Lesson 6 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Today's Church is like those who remained in the Wilderness after being freed from Egyptian bondage, instead of entering God's Promised Land, because we don't recognize who we are and where we belong.  The people in the Wilderness murmured and complained about their circumstances, even they they were already Blessed and had a covenant with God.  They couldn't enter into His Rest, because of their unbelief.  Through Jesus, we've already become the family of God and are heirs of everything He gave Jesus, because we are joint heirs with Christ.  This isn't something we "will" inherit, but is already our inheritance while we're here on earth.
     The Holy Spirit led Paul to write to God's children in 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) saying, "But it is from Him that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden manifesting itself as our Righteousness, Thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God; And our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption providing our Ransom from Eternal penalty for sin."
     We must look closely to what God is saying about who we've become in Jesus, in the above scripture.  Our relationship with Jesus has "bestowed God's Own Wisdom upon us, as well as the Revelation of God's Divine Plan of salvation that was previously hidden, manifesting itself as our righteousness."  The manifestation of the Plan of salvation, is righteous or right standing with God and being made right in God's sight.  We've been made able to and been restored the right to, stand in God's Presence.
     God's Divine Plan of salvation that's now revealed to us, is something the devil and the world thought could never happen.  Because Jesus bore all our sins and trespasses, mankind can now be made righteous and restored back into the fullness of son-ship rights again.  This is the manifestation of the Plan that was previously hidden.  Satan has lost his hold on those who were previously under his control, because Christ Jesus has restored mankind back to the Father.  Jesus has "set at liberty, those who were bound."
     Paul tells the Church that Jesus is not only our Righteousness, but through Him, we are consecrated, made pure and holy.  The Church though, has failed to realize this and has remained in the Wilderness for too long.  Who in the Church would dare to believe he/she is pure and holy and will enter into the Promise of God?
     Those persons would be labeled, "Prideful and puffed-up with pride."  The Truth is that when we deny what God says and continuing to believe our own things, is prideful.  Only by faith in Jesus, are we pure and holy.
     Paul goes on telling us about the Divine Plan of salvation, saying that Jesus is our Redemption and our Ransom from the penalties that befell mankind after Adam's transgression.  Paul tells us that God has revealed to us Wisdom from God in the Gift of Salvation, which was previously hidden until now.  Even though God has revealed all this to His family and has given us Wisdom, we still haven't understood what He said and did, in Jesus Christ.
     Proverbs 4:7-8 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom, skillful and Godly Wisdom. For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing."  Now let's reread 1Corinthians 1:30 which says, "You have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom."  Jesus is our manifest Wisdom and "Wisdom is the principal thing."  The above Proverb continues, saying, "And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
     When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, Wisdom from God, Righteousness, son-ship rights, Consecration, Liberty, and Redemption were imparted and revealed into our new creation spirits.  The Church hasn't understood this, causing us to accept what the world says about us, instead of what God's Word says about us.  You might say, "Well, I'm working on being pure and holy, but I haven't arrived yet."  You will never arrive, so long as you're "working on it."  It was imparted to you in Jesus and God already sees you as being pure and holy.  This is what was previously hidden and what we're to understand now.
     The Church's Identity Crisis has left God's people trying to be what He has already made us to be in Jesus.  This is Grace in it's purest form.  God placed all that we once were, on Jesus and has placed all that Jesus is, in us.  It's just as True that we have His Righteousness, as He took our sins.  We've believed that Jesus bore our sins and trespasses, but we haven't believed that we have become His Righteousness, Consecration, Redemption and His inheritance.
     1Corinthians 1:27-29,30 (Amplified) says, "And God also elected (deliberately chose), what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. And God also elected (deliberately chose), what in the world is low born and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are. So that no mortal man should have pretense for glorying and boasting in the Presence of God."
     Verse 30 says, "No mortal man could dare boast that on his own he is pure and holy, or that in himself he is righteous, Nor can he say that he has redeemed his own self, or even that he has the Wisdom of salvation without the understanding of the Wisdom of God."
     Proverbs 4:8-10 (Amplified) says, "Prize wisdom highly (Jesus, the Word), and exalt her; and she will exalt and promote you, she will bring you to honor when you embrace her. She will give to your head a wreath of gracefulness; a crown of beauty and glory will she deliver to you. Hear O my son, and receive My sayings, and the years of your life shall be many."
     We've been so careful not to lift ourselves up in pride and have failed to humble ourselves to receive what Jesus has done for and in us.  It takes mankind's own pride, to stand against God's Grace and Truth.  If God says that, "You are pure and holy in Jesus," then would you question Him?  Only a prideful person would dare tell God, "You are wrong."  Knowing what we do about ourselves, while still believing what God says about us, requires our humbling ourselves under His Mighty Hand.  He then will exalt us and make us pure, holy, righteous and call us His sons and daughters.
     God's Church hasn't dared to believe what God has done for us, through Jesus.  We've had a false humility and haven't dared to believe in the Truth of what God's Word says about us.  It sounds humble to call ourselves "unworthy, beggars, and worms" in the Church, but if the world calls us "unworthy,, beggars, and worms" then we are ready to stand and fight.
     The Father never calls you "a worm, or a beggar, or unworthy."  Only the world and religion would say this about you.  The Church can't yield to it in false humility.  Can we really receive who God says we are and come boldly before Him, if we believe we're unworthy worms and beggars?  We must do it in True and faithful Grace, accepting the honor He has lavished upon us, in Jesus.
     Jesus never denied that He was the Son of God and He never denied that only God was Good.  Jesus said that, "It is the Father in Me, Who does the Good works."  How do you balance Truth and pride, believing who we are, while giving all the praise to the Father?  You must believe that you are righteous, in order to have confidence the Father hears you.  The True understanding of God's Grace says, "Lord, I know I don't deserve all the things you've done for me, but I receive them as a Gift of Your Love and receive them in Thanksgiving, praise and faith through Jesus. By faith in Your Truth, I surrender my carnal pride that would stand against Truth and I rejoice in who you've made me to be, in Jesus and Truth. Amen."
     Paul writes to the Church concerning the personal convictions and personal faith that exists in all of us, in Romans 14:22 (Amplified).  Some Christians still observed certain days and rituals as being more holy than others, while the faith of some went beyond these things.  Paul didn't say whether having personal convictions was wrong or right.  He says, "Your personal convictions of such matters, exercise them as in God's Presence, keeping them to yourself, striving only to know the truth and obey is will. Blessed,happy, to be envied is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves, who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do."
     Saying we're pure and holy sounds foolish to some and boastful to others.  To God, it only means that we're acknowledging the Awesome Deliverance Jesus provided to us.  God sees that we're honoring and worshipping Him in Spirit and Truth for His Grace, which gives us a deeper understanding about the Glorious favor and mercy He shows us.
     Believing that the Father looks upon me as being pure and holy, is far above what the carnal mind can think.  Even the new creation believer might think it's prideful, when we receive a deeper knowledge of God's unconditional Love and see the depth of our salvation in Jesus.  Every time God reveals more of His Grace, it opens the door for me to praise and worship Him.  This makes me more sure of my ability to come before Him, in the assurance that I'm His son.
     Jesus is the Only Sacrifice that could so completely cleanse a vessel, to where the Holy Spirit could live in and declare that it's the Temple of God.  Believing that we're pure and holy enough to be temples of the Holy Spirit, shows us the depth of our salvation in Jesus.  Paul asks in 1Corinthians 7:19-20 (Amplified), "Do you not know that your body is the Temple (the very Sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received as a Gift from God. You are not your own. You were bought with a Price, purchased with a Preciousness and Paid for, made His Own. So then honor God and bring Glory to Him in your body."
     
