“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” (Philippians 2:12 NJKV)
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21 NKJV)
“But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” (Acts 17:6 NKJV)
When I made Jesus the Lord of my life the Bible said that the Eric that existed prior to that moment (the old man) died. He no longer exists. At that moment a miracle took place and a brand new Eric was created (a new creation, a new species of being that never existed before). The Bible calls that being “born again.” Another miracle happened as the Creator of the Universe, the very Spirit that hovered over the Earth as it was created, took up residence within me. According to Jesus the Kingdom of God is now within me. Don’t ask me how that works. I haven’t a clue, however since He said it I believe it and receive it.
In the Old Testament 100% of humanity were separated from God through sin and had no place in the Kingdom of Heaven. However, in His plan of redemption the Heavenly Father sought out individuals with which to enter into covenant (Abraham, Noah, David,etc.) in order to preserve the bloodline through which the Messiah would come. Because these were “servants” of God, and not “children” of God, they had a sacrificial system that would cover their sin for one year at a time. The point here is that while the Old Covenant “Righteous” were “pardoned” they were not “saved.” The Holy Spirit would come upon them, but did not live in them. They had to look outside of themselves to find God. They had to reach out for help.
Since Jesus completed the work of redemption, those of us who have been born again into the New Covenant are no longer separated from God, and have been translated into the Kingdom of Heaven. We are all covenant children of Abraham. We are children of God whose sin has been removed, not just covered. New covenant believers have been given the very righteousness of God and are “saved,” not just “pardoned.” The Holy Spirit not only comes upon us, He lives within us. We look within ourselves to find God as He dwells within us. And we do not need to reach out for help. Instead we draw from within ourselves those things which we already possess working out from within what we have been given through salvation. We live “inside – out.”
As we learn who we are, and what we possess, in Christ we are able to begin to turn this World “upside – down.” The devil lives in terror of the day in which believers start living like Jesus. He knows that when we discover the authority that we have been given his days are numbered.
I am challenging myself to dig deeper and discover all there is to know about…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 86: “I am learning to live ‘Inside – Out’ and “Upside – Down.”