What is God Waiting For?

"But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool" (Hebrews 10:12-13).  

If Jesus is sitting and waiting for His enemies to be made into an ottoman, who is supposed to be doing the fighting?

"When Jesus had called the disciples together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases" (Luke 9:1).

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19).

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).
 
If we think He is in control but He says we are in control, who is in control? 





"For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed" 
(Rom. 8:19).
 

Already or Not Yet?

In the first century in Rome there was a place called the Agora which was the market - it was the place where people would buy & sell food, clothing and other items. At the entrance to the Agora there was a large statue which depicted the Roman Caesar. In 58-64 AD it happened to be Caesar Nero.

Nero is one of the most evil men to ever walk the face of the Earth. The people and writers of that time referred to him as the "beast". To give you an idea of what made him so evil, he had his mother executed. He kicked his pregnant wife to death. He lit Rome on fire, a third of which burned to the ground. He blamed the Christians for it, and then unleashed a 3 1/2 year (42 month) persecution against them. He impaled Christians on stakes and lit them on fire to provide light while he ate dinner. He put Christians in the coliseum and watched as hungry lions tore them apart. This was Nero.

The required admittance fee to enter the Agora during that time was to pay a fee and then kneel down and worship the statue of Nero. After doing so, the Roman soldiers would place a mark of ash on people's forehead or right hand to show homage had been made. Unless you worshiped the statue of the "beast" and received the mark, you could not go in to buy, sell or trade. This was the mark of the "beast" Nero - which happened almost 2000 years ago. 

What is also interesting is the fact that in the Greek and Hebrew languages, each letter of the alphabet was given a corresponding number. Adding up these numbers gives a numeric value to a word or name. When applying this method to "Caesar Nero", the number is 666.

Sound familiar?

This is My Son

"And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" - Matthew 3:17

In Jewish culture in the first century, when a boy turned thirteen they had what's called the "bar-mitzvah" which basically meant that the boy was becoming a man and the raising of the boy transferred at that point because up until the age of 13 the boy was being raised mostly by his mother. But when he turned 13, there was a transfer where the boy went to work with his father and he began to learn the family trade. In Jesus' case, he went to work with Joseph and started learning the family trade of carpentry. 

But there was another transfer that took place when the boy reached the age of 30. At the age of 30, the father would take his son out to the public market and stand him up on a platform and he would declare to those around saying, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." Essentially the father was saying, "Now you can deal with him in business separately from me. He is his own man, he represents our family - he is my authorized representative." 

This was the cultural understanding. So, at Jesus' baptism, when He was 30 years old, God the Father uttered those loving words to His Son. The heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and rested. I would imagine Jesus shed some tender tears of joy after hearing His Father say those loving words. At that point Jesus began "His Father's work".

What is so amazing to me is that God gives us of this same Spirit. Through relationship with Jesus we are also the Father's sons & daughters, in whom He is well pleased, so we can also represent the family as His authorized representatives. He set us on a platform and shouted in the public square!
Before Jesus physically left He told us that we would actually do "greater works" than He did. Can you believe that? 

What a calling. What responsibility. What hope! The Father sees you and is well pleased. 

Go get 'em tiger.

Leaven from Heaven

“Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees...” - Mark 8:15

Leaven (or yeast) is a substance that has a fermenting quality. It has a penetrating or diffusive power to it - a little goes a long way. It spreads particle to particle and causes a little piece of dough to rise up and become bread.

In the Bible, the word leaven is used in both positive and negative ways. For example Jesus used the word leaven to illustrate the growth of the Kingdom of Heaven. He also used it in a negative way like He did in the above verse about the Pharisees. In the Bible it essentially means "way" or "teaching" or "seed".

When I was a teenager I remember having life all figured out. In a way it was kind of fun approaching life with such confidence and pride. There was nothing that could stop me - I knew everything and I had my whole life ahead of me. I was king of my kingdom. I didn't need the advice of my family and friends. I was 'smart' enough to figure life out for myself.