    

Lesson 5 The Church's Identity Crisis

     The key to our having confidence in God, is understanding our righteousness or right standing with Him.  Many believers still don't understand that the Father has taken up creation again for the first time, since He rested from His work in Genesis 2:3 (Amplified) which says, "And God Blessed (spoke Good of), the seventh day, set it apart as His Own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done."
      I can't find any place in God's Word, where He created anything again, until 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified), which says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."  We're not just forgiven sinners.  We are a new creation family of God.  We mostly still see ourselves through our own eyes, instead of through God's eyes.  We still see ourselves in our old sinful state, instead of as new creations in Christ.  Our sins and past lives haven't been just covered up, but God created new persons who have no sin or past lives.  He created us in righteousness, with His Own Righteousness.
     The disciples walked with Jesus throughout the Gospels, but they didn't know what was taking place when Jesus went to Calvary's cross.  Jesus had tried His best to explain it to them, without having satan prevent His crucifixion, but they still didn't understand.  We see why Jesus couldn't openly reveal the entire plan of salvation to them, at that time, in 1Corinthians 2:7-8 (Amplified) which says, "None of the rulers of this age or world perceived or recognized or understood this. But rather what we are setting forth is a Wisdom from God once hidden from the human understanding and now revealed to us by God, that Wisdom which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification to lift us into the Glory of His Presence. For if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory."
     Those who followed Him, witnessed Jesus' miracles and heard His teachings, but they didn't understand the new creation man/woman would be in their future.  They didn't understand that they would become righteous and be restored as sons and daughters of God and able to stand in His Presence.  Paul tells us that, "The old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."  We weren't just made over, we are new creations altogether.  We're a species of being, that had never existed before. 
     This righteousness had been lost in Adam and couldn't be restored in man's present state.  God could cover the people with the blood of goats and bulls, but He couldn't make them new, because the Law of Sin and of Death was transferred into man from Adam.  This was a Spiritual death that separated mankind from God and sinful man had no right to come before God.  God could cover man's sins, but the sacrifice of bulls and goats couldn't remove them.  Only a sinless man could remove our sins.  Jesus' Blood removed the unrighteousness, sin and death from mankind and created a new man made in God's Own Image and Likeness again.
     God spoke about the new creation man in Isaiah 54:13-14 (Amplified) where Isaiah writes, "And all Thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of Thy children. In Righteousness shall they be established, they shall be far from oppression, for they shall not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee."  The greatest Blessing of the new creation, is our being established in Righteousness and acquiring a righteous conscience.  The most persistent and oldest enemy to our faith, has been the sin consciousness.
     We're not just forgiven sinners, like those in the old covenant, but we're new creations who are sinless in our new creation spirits.  1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him, God, that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of Salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, Thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from Eternal penalty for sin."
     The disciples had no idea of what was actually occurring when Jesus hung on the cross, was laid in the tomb and rose from the dead.  They didn't know what to expect when Jesus directed them to go to the Upper Room and wait there until they would be "empowered from on High."  These things were only made known through Paul's letters and his preaching the Revelation he received from Jesus.  No Plan of Redemption would be complete, without the restoration of Righteousness. 
     We have an invitation to "Come boldly to God's Throne of Grace," in Hebrews 4:16.  Only the new creation man/woman can do this, because our righteousness has been restored and we've been given the right to stand in God's Presence again, without fear, guilt, or condemnation.  We are established in righteousness and have been created new, by Jesus' Sacrifice.  We've sadly been taught that we still deserve punishment and rejection for our sinful lives and faults, but the Lord says that we "are established in righteousness and far from fear and oppression and destruction," in Isaiah 54:15 (Amplified) which says, "Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is NOT FROM Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
     Many (even those in the Church) have read the above scripture, but have never dared to put faith in them, because of things they were taught.  The old saying tells us that, Faith stops at the question mark."  When you begin questioning the Truth of our righteousness in Jesus, then your faith won't work like it should.  When you accept what God's Words says, instead of what man says, your confidence and faith will work for whatever God has Promised the new creation family.
     The Truth of Righteousness is one of the most important things you can have and will bring your faith to the place of having assurance and confidence in God's Promises.  If you still consider yourself an old sinner and unrighteous, then your faith can't work like God intended.  Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says, "But without faith if is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out."
    

Lesson 4 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Ephesians 4:23-24 (Amplified) says, "And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and Spiritual attitude. And put on the new nature, the regenerate self, created in God's Image, God like, in true Righteousness and holiness."  Ephesians 5:1 (Amplified) says, "Therefore be imitators of God, copy Him and follow His Example, as well-beloved children imitate their father."
     The Church has lost the Truth that we are actually well beloved children of God, because we've been taught that imitating our Heavenly Father is "prideful."  We were born of the Same Seed that Jesus was born of, the Word of God, according to 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) which says, "You have been regenerated (born-again), not from natural origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal, by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."
     Religion has taught us over the years, that we are inferior, are less than God's Own children, and we're still outside God's idea of family.  It doesn't matter who we were or where we came from, because through faith in Christ Jesus, we've become God's Own children in Truth and reality.  We're no less sons and daughters of God, than the First and Last Adam and we are beloved.  Jesus prayed in John 17:23 (Amplified), "I in them, and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united; that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and that You have Loved them EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME."
     The natural mind finds it difficult to understand Jesus' Words above and asks, "How can the Father Love me even as He Loves Jesus?"  We see Jesus in His Glory and Honor on earth and we see ourselves in our earthly bodies, leaving us to wonder how can Jesus' statement really be True.  Jesus was without sin or wrongdoing, in His earthly Form as God's Son.  We struggle with the Truth of God's Grace and Love, when He put our sin and our wrongdoing on Jesus, so that we can now come before Him in the Purity of Jesus Himself.
     We say we believe this, when we call upon Jesus and confess Him as our Lord and Savior, but we struggle with our past and present weaknesses.  We wonder, "How can God Love me, like He Loves Jesus?"  We still identify ourselves as being in the natural man/woman, even though we're new creation Spiritual sons and daughters who are born of God's Own Word and are without fault.  We are instructed to renew our minds by the Word of God, until we see ourselves as God has made us to be, in Jesus.
     Until we realize who we've been born-again to be in Christ, it will be difficult for us to have a Righteousness identity.  The enemy will hold us under the condemnation of our old past lives, before we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  The Holy Spirit inspires John to write in 1John 3:20 (Amplified), "Whenever our hearts in tormenting, self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us, For we are in God's hands. For He is Above and Greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows, perceives and understands everything, nothing is hidden from Him. And, Beloved, if our consciences do not accuse us, if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us, we have confidence, complete assurance and boldness before God."
     This condemnation is an attack the enemy uses, in order to make us question our new identity in Christ.  Satan will cause us to question the Truth that we've been transformed into the Image and Likeness of the Father again, through the new birth.  This is the same attack satan used against Adam and Eve, saying, "God knows if you eat this fruit, you'll be like Him."  Satan caused Eve to question who she was, when God had already made them in His Image and Likeness.  Satan tried making Jesus question Who He was, saying, "If You are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread."
     We've allowed our consciences (hearts), which were under the influence of our old, unsaved condition, to hold us in the same conviction that led us to God, even after being born-again.  If we don't renew our minds and reasonings by God's Word, then we'll remain under the conviction of our old lives.  Our sins were removed and cleansed completely by the Precious Blood of Christ, but the enemy will do his best to keep us in shame and guilt, so we won't have any confidence that our Heavenly Father will hear us.
     Satan can't prevent our coming to the Lord and being born-again, but he'll try keeping us under condemnation and guilt, so that our new being isn't dangerous to him or his kingdom of darkness.  Jesus gave "The Parable of the Sower," in Mark 4:15 (Amplified), where He said, "The ones along the paths are those who have the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them."
     Satan came immediately after I was born-again, asking, "Do you really think it's that easy, to have everything you've done to be forgotten and that you're totally forgiven?"  Satan couldn't prevent me from receiving Jesus and my salvation, but he could keep me under the bondage of guilt and condemnation, so my right standing with God would never be a threat to the darkness.  There's an old saying that says, Faith stops at the question mark."  If you don't know that you're Righteous before God, then you'll never have the assurance that God hears us and will answer our prayers.  Man's ideas have taught us that, "You never know what God will do" or "It might not be God's will..."  These are by-products of the Church's identity crisis.  We don't really know who we are in Him.
     The moment we begin questioning what God's Word says about our new identity in Christ, our faith has "stopped where the question mark comes in."  James 1:22-25 (Amplified) directs us, saying, "But be doers of the Word (obey the Message), and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his own natural face in a mirror For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.  But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law, the Law of Liberty (the Word of God) and is faithful to it, and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doers, who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing, his life of obedience."
     We've heard many teachings about "Being doers of the Word and not merely listeners of it" and much of these teachings had to do with giving, preaching, healing and walking in Love.  These things are True and part of who we are, but let's focus today on "Being a doer of the Word is seeing who we are in the Law of Liberty."  Let's let it set us free from the condemnation and guilt of our pasts.  Let's allow it to liberate us into the Truth of our new righteousness and pure lives with the Father, through Jesus.  Let's be doers and believers who see that we're now righteous in Christ's Righteousness and then receive the new life Christ has given to us.
     This Liberty is already yours through Jesus.  The only thing that can keep us from the Liberty to come boldly into the Father's Presence, is the enemy's lie.  When we look into the mirror or Law of Liberty, which is God's Word, we'll see who God's Word says we are.  We'll walk away from the mirror of our old, past lives, and forget what we once looked like.  We see what the Word says but then the flesh, the world, and the enemy clouds our consciences (our hearts), so we forget that we've been made righteous through the Righteousness of Jesus.  Let's continually renew our minds with God's Word and not allow satan to deceive us with his lies.
     We must believe and confess that we are "Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus," from Romans 8:16-17.  We must believe and confess that, "If we belong to Christ, are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed, then we are Abraham's offspring and Spiritual heirs according to Promise," Galatians 3:29.  Galatians 4:4-6 (Amplified) tells us, "But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the regulations of the Law, to purchase the freedom of (the Ransom, to Redeem, to Atone for), those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us and be recognized as God's sons. And because you really are His sons, God has sent the Holy Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father! Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant), but a son, and if a son, then it follows that you are an heir by the aid of God through Christ."
     This is what we should see in the reflection, when we look into the mirror of the perfect Law of Liberty, the Word of God.  We really are, what God's Word says about us.  It doesn't matter if others don't believe it or if someone believes something different.  The Truth of what God's Word says about us, WILL NEVER CHANGE!  We're not just forgiven, but we're new creation beings who never existed before.  We've been created anew in Christ Jesus and have been declared Righteous, by the Almighty God Himself.  Who can question the Truth of what God says?  

