Mission Accomplished

As we enter into the Easter season I thought it useful to address the work that Jesus Christ has done for us in a more interesting way. Kenneth Copeland’s book “The Blessing of the Lord” (from where much of the following notes originate) gives us a very interesting insight on the role Christ had for our redemption. It goes not only through the period of the Passion itself but also on before and after the cross.

We were saved at the resurrection 2000 years ago. We do not have to ask for it. We are saved, we are forgiven, we are redeemed. All we have to do is believe, accept it and confess it.

Satan’s lease on the World is coming to an end.

Isaiah 9:6-7

[6] For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. [7] Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 10:27

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

Satan had to wait 4000 excruciating years while to God, it might have been 4 days (2 Peter 3:8). Satan didn't know where the Messiah was going to come from and so He tried to eliminate as many righteous people as he could.

The blessing could have failed to be absorbed by humanity had it died out in any given generation. God may have put another plan in place but it was up to a few faithful throughout history that the blessing survived. It was a war of attrition that Satan couldn't win but only delay.

The blessing in the flesh

God’s blessing continued to be passed on from family to family until Jesus was born. That night in Bethlehem was when Jesus stepped through the door of the blessing that had been opened by Abraham’s faith.

The angel that announced the birth was announcing the good news. What were these news? It was that Christ, the anointed, had come from God to bring joy to the entire world, Jews and gentiles. The angels were happier than ever because they recognized the end of the war between Heaven and Earth. 

If Jesus had not died on the cross yet how could this be? The new dispensation of grace had not started yet but already the war was over for in Jesus was all righteousness. The Law of Moses still existed but so did Jesus. His 33 year stay with us in the flesh and 3 year ministry served as a transition between the two dispensations. Christ, the anointed one, had a mantle for his ministry only when he was baptized. All his miracles took place after that point. Jesus’ message was one to the Jews who needed this transition. The Gentiles, who did not know the law could be taught Christ directly through the first disciples, Paul and the apostles.

Because Jesus did not have any special power (Philippians 2:7) all his miracles were a manifestation of God’s blessing in operation. Jesus was showing us what we could do if we accessed that blessing in faith. In fact we can do far more than even he did once he ascended to Heaven (John 14:12).

This is why Jesus called himself the son of man instead of son of God. He was emphasizing his human nature. He is the best example to us because we can indeed be like him in our life. We just cannot atone for our own sins and much less the world’s. In Hebrew “man” and “Adam” have the same meaning. When Jesus said “son of man” he was saying he walked in the same blessing as Adam. There have been many “Adams” in Scripture as we have seen. These were the ones who inherited the blessing and made a way for Jesus to show up on Earth. After that, Jesus was the last “Adam”. He was the beginning and the end – alpha and omega – (Revelation 22:13).

Jesus did not come to demonstrate his power as the son of God. This is what he always said he could no nothing without the Father. Jesus came to release and restore the power of the blessing.

V day in Heaven and Earth

In Heaven every day is V Day (victory day). With the birth of Jesus V Day in Heaven became also V Day on earth. We can have it any time we want to. This is the drama of the human existence since the resurrection and the reason why we are still here. The Devil through deceit to the unsaved and religious spirits in some of the saved makes people think that we are still at the mercy of fortune. That is not so. The work has been done. It has been accomplished and all we have to do is take it.

The blessing was the first word God said to man and He never changed that. He carried it through to the day when such word became flesh. That word was there from the beginning. It was Jesus. And we, the church are His body. We are the body of the blessing.

Jesus was born but his ministry began when he was baptized. That is when his miracles began. It was also at that time that Satan found out who he was and that's when he launched his temptations against him (Luke 4). To reply to Satan Jesus did not say he was the son of God but only that he was anointed by God. That is the message he preached everywhere he went.

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN 
The entry of America into World War II on December 7, 1941, can, for our purpose, be representative of Jesus’ birth in the flesh. Later, D-Day, June 6, 1944, was the day that the captive Europeans knew that their victory was assured. It took them until May 8, 1945, for complete victory but D-Day marked an irreversible end to their oppression. From then, Hitler’s days were numbered just as sure as Satan’s days of rule were numbered when Jesus received the Holy Spirit at his baptism.

To be anointed is: to smear or rub with oil; to consecrate to an office or religious service (Strong’s). Jesus was anointed with the same that God had anointed Adam with and he carried the Garden of Eden where he went. The anointing removes burdens and destroys yokes.

The difference between Jesus and the others before that had received the blessing – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses –  is that the blessing was o. Them but not in them. Their body was contaminated by sin so the blessing could no flow from within them. Jesus, on the other hand was pure and so the blessing flowed from him like a fountain (John 4). 

Because we have died and are resurrected with him (Romans 6:4) we ourselves have the same fountain flowing from within us (John 7:38).

In the sermon on the mount (Matthew 4:7-9) Jesus shows people that if they are pure of heart and merciful they can have the blessing. The only thing that put a stop on Jesus flow of the blessing was unbelief, such as happened when he returned to Nazareth. Of course when we sin we put a stop on the anointing in us but when we confess our sins to God we are restored and consecrated.

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