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"Seated in Heavenly Places"
Portal to Supernatural Power: First of SevenGuidelines: The United Methodist Church and the Charismatic Movement
The Creator and Father expressed his care for
the plight of the spiritually dead in a marvelous and miraculous way – he
sent the agent in creation, Logos, from the power and glory of the heavenly
dimension to this planet “in the form of a man” to offer a life for a life –
his life for the life of Adam’s offspring, and for all the people, Adam’s
race or not, caught up in the serpent system. |
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Snyder Bible Home |
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PART 2 >>
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(Eph 2:1-7 NRSV) You were dead through the trespasses and sins {2} in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. … {4} But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us {5} even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ {6} and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, {7} so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. |
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All
Naturally Born are Spiritually Dead
1. Adam was created a physical and
spiritual being -- alive in both realms -- able to walk with the Almighty and
the angels. Adam (man) and Eve (life) may have lived in this state of divine
fellowship with spiritual beings for ten thousand or a million years as we
measure time -- we don’t know the
extent of their existence in the beautiful place that later became known as
"the garden of earthly delights" – Eden. Even in Paradise, the Almighty parent set limits and laws for
those whom he loved because they were to remain safe forever.
(Gen 3:3) God said, 'You shall not eat of
the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch
it, or you shall die.'"
“Stay away
from there! It’s dangerous!” But the man and woman disobeyed the
direction and immediately died spiritual deaths. Eternal life for Adam and Eve was eliminated due to making
bad choices. God didn't kill them; eating
of the poisonous tree had its own consequences. Though the couple died to
eternity immediately, they continued a physical existence for 130 years longer,
the natural lifespan of a human being in an uncorrupted world. During this time, Adam and Eve became the
parents of the many races and primeval nations that are mentioned in Genesis
10. Their remains, like all the remains
of human beings after, have long since become dust in the wind.
All of their progeny born since, you and I
maybe, are physically and biologically alive, intelligent and sensitive, having
some bit of divine handiwork remaining, certainly knowing good from evil, right
from wrong, but spiritually dead and doomed to death after a certain span of
days. We don't even get 130 years anymore. 3. In our passage, St. Paul designates all humans since Adam and Eve to be spiritually dead and "children of disobedience." Children are disobedient when they are undisciplined. Likewise, all who are born continue in disobedience because humans do not naturally have spiritual eyes to distinguish Yahweh's discipline from the serpent’s delusion.
4. Therefore, in the natural, we are
"children meant for wrath" because we are born of human parents into
a world of spiritual darkness and disobedience, knowing no better than to
satisfy our natural, human, instincts.
And although scientists tell us that there is a natural propensity in
all humans to seek out the divine to some measure, we are no longer His by
birth nor do we bear the mark of His image that was stamped so plainly on
Adam. We are born dead. 5. The dead serve a world system with many staircases but no doorways to Heaven. The world system is like a paper mill. An elegant tool is manufactured through a very caustic process only to serve its purpose then be burned in a furnace in Chicago or flushed down a drain in Tokyo.
6. There is no means and nobody with the power to remake a person
into Adam because what is done is done; Adam's disobedience millennia ago
affected every single one of his offspring to this day adversely. Every institution of the world is
self-serving, unredeemed and unmerciful. Even the church will "chew you up
then spit you out." But you already
knew that.
7. The only personage in our cosmos
who we assume holds the power to do anything about this situation is
Yahweh Elohim through the intermediary of his Son because we think they jointly
created the whole shebang. We also are taught that G-d alone is rich
in mercy, extending forth a hand of grace to any child of Adam that will accept
it. G-d alone is gracious. Grace means 'gift' and has come to be understood as
Yahweh’s propensity toward mercy upon children of disobedience who desire above
all things to come into obedience and atonement.
8. The Creator and Father expressed his
care for the plight of the spiritually dead in a marvelous and miraculous way –
he sent the agent in creation, Logos, from the power and glory of the heavenly
dimension to this planet “in the form of a man” to offer a life for a life –
his life for the life of Adam’s offspring, and for all the people, Adam’s race
or not, caught up in the serpent system.
9. The only way the spiritually dead can
possibly hope to reach Grace is to take the hand of Yahshua, who was and still
is a man! The dead need to be
quickened, that is, brought to life, by the man Yahshua, and they must
make an effort to discover him.
Unfortunately, most of the dead prefer fate and the tomb to the possibility
of new life and new creation. In fact, there is a certain comfort in being
dead.
10. But in those who receive a seed,
recognize it and cultivate it, resurrection life in the Spirit will certainly
manifest. Nobody can explain it, except that Yahshua through Yahweh has the
power to change the body cell by cell into something new -- a new
creature – a new creation – to make a new person – an eternal child of heavenly
obedience. This is not just some
metaphoric notion or a parable; it is a biological reality. I am convinced that someday geneticists will
discover that the born again person is genetically different than one
who has not been born again.