Lesson 3 The Church's Identity Crisis

     It's been difficult for God's people to understand that we are righteous before God, because of Jesus' Righteousness.  Paul quoted Psalm 14:3 in Romans 3:10 (Amplified) saying, "As it is written, None is Righteous (just, and truthful and upright and conscientious), no not one."  Many of us can easily recall this scripture.  Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For in the Gospel, a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith, that arouses to more faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
     Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) tells us, "Now faith, is the assurance, the confirmation, the Title deed, of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith, perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."  Paul says that it's not works, not Law, not rituals, not religion, not anything that has to do with us becoming righteous, but it's by faith.
     Everything in God's Word requires faith to believe.  We weren't there when Jesus was crucified, raised from the dead, healed people and raised them from the dead.  We haven't seen Him with our natural eyes or natural man.  We desire to be Righteous in God's eyes, so that we can know we're right in His eyes.  If we could be sure that we're in right standing with Him, then we could have confidence in our prayers and in what He desires of us.  When we convince ourselves that we're "still old sinner and unrighteous," we're left without boldness and confidence in our prayers or anything else God has Promised us in His Word.
     Many oppose the so-called "Faith Message," in today's Church, but everything God has Promised is by faith.  Romans 3:22-24 (Amplified) says, "Namely, the Righteousness of God, which comes by believing with personal trust and confidence, reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and it is meant for all who believe, for there is no distinction. Since all have sinned and are fallen short of the honor and Glory which God bestows and receives; All are justified and made upright and righteous (in right standing with God); freely and gratuitously by His Grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the Redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus."
     This Righteousness comes by faith and contradicts everything our sense tell us.  We certainly know that we don't deserve it, we don't see it, see don't feel it, and our senses fight against it, but we must receive it as Truth in God's Word.  We receive this Truth, just like we accept forgiveness and salvation.  Romans 10:9-10 tells us that, "If we would believe God's Word and by faith accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we will be saved."  All of God's Promises come by faith.  Thus, Paul tells us, "Because if you acknowledge and confess (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the Truth  that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Christ, and so is justified, declared Righteous, acceptable to God, and with the mouth he confesses, declares openly and speaks out freely his faith and confirms his salvation."
     2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him, Christ. For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him (Jesus) in His Person and by His Agency to the Glory of God."  All of this is by faith.  Not believing that God has declared you to be "the Righteousness of God through Christ Jesus," is like your not believing you're saved by the same faith that you accepted Jesus as your Lord with.  The Word says that, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense), death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive God's overflowing Grace (unmerited favor) and the free Gift of Righteousness, putting them into right standing with Himself, reign as kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
     Your righteousness is a free Gift given by God's Grace, when you accepted Jesus and His Righteousness.  Many are being taught in church today that, "You're still only sinners and unworthy."  This holds God's children back from Him, even after He has died and bore our own sin in Himself, so that we could come back into His Presence.  Teachings that tell us, "You're still only sinners," comes from men/women who have no Spiritual insight into God's Word or God's will for His family.  It robs us of any confidence and expectations that God will help us in this life.  So, we device our own means of deliverance and help.
     In Jesus, God has finished everything we will ever need.  We must place our faith in the Finished Work of Christ, because it all comes by faith.  No one can save him/herself and we can't make ourselves righteous by works or by Law.  We must receive everything Jesus has done and provided, by faith.  We didn't see the Resurrection of Jesus, but by faith, we believe He did raise from the dead.  How is it that we can believe Jesus rose from the dead, but can't believe He has made us righteous in Himself?
     When we believe that we are righteous with His Righteousness, we can have faith to come into God's Presence and receive any of His Promises.  Righteousness simply means that, in Jesus, we have been able to come into God's Presence by faith.
     Satan tries deceiving God's people, using our own natural understanding of who we were before receiving Jesus.  He tries making us doubt our new identity in Christ Jesus.  If he can deceive us and cause us to see ourselves through our own eyes, instead of seeing ourselves through the Truth of God's Word, then he will defeat us in praying, fellow-shipping with the Father and seeing ourselves the way God has made us to be.  Jesus has restored us back to where we have a right to come directly into God's Presence again, just like Jesus does, because we are now righteous, with His Righteousness.
     When we understand this, then it will change our entire understanding of 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."  You're not the old sinner who came to the cross, but are a new creation, who is born in the Likeness and Image of God.  You have now become God's son or daughter.
     1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) says, "But it is from Him that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
       

Lesson 2 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Believers need a clear understanding of who we are, as new creations in Christ Jesus.  Are we still just old sinners saved by Grace or are we righteous in God's eyes?   We read about the Promise of Righteousness in Isaiah 53:11 (Amplified), which says, "He, Jesus, shall see the fruit of the travail of His Soul and be satisfied: by His knowledge of Himself, which He possesses and imparts to others shall My uncompromisingly Righteous One, My Servant, justify many and make many Righteous, upright and in right standing with God, for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt with the consequences, says the Lord."
     The Lord speaks to the Church, after Jesus Paid the cost of our sins, in Isaiah 54:14-15 (Amplified).  God's not speaking here about a Promise of Righteousness, but as a Blood Bought Biblical fact.  Thus, He says, "You shall establish yourself in righteousness, rightness in conformity with God's will and order, you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, BUT IT IS NOT FROM ME. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
     There are many other scriptures about the Promises in the old covenant, but let's look at one from the new covenant.  Romans 3:22-24 (Amplified) says, "Namely, the Righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). And it is meant for all who believe, for there is no distinction. Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives. All are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His Grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the Redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus."
     The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write in Romans 4:22-23 (Amplified), saying, "That is why Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God). But they were written for our sakes too, Righteousness, standing acceptable to God, will be granted and credited to us also who believe in (trust in, adhere to and rely on) God, Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."  He goes on in Romans 5:17 (Amplified) saying, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense), death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive God's overflowing Grace (unmerited favor) and the Free Gift of Righteousness, putting them in right standing with Himself, reign as kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
     Romans 10:2-3 (Amplified) says, "I bear them witness that they have a certain zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to correct and vital knowledge. For being ignorant of the Righteousness that God ascribes, which makes one acceptable to Him in word, thought and deed, and seeking to establish a righteousness, a means of salvation of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's Righteousness."
     1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified) tells us, "But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, Revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and Redemption, providing our Ransom from Eternal punishment for sin."
    God's Righteousness is by His Grace and is a free Gift for those who will believe in Jesus Christ.  Galatians 5:4 (Amplified) says, "If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated, severed from Christ, You have fallen away from Grace (from God's Gracious favor and unmerited Blesssing)."
     The Church has mostly listened to our feelings, more than we listen to what God's Word says about us.  Our feelings might tell us that we're unworthy and unrighteous, because we remember what we did and who we were before being born-again.  The Father has made us Righteous, with His Own Righteousness.  God's Word is more Truth, than our emotions and feelings are.  God has Promised that, "Your sin and iniquity I will remember no more."  This is Truth.  Feelings are not Truth.
     If we understanding the Truth of God's Word about righteousness, then it will change our entire concept of and faith in prayer and we will pray with confidence before God.  John writes about righteousness in 1John 5:14-15 (Amplified), saying, "And this is the confidence (assurance, the privilege of boldness), which we have in Him, we are sure, that if we ask anything, make any request according to His will, in agreement with His Own Plan, He listens to and hears us. And if since we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge, that we have granted us as our present possessions the requests made of Him."
     When we deny our righteousness that Jesus died and paid for, we're trying to receive from the Father by either human hope and this is "not according to His Plan or will."  We must have faith in our being made His Righteousness, instead of relying on how we feel at any given time.  You have been made righteous, in the new creation.  You were created in Righteousness.  If by faith, you have made Jesus Christ your Lord, then you've also made Him your Righteousness and have the right to come boldly before the Father.  You've been made clean, holy, pure and new, by the Lamb Who was slain for you.
     The Father speaks about the Church, which was to come, in Isaiah 54:17 (Amplified).  God speaks about those who would believe and receive the Truth and who would become family, because of Jesus' Sacrifice, Resurrection and His Ascension.  Thus, He says, "But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This peace, Righteousness, security, triumph over opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, those in whom the Ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced; this is the Righteousness or vindication which they obtain from Me, this is that which I impart to them as their justification says the Lord."
     As believers in Christ Jesus, we've become those in whom the "Ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced."  The Truth of God's Word says that we've been made sons and daughters of God, by the new creation event.  Standing in opposition of this Truth, is believing the lie of satan, instead of God's Word.  Satan used this same lie to bring down Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Satan caused them to question their identity.  Jesus prayed for us in John 17:17,22 (Amplified) saying, "Sanctify them, purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy by the Truth. Your Word is Truth."  Jesus continued in Verse 22, saying, "I have given to them the Glory and Honor which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are One."
     Jesus tells us that God's Word is Truth and Jesus is the Word.  If we deny the Word as being Truth, then we're denying the things Jesus says about us.  God's Word says that we've been "made righteous, in His Righteousness and His Truth," and we need to believe this.  Righteousness is a Gift and He is our Righteousness.  We've not exalting ourselves when we say we're righteous, but we're honoring Jesus' Sacrifice and standing in His Glory and Honor that He's given us.  Our human pride will stand against the Truth and disguise itself as humility.  This false humility stands against the Truth of God's Word.
     It might seem strange to say that what we believed was humility, was actually pride.  This is the carnal mind's standing in opposition to the Spirit.  Remember Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation, no adjudging guilty of wrong for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."
     We know that we're not righteous in ourselves.  Let's believe what Jesus has done and believe the Truth of what God's Word says about us, instead of what our flesh says.  Let's stand in obedience and faith, joyfully accepting God's free Gift of Righteousness. 