But hundreds (ok, thousands) of mistakes later, I started settling in to reality. If I was king, I was doing a pretty bad job. My best decisions landed me in front of a brick wall. Helpless. Hopeless. Lost. Confused. Powerless.

This is the leaven of the Pharisees - close minded reliance on our own understanding. It is rooted in selfish pride. See, there is a way that seems right to us - a way that seems good. But who's "good" is it? In the words of John Bevere, is it good or is it God?

The thing about deception is that it's deceptive. No one believes they are being deceived until they hit the brick wall.

The leaven of the Pharisees is goodness apart from God. Knowledge without wisdom. Scripture without Spirit. Religion without relationship. Talk with no power or demonstration. Mind knowledge over heart knowledge. Our real ears are the ones attached to our heart - not our heads.

There is a river flowing to the heart of God. We must hop in and trust His rhythm, His flow - the gentle lap of His water flowing in and through us. See, the same hands which knit us together are the hands that lead us. The same breath which called us forth is the same breath which continues to blow. This is the unforced rhythms, the whisper - the true leaven, of our Father God.

Love Letter

Imagine you have invited a very special guest over to your house. A long time before the special day you send him a long letter which gives him detailed turn-by-turn instructions on how to get to your house. You spend a long time on the letter - you even write down examples of other people who have tried to get to your house but took wrong turns. In the letter you also write about how excited you are to see him and how much you care about him. You give him an open invitation to invite as many of his friends as he wants to. You mail the letter - Certified Mail with proof of delivery.

When the big day arrives, you can't even contain your excitement. You have prepared a table - a feast with only the best of everything. No expense has been spared. Your heart is full of love and anticipation of what the day may bring. Then, the phone rings. It is your special guest! But he sounds scared. Confused. Lost.

He asks you for directions.

"Directions? Didn't you receive my letter?"

Your special guest replies, "I did, but I just skimmed through it and then got sidetracked. I've just been so busy lately."

You are heartbroken. Your special guest took a series of wrong turns and is such a long way off he will never find his way in time.

Many people are waiting for a phone call from God when He has already sent them a Letter.

Doctrine

Sound doctrine is important, but it's not the point. Doctrine doesn't transform lives, the Spirit of God does. Sooner or later we must leave the comfort of studying doctrine all the time and understand it has already been written on our hearts. It's not until we step out of the boat that water-walking happens. When our toes touch the water for the first time, it's no longer about doctrine, but the power of God.

Anchor for our Souls

The expectations that other people have of us will toss us around the sea of life until we fall apart. Seeing our worth through the eyes of others is like floating around in a sea of empty promises without ever arriving anywhere. Today we are going this way, tomorrow that way. It's like chasing after the wind.

The Bible says that God's promises are like anchors for our souls, firm and secure. The worth of something is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. God gave his Son for you. Set down your anchor in that promise today. You are worth everything to Him, and there is nothing you could ever do that would make Him love you less.

Nothing.

Peace

Sometimes our kids annoy us and tire us out so we project that onto God and assume He gets tired & annoyed with us too. But God never gets annoyed with us nor does He ever need a break from us. Nothing can separate us from His love - not our behavior, not our crabbiness - nothing. His face is always before us, smiling, and waiting for us to recognize His voice.

Eyes to See

God usually only shows us what our view of Him allows. If we view Him as distant, powerless and uninterested we will likely notice very little of what He is doing around us. If we stand in awe of Him, acknowledge Him and see Him as a Source of power in our lives, He will show us miracles. That's what Jesus meant when He talked about having eyes to see and ears to hear. No one ever found treasure without looking.

First Steps

In a way, the Lord is kind of like a parent who teaches His child to walk by showing her how to do it and then backing away so the child will need to take more steps to reach Him. Of course He never leaves us but He wants us to keep walking and seeking Him with our hearts. Often instead of taking more steps to reach Him we give up or get scared and sit down just short of where He was leading us.

