Class Notes: 10/22/2014

Mark 10:37; The Doctrine of operation footstool part 3

In our study of Mark we have stopped at Mark 12:37; where Jesus concluded his final confrontation with the Jewish leadership in the temple. His final effort to evangelize them was to quote Psa 110:1; in an attempt to get them to recognize Him as the Son of God as well as the son of David.

This brought us to the doctrine of operation footstool because this passage clearly shows that the Messiah was a son of David as well as being the Son of God.

Last time we noted that operation footstool does not occur until the number of Church Age believers who comprise the body of Christ is equal to or greater than the number of fallen angels who rule with Satan on the earth.

The body of Christ will be complete and exit resurrection of the Church will take place when that occurs.

After the exit resurrection God will allow Satan free reign to attempt to set up his millennium starting with only the unbelievers who are left on the earth after the exit resurrection.

This attempt is called the tribulation because of the evil tyranny that is based on human good that will occur as the beast dictator who satan personally indwells attempts to rule the world with the imposition of his version of utopian socialism on the entire world.

It appears that the unprecedented attack on freedom in the USA today is simply a trial run of this process.

It is not the actual event because it's not yet international and the players are in all the wrong places but it appears that God is allowing satan to test his methods at this time by using the chronic negative volition of the people in our nation.

The tribulation goes on for seven years while the church is being evaluated and just before mankind destroys himself and the Jews, Jesus Christ returns with His Saints in trail at the 2nd advent and deposes satan and each member of the body of Christ "in association with Christ" deposes a fallen angel.

But for this to occur Church Age believers must be qualified to remove demons.

Heb 2:7; tells us that man was created lower than the angels.

Heb 2:9; God the Son became humanity (Jesus Christ) made little lower than the angels. "But we see Jesus (Humanity) who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death ..."

1Pet 3:22; The God-Man is made higher than the angels at the point of ascension. "Who (Jesus Christ) is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God after the angels and authorities and powers had been made subject to Him."<--

God the Father told God the Son to sit down at His right hand and for the first time in eternity the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ was higher than angels. (His deity always was)

Heb 1:13; "But to which of the angels said He at any time, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."

Believers, (in Christ; Church Age believers) are "heirs of salvation" and according to Heb 1:14; positionally higher than angels just as Jesus is. 1John 3:2-3;

Believers who do not understand the doctrine of positional truth cannot properly understand their personal role in union with Christ as it relates to the angelic conflict and operation footstool.

Only the Church (the body of Christ) that is in union with Christ, and therefore positionally higher than angels has the authority to depose angels.

Because of their position each Church Age believer has a guardian angel. Heb 1:14; "Are they not all ministering spirits (angels) sent to serve those who are the heirs of salvation?"

The victory of positional truth is described in 1Cor 15:22; In Adam "all die." In Christ "all will be made alive."

Every member of the human race is born spiritually dead but when any member of the human race believes in Jesus they are born again, made spiritually alive and placed into union with Christ and sealed by God the Holy Spirit.

This is the process that God uses to build the body of Christ one person at a time. Each believer one by one is placed in Christ but at some point in time that no one except God knows when the body will be complete.

All those who fail to believe in Jesus remain children of the devil John 8:44; All who believe in Jesus become sons of God. Gal 3:26;

Because of this mankind is divided into the two categories, believer and unbeliever so are two resurrections. John 5:29; The word "deeds" is not in the original. The good (agathos) is believing in Jesus, the bad (phaulos) is refusal to believe in Jesus.

The first resurrection, the resurrection of life, occurs in four phases.

First phase was the resurrection of Christ and His ascension forty days later. He was the first man to be in the presence of God in heaven.

Second phase is the resurrection of the Church: 1Cor 15:23; "after that those who are Christ's at His coming."

The resurrection of Old Testament and Tribulational saints occurs in the third phase at the Second Advent. 1Cor 15:24-27; Daniel 12:1-3; Rev 11:18.

And at the end of the Millennium Millennial saints are resurrected in the fourth phase just before the Great White Throne judgment.

There is only one phase to the resurrection of condemnation, The Great White Throne Judgment, Rev 20:11-15.

Our position in Christ gives us a position above the angels this means that our position in Christ puts us into position to judge angels.. 1Cor 6:3; "do you not know that we shall judge angels?" It is a one on one correlation: Christ-Satan, Church Age believers-demons.

Therefore, every time a person believes in Jesus Christ for salvation during the Church Age, the angels of God rejoice. Luke 15:10; "likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

This is because it brings the day of operation footstool one person closer. Every time a person believes in Christ one more fallen angel is in line to be deposed.

Satan therefore tries to delay operation footstool by keeping unbelievers from believing and by keeping the believer from true spirituality but God's program goes right on it's just slowed down a bit compared to what could be because of negative volition. 2Pet 3:9; but God will finish what He has started. Phil 1:6;

Jesus' enemies in operation footstool are death, 1Cor 15:26; the fallen human race Rom 5:10; and the fallen angels but only the fallen angels "keep on being" an enemy at operation footstool.

Heb 1:13; quotes the OT Hebrew of Psa 110:1; in the NT Greek: " sit until I make your enemies" present linear tense (keep on sitting until) I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Death cannot be not the enemy in view because "your enemies" refers to a group of individuals not a status of separation from God.

The human race does not "keep on being" an enemy because when a member of the human race believes in Jesus Christ he is no longer an enemy of God but a child of God. Rom 5:10; Gal 3:26;

Even unbelievers are no longer behind the barrier Eph 2:15,16; "enmity has been completely removed because God by means of Christ has completely removed the barrier.

The human race has been redeemed and reconciled not conquered: 2Cor 5:18-20; so the only thing that separates man from God is each individual's choice to simply believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Therefore the fallen angels are the only category of enemies who keep on being enemies and remain to be defeated and deposed.

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