Lesson 1 The Church's Identity Crisis

     Who are we?  What are we?  What is our real identity and what is our role in today's world?  As new creations in Christ Jesus, are we Super-natural or simply saved and still only flesh and blood beings?  Are we Super-natural and powerful?  Or, are we simply just "old sinners saved by Grace?"  Do we all have the Super-natural power and authority, that God's Word says we have or is it limited to only "certain" people?
     Dear Father, Who are we?
     Many in today's Church believe we're only human and limited, unless God should intervene in some mysterious way and by some arbitrary act of His will, does something miraculous.  The difference between most Christians and the world, is that we live a more moral life.  I know many people in the world though, who live a more moral life than those who are born-again.  Who are we really?  Is what God says about us, more true than what the religious leaders have said about us?  Or, are we still like the world, but moral and going to Heaven when we die?
     Are the Super-natural things God's Word says, still relevant today or did they pass away with the Apostles, like some believe?  Are we Super-natural in every realm, but still in a natural body?  Many Christians believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the speaking of tongues have ceased and aren't available any longer.  The casting out of demons is looked upon as being foolishness, in many Church circles today.  Healing by the laying on of hands, is all but dismissed in most of church doctrines.  Many Christians don't believe that God still speaks to us, so they don't try to hear from Him at all.
     It's "blasphemous," to think of yourself as being righteous through the Righteousness of Christ Jesus.  Many Christians cannot see themselves as being sinless, in God's eyes.  If you consider yourself holy, then some denominations will not include you.  Many Christians don't expect God to answer their prayers, until they go to Heaven.
     Can we really "Come boldly before God's Throne of Grace" or are we still in the Outer Court with the veil separating us from God?  Can we really believe that Jesus bore our sickness and disease and that "By His stripes we are healed?"  Or does God allow or even place sickness upon us, in order to teach us something?  How much of God's Word do we dare put our trust in?  How much of what God's Word says, is for us today?  Do we really have authority over satan and spirit beings, or do they even exist today?
     Who are we now that we're born-again and made new creations in Christ Jesus?  Do we really have the right to come into the Very Presence of God, beyond the veil and face to face with Him?  Or, are we still like those under the Law, who must remain outside His Presence?  Do angels really encamp about us, to keep us?  Or, is that a fantasy?  Are we truly "Redeemed from the Curse of the Law?"  Or, is it still lying in wait for us, when we fail?
     Is the Father truly pleased with His new creation family?  Is He still angry over our past or has He truly chosen to "remember not" our former lives?  Is Jesus really the First Born of many brethren or are we something different than He is and from a different seed than Him?  What's the truth about the family of God?  Are we only "family," when we get home or are we His family now, while we're here on earth?  Jesus said in John 14:12 that we can "Do the things He did and even greater things than these."  Were these just words or Parables?  Or can we speak to a mountain and have it move?
     Who are we now that we've been born-again?  God's Word tells us that we're under a new covenant by the Blood of Jesus, but we continue teaching the Law, as though nothing has changed.  We keep trying to make restitution for our past lives, even after God says in His Word that, "Your sins and iniquities I remember no more."  Are we truly Super-natural beings or are we still in our weakness and frailty?  Who are we?
     We've misunderstood the natural and Super-natural things, resulting in our not belonging to either.  We repeat Jesus' Words from John 17, where He says, "You are in this world, but not of this world."  Many still don't know what God's will is for His Church or the world.  We say we know about God's Love, but we have a hard time believing in His Love when things go wrong.
     Who is bringing death, sickness, disease and hard times on us and what are we to do about it?  Can we even do anything about it?  Do we roll over or stand up?  If we stand up, then do we really have the authority to do so or are we only fooling ourselves?  Do we still walk and live by our emotions, or do we walk by faith and not be moved by what we feel?  Is is true that we should watch our words or is this something religion invented?
     Who are we?  Are we just another religion or is this reality and we actually are the children of the Almighty God, who were made in His Image and Likeness?  Was it God's Intention all along, that this planet and everyone on it, be in such a mess?  Is this the life that Jesus came to give us or the life we've chosen to believe?  Does God really Love us, like He Loves Jesus?  Jesus prayed in John 17:23 (Amplified), "I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me, and that You have Loved them even as You have Loved Me."  Do we believe that God's Love for us is this great?
     Is God's Love for us based on our behavior or is it a Father's Love, that Sacrifice His Son for us?  These aren't things we need to do, but they are things we need to know.  We can't be double-minded, like James writes about in James 1:8,7 (Amplified), saying, "For being as he is, a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides."  Is God our problem or is He our Answer?  Who are we?  Does our being double-minded, result in our not getting results from the Truth of God's Word?  James writes in Verse 7, "For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything he asks for from the Lord." 

