A long held teaching is that we were to just "struggle through" until Jesus returns. And, that for some reason or another , we were just here to "suffer as He suffered," and that sickness, poverty and hard times would be what showed the world as "representatives" what God is like. Some still teach that and believe that "some day it'll all be worth it." I've never been one who is satisfied with the status quo,but have always pressed on into the depth of what I've heard and read.
As I walked with God and became more familiar with His word, I found that the apostles endured a lot of things to get the truth to us. In II Corinthians 6:1-10 (Amplified) you find they endured many things so that we would know differently. At the time of Peter and Paul, there were only so many (few) men who knew the truth of the gospel. Satan had to destroy the men (like he had to destroy Jesus) before the truth of the gospel could reach the world. At that time, the Apostle Paul was one of the few men on the planet who knew the truth of the New birth.
In II Corinthians 12:1-13 (Amplified) Paul was speaking to the Church of Corinth about the time Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus 14 years earlier. When the Lord actually took him into heaven (whether in the body or out of the body) he wasn't sure,but he was sure of one thing; that Jesus Himself gave
him the revelation of what the cross had really done. Some say that God gave Paul a sickness because of his pride and some say that Paul's thorn in the flesh was God given to keep him from being exalted. Paul said the Word of God would exalt him and that the thorn in his flesh was a "messenger of satan sent to buffet and harass" him to keep him from preaching the revelation.
Why would the Lord give Paul the revelation and commission him to preach it and then try to keep him from going by making him sick or beating him up all the time? The revelation of the new birth was a mystery hidden in God. Nobody knew about what happened on the cross except Paul who learned it from Jesus Himself.
Being made the righteousness of God in Jesus, wasn't revealed until Paul preached it. Jesus' being made sin for our sake wasn't something that the people knew about. That was part of this revelation given him. Being made sons and daughters, being raised up together with Him and being set free from condemnation are all things we know about today because of Paul's preaching. No wonder satan attacked him like he did. The suffering that Paul endured would be for nothing if we ignored what he said.
I have never understood why people would rather see themselves as victims rather than victors. We as Christian people should of all people live above the world and not under it. Even in the old covenant in Deuteronomy 28:13 (Amplified) God declared that we would be the " head and not the tail and that we would be above only, and not beneath."
If the old covenant made such a promise, then we have a way better chance now. Why would we be just
someone for the world and satan to kick around? If God has given us Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word, the Blood, the grace of God, redemption, the angels, the glory, the blessing (not the curse), Wisdom, the Son ship rights, one spirit with Him, the authority of Jesus' Name, the forgiveness of all our sins, the promise of His not even remembering our sins anymore, and even a new language to be able to speak to Him without any interference, then what will it take to make us victorious?
For too long we've heard that we're just "beggars on a dung heap" and not a delight in Him. We've accepted as fact that we can't win.
In 1Corinthians 3:1-3 (Amplified) Paul said he still had to speak to God's people as if they hadn't been born again. Paul had to speak to them not as spiritual, but as mere unchanged men, feeding them milk and not meat. If you read 1Corinthians 3 then you will find that what Paul was preaching was foundational words to build on. Whatever you build on this is by what you receive by faith in what you hear.
Jesus taught a parable about two men who built houses in Luke 6:47-49 (Amplified). One man built on the sand and the other on the rock. Both men heard (1Corinthians 3:13 (Amplified) ,but one heard as a mere unchanged man" and one heard as a spiritual man. One man took the word and walked it; the other did not. Both men were saved as far as going to heaven, but both didn't walk in victory while they were here.
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