In Psalm 2 we read of the Kings of the Nations rising up against the Lord, but He just laughs and says that He has offered all the nations His Son. All those they think they own, and all Christ has to do is ask Him for them. We need to understand that this promise is given to us as well, as we too are His Sons and Daughters, and we are in Christ.
The question is, if the Father is offering us the Nations through prayer, what else must we do to recieve them, for this is such a huge request? Do we have to jump through a whole lot of hoops? Do we need to be more religious and Holy? Maybe fast for a long time? Do we need to become a great Prophet like Elijah?
As I said last week, I think the answer is that we really believe the truth about who we are in Christ as this gives us confidence to approach the Father in prayer. We need to know our true identity, our sonship and our privileges in Christ.
Naturally the Devil doesn't want us to know what Christ has already done for us at the cross, and who we are in Him. He tries to get us to think that there must be something extra we have to do to have such power with God. He says things like, ‘You need to be a great Prophet like Elijah if you want to ask for a nation and see revival.’
The truth is that we are already greater than Elijah if we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 11:11.
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Jesus said that we are greater than John the Baptist who was the greatest of all the Prophets, (including Elijah) for we are in the Kingdom, which they were not. All the Prophets longed for our day. We are placed in Christ by faith and are the righteousness of God. We are as righteous as Christ is. This is why Christ is able to be joined to us as His Bride for we are not unequally yoked with Him. We know that if Christ were to ask the Father for something He would be given what He asked for.
As I look around me at Christians today, it's obvious that many feel that Jesus is not enough. They think that there also needs to be lashings of self-effort added to their faith. There is a mixture of law and grace and its like having our feet in both camps just to be on the safe side.
There are some who think that we need to add a lot of Old Testament rules and covenants to our faith, in order to really please God, forgetting that Jesus did it all. All those things were shadows of what was to come - Christ. Christ is the answer and we have ‘everything’ when we have Christ. Colossians 2:9-10
“For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power.” Colossians 2:9-10 TLB
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” NKJV
We are complete in Him. The word ‘complete’ here is the word ‘pleroo’ in Greek, which means to be crammed full. In Christ we are complete, we are completely full – IN HIM. As we become aware of this and believe that we are in Christ then everything begins to change.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Cor 5:17
In Christ, we are a brand-new creation that far exceeds anything else God has ever created in this temporal world. Paul also tells us that we are the Temples of God. Temples that He now lives in. It stands to reason that if He is in us, then we are now complete, for there is nothing more to add to His finished work. Jesus said on the cross that ‘It is finished.’ He did a complete work and made us worthy, accepted, and blessed right now. It is a done deal.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” Ephesians 1:3
Romans 8:17 makes it clear that as His children we inherit God. What more could you ask for? We are now joint heirs with Christ. I love how the Passion Bible puts it. We have inherited all that He has and all that He is.
“And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co-glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own.” Romans 8:17
Something I have noticed concerning healing now days is that most Christians feel that to be healed we need to be doing something more than believing. It seems that Jesus’ death wasn’t enough. There is a strong emphasis on the need to change our diet to be healed. There is an element of truth in this, but I want to point out that when Jesus came to minister to the Jews. He came to the most food conscious people on the planet, yet there were sick people everywhere. That shows me that most of our sicknesses are more than the wrong diet, they are spiritually based. Eating the right food doesnt always solve the problem. Does that mean we can eat anything? Of course living off junk food is not going to do you any good. But we are told to pray over everything and speak the word over it with thanksgiving. Do we do this in faith over our food or is it just a religious ritual?
Galatians 3:1-6, Colossians 2 16-23.
We have many instances in the bible where lots of people turned to God when asked for in prayer. It even happened for Jonah when he finally repented and obeyed God, all of Nineveh turned to the Lord in sack cloth and ashes. God can do it again. We have England turning to God under the preaching of John Wesley and they ended up being called the people of the Book. And not that long ago Wales had a great revival through the prayers of Evan Roberts. God wants to do it again and is wanting us as His Sons and Daugthers to come and ask Him in faith.
As I said in part 1 of this message, I was encouraged by a word given to me through Geoffry to take that Psalm 2 dream seriously and ask for the nation of Zimbabwe. I am not begging God all the time but praisng Him every day for an answer to this prayer. With God all things are possible. I see with my spiritual eyes a bright light over the places I preached. Like a Nuclear Explosion in the Spirit. God said to Abram that all the land that he sees will be given unto him. We need to not only ask for, but ‘see’ revival. We can now come to the Father and ask Him for anything and He says He will give it to us. Amen
“So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you— whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23