Lesson 100 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent

     Genesis 1:26-28 (Amplified) says, "God said, Let Us (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), make mankind in Our Image (after Our Likeness), and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the (tame) beasts of the field, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God Blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in the service of God and man, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth."
     God's mandate gave complete deliverance of the earth and everything on and in it, over to Adam.  We've missed what the Father had done, when giving this planet over to His son.  God no longer had authority on this planet, but had released the authority over to His son, Adam.  This wasn't a mandate that said, "If you don't do it right, then I'll take it back."  God no longer had the right to go into the earth, in order to rule it.  Man had the authority to do what God said, or to do what Genesis 3:6 tells us that Adam did.  It tells us that Adam partook of the deception that had come upon his wife, and transgressed against God, by eating of the Tree, after God explicitly told him not to eat of the Tree.  God had given Adam the authority over everything that creeps upon the earth, even the serpent.  We've believed this mandate was conditional, but it was not.
     God was shut out from the earth, after giving that authority to Adam.  Adam gave this authority over the an insane fallen angel and satan would now use man's own authority in and over the earth and over everything on it.  God began to speak a new Man back into the earth, in order to take back the authority and dominion over the earth and bring it all back to Kingdom rule again.  God said in Genesis 3:15 (Amplified), "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring. He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel."
     This was the beginning of what occurred in John 1:14 (Amplified) which tells us, "And the Word, Christ, became flesh (human, incarnate Man) and tabernacled, fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile among us; and we actually saw His Glory, His Honor, His Majesty, such Glory as an Only Begotten Son receives from his father, full of Grace, favor, Loving Kindness, and Truth."  God incrementally spoke Jesus, a Man, into this earth and when Jesus was perfectly formed by His Word, God spoke the complete Man into Mary's womb.  The Word became or took upon flesh, becoming a Man.  The Last Adam, Jesus restored God's Original Intent and gave the dominion and authority God gave the First Adam back to mankind, because He had become flesh or a Man.
     We haven't understood what God actually did when He restored this planet back to man's authority, through Jesus.  We've learned that Jesus could only do the things He did on earth, "because He was Jesus."  The Truth is that He did these things, because He was a Man.  Jesus was conceived without sin and wasn't under the Law of Sin and of Death, so He could walk in the authority God gave man in the beginning.  If satan could tempt the Last Adam Jesus, like he did with the First Adam, then he could have retained his control over earth and mankind.
     Jesus was led by the Spirit, into the wilderness, in order to be tempted of the devil.  Jesus underwent the temptation as a Man, Who was without sin and in the God-given authority of man, in order to overcome sin, instead of submitting to it.  Jesus' flesh wouldn't yield, so His authority remained over satan and over the earth and everything that creeps upon the earth.  Through Jesus and His Finished Work on Calvary, we could become new creation persons.  Through Jesus we could be born-again of the Spirit, born without sin and restored back as man into the mandate God gave to mankind.
     We've been taught for so long that we're "just old sinners, saved by Grace."  We were old sinners and were saved by Grace, but we're not old sinners anymore.  We've been made the righteousness of God Himself, by Grace.  Through Jesus, we've been made sons and daughters of God and given the authority again, over the earth and everything that creeps on it.
     This was and is God's Original Intent, when He made us in His Own Image and Likeness.  Satan has deceived God's Church about how Jesus restored us back to God's family and about our inheritance.  We've been afraid to accept what Jesus did, thinking we were being prideful if we believed what God's Word says about us.  It's prideful when we still refer to ourselves as being "old sinners, who are unrighteous and unworthy."  This is denying the Finished and Complete Works Jesus did for us.
     It's prideful to say, "Jesus wasn't enough to completely bring a new creation man/woman, who is perfect and righteous and without sin,  back to God."  It's the highest form of pride to stand in God's Face and tell Him that, "The things Jesus did, weren't enough to cleanse me and bring me back to God."  We think we're being humble, but we're really being wrong.
     Satan is a liar and has deceived God's family into thinking we're still in sin and in a fallen nature.  When we think that way, then we're vessels that won't yield to the Holy Spirit and there's very little the He can do in our lives.  We haven't seen the Truth of the new creation Man.  It wasn't all about going to Heaven, but bringing God back into the earth.  We've become the Temple of the Holy Spirit, because of Jesus, according to 1Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified), which says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you? Whom you have received as a Gift from God? You are not your own."
     Ask yourself this question.  If you're still an old sinner, after receiving Jesus as your Savior, then could or would the Holy Spirit, Who is God, live in such a sin riddled temple?  God has considered your old natural, sinful  flesh, to be dead by Jesus' crucifixion and raised with Christ Jesus.  You're a new creation man/woman, without spot or wrinkle, perfect in Jesus and called the Body of Christ.  This is why Paul told us to "Renew our minds by the Word of God and His Holy Spirit."
     Do we still mess up and do dumb things, while growing up in Jesus?  Of course we do, but the Father now sees us through the Blood the the Lamb of God.  Jesus' Sacrifice doesn't cover sin, but eradicated it in our lives.  God only see the new man/woman, who has come back into His family.
     We've practiced training the flesh, so it won't perform like it did before being born-again.  This is good and necessary to do, but we've failed to train our new creation spirit man/woman how to live and grow in the way of the Spirit of God and in God's way of doing and being right.  We've tried establishing our righteousness through works, instead of receiving His Righteousness and walking after the Spirit.
     Most Christians will tell you that, "God doesn't speak to me" or "I don't recognize His Voice."  We train our new creation person, by listening to Him and not yielding to the voice of the flesh, according to Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified), which says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation, no adjudging guilty of wrong, for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."  We can't allow our flesh to dictate who we are, but we must let the Holy Spirit dictate or tell us, who we really are now in Christ Jesus.  Verse 2 continues, saying, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life, which is in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being), has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death."
     This doesn't mean an we're to continue sinning, but means the lies of the flesh can no longer keep us from being what Jesus has now made us to be.  I listen to the Holy Spirit saying to me, "You are the righteousness of God" and "You're not an old sinner anymore."  This gives me the strength of God in my life, instead of the condemnation of my past.
     We must settle who we really are in our lives and accept what Jesus did to redeem us, realizing it's not through anything we do, but what He did for us.  We can't allow the enemy to hold us in bondage and condemnation, like he did before we became new creatures in Christ Jesus.  When satan can make us question our identity, then he'll hold us in bondage.  And, even though we're not living in sin, he'll bring up our past, in order to keep us under condemnation of who we once were.  Satan tried making Jesus question His Identity, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness in Luke 4.  Satan said, "If You are the Son of God."  Satan knew Who Jesus was, but he wanted to see if Jesus really belived in Who He was.
     The devil knows who you are when you got born-again, but he wants to see if you know who you are.  If you live by the dictates of the flesh, then you won't know your own identity in Christ.  If you live by the dictates of the Spirit, then you'll be able to answer the devil with the Truth and "The Truth will set you free."  The only hold satan has over you, is your past.  As a new creation in Christ Jesus, you have not past.  If you do, then you're not a new creation, but one that's just reworked and still under the stain of our past.   

Lesson 99 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent

     We discover the Father's Intent for His family in the beginning, by reading Genesis 1;26-28.  God made sure that His family would never lack anything, when He created the earth.  After completing and approving that provision, God formed the earthly body for the earthly realm and placed Adam and Eve in it.  God pronounced a Blessing on Adam and Eve, in order to empower them and enable them to have complete authority over all that He had created for them. 
     We've mostly thought that God created Adam and that Adam transgressed the very next day.  The Truth is that the earth is much older than what we've believed.  God and His son Adam, walked together for an unknown amount of years, prior to Adam's transgression.  They walked together as Father and son.  God taught Adam how to ruled and reign, as headman over the earth and everything in it.  Adam was first created a spirit and had been given a physical body, so he could operate in the physical realm.
     We too are spirit beings, but we also must be aware of our natural abilities.  You don't just drive your car by faith, but also by your senses.  We've lost our contact with the Spirit of God and have only learned to function by our senses, which resulted in our not receiving instructions through our spirit any longer.  We need both, in order to reign and operate like the Father created us to.  We need balance.  We need to  hear and be led by the Spirit, in order to keep the senses from overruling our spirit.
     Jesus had natural senses, but He only allowed them to do what the Spirit of God directed Him to do.  Jesus still got hungry and He still got tired.  He needed clothing and other things that natural men need, but Jesus didn't allow His natural Man to rule over His Spirit.  God's family is required to provide care, clothing, food, and shelter for our children, but we're not to look at this natural realm for all our provisions, while forgetting the Father.
     Jesus spoke about the natural things men need in Matthew 6:23-33 (Amplified), saying in Verse 33, "But seek, aim at and strive after first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right); and then all these things taken together will be given you besides."  God never intended for His family to depend only on themselves, for their lives and provision, but as our Father, He will provided for us, like He did for Adam.  Remember why God created the earth and everything in and on it.  He still knows how to produce and provide.  This doesn't mean we're to just sit on the sidelines and do nothing, but it does mean that there's more than just "making ends meet by the sweat of our brow."
     It wasn't until after Adam transgressed, that God told him that the "sweat of his brow was required to provide."  The Father was teaching Adam how to make the earth produce and perpetually provide his needs.  The Last Adam, Jesus, provided bread and fish for the multitude, with only a small boy's lunch.  Jesus directed Adam to catch a fish and take the money from the fish's mouth, in order to pay their taxes.  Jesus provided enough fish to sink the disciple's fishing boats and we know that Jesus had a treasurer, who was always giving to the poor.  Just prior to His Ascension, Jesus said in John 14:12 (Amplified), "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he himself will be able to do the things that I do, and he will do even greater things that I do, and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father."
     We may not have seen these things come to pass in our lives yet, but if Jesus said it, then it's possible for us to do them.  Many have heard Jesus say, "Seek ye first God's Kingdom and His way of doing and being right," but found their own way instead.  Our own way of doing and being right, isn't how the Kingdom works.  God's way of doing and being right, isn't by works and religions, but by faith in the Righteousness He provided for us, in Jesus Christ.  No person can become righteous by our own efforts, it's a Gift from God, given by Grace.  Romans 3:27,26 (Amplified) says, "All are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His Grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the Redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus."  Verse 26 says, "It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in this now season), that He Himself is Righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has true faith in Jesus."
     The Kingdom of God is governed by Spiritual Laws.  That's why Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 (Amplified), "Seek, aim at and strive after first of all, His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right)."  The legal laws that govern the Kingdom, operate on the principles of justice and righteousness.  The Church hasn't understood the legalities of God's justice, that He provided in Jesus.
     Adam gave his God-given authority and dominion, over to satan's hands, so God needed a way to legally put it back into the hands of men.  This is why Jesus declared Himself to be, "The Son of Man and the Son of God."  God gave the earth to man and Jesus gave it back to us.  It was a legal transaction, resulting in satan's not having man's authority any longer.  We became new creation people, when we were born-again.  God transferred that authority and dominion back into the authority of His new creation people.  God had the legal right, by the Laws of His Kingdom, to transfer the Blessing and mandate He gave the First Adam, back into the authority of this new creation man/woman, by the Last Adam.  We are back where God intended mankind to be, through the Last Adam, Jesus.
     This might seem difficult to understand, but once we do understand it, it's much easier for us to be and do what Jesus said.  The authority in the Name of Jesus, is the badge of authority that has been restored to the hands of God's family again.  Jesus was and still is, a Man and through Him, the Ada-mic covenant and mandate are back in place.  Jesus proved it as a Man, Who was without sin and was Righteous.  Through Him, we're also without sin and righteous, because we are in Him. We are created in righteousness and His authority now, in His Name, His character, and His Righteousness.  We are once again, God's Own family.  Jesus was the First Born of many brethren and in Him, we were born of the Same Incorruptible Seed, Who is the Word of God, Who is Jesus.   

