Grace and Truth
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The church age believer's spiritual life is empowered by the Trinity

We are continuing in our study where we are discussing the relationship between the Jewish Feasts and the events of the First Advent of TLJC that launched the church age.

We have seen that the Jewish Feasts that relate to the events of the First Advent of TLJC are Passover, Unleavened Bread: First Fruits and Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell and fill believers universally providing the power for unique spiritual life for believers in the church age.

We have seen that the model and precedence for this unique spiritual life was established by TLJC during his life on this earth in unglorified humanity at the beginning of the hypostatic union. Heb 10:5; Heb 12:2a;

At Pentecost God launched the church age and we are presently discussing the impact that the events of Pentecost had in redefining the believer's relationship with God.

This includes the believer being appointed by God as a royal priest and a royal ambassador.

Last time we ended with the principle that an ambassador lives in a foreign country for the purpose of serving his home country rather than himself, with this in view, believer ambassadors are to be more concerned about the interests of our Lord than their own personal interests on this earth in the kosmos. Col 3:1-2;

An ambassador does not take any insult personally; this is analogous to the function of the problem solving device of impersonal love for all mankind.

The recall of the ambassador precedes a declaration of war; when all church age believers are simultaneously recalled in the exit resurrection or rapture, 2Thes 2:6; the greatest time of warfare in history will begin in the Tribulation.

The doctrine of the Church Age is the unique mystery doctrine that has been revealed in the New Testament epistles was unknown to the writers of the Old Testament Scriptures.

God's plan for the Church Age was kept totally secret from those in previous dispensations. No Church Age doctrine or characteristics are ever mentioned in the Old Testament.

Scripture itself documents the Church Age as a mystery: Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:1-6; Col 1:25-26.

Because of it's insertion into history as it is revealed in scripture, the church age can be referred to as a great parenthesis or as an intercalation since it has been inserted into the events that are found in prophecy.

All the Old Testament prophets skipped over the Church Age because it was not revealed to them. This can be seen in Dan 2:40-41, Dan 7:23-24, Dan 8:22-23, Dan 11:35-36; Hosea 3:4-5, Hosea 5:15-Hosea 6:1.

Our Lord personally revealed the Church Age in his prophecy in John 17:21; "I in you and you in Me" and in Acts 1:3-4; "you will be baptized with the Spirit not many days from now." and in Matt 16:18; "Upon this rock I will build My Church."

This passage is the first time the Greek word "ekklesia" translated church is used in the Word of God. The concept of "the church" as a body of believers who were to be gathered from all nations does not exist in the Old Testament. Eph 2:11-22;

Paul knew that he was teaching previously un-revealed or "mystery" doctrine when he said in, 1Cor 2:7, "We communicate God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden which God predestined before the ages resulting in our glory."

We see from this hidden information that all believers were provided with a destiny in eternity past, and it is designed for the glory of God and for blessing which is "exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or think."

Paul had a tremendous personal sense of destiny and understood that he was given the opportunity to disclose revelation from God that had never been presented by the greatest of Old Testament writers and would never again be operational in the same way after the rapture or exit resurrection of the church.

Church age believers who understand and hold to this same doctrine that has been revealed in this age become invisible heroes and God is glorified. 1Tim 3:9; "holding the mystery of the faith (doctrine) with a clear conscience."

This is a mandate for the believer to advance in the grace and knowledge of TLJC after their salvation.

Another of the unique assets of church age believers is that each person of the Trinity indwells the body of every individual church age believer.

Never before in history and never after the exit resurrection are believers indwelt by God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But today we have the indwelling of all three members of the Trinity.

God the Father indwells every church age believer's body, John 14:23; Eph 4:6; 2John 1:9; for at least four reasons:

He is the author of our portfolio of invisible assets, he is the grantor of our escrow blessings, he is the mastermind of the protocol plan for the Church Age and he is the designer of our very own palace, the operational spiritual life of the church age.


The indwelling of the Father is related to his being glorified through His protocol plan for the Church Age, Eph 1:3,6,12. He is glorified when believers use his plan to overcome all the adversities they face in their life on the earth in time.

The indwelling of God the Father is a guarantee of His personal ministry to every Church Age believer, both for time and eternity.

His indwelling is a guarantee of our portfolio of invisible assets, of our escrow blessings for time and eternity, of the protocol plan of God, and of the divine power system of the church age.

The indwelling of God the Father is part of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

Apart from the unglorified humanity of TLJC Never before in history was any believer indwelt by God the Father until this dispensation.

Jesus Christ also indwells the body of every church age believer, John 14:20; John 17:22-23, 26; Rom 8:10; 2Cor 13:5; Gal 2:20; Col 1:27; 1John 2:24;

This indwelling is unique to the Church Age and serves as both a sign and a badge of the royal family of God.

We are left on the earth after salvation to complement our Lord's strategic victory that he accomplished while on this earth at beginning of the Hypostatic Union with our tactical victory. 1John 5:4-5; Rev 2:7; Rev 2:11;Rev 2:17;Rev 2:26; Rev 3:21;

The indwelling of Jesus Christ is a guarantee of our escrow blessings, because Jesus Christ is both the depositary for and the escrow officer who conveys our escrow blessings.

As the indwelling Shekinah Glory, Jesus Christ is a guarantee of the irrevocability of the escrow blessings and of the certainty of their distribution to those who advance.

The indwelling of Jesus Christ motivates believers to advance in the protocol plan of God, "Christ in you, the hope of glory," Col 1:27;

The indwelling of Jesus Christ when understood provides great confidence during the believer's advance to maturity.

The indwelling of Christ is related to the experience of occupation with Christ it is the basis for the believer's focus and motivation in the protocol plan of God and enables believers to establish their number one priority as their relationship with God ahead of their relationship with people.

The indwelling of Jesus Christ is the basis for assigning number one priority to learning the information conveyed in the mystery doctrine of the church age, so that occupation with Christ becomes the premier problem-solving device for believers functioning in the protocol plan of God.

The indwelling of Jesus Christ is the basis for the divine power that is just as available to us as it was to our Lord during his life on the earth in unglorified humanity at the beginning of the hypostatic union.

The indwelling of Jesus Christ is a guarantee that we have eternal life after death. We are in union with TLJC through the baptism of the Spirit and as a result share His eternal life.

As the royal family of God we have a double portion of eternal life, the eternal life of the Father and of the Son.

The fact that the Son indwells us is a guarantee of that eternal life, and a guarantee that we will live with Him forever.

Death has lost its sting; the grave has lost its power. "Thanks be unto God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Cor 15:54-57;

Church age believers also have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as discussed in, Rom 8:11; 1Cor 3:16; 1Cor 6:19-20; and 2Cor 6:16;

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer to provide a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory.

Through his indwelling ministry, God the Holy Spirit establishes a beachhead for the use of His omnipotence as the means of executing the protocol plan of God.

He provides a base whereby His power is available, attainable, and usable when believers live and function inside the power system.

Believers execute the protocol plan through the filling and teaching ministries of God the Holy Spirit.

 

© Copyright 2007, Michael Lemmon Bible Ministries. World Rights Reserved.  This document was created on 7/12/2009