I know, I know. God doesn’t need anything. But actually He does. Agape Love needs a counterpart.
The Bible doesn’t start in Genesis 3 (the Fall). There are 2 chapters before it. (Thank you Captain Obvious.)
But the experience in most churches would make you think Genesis 3 was the very beginning of the Bible.
The thing you hear the most about is your sin and guilt, God’s plan to forgive you of it, Jesus being the fulfillment of the plan, you escaping the consequences of sin and your call to follow Jesus by trying to behave the way God wants you to.
But forgiveness of sin is not the main point of the Bible. The 2 chapters before Genesis 3 are. The story is not primarily about forgiveness. While that’s an important and necessary part, it’s only important and necessary in order for something else to be accomplished.
Genesis 3 is a flat tire in the story. It’s a temporary disablement that required God to fix. Being rescued from sin is an amazingly wonderful part of our story. But what happens before and after sin is dealt with is where the central focus of life’s story lies.
It’s about the destination God wants us to realize in the here and now. He’s replaced the tire and now it’s time to drive again.
Created to rule
The story is primarily about what we were created to do, yet failed to do. We were created to rule created things (except other humans). The first human (he + she) failed to do that. But then God supplied One New Human (Christ + the Church) that didn’t and won’t fail. (I Cor. 15:45-48).
It was the restoration of the dominion mandate of humans that was the point of it all. There was power that was lost. It was the power to subdue and use created things for what they were originally designed for.
The One New Human accomplished, is accomplishing and will accomplish that because the power to do it is possessed once again.
The power to use creation for what it was designed for was restored. That goes beyond the issue of sin. It involves a tangible overthrow of Satan’s power on the earth that only new humans can realize by that power.
This overthrow of Satan’s power on the earth is what God needs from every church. It’s what brings His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It won’t happen without humans.
Taking responsibility
But, He won’t force us to possess and use it. Now that the issue of sin has been taken care of for good, it’s the responsibility of His children to realize His eternal purpose practically.
Here’s how Watchman Nee put it in the book Love Not The World…
God has not abandoned His goal. It was not for man’s redemption alone that He died but for that of the whole creation, and going back further, for the recovery of the Father’s purpose in the complete overturning of the Satanic world order.
The church has a definite responsibility before God to register the victory of Christ in the devil’s territory. If there is to be a testimony to the principalities and powers, if the impact of Christ’s sovereignty through his cross is to be registered in the spiritual realm, it can only be as the judicial foothold in our hearts of the “pretender” in the race is met and, by the same cross, removed and repudiated.
This doesn’t come with some half-baked commitment.
Dealing with principalities and powers is the major leagues my friend. Their power isn’t overthrown by just anybody.
Who are you?
Remember when an evil spirit said “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15). Nee goes on to say…
The plain fact is that it costs much more to deal with Satan than to win souls. It demands an utterness of spirit Godward that in itself effectually deprives Satan of any moral ground in us he may claim to possess. This is the costly thing.
The questions a church can ask itself is…what is the value we’re placing on what God needs us to do for His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven? Is the price that has to be paid worth it to us? Are we paying it? What would principalities and powers say about what we’re doing?
If we haven’t sold out to practically living out Genesis 1 and 2, they won’t say much. They might not even know who we are.
This is the ninth post in the Enemy Blueprints series. Go here to read the rest of the posts in the series.
Michael Fleming
Mike Fleming is the creator of Finding Healthy Church. Over 20 years ago, he was sparked by the frustration of failing to experience what the biblical story claimed a healthy church was like. He caught a vision and passion for seeing local churches be what they were designed by God to be. He shares what he's learning along the way so the health of local churches around the world are improved. He’s currently working on an eye-opening book that will help better understand what it means for a church to be healthy.