Lesson 98 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent

     Genesis 1:26-28 was and still is, God's Original Intent for His family, when He created this earth and everything on it.  After creating the earth and the heavens, the scripture tells us that God "saw that it was very good and He approved it."  Once God created the heavens and earth, He created man and set that man in the Garden.  God told Adam, "I have given you authority and dominion over this earth and over everything in it."
     There wasn't sickness, the Curse, wild beasts to fear, or lack in the Garden, God created for His family.  God gave His family total provision, good health, long and eternal life, as well as authority and dominion over the earth and everything on it.  There was no force on earth, that was out of the authority of God's children.  Adam was to speak what he needed or wanted, in order to replenish the earth, just like the Father did when creating everything.  Things didn't go wrong, until Adam went against the Father's directive to, "Do no eat from this Tree" and turned his inheritance over to the enemy.
     Whether or not we understand it today, we still have authority in our words and in this earth.  Whether we speak good words or bad words, they still hold authority in this earth today.  If you're born-again, then you have authority in heaven as well.  When we speak words of death, sickness, defeat, and futility, then we've given license to satan to begin bringing them to pass, as faith filled words.  We sometimes have more faith in words of the world, rather than the Kingdom.
    When we speak words of defeat and sickness, we've loosed our authority as men/women, to bring to pass "whatsoever he says," according to Mark 11:23.  We mostly think this means prayer and things we want, but Jesus didn't say, "Only what you want, but what you believe."  Jesus teaches further about prayer, saying, "Believe in this that you want and you shall have it."
     God isn't the only one who hears what you say.  The enemy listens very closely to our words, because they're his license to move in our lives.  Satan has no ability, unless we empower him, by our words.  God gave the authority to man, not to satan.  Satan only has the authority we give him, with the idle words we speak.  We need to put a filter between our mouths and our brains and think before we speak.  We need to learn how to keep our mouths in line with God's Word and think before we loose authority in the earth and in our lives.
     We mostly have more faith in the things of the earth, than we do the things of God.  We've been trained for centuries, to speak like the world has taught us to speak.  We confess that, "This never works for me," "I will probably catch this sickness," "I don't think I'll ever get out of this mess," along with many other things.  Many times we say these things, without thinking.  Words are power in life.  Words produce either good or bad.
     We were created in God's Image and Likeness and need to understand that God only spoke what He intended to come to pass.  We speak many things, that we're not wishing to happen, but they have creative ability, once they're released from our mouths.  Man didn't lose his authority over the earth, when Adam fell.  Adam lost his relationship with the Father and transferred his authority over into the hands of the enemy.
     During His earthly ministry as a Man, Jesus only spoke what He intended to come to pass.  He taught about speaking idle words and giving account to our words in Matthew 12:34-37 (Amplified).  Jesus taught about words that come out of the heart or spirit in Verse 35, where He say that both good or evil (bad) things come out of our spirit and both have the power to produce.  Jesus goes on in Verse 37 saying, "For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced."
     We confessed Jesus is our Lord, with words from our spirit or heart and by these words and faith in these words, we were born-again.  Did you know that before you spoke those words in faith, you weren't saved yet?  Words have the ability and power to change you life even today.  Our words either prevent God's Word from working for us, or our words allow God's Word to work for us.  We can speak the Word of God into our spirit and then speak it out of our hearts.
     We were returned to what God Intended us to be, when He created us in His Image, when we were born-again.  We've been restored to sons and daughters, we've been returned to a sinless state by Jesus, and we've been Redeemed from the Curse, so that the Blessing has now come upon us again.  We've been set free from the Laws that needed to be followed and fulfilled, in order for us to be Blessed.  By Grace, all these Promises are now "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus to the Glory of God."
     Watching what comes out of our mouths, will make our salvation more apparent and the Blessing more prominent, in our earthly lives.  I've heard believers say, "I don't think we have to do all these things, in order to go to Heaven."  They are right.  You don't have to watch what you say, you don't have to confess that you're Redeemed.  You don't have to stand on God's Promise that, "By His stripes you are healed."  You don't have to know or do, any of these things, in order to go to Heaven.  All you are asked to do, is to "Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for your deliverance and confess Him as your Lord" and then you'll be saved.
     I want to know Him more, while I'm still here on earth, as well as when I arrive in His Presence.  I want to walk worthy of the Lord and be filled with the knowledge of Him and what He has given unto us, by His Sacrifice.  If Jesus thought it was worthy dying for, then I think it's worth fighting for.  If He died so I could have it, then I refuse to allow satan to take it from me, without a fight.
     Does this make God love me more?  No.  He already loves you as much as He loves Jesus.  Jesus prayed in John 17:23 (Amplified), saying, "I in them and You in Me; in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and that You have Loved them even as You have Loved Me."  This is an astonishing statement and if anyone other than Jesus said it, then I probably wouldn't believe it.  BUT HE DID SAY IT!!!
     This isn't a matter of being loved and saved, but a matter of being pleasing unto God.  Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out."  I exercise my faith in God's Word, to demonstrate my love and to show Him that I trust in His Word and Promises.  I exercise my faith in His Word, in order to be pleasing to Him.  The Holy Spirit leads Paul to write about Abraham in Romans 4:20 (Amplified), saying, "No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the Promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave Glory to God."  I want to be strong and give Glory to God, in my faith, while I'm in this world.
     The more I know Him, the more I want to know Him.  The more I know Him, the more I realize that He suffered the things on Calvary's cross, so I could be free from them.  I don't want Him to have done anything on the cross, that I don't appreciate.  I want to accept His act of Love and receive them by faith in that Love.
     We've placed limits on our Christian walks today, on how far we can actually trust God's Word for our lives.  We've become like those in the Wilderness (Hebrews 3:7-8).  We have hardened our hearts and limited the Holy One in our lives.  I believe that the Same God Who did the things during the Exodus, can still do anything and will do anything for me, and more.  Those people didn't have the Holy Spirit or the new birth.  We're new creation people and have more ability to believe, because of the new birth.  But, we sadly limit our Father, just like they did.  To what extent can we really Trust God today?  Many say it's foolish to think we can believe God, like Abraham did.  God wants to do great and mighty things in our lives today, it we will only believe Him.