Tree of Life

We can't just try harder to do better. It's like arm wrestling ourselves. Our own knowledge of good cannot fix our knowledge of evil. Remember, both good & evil hung on the same tree which was nourished by the same root system.

We all know evil when we see it. It's our knowledge of good that's the problem. Most people spend their whole life chasing the "good" that seems right, hopping from branch to branch on the tree of knowledge. Most of this comes in the form of religion, or whatever the smart people are saying.

Then there are those who, in the midst of their toiling, recognize that all the branches are on the same tree. They perceive a whisper which calls them to a narrow path at the base of the tree. This path leads away from the tree and through a long series of hills and valleys. Everyone on this path feels their heart calling them forward but many turn back seeking past comforts & familiar surroundings. The few that press on eventually find another Tree at the top of a mountain whose fruit is of a different type altogether. This fruit is sweet, full of nourishment - full of Life. No one hops from branch to branch in this Tree - there is no need - each branch provides a perfect place of rest and joy. 

This path is the Way. This whisper is the Truth. This Truth is the Life.

There were two trees in the Garden.

Go All the Way

After seeing the Lord's power, Pharaoh made another proposal, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away" (Exodus 8:28). Sound familiar? When we begin to break free of the world to serve the Lord, we will hear from all kinds of people about the 'dangers' of going too far with God. True believers will refuse to let the world tell them how far to go with the Lord. If the enemy cannot keep us in complete bondage, his next strategy is to make us compromise.

Humility

The religious establishment has a way of rubbing our noses in the past to keep us humble, but reviewing the sinfulness of our past in order to become humble is perverted. This actually creates shame, and shame is a poor counterfeit of humility. It requires us to hold onto something that Jesus died for. It is much more humbling to live in the freedom of unearned forgiveness. When we walk in the truth of being completely forgiven, it changes us. Forgiveness is the source of humility, not our failures.

On Earth as it is in Heaven

I have often heard people ask the question, "If God is so good why did he create the devil?" Often when they ask the question they do so with a smirk as if the question itself somehow disproves God's existence. The answer to the question is simple: God didn't create the devil. God created Lucifer, who was a beautiful angel in heaven who evidently was musically inclined and was in charge of worship of the Lord. He chose to rebel against the Lord through the use of his free will along with a host of other angels. After this point he is referred to as the devil, or Satan (which means adversary), or the evil one, or the enemy, etc. So, Lucifer created the devil, not God.

To have love we must have the freedom to choose it. Love is an act of our will, not our emotions. Where this ability to choose love exists, the ability to choose evil must also exist. God doesn't allow evil, we do, because He gave us "dominion" over the Earth. See, there is a big difference between God being sovereign and God being in control. Just because God is sovereign (supreme; top of the food chain) doesn't mean He is in control of everything that happens on Earth. I am sovereign over my lawn, for example, but if I tell my 6 year old boys to take care of it I will likely end up with a bunch of weeds unless they come to me for instructions. If a person believes God literally controls (or ultimately allows) everything that happens on Earth, they will have a very perverted view of God. This is Satan's #1 goal - making people believe God (who is love) is doing the things that Satan is (who is evil). If God is really in control of everything that happens here, Jesus certainly wouldn't have told us to pray, "Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." In Heaven, God's will is being done. On Earth, not so much. On Earth, God's will is only being done to the degree we are stepping into our identity as His sons & daughters and "ruling over the Earth and subduing it" by establishing the Kingdom of God (Reign, or rule of God) on Earth as it is in Heaven.

"For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." - Rom. 8:19

Dreaming with God

When I was a kid in Sunday school I remember learning about all the miracles that Jesus did. I remember being riveted by the stories of healing, deliverance, multiplication of food, walking on water, knowing hidden details about people and things like that. The teachers taught us that Jesus was able to do these things because He was God - because He was God the Son - a member of the Holy Trinity. But they always seemed to skip over the verses where Jesus referred to our ability to do the same things as Him. Verses like this:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." - John 14:12

If Jesus could only do miracles because He is God, then why did He repeatedly tell us that we can do the same things? Not only the same things, but "greater" things?

