RULING AND REIGNING WITH
GOD Part 6
September
4, 2020
It had been my intention
to continue today with the theme we took up a few weeks back, and look at the
life of either David or the apostle Paul.
Those are not complete yet, and the subject of the Throne of God is one
that is fresh in my spirit. It seemed
appropriate to go there today, and perhaps for the
next few weeks.
We will come back to the
life of David, and the life of Paul in the weeks to
come, so bear with me. Let’s go back to
the Garden of Eden for a bit.
First of all, we should each be
aware by this time that creation began by the spoken word of "The
Word," the Lord Jesus Christ, in a place of absolute agreement with the
Father and the Holy Spirit. There is a
phrase which occurs repeatedly during the Genesis account of creation, "And
God said…" This phrase, inclusive with its adjoining words,
has a numerical value of 8-8-8, the triad of eights which represents Jesus
Christ. Each time we read, "And
God said," it
was Jesus causing an act of creation by speaking the word out of that creative
power within His being.
When He created Adam
and Eve, we are told that He created them "in His image,"and He emphasizes this point twice in the
same verse. (see
Genesis 1:27) "...in
the image of God created He him; male and female created He them."
Being "created
in His image" does not just mean that we were created with His physical
form or attributes. It means that we
were also created spirit beings with power over the physical and natural
realm. Jesus always was, and is, a
Spirit. We were first created as
spirit. Life did not come into our physical
form until the spirit entered. In
Genesis 2:7, we are told, "And the Lord
God.......breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."
In this application,
the Hebrew text uses the word, neshamah, a
word which Gesenius (in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon) defines as: the Spirit of God imparting
(His) life and wisdom; that, therefore, which becomes the spirit of man. I don't want to belabor this point. I just want you to see clearly the single
most important aspect of rulership -- the realm in
which the throne functions.
Spirit is the
preeminent and eternal realm of our existence.
It has precedence over the mind and soul of man. It has precedence over the emotions. It supersedes the flesh. If we rule in any aspect at all, it is
because we first take dominion in the realm of the spirit. If we assert authority over principalities or
powers, or "world rulers of darkness," it is because we have first
done so by agreeing in totality with the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in
and through us, by the Spirit.
Conversely, if we are
ruled, it is because we are first ruled over in the realm of the spirit by a
spirit being. If we are taken advantage
of by evil spirits, it is because we first submit our spirits to the influence
or control of those spirits. If we are
tormented in any area of our flesh, it is because we have first provided legal
ground for that torment in the realm of the spirit. (I will comment further on this in just a
moment.) Our flesh was specifically
designed by the Lord as a habitation for the spirit.
A question which I
hear often posed is, "How can Christians submit to evil spirits and still
call themselves Christians? How can a
person redeemed by Christ Jesus be subject to evil spirits?"
It is imperative that
we understand our makeup and nature. We
are first and foremost spirit beings. Everything
-- no matter how great or small in our lives -- first begins in the realm of
the spirit.
Satan has been
referred to as the prince of this world.
Under his command are kosmokrator:world
rulers of darkness. When an angelic
messenger came to deliver the word of the Lord to Daniel, he mentioned that he
had just been with Michael (the Archangel) doing battle with the Prince of
Persia, and that when he left Daniel he would be warring against the Prince of
Greece. (see Daniel 10) These are not earthly princes, but ruling
demonic spirits whose assignment is national or regional in scope. Beyond them are spirits who are assigned as
"principalities and powers," and those who are given the task of invading
the character and makeup of mankind, deceiving them into accepting lies, or
distortions, or perversion as a part of their personal makeup.
Redemption is not the
same as deliverance. Redemption merely
provides the legal basis for deliverance.
Redemption is a legal act by Jesus Christ on the cross to nullify the
Serpent's enslavement of the human race through Adam. It provides us with the legal means to be
free, and to regain the place of the Crown and the Throne originally delivered
to Adam and Eve.
The guarantee of that
Throne is not a blanket guarantee to the human race: it is an opportunity to
"whosoever will;" and "whosoever" must first will to
agree with Jesus Christ-- not in name, not in form, not in ritual, not
in putting one's name to a piece of paper, but in Truth -- in Spirit
-- in reality!
Deliverance is also a
legal act, and it occurs when we exercise our legal right as members of the
redeemed community of Jesus Christ -- in that place of agreement with Jesus
Christ -- to take authority in the realm of the spirit over those spirits
which have harassed us.
Let me put it another
way. Rulership
-- in the realm of the spirit -- begins when we exercise our place of union
with Jesus Christ over other spirits -- all of whom are subject to His onoma, His character, His very makeup. Deliverance, therefore, is a natural
byproduct of the rulership which only comes in the
place of that union.
(This Coffee Break,
by the way, is not intended as a treatise on the subject of deliverance, and
the statements just made are not intended to suggest that deliverance is
automatic. There is nothing automatic
about it. Neither is it a passive
operation. At the same time, one should
not conclude that we need to make a big production of addressing evil spirits
to kick them out when they have been identified. Deliverance is accomplished when we take
authority in the onoma
of Jesus Christ. (Not in using His name
as some kind of religious formula.) Evil
spirits are not, and must not be, the focus of our attention. Overcoming them -- at every level -- is a
natural process delegated to us by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of learning
to rule.)