Lesson 97 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent

     We've been studying God's Original Intent from Genesis 1:26-28.  God Blessed mankind and gave them dominion and authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the (tame) beasts of the field and over everything in and on earth.  This was and still is, the Original Intention of God's heart, for His family.
     We seem to think that "times have changed," and we know more than mankind knew in the beginning.  After all, we now have access to the internet, cell phones, You tube, and to an abundance of technology, at our fingertips.  Many think that God's Word has become "old fashioned" and "out-of-date."  We seemingly accept it when others say, "The God of the old covenant, doesn't or can't do the things we read about in His Word."
     Our Heavenly Father's Plan for His family hasn't changed and it's definitely not outdated, because mankind is more civilized today.  Even with all our learning and growing, mankind is Light Years behind the Wisdom of God.  Teachings about "faith," have become a source of mockery, even in the Church.  Many believers don't dare to believe God, beyond the senses, carnal mind and intellect.  We've come to rely more on our wisdom, instead of God's Wisdom.
     We think that because more believers aren't doing the things found in God's Word, that these things have passed away.  The only thing that has passed away, is our ability to believe in what God says.  No one had seen the parting of the Red Sea or the miraculous coverings the Israelites received, but God could do what no one had ever seen or heard of.  Most of them didn't believe it either, but God is able to do "exceedingly greater and higher, than we can even ask or think."
     God didn't create puppets, when He made mankind in His Own Image and Likeness.  He created a family.  Like Adam, we still have the ability to believe or not to believe today.  Jesus said that, "If we believe in our heart and speak to the mountain, then it will move."  These things aren't happening because we don't believe in our hearts, that they can happen.  We've constructed so many excuses for why God didn't do things today, when He isn't the One Who missed it.  It's us.  God hasn't lost any of His ability!
     Many think it's blasphemous to imply that God still heals, Bless, speaks to us or moves beyond the boundaries religion has set.  Many Christians believe it's foolish and a false hope, that God will Bless and protect us during the Covid19 plague.  Thankfully, those in the Exodus had sense enough to at least believe Moses, when he said God was leading them out of Egypt.  Our faith in God has been reduced to, "going to Heaven after we die" and nothing more.
     When many believers are taught about the power of words and watching what we say, they think it's laughable.  If we would do our own study of God's Word and learn how both God and Jesus operate, then we would understand it's one of the most powerful Revelations in His Word, even while some dismiss it as "foolishness."  When are we going to get back to the Truth of God and what His Word teaches about His family and how we're to live in authority and dominion through the Redemptive Price of Jesus?
     It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.  The only thing that determines God's moving in your life, is what you believe.  Even when no one else believes, God will still move in the life of someone who believes Him and allows Him to move, by faith.  The woman with the issue of blood, didn't care what the multitude thought or believed.  She had set her faith on touching Jesus and being healed.  Even though a throng of people were grabbing and touching Him, none were healed, except the woman who had faith in Jesus' ability to heal.  Everyone else had heard about the miracles of Jesus, but not all of them put personal faith in it for themselves.  Maybe this is the origin of people saying, "God doesn't heal everyone" or "It must not be God's will for everyone to be healed."  Nothing prevented anyone in that crowd from believing they could touch Jesus and receive healing, but only Jairus's daughter and the woman with the issue of blood were healed.
     If it was God's will for mankind to be sick and down, then He would have provided sickness in the Garden of Eden.  Believing that, "You can never know what God will do," is having faith in what man says, instead of what Jesus says.  Jesus said, "When you see Me, you see the Father, We are One."  If you truly want to know what God will do and what His will for your life is, then WATCH JESUS.  If Jesus was doing it, then it was God's will.
     We can't allow someone else's lack of faith in God, to cause us to remain under circumstances that God wants to deliver us from.  God won't make someone get saved, healed, delivered or walk in the peace He provided for us.  He is the Good Shepherd, "Who leads us in the paths of Righteousness for His Name's sake."  If we read God's Word by the Revelation the Holy Spirit provides, then we find that everything we could need, has already been provided by Jesus' Sacrifice.  Jesus bore the Curse, so that we could walk in Blessing.  He bore our sickness and disease, so we could walk in health.  Jesus bore our unrighteousness, so we were made the Righteousness of God, in Him.
    We've been trying to get God to do for us, that which He has already done for us, in Jesus Christ.  Abraham didn't have any children, when God said, "I will make you the Father of many nations."  It was already done in God and Abraham only had to believe what God said.
     We keep waiting to see and then we'll believe.  God said, "Believe and you shall see the Mighty deliverance of the Lord."  It doesn't take faith to believe what you already have in your hand or life.  The world has trained us about Spiritual principals, instead of our being trained by the Spirit on the world's principals.  Just because the world believes something, doesn't make it real.  Others might not walk in or accept this, but that doesn't determine how you believe, unless you allow yourself to be led by their way of thinking.
     We must need to seek God for ourselves, especially at this time.  This doesn't mean that we don't need others, but we can't remain in the Wilderness, simply because ten spies don't believe God's Word is True.  The majority chose to believe the reports of these men, instead of God's report and it cost them everything.  God still provided for them all, while they remained 40 years in the Wilderness, but they never saw or entered into the Glory God had made ready for them.
     If you only believe in Heaven, then you'll still arrive there by Jesus, but you might never see or be a part of the Glorious things God has provided for us, here on earth.  Some say, "These things aren't for everyone."  They are for everyone who will allow the Father to do it for them and will live with expectation.  You can be lulled away by religion or walk in reality.  You choose. 

lesson 96 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent

     Genesis 1:26-28 (Amplified) says, "God said, Let Us (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), make mankind in Our Image (after Our Likeness), and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the (tame) beasts of the field, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God Blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in the service of God and man; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth."
     This was and is God's Original Intent for His family.  God never changes and His Intent will never change either.  God gave mankind complete authority over all the earth and everything on and in it and this mandate still holds.  Our prayers even today, are an invitation for God to move on the earth and enter into the authority He gave man over the earth.  Adam was to rule and have dominion over all that was here and that authority was to be handed down to all of his children, for eternity.
     Did you ever wonder how Adam was to subdue and keep what God had Blessed him with?  We previously spoke about the power of words.  God made Adam in His Own Image and Likeness and John 4:24 (Amplified) tells us, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being), and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth (reality)."  Adam wasn't a natural body in the beginning, but he was a spirit.  God formed a body from the earth, that Adam had authority over.  Genesis 2:7 (Amplified) says that, "God breathed the Spirit into Adam's nostrils and man became a living being."
     God created everything by the Words He spoke, and He created man like Himself.  I believe that Adam was to use words to take care of and have dominion over the earth.  Genesis 3:17-19 (Amplified) says, "And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the Tree which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a Curse because of you, in sorrow and toil shall you eat of the fruits of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."
     After breaking covenant with God, Adam had to toil and labor, in order for the earth to produce.  I believe that before sinning, Adam (who was made in God's Image and Likeness) only had to speak to the earth and it produced. 
     God does nothing, without His Word.  His Word is the Highest authority in the entire universe, according to Psalm 138:2 (Amplified) which says, "I will worship toward Your Holy Temple and praise Your Name for Your Loving Kindness and for Your Truth and for You faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your Name and Your Word, and You have magnified Your Word above all Your Name."  When we realize that Jesus is the Word of God and that we live in and through Him, it makes us more aware of the things we speak and the power of the children of God's words.
     John 3:34 (Amplified) says, "For since He Whom God has sent speaks the Words of God (proclaims God's Own Message), God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the Gift God makes of His Spirit."  Jesus is our Example and demonstrates how God's children are to live and conduct our lives.  It would be good if we think on the words that we speak.  We must not lend our tongues and words, over to the enemy.  When we speak, we either give the Lord or the enemy, the ability to move in our lives and in the earth.
     God sent Jesus into the world over two-thousand years ago, for our salvation and we know that it's God's will for everyone to be saved, but salvation didn't come to us, until we asked the Lord into our hearts.  When we speak against God's Word and His Promises, it's difficult for the Lord to do what we've spoken against.  The enemy will take our words of unbelief and by our own authority, use them against us.  We might not be able to create a universe or multiply the loaves and fishes like Jesus did, but we can change many of the things that do or don't happen in our lives. 
     Many believers say, "Well, I don't think watching my words is necessary for my going to Heaven" and they're right.  We have the ability to say whatever we wish and to speak words that do or don't bless.  The Father though, intended that we speak words of Life and Blessing, and they would produce Life and Blessing over us and others.
     Jesus was very selective about what He said and to whom or what He said it too.  Jesus spoke to a tree and it died.  He spoke to a dead man and he lived.  Jesus said that if we believed, then we could even speak to a mountain and it would obey us.  As we study God's Word, we will see the importance of our God given ability to speak and by speaking, we walk in what God gave the First and Last Adam.
     Some believe this is too extreme and that doesn't make them "bad" Christians or not lovers of God.  They must not allow satan to condemn them, by using their words.  This is simply part of growing up in the Spirit.  Do your words empower God or do they empower the enemy?  To what degree do your words allow the Father to bring His Word to pass in your life?  Do your words hold back the Promises of God and allow the enemy to bring things to pass in your life?  We understand the power of words in other areas of our lives, but not so much in the Spirit Life we now live.  No one would jump out of our vehicle, shouting obscenities at a police officer after he/she pulls us over.  We would never stand in a courtroom and tell the judge what we think.  We would never give our boss, a piece of our minds.  We understand that words have consequences in other parts of our lies, but not in the Spirit realm.
     Words have started wars, words have healed hearts and lives, words have educated, words have brought us faith in God, words have caused people to follow false gods, and words have set people free or put them to death.  Don't dismiss this as being "foolish" or of "no matter."  Man was made in God's Image and people alone have the ability to speak.  By speaking words, we create, destroy, build and tear down things our words create.  It's not a matter of do your words matter, but more to the point, to whom do your words matter and to what extent.
     Christians aren't the only people whose words change things, but all people, because God gave the authority over this earth to mankind.  Christians must not unite our words with those of the unsaved, giving consent into things that effect all this planet.  You have the ability to change your personal life and relationship with the Lord Jesus, even though the rest of the things are going the other way.
      As an individual, you have God's Word to say and proclaim and empower Him and His Word, by speaking His Word, instead of what everyone else is speaking.  Ten spies came back to Israel with what God called "an evil report," in Numbers 13.  Two million people remained in that Wilderness, until their deaths.  Two men, Joshua and Caleb, remained with God's Word, speaking God's Word for their lives.  Through them, a new generation was delivered and entered into the Promise Land.
     We must remain steadfast and stay on God's Word, even when popular opinion says otherwise.  Your deliverance is in what God says, not what they say.  You've been given the ability to choose what we say and what we believe, so let's say and believe what God says.  Let's empower Him in our lives, instead of the enemy.
    