11. A person can’t change one cell of her
body by herself, though scientists may be able to modify them one by one. Neither can she change herself by just being
a good person or doing good things or thinking good thoughts. It is a new creation from the hand of
the Creator. It can't happen by force of
muscle, only by force of miracle. Never by natural willpower; only through the
will of the G-d. It's not a
natural occurrence -- it is a supernatural occurrence, and it doesn’t
happen that often.
12. When grace meets a little faith within
the spiritually dead, then Yahweh tears the new creation away from the world
system and places him into a world St. Paul calls "The Kingdom of the
Beloved Son," in whom we have "redemption and the forgiveness of
sins" (Col 1:13). This transition
is often violent, because the dead and the demons of the serpent system will
not readily tolerate loss! They fight
tooth and nail and they never give up!
You were once a member of their demonic family!
13.
But when the transition is made from Dominion to Kingdom,
the human child becomes an actual child of Elohim (heaven) – a spiritual
being, and the eternal destiny of Adam is restored. Whether the new spirit knows it or not, he or she is now in
contact with the dimension of spirits, has certain rights, privileges, graces
and responsibilities in that dimension, acquires certain useful and necessary
powers, exhibits certain characteristics and observes a number of caveats, as
well.
Living Now
on Two Planes or Dimensions
1. We met a young man with a heavy German
accent, which is not unusual for Helen, Georgia, a resort town that draws lots
of Europeans. I asked him where he was from. He said,
I'm an American raised in Germany. My
father was stationed there in 1960 where he met and married my mother. He
brought her back to the US and I was born here. But my mother couldn't learn
English and so she had no friends. She couldn't get around here on her own. So
after three years, she divorced dad and took me to Germany where I grew up.
When I was old enough, I moved back here and relearned the language.
What an
unusual story!
The transition from one culture and
language to another isn’t easy or quick. Language, customs, and attitudes
hamper assimilation into a new society.
Likewise, unless a new spirit is deeply committed to spiritual living,
the full transition from the Dominion to the Kingdom will never be made. It’s
not easy to be a Christian. The
language, customs and attitudes are completely different from those of the
world and new knowledge and supernatural wisdom is needed to
survive. There are new rules. Many languish on the shoreline of
the Kingdom, never making their way into the heartland. Many are swept back out in the current to
drown in the dark ocean.
2. The heartland I'm talking about is the supernatural
or spiritual realm of the Kingdom. We may become spiritual beings,
we may have escaped the wrath of G-d through his grace, we may have eternal
life, but we might still never enter the deep spiritual realm that St.
Paul so takes for granted. You see, we are recreated to live in two forms of
realities at the same time instead of just one. We make our home on solid
ground, Earth, but we must be willing to traverse upward to skyward realms!
3. Yes, we are to live unto Messiah in the
physical, natural realm -- in the world -- doing good as he did, redeeming our
time and leading others to him. 4. But
we are also to live in 'the heavenlies' simultaneously, being seated in glory on
thrones with the Son of Man, taking authority over the systems of
the world through supernatural power, and spiritually intervening in
the affairs of the children of disobedience for the purposes of the
Kingdom. So many have trouble
understanding, much less utilizing, this duality of existence. The spiritual
life we share with the Son of Man is like a foreign land that we need to
explore and to which we must acclimate or forever lie down upon the shore of
our potential.
An athlete tries out for the team because
he wants to play, not because he wants to sit on a bench for two hours. In the game of eternity, most teammates are
very content to sit on the bench and fondly anticipate their retirement income.
Athletes of G-d, please understand that the whole purpose of becoming
new creations is bound up in what's going on now rather than what we
long for then.
St. Paul speaks specifically of "the
game" to be played in verse 7: We are operating from heavenly places
"so that in the ages to come he might
show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus."
These
"ages to come" he speaks of are now here, and we find
ourselves new creatures in these present ages, vessels of "the
immeasurable riches of his grace."
What he is referring to as "immeasurable riches" is the
"salvation by grace through faith" that we now are empowered to
extend to others, and thus be agents of transformation for the betterment
of the material world. We can only be powerful agents for change if we are
realize our place and acknowledge that we are reigning from heavenly places at
the same time as we are dwelling in earthly.
6. The difficulty is that, unless we
discipline ourselves to become spiritual athletes, we may remain unproductive
in the Kingdom and, therefore, purposeless in the Life. If we allow our
physical frailties, limitations, illnesses and ignorance of the Bible, to take
precedence over our high spiritual calling, we are the type of believer that
St. Paul calls "carnal" -- concerned primarily with our troubles below
rather than his truths above. We must learn that our infirmities, even our
ignorance, may affect us negatively only if we allow it. As for St. Paul, he
gloried in his infirmities, because Yahshua’s power became evident to anyone
who knew St. Paul's ability to achieve greatness despite physical problems
and multiplied troubles.