Rulership in this realm begins
when we
(1) allow the Holy Spirit to
identify spirits which have plagued our lives, along with the legal ground for
their existence and operation in us;
(2) agree with His
revelation of their existence, recognizing that His revelation comes for the
purpose of both setting us free, and extending the realm of His authority in
us; and
(3) act in obedience to that
revelation to assert the authority He has given. With each successive revelation and
deliverance, true dominion is extended in our lives.
Let’s return now to
our review of Adam and Eve in the Garden.
They had complete dominion over the earth, and all that was therein
because
(1) they had been created and
imbued with rulership as a natural function;
(2) they were in a place of
total intimacy and communion with the Lord;
(3) their spirits, their
minds, and their wills were in perfect agreement with Him; and
(4) they were clothed in
Truth!
Jesus made an
incredible statement to Thomas at the Last Supper (see John 14:6), "I
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No
man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
His whole onomaexhibited Truth. It was impossible for Him to represent
anything other than Truth.
In his epistle to the
Hebrews, Paul says, "In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the
heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an
oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible
for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement
....."
(see Hebrews 6:17-18) NASB
Let me repeat some
statements made in in the past.
"Truth" is
not a collection of facts. And yet it
can be.
"Truth" is
neither the reciting of history, nor a compilation of events which have
occurred. And yet it can be.
"Truth" is
not the quoting of scriptures. And yet
it can be.
Facts. History. Scriptures. They can all be a portion of truth, but in
and of themselves, they are not -- by any stretch of the imagination --
truth.
Facts can be twisted
by The Spirit of Error and become a lie.
History can be distorted -- and often is -- so that historical facts are
taken out of context to present a false picture.
Personal experience,
left to stand on its own, can bring wrong conclusions. Scriptures can be quoted to support virtually
any stance one desires to take.
Truth, therefore, is not
just facts, history, personal experience, or scriptures.
Truth -- the genuine
article -- can only come by the Spirit of Truth, which is one of the seven
Spirits of God. The Spirit of Truth
takes facts, takes history, takes events which have
occurred -- either in our lives, or in the lives of others -- or, takes verses
of scripture and applies them in a manner which brings life. The Spirit of Truth takes that life and
transmits it into the core of our beings.
Truth -- the very essence
of Jesus' onoma
-- is that which He was clothed in. It
was the life which went forth when He spoke the worlds into existence. It was the spirit which went forth when He
breathed into man the breath of life.
Because everything He
spoke was founded in Truth, there was an absoluteness to everything which
occurred. The very foundations of the
Universe rested upon that Truth. Truth,
therefore, is a part of the invincible foundation of the Throne. (We will return to this, momentarily.)
Now, consider again
Adam and Eve. So long as they dwelled in
the place of unity and communion with the Lord, they were clothed in
Truth. What truth? The truth that they were
created in the image of God. The truth that they were created in His likeness. The truth that they were
like Him -- i.e., "like God."
The truth that in Him was every piece of understanding, every piece of
wisdom, every piece of revelation they would ever need
to exist -- PERIOD. END OF
PARAGRAPH! EXCLAMATION MARK!
There was absolutely nothing
in the way of knowledge, understanding, or wisdom they would ever need in order
to live and function as the supreme rulers of this world outside of Truth. In fact, the Lord warned them that the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which stood in the midst of the Garden near
the Tree of Life, was the one tree of which they should not eat because it
contained a lethal virus which would bring death to them "in
the day you eat thereof."
Let me pause here,
parenthetically, to share with you a portion of some of the events
that occurred in the Garden which the Lord gave to me back in 1996 during my
travels in the Spirit. In this
experience (which is being prepared in manuscript form for publication as
either one or two books) the Lord took me through time, first to the future as
eternity unfolded and then to the past, stretching back before time (as we know
it) began, to see an unfolding pattern of His plan and purposes.
He allowed me to
witness, firsthand, events as they unfolded -- events which became an integral
part of creating and preparing for Himself a Bride who
would be His counterpart, His co-equal, His Other Self. I have written to describe that which I saw
in somewhat the manner of an on-the-spot news reporter and commentator.
Our attention is
being riveted on a creature whose appearance defies description. Is this one of the many living creatures over
whom Adam has been given dominion? It
is. But watch.
This creature stands
waiting in the trees. He is tall, lithe,
handsome -- in fact, his countenance would redefine
the word, "beautiful." His
appearance could be called, "serpentine," yet he bears little
resemblance to the snakes we have known.
He radiates a luminescence which is reminiscent of the presence of the
Lord, yet is distinctly different. In fact,
the more one looks at it, the more one realizes that this radiance -- as
magnetic as it may seem -- most certainly does not originate in the Lord. He is a being who obviously was created by
the Lord for His purposes, and He epitomizes all that mankind would call
perfection and beauty.