Lesson 95 THE YEAR OF UNDERSTANDING - Original Intent

     Genesis 1:26-28 (Amplified) says, "God said, Let Us (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image (after Our Likeness), and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the (tame) beasts of the field, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God Blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in the service of God and man; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth."
     Some believe the above scriptures are just "Parables," but to those who believe they're the Word of God, they were a covenant and mandate God gave to man and his wife, so they could rule over earth as with His Blessing upon them and the home He created for them.  This authority and dominion weren't loans God gave them or something He was going to take back from them, but was His Gift for His family to enjoy and live in.  God was to share in the joy of seeing His inheritance being used by, and for His family.
     The Father gave this earth and the authority over it to Adam.  It was Adam's to use and enjoy for eternity, as a Love Gift from the Father.  We see satan in the form of a serpent, being subtle in his approach towards Adam and even, in Genesis 3:1 (Amplified), which says that satan was, "More subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field."  This signifies that satan had tried deceiving them in different ways and forms, before.  God gave Adam authority and dominion over every living thing on earth and Adam should never allowed satan into the Garden of Eden.
     Satan wasn't after the man, but wanted the authority and dominion God gave to man, so he could rule his own kingdom.  Satan deceived Adam into transgressing against God, resulting in his ruling over man by using the authority God gave Adam, for his own purposes and use.  The earth was man's to rule and have authority over, so God no longer had authority over it.  Some will think this sounds like "God didn't have the Power to take it back," but God had given His Word and Blessing upon Adam and "God's Word is forever settled in Heaven" and is unchangeable.   Psalm 115:16 (Amplified) tells us, "The Heavens are the Lord's Heavens, but the earth has He given to the children of men."
     Psalm 111:5-6 (Amplified) says, "He, God, has given food and provision to those who reverently and worship-fully fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever and imprint it on His mind. He has declared and shown to His people the Power of His Works in giving them the heritage of the nations of Canaan."  We read about another covenant God made with man, Abraham, so mankind could inherit the things God intended for His people, in Psalm 105:7-9 (Amplified) which says, "He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He is earnestly mindful of His covenant and forever it is imprinted on His heart, the Word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations."
     Many believe it's "foolishness," to believe that God had no right to intervene in the earth, after Adam.  God gave complete authority and dominion over to man and needed a Man to move through and have authority again in this earth realm.  We read about certain persons who heard God's Voice and yielded to Him, allowing themselves to be used of God and do His will upon the earth, throughout time, but man still had the dominion.
     Adam's transgression gave satan the ability to use man and to be able to influence man and man's authority.  Satan could do his will on earth, by using man's own authority and influencing man to use that authority in destructive ways.  Satan could influence mankind to "kill, steal and destroy" the earth and mankind, who was created in God's Own Image.  God gave man authority and dominion over the earth, so man could do with it as he pleased.  We read about the Truth and depth of Adam's authority and dominion over the earth, when Jesus was tempted in the Wilderness.  Luke 4:5-6 (Amplified) says, "Then the devil took [Jesus] up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time (in the twinkling of an eye); And he said to Him, To You will I give their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and Grace, for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will."
     Satan told Jesus that the authority and dominion God had given to Adam, "Has been turned over to me."  Satan has usurped the authority over Adam''s inheritance.  This was what satan had been after all along.  Satan coveted man's authority, to do his will in the earth.  Notice that Jesus didn't deny that this authority and dominion was satan's to use or to "Give to whomever he will."  But Jesus didn't yield to this trial and temptation.  If Jesus had done what satan said, then Jesus Himself would have come under satan's authority, because the earth belonged to satan and he could still use man's mandate and authority over Jesus.
     God made covenant through and by the man, Abraham, so now God could bring a Man, Jesus into the earth again and Jesus, the Last Adam, could legally take back man's authority and dominion over the earth and Heaven.  Man still has authority and dominion, even in his fallen state.  Satan still uses mankind, to do his will on this planet.  They don't have authority over those who have accepted Jesus and belong in the new covenant. 
     Satan still uses fallen men/women and the authority given to mankind in the beginning is still theirs to command.  Throughout the centuries, Satan has influenced such persons as Hitler, Ted Bundy, along with other infamous persons, to do his will and promote his ambition to  kill, steal, and destroy.  History is littered with such dictators as Nimrod to Nero, have yielded their God-given authority and right to satan.
    The only power and authority satan has, was and is, the power and authority God gave to man.  As the Son of Man, Jesus had the ability to conquer and take back this authority and place it back into the hands of mankind.  These new persons are the new creations of Christ, who are filled with God's Own Presence and authority.  The new creation people would now rule as men and women, under the authority of the Man, Jesus Christ.  The new creation would also now have Heaven's authority to rule.
     The Truth is that satan had no authority over men, before man was saved.  Mankind still have the authority God gave to Adam and satan couldn't "make" him do anything.  Satan needed to deceive mankind to do his will.  Satan couldn't force men to do his will, but could only deceive them to yield their will and authority over to him.  It was man's choice.  Many didn't understand it was even satanic or destructive, but it was a means of power over others or things.
     Satan used man's ambition to promote himself, as a tool.  Satan used man's quest for power, to take possession over nations and people.  Satan used these men to make laws, which resulted in the captive nations perishing if they didn't uphold these new laws.  When satan had words or laws to govern nations and men, his authority would be established.  Satan used God's Own Place to form a government, but he could only use persons in government to use the established laws and hold nations in bondage, by man's own authority.
     Christians have lost the vision for the words we speak or give place to.  This entire universe was created by Words.  This planet and nations are ruled by words.  We live by words, whether they are The US Constitution, which is good or by the bad words of dictators, that govern other nations.  We've forgotten that we were made in God's Own Image and Likeness and that our words either create or destroy lives, homes, cities, and nations.  Words we believe and live by, change the world.  We transform people into new creation persons and restore God's authority again in this earth, by preaching the Words of God's Kingdom.
     This is why satan hates the Word of God and those who preach it.  Words change things in our personal lives and families and nations.  God's Word, in the mouth of one who now has a God-given authority in earth, is the most powerful thing on earth.  We mostly only use them to communicate, instead of creating.  We've allowed words to create laws that kill, steal, and destroy, even in our nation.  We elect men and women who are swayed by ungodly things.  They then establish ungodly laws and promote ungodly works.
     Satan only wanted men and women, in order to control their authority for his own use.  Satan had no authority of his own, according to Matthew 28:18 (Amplified) which tells us, "Jesus, approached and breaking the silence, said to them,All authority, all power of rule in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me."  The new creation people are to use the authority of Jesus and His Word.  This is authority that satan can't use any longer, unless God's children yield our words to something other than God's Words.  Even as Christian people, our words can be used of the enemy.  Many Christian circles are in strife and gossip.  The authority Jesus restored to us, is being misused by the enemy, against God's Own people.
     Many believers have been taught that, "Our words don't matter," but words are the most powerful thing on this planet and the universe.  Whether good or bad, the words of believers hold authority and power and were supposed to be used for God's Kingdom and not by the enemy.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37 (Amplified), "But I tell you, on the Day of Judgment men will have to give account for every idle, inoperative, nonworking word they speak. For by your words you will justified and be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced."
     Many Christians don't take Jesus' statement very seriously, but I believe that the Father does.  Gossip in the Church, is demonic and comes from God's people lending their tongue to the one who is a liar from the start.  Many people have been destroyed by the gossip of those who are supposed to be examples of God's Love here on earth.  James 3:6 (Amplified) says, "And the tongue is a fire, the tongue is a world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole Body and setting on fire the wheel of birth, being itself ignited by hell."