So I did a little searching. The Bible says in Philippians that "though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."

In other words, Jesus willingly emptied Himself of His "God-ness" while He walked the Earth. Not His identity as the Son of God, but His 'MoJo' - He willingly made Himself in the likeness of a mere man, emptying Himself of His divine power. That is, until He received the Holy Spirit at His baptism, much like how the Bible says we receive the Holy Spirit when we are born again.

After receiving the Spirit He often would withdraw into solitary places to be alone and pray - the first time was a 40 day fast in the wilderness. It was almost as if He was getting to know the Holy Spirit all over again - this time as a man - learning to perceive the Spirit as a man - learning how to be led by the Spirit as a man. And then it hit me - Jesus was modeling for us what it looks like to be led by the Holy Spirit. He was, as a man, showing us what we are capable of when we are fully submitted to the Holy Spirit. Are you kidding me?! He was teaching us how to walk in the miraculous? We are really able to do this?

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." - John 1:12-13

The Bible also says in Romans 8 that "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God". That's why we can do the "same and greater works" as Jesus - because we are also sons & daughters of God, with the very same Holy Spirit. There is no difference - "we are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28) ! We are the bride and He is the Bridegroom - the two become one flesh!

That's why Jesus told us to "heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead and cast out demons" - He told US to do it, not ask Him to do it - because we are also sons & daughters of God with the "same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead" (Romans 8:11)! His hands are our hands! All we need to do is believe who we are! God knows who you are! Satan knows who you are! Angels know who you are! Demons know who you are! It's only YOU who doesn't know who you are! We are royalty! Don't skip over those verses - it's who you are! 

That's why! Jesus isn't just God, He is your big brother! Close your eyes and imagine what God has planned for you - let Him imprint His dreams for your life upon your mind. Imagine what you are capable of with God in you. You can do "ALL things through Christ"! Dream with Him - go off into the wilderness and get to know Holy Spirit. Talk to Him! He loves you. You are His son. You are His daughter. He has a massive inheritance for you, the debit card is in your back pocket and the keys to the Kingdom are yours! 

Wrestling with Daddy

My boys ask me all the time to wrestle with them. Really what it consists of is them jumping on my back while I make monster noises and ensuring no one gets hurt (except me!). It's funny - my boys know that I'm much stronger than them but they like for me to pretend anyway.

I got to thinking that is how God must interact with us. He desires to enter into intimate relationship with each of us but He is like a "consuming fire" so He needs to restrain Himself quite a bit to make sure no one gets hurt. What is so wildly amazing about that is that He actually does it. He does it out of love and a deep longing to be intimate with us. He restrains His strength for the sake of having intimate relationships with His children. 

Generally speaking I think the church as a whole thinks they are "too cool" to wrestle with their daddy. They think they have outgrown it. They want God to drop them off down the block so their friends don't see their Father. This must really hurt Him - kind of like when kids come into their teenage years and all of the sudden don't want anything to do with their parents. The parents desperately want to talk to them about what is going on in their lives, their challenges, their fears, etc. but the obstinate teenagers don't think their parents would ever understand. 

Jesus told us to become "like little children" and that His Kingdom belongs to "such as these". I'm pretty sure this is why. God's children like to wrestle with their Daddy.

Giants

God gave the Israelites the promised land - a land "flowing with milk & honey" - yet the land was full of enemies - giants - which had to be physically driven out before they could take possession of it. Why? Why promise something so great only to have it infested with enemies?

Relationships are based on trust. God is a relational being who deeply desires to share his divine nature with us - that was the plan from the beginning and it has never ceased being the plan. He wants co-laborers (2 Cor. 6:1), co-reigners (2 Tim. 2:12), co-heirs (Rom 8:17) and partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). He wants friends. He wants powerful friends like Himself. "Let us create man in our image..."