There is a strange
spirit which emanates, however, and we can easily see that his onoma, his very essence, stands in opposition to the
Lord. What a strange magnetism he
exudes! Though he has been once called,
Lucifer ("the light bearer"), and now is known as, The Serpent, we
know that in the centuries and millennia to come, he will lead millions upon
millions of people into darkness.
Adam and Eve have
obviously seen him many times over the years.
As near as we can tell, they have occupied the Garden for the past two
thousand years. From the serpent's
greeting to Eve, he must certainly have spoken on many occasions to her. It is quite apparent that he has been setting
up this day for a long time, and now prepares to spring a trap on her.
The words that the
serpent speaks ring with a kind of logic.
Veiled behind those words, however, is a nefarious purpose, planned,
desired, and hoped for from the moment he was cast out of the presence of the Lord. Once privy to
the counsels of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he has known of the creation
plan before it was ever spoken into existence.
He has known of the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ to have for Himself
a counterpart. In his rebellion against
the Godhead and attempt to usurp the throne of the universe, he established a
plan and course of action to become that counterpart, never mind the fact that
he was not created for that purpose.
Lucifer refused to
accept the fact that he was not created for the throne, nor for fellowship on a co-equal footing with the Lord
God. From his perspective he had been
created to rule, placed in a position of command over the angelic hosts. That certainly was a position of power and
authority. Whether he liked it or not,
however, he was a createdbeing -- not a
creator. The onomaof the Godhead had never been
given to be the essence of his being -- and never would!
Because he could not
accept the fact that he was not -- and never would be -- given that
place of intimacy and co-regency with Jesus Christ, he gathered together a
third of the angelic hosts in heaven in a conspiracy to take the throne and
fulfill that place by his own might, power and authority. The fact that we see him here today is clear
and present evidence that he failed in that endeavor, and was thrown out of heaven -- never to
again enjoy the place for which he was created.
His aspiration and
objective here in the Garden is to steal Adam's bride and counterpart for
himself, and to thwart the plan of the Lord God to bring into existence that
Bride who will be His counterpart. His
ultimate mission is to take Eve for himself, to
counterfeit and duplicate the Plan, gaining in the process one who would become
the counterpart of Lucifer. With his onoma fulfilled -- so he thinks -- he will now be
able to seize the throne of the universe because he will have that fullness of
expression which the Lord lacks.
One has to appreciate
the perfection in Eve to understand why the serpent is going after her. It is not that Eve is Adam's weakness -- his
Achilles Heel. Everything she represents
is the consummation of excellence.
Everything within her bespeaks a total love for Adam -- and for the Lord
God. She makes Adam, Adam!
The serpent is
consumed with jealousy because of what he sees.
He is bound and determined to have her for himself.
The Lord has enabled
us to see into his thoughts. His mind is
a virtual maelstrom.
How dare the Lord God
create such perfection for a human being and try to enslave me as an incomplete
being, all the while setting the stage for Himself to
have that kind of fulfillment? Adam is
just a flesh and blood being created from the dust of the earth and is not
entitled to that kind of enjoyment. He
does not have the kind of powers I have.
I will take the woman for myself.
I will change her. No matter how
long it takes, I will make her love me.
The Lord thinks He's going to get a counterpart! Hahh! Just wait until He sees what I am going to
do!
As we see Adam and
Eve approach the serpent, there is a lilting sound to his voice which
immediately captures their attention.
Ignoring Adam, it is to Eve he now speaks, drawing her attention to the
two trees in the midst of the Garden, "Yea, hath God said,
'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
As this mostly
one-sided conversation ensues and the serpent lays his trap for Eve, he little
knows that he is about to spring a trap on himself -- a trap whose jaws will
inexorably close on him though he will attempt to escape. The serpent is obviously
unaware of the fact that when the first life was breathed into Adam, the Lord
breathed His onoma
into him, and that Adam is going to do the unexpected in a moment.
Adam's face is filled
with puzzlement as he hears the serpent say to Eve, "You shall not surely
die. For the Lord knows that in the day
you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil." Thoughts
race through his mind.
What does being gods have to do
with anything? We have fellowship and intimate
friendship with the Lord God, our Creator, even now. We have been given dominion over the earth,
and over every creature that walks upon the earth. There has been nothing withheld from us. Do we need something that He has not given
us? We have been created in the likeness
and image of the Lord God. Are we not
"as God" even now? Hmmmm.............what is good? For that matter, what is evil?
As these thoughts
have filled him, Adam has looked off into the distance, somewhat oblivious to
Eve's gaze at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Logic dictates that they obey the voice of
the Lord in this matter. He has said,
"Of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not
eat; for in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die." Adam is not really sure what that means since
death is an unknown quantity, and they have never seen death, having been
created with such regenerative powers as to virtually live forever, but a
termination or cessation of their relationship with the Lord God seems certain
if they partake. That must be what death is all about.
I thought I could finish this picture today, but the rest of this
narrative will wait until 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 10:30AM Pacific. That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings available on video usingZOOM. If you wish to participate by video on ZOOM, our login ID is 835-926-513. If you miss the live voice-onlycall, 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
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER
WORSHIP CENTER
Temple,
Texas 76502
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