-20:  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

Mark 16:15-16:  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth (pisteuo: exercises faith) and is baptized (baptizo: covered over, fully whelmed by water or fluid) shall be saved (sozo: saved, delivered, healed, protected, made to prosper, made whole and complete); but he that believeth not shall be damned (katakrino:  judged, condemned and sentenced).

 

Ever wonder what baptism is all about?  Have you ever considered why Jesus would make such a command in the first place?

 

Then consider what He said when He was preaching to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews and a Pharisee.

 

John 3:5-8:  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

 

Remember what happened when the centurion pierced Jesus’ side while He was hanging on the Cross?  Water and blood came forth from Him.  Jesus’ last words before He died were, “It is finished!”

 

And what was finished?  Death.

 

What was finished?  A new birth was taking place: a bride was being birthed for the Lord Jesus Christ.  But this birth was unlike any in history.  In the realm of the flesh, a birth takes place in the midst of  water and blood.  Babies come forth out of the water or amniotic fluid that keeps them alive while they are still in the womb, and blood accompanies the birthing process.

 

Jesus, however, made it clear that this new birth was NOT of water — not in the normal sense — nor of blood, even though His blood was shed in the process.  A supernatural transformation — a regeneration — was taking place.  This new birth was taking place in that realm which has authority and power over the flesh and the soul: the spirit.  A dimensional change was occurring.

 

 Hence, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.“

 

Because death only affects our flesh, because death has power over unredeemed flesh, a new kind of birth had to take place — one that had never before occurred in history.

 

Think back to when Adam was created.  He wasn’t born in the  normal sense of the word.  He was formed, molded and created by the Hand of God, but not until God breathed into him the breath of His Spirit did Adam become a living, breathing, speaking being.  Adam was born, or rather began his existence, of and by the Spirit of God.  Adam’s very breath was the Spirit of God.  He existed by the Spirit.

 

The Blessing operated in and through him by the Spirit.  He ruled and had dominion over the earth (and all that was therein) by the Spirit.  (See Psalm 115:16)

 

When Adam missed the mark (hamartia) — the prize of God’s high calling in him — and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he ingested HIV: the human immunodeficiency virus, which was inherent in the fruit of that tree.  As we all know, there is no cure for HIV.  Death is the permanent result.  And that death is genetically passed on to every generation which follows.

 

Let’s get back to the Table of the Lord.

 

Why did Jesus command us to eat and drink of Him — and do it often?  The apostle Paul was very clear in his explanation.

 

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim (kataggelo: announce and demonstrate, promulgate) the Lord’s death until He comes.

 

Now you’re beginning to get the picture.  Jesus’ most earnest desire is that we promulgate, that we   announce to the world the fact that He kept our appointment with death.  We no longer have to suffer death, disease, sickness, infirmity, poverty, etc.

 

But there’s more.

 

It is important that we not only show the world our deliverance from death: we must also demonstrate to Satan, to principalities, to rulers of this world’s darkness, that we’ve been set free from the curse of death, that we’ve been freed from Satan’s dominion, that we’ve been restored the authority, the power and the dominion originally given to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

 

Water baptism does just that.  This ordinance — this statute —has enormous spiritual significance.  This isn’t for the world’s sake, even though it is part of an outward show, a demonstration of a spiritual regeneration that has taken place.

 

This is a “Hands Off!” declaration to Satan.  This is the posting of a legal decree which clearly states we are no longer members of that class of human beings subject to the Law of Sin and Death.

 

The old being which was subject to death and had the “knowledge virus” in our genes has been put to death. The appointment with death has been kept.  The person who then comes up out of the water is raised from the dead by the Spirit of God.  This newly-born individual is born again — both of water AND of the Spirit!

 

Once again we have Paul’s description to the Romans: “all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death.“

 

Yessir!  The appointment with death has been kept.

 

And again Paul says, “as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

The “new us” is no longer subject to the Law of Sin and Death.

 

Romans 8:2:  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

 

The “new us” is free from death, sickness, disease, infirmity, weakness, poverty, need, etc.  Now we’re free to demonstrate Jesus!

 

 Jesus established a pattern for all believers when He was baptized in the River Jordan by John and a remarkable thing took place.  We need to look at this event in context.

 

Matthew 3:13-17:  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

 

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 

Up to this time, Jesus had been an ordinary man.  Yes, He was the Son of God, and Yes, He was destined to bring deliverance from the curse, but He had not yet been empowered to do so by the Father.

 

As far as the world was concerned, Jesus was just another man — a gifted man, One whose knowledge of the Scripture at age 12 had astounded the most learned among the priests, the Levites, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and scholars — but still seen as an ordinary man.

Nothing exhibited in His life thus far could be quantified as “divine” or “supernatural.”  For His ministry to begin, something extraordinary had to take place.  There had to be a transition from “ordinary” to “naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural.

 

Notice what happened when Jesus was baptized.

 

1. He transferred His citizenship to the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

2. The Holy Spirit appeared on the scene, settling as a dove on Jesus before all who witnessed this event

 

3. All Heaven was put on notice that Jesus was now THE SON OF GOD.

 

4. The Father spoke out of Heaven and stated emphatically and unequivocally, “This is My Beloved Son!”

 

5. As the SON OF GOD, He was now vested with the authority and power of The Father.

 

6. The “man” Jesus had become the Messiah, the Christ, The “Anointed One.”

 

7. Baptism demonstrated before principalities and powers, before the rulers of the darkness of this world, before Satan himself that the “old Jesus” was dead.

 

8. A “New Man” had come forth out of the grave, resurrected by the power of God, transformed into a trans-dimensional Being with the ability to function both in this natural realm and in the realm of the Spirit.

 

Are you seeing it?  God the Father vested Himself in and made clear to all that Jesus WAS His Son, His appointed and commissioned family member to bring redemption from the curse of death, and from the curse of the Law of Sin and Death.

 

The fact that Satan saw this event take place or was notified of it shook him and his kingdom to the core.

 

What’s the first thing that Satan did when Jesus — after fasting for 40 days — was at his weakest, physically and emotionally? Right.  He questioned Jesus repeatedly as to His status as THE Son of God, attempting to trick Him into yielding to the desires of His flesh.

 

Were Jesus to have yielded to even one of these temptations, He would have forfeited His Sonship status and condemned the human race to perpetuity in slavery and bondage to Satan and the curse.

 

Let’s wrap this up next week.

 

In case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available by Skype.  If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener.  If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!

 

 

           

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

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