How Might We
Acclimate Ourselves to Our Heavenly Position
How can we experience the realm of heavenly
places and spiritual power? There are
many exercises we can do in the natural realm to build our awareness of our
spiritual power.
1. Make a discipline of studying the
scriptures - through the Bible, taped lessons, study books, etc. Gear your
study to practicality and spirituality. Believe it literally in spiritual
matters. Especially, learn from the Bible who you are in G-d. EVERYBODY HAS TIME TO LISTEN TO TAPES or CDs. I have hundreds of tapes and CDs on subjects that
will strengthen and education you. Get
a set of New Testament tapes and listen to them over and over. That’s how I became a Bible scholar.
2. Continually confess your position in
Christ. Confessing out loud the truths of your identity and authority in the
Spirit convinces the natural body through its gates of learning: the mouth, the
ear, the eye, the musculature of affirmative confession. (Use A Prophetic Word for Ministries,
Stephen Johnson.)
3. Audibly praise Yahweh and Yahshua for both
your strengths and infirmities: appropriate weaknesses for power. I
minister the best when I am feeling the worst.
That’s when His strength is made manifest in me. Listen to what scholar N. T. Wright says:
We live in a world of people struggling to
be, or at least to appear, strong, in order not to appear weak; and we follow a
gospel that says that when I am weak, then I am strong. And this gospel is the
only thing that brings healing.
I might add
that it is only because we are weak and sick in the flesh that the spirit can
work at all. When the flesh is strong, the flesh takes over. Thank Yahweh for
afflicting you! Your problems can be a springboard into the realm of spiritual
ministry to others.
4. Pray and expect results. Forget your
problems. Ask Yahshua to show you the
strangleholds on the lives of others you love, then pray the strongholds
down, using a warfare prayer. THEN, don't be surprised when the stronghold
falls.
5. Step out in faith. Pray for an
opportunity to move in the supernatural. Instead of listening to someone's
complaint about their problems or illnesses, lay hands on them and pray for
them in Jesus' name immediately. THEN, don't be surprised when something
happens.
I have a lot of opportunities to minister
to people because I take a lot of opportunities. You might say, “Well, bud, that’s because you are a preacher.” But I didn’t have to be and I don’t have to
be. I became a minister so that I could
have constant opportunities to use my heavenly power for earthly good. That is the horse that pulls my cart. I wouldn’t suggest professional ministry to
anyone unless they started from this foundation. It’s too hard and thankless, and you get your picture put up on
the post office wall in Hell.
BUT I'm not surprised anymore when people
are touched spiritually when I pray or sing. It's not that I'm any spiritual
superman. It's just that I now know
where I’m seated no matter how I feel.
Even an invalid or a mentally deficient person can perceive Yahweh’s
will well enough to boldly go to war with the devil over somebody’s life or
soul. Just think how much greater the
power of those who are whole and confident! Whether we feel inadequate or not, troubled or not, the spiritual
reality is that Jesus’ gifts and anointing is adequate for every need.
Hal Shirley was a man I knew years ago. He
was 85 years old and an invalid, eaten up by lung, mouth, and brain cancer. How
would you like to be called to minister to somebody so far gone? I'll never forget how Mig & I wondered
what we could do for this man, but we prayed for him after acknowledging that
we had no power of our own. Despite how inadequate we felt, Jesus touched this
man through our anointing with oil and prayer. Joy flooded his face as his
spirit came alive within that grotesque, dying flesh. He raised his hands as high as he could and from that awful
tongueless mouth flowed high praises to Yahweh that only He could understand.
Realize that
you have a heavenly vantage point, then step out and pray for someone. Read
a prayer if need be. Jesus' will make manifest his power through your
inadequacy if you’ll just risk something.
{Do a
spiritual exercise, like anointing of church
furniture or blessing water and oil.}
Brasstown
Bald
6. From "Brasstown Bald," the
highest mountain peak in Georgia, we can clearly see four states. Through the
power of the telescope, we can see the details of many small towns in these
states. When we on the mountain top, in
heavenly places, the mysteries of sin and redemption become clear, because we
can see far. Ascending the mountain toward heavenly places in the Spirit may
seem difficult; growth always takes effort. But ascending the heavenly heights
can be managed if we realize that we are already up there, living as
spiritual powers, even as we walk the earth in weakness. 7. I leave you with the encouraging words of Pastor B. R. Martin of a half century ago, inviting you to "climb upward with me to the high and holy place. The door opens by faith, and the view is the best I've ever seen."
Jackson Snyder, July
19, 1992, updated January 10, 2002 |
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