When I was teaching my boys to ride their bikes, I would run behind them with my hand on the seat, holding the bike up as they rode along. They would always look back at me to make sure I was still there - to make sure I was still holding the bike up as they peddled along. Seeing me behind them gave them confidence. But after a while I would let go of the seat and just run behind them. Why? Because it's only after letting go that they could really learn to be a bike rider like me.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." - Deut. 31:6

The reason why is to build our trust. He leaves giants in our path so we learn how to trust & perceive Him. Soon we start to learn that the giants in front of us are never bigger than the God in us. I think God chooses to use us to fight the enemy because He knows that victory is much sweeter when everyone has some skin in the game. What was true for the Israelites is true for us today. The only difference is that today there are no physical enemies to drive out, for "our battle is not against flesh and blood." The Promised Land was "a shadow of things to come" - a shadow of something much more real - something much more significant. And it's happening now. See, almost everything that happened in the Old Testament was a shadow of New Testament realities. Not a shadow of something that we are waiting for, but something that is happening now. The old interprets the new. If we're not careful we may miss it. 

"Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature." - 2 Peter 1:4

Reign as Kings

"But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." - John 16:7

It's interesting that Jesus said the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) "will not" come to us until after Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father. Jesus didn't say the Holy Spirit "could not" - He said the Holy Spirit "will not". So, why not? Why did the Holy Spirit want to wait until after Jesus returned to the Father's side?

I think we can shed light on this question by understanding how Jesus reveals the Father to us, and how the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us. We can only know the Father through the Son, and we can only know the Son through the Spirit.

So, if we know that the Holy Spirit reveals the Son to us and forms us into His image, why was it better for the Spirit to wait until after the Son returned to the throne?
I believe it's because "as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). Not as Jesus was, but as He is. The Holy Spirit is a real-time link to the heart & mind of Jesus. That's what makes the relationship possible.

See, the Spirit doesn't want to make us into how Jesus was as a suffering servant on earth - that's not who He is anymore. The Spirit wants to make us into how Jesus is now - King and Priest with all authority. Jesus is now "seated in heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6) as our king and high priest. That's why Jesus said, "It is good for you that I am going away." That's also why the apostle Paul calls us a "royal priesthood" - because just as Jesus is (right now), so are we in this world. Jesus is a royal priest to us, and we are royal priests to the world. As He is, so are we.

We are no longer the suffering servants we read about in the Old Testament. Our model isn't even the suffering Jesus of the New Testament. After all, the whole point of Him suffering was our redemption - not more suffering. We may endure persecution (in fact Jesus said we would), but suffering for sin, bondage, emotional pain and sickness was paid for on the cross of Calvary for all time. Our model is now the victorious Jesus - the glorified Jesus. We are sons & daughters who "reign as kings" in this world (Romans 5:17). 

Sometimes I think we get stuck in Old Testament ways of thinking of ourselves and we chalk it up to humility. But that is not humility.

Humility isn't denying who we are, it is serving others because of who we are. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples to demonstrate this. Real kings don't lord it over others, they serve others. We must not let the poor kings & presidents of the world taint our understanding of what true leadership is.

Humility, like faith, is about believing God and acting on it. God says we are: 

Kings (Rom. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:9)
Priests (1 Pet. 2:9)
Sons & Daughters (Gal. 3:26)
Ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20)
Ministers of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18)
The fragrance of God (2 Cor. 2:15)
New Creations (2 Cor. 5:17)
Seated with Christ on the throne (Eph. 2:6)
Miracle workers (Mark 16:17-18)
Keepers of the Kingdom (Matt. 16:19)
Soldiers for Christ (Eph. 6:14)

See, our Advocate the Holy Spirit wanted to wait. He wanted to wait until the crown was placed on the head of King Jesus. He wanted to wait, to make us like the resurrected & glorified Lion of the present, not the suffering Lamb of the past. His work is now complete. It is finished. Now as He is, so are we in this world.