THE NEW EVE: THE GLORIOUS CHURCH

The Creation Of Adam and Eve and the fulfillment in Christ and the Glorious Church

The Preparing of a Totally New Creation and NOT Just redeeming the OLD Creation

 

1John 5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. 7 And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Within this scripture lays one of the great mysteries of God’s purpose. Unfortunately it requires more than a simple answer. Therefore, we must begin our explanation long before 1 John.

Possibly most of the women in the Bible could be used as a type and shadow to speak of some aspect of the church. For example the choosing of a bride for Isaac in Genesis 24 or the preparation of Ester to go into the king. The various types may speak of the various and diverse preparation of the bride for Christ. Eve is such a type and has many parallels to the glorious church. Paul uses Eve as a picture of the church being deceived in the same way as Eve.

2 COR 11:2] For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. [3] But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

It is abundantly clear that Adam is a type of Jesus Christ. Much more evidence can be presented. Rom 5:14] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 1 Cor 15:45] So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. [47] The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. There is the first Adam and the first Eve and there is the Last Adam and the last Eve, the church, which IS His body.

The real difficulty of teaching these things and making application to the glorious church is that we can receive all these truths as a doctrine to be learned and never bother to be diligent enough to put these truths into our life, by our experience. It is similar to learning all the doctrines about the Holy Spirit but not receiving Him or experiencing Him in our lives.

The first two chapters of Genesis are extremely important to clearly understand because there is so much revealed that we need in order to comprehend God’s Eternal Purpose. Since all this "creation" took place before there was any history of sin, the truth revealed must apply to God’s purpose and not to redemption. Since nearly all the "gospel" that is preached is related to sin and our redemption, we may easily overlook the purpose for which we were created and set on this earth. While the Gospel of the Kingdom certainly doesn’t ignore sin, the focus is upon God’s government within us first and then fulfilling God’s eternal purpose! It focuses upon man fulfilling God’s heart desire and existing to bring joy to God’s heart. The "gospel of salvation" focuses nearly entirely upon the sin problem and man’s need. It focuses upon the shed blood that solves man’s problem of sin but still leaves man forgiven but mostly unchanged!

God first created Adam but Adam alone could NOT fulfill God’s Eternal Purpose. Nothing in the creation would fit Adam as his mate and helper to fulfill God’s purpose. Therefore, God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam in order to bring forth Eve from Adam. The key understanding we must receive is that Adam was created from earth but Eve was NOT created from dirt but from Adam. We must begin with the understanding that this "creation of Eve" was totally unique compared with the rest of creation. First God caused Adam to "sleep" and his side was opened ans a substance was removed. From this "substance" Eve was created.

All this took place NOT because of sin but because of God’s Purpose! This all took place BEFORE the fall of man so Adam sleeping or her creation had nothing to do with redemption.

Since sin is related to the shedding of blood it is interesting that when Adam "slept" and God removed the rib from which He made Eve, there is no mention of blood. Adam didn’t "sleep" to provide redemption for Eve but to give existence to Eve. This becomes a major distinction in the "gospel of the Kingdom." It is within this understanding that we must understand 1 John 5.

Gen 1:26] Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our [plural] image, according to Our [plural] likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." [27] And God created man in His [singular] own image, in the image of God He [singular] created him; male and female He [singular] created them. [28] And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

This study is not about the "plurality of God" or "His Oneness" but it is interesting to note that Eve was in the bosom of Adam. God created THEM male and female but there was only Adam created in Genesis 1. Adam was "one" but in him was "another." There were "two" in the "one" and the two were one. This is another mystery that corresponds with the mystery of the "plurality of God" who is but One. Christ was in the BOSOM of the Father but that is not our theme in this study. Still it is important to comprehend this mystery.

John 1:16] For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. [17] For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. [18] No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

God created everything prior to the creation of man simply by speaking it into existence.

He said let there be light and there was light! However, when God desired to create man there was a conference in heaven and the Father, the Word and the Spirit said "let US" make man in "OUR" own image and likeness etc." Man was not created with a view to redemption but with a view to God’s eternal purpose for man. Man was created to meets God’s need and to fulfill something that was in God’s heart!

Man was created male and female. The female was in the male and the two were one. Since Adam couldn’t find any other creature in all of creation that corresponded to him, God removed the female part of Adam and from that "substance /rib bone" He built a woman and brought her to Adam as a fully grown and developed wife who was already able to function within God’s Plan.

Gen 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." [19] And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. [20] And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. [21] So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. [22] And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. [23] And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."

Here we see that Eve was in the Bosom of Adam. From the beginning Eve only had existence within Adam. She was there "in Adam"at creation but was only made visible after she was removed from Adam. Since Eve is a picture of the bride of Christ, this is a very significant truth. What God created, fashioned or built from the substance / rib bone of Adam was called woman [Eve] because she was taken from Adam. She was from Adam’s body and was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. In that sense Adam was IN Eve and she was Adam in another form. She was taken from him. Unless we understand this point it will be difficult to understand how we could have been chosen in Christ before the world was. The real church [ the New Eve or glorious church] was in Christ while He lived on earth. This is incredible when we see the church is not the outward form that we have always accepted! The "church" is not just a group of humans meeting in a building.

What Eve was made of is only Adam. Eve was NOT Adam mixed with anything from this earth. It doesn’t say that God took the rib and then added something else to it to build a women. Eve was built wholly from Adam. This is very important because when we speak about the glorious church we must see that this church is only built from Christ. The church must be "bone of His bone" and be His body, or Christ in another form. That which is built from anything except Christ cannot be the Lampstand Church which is the Body of the High Priest.

The Lampstand Church is NOT built from a corporate group of human beings {wood, hay or straw}. This presents a great problem when we look at what we think the church is and then complain because it doesn’t act like His body. ONLY that which is from Christ and out of Christ can be built into the glorious church and be presented to Christ as Eve was presented to Adam. The True Church is not visible because it is built from Christ and is one Spirit with Him.

This is still an explanation for 1 John 5 and we have NOT departed from our theme!

As a portion of Adam was in Eve so also that portion of Christ must be in the church which is His body. Man attempts to build the church out of wood, hay and straw or material that is natural and from the earth. Christ is building His church out of Himself. It will be difficult to believe there really will be a glorious church without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless unless we understand that the "glorious church" will be built wholly from Christ and also take her Life from Christ. That which has its source in another and lessor "life" cannot be the glorious church. Whatever is of a lower "life" is not the church that He is building. The "Life" of the "Glorious Church" is His resurrection "Life" which has already passed through death. The "source and substance" of the "glorious Church" is in the sperma of God which is the Living and Abiding Word of God!

When Paul said "all things become new" it was not just a cliche but is referring to the fact that nothing of the old can be used to make the new [which is this eternal church that is Christ , Himself.] This tremendous statement that Paul made in Colossians 3:1-4 where he stated that we are raised up and seated with Christ in heavenly places -far above- must be exactly accurate because this is the Word of God. Then we must ask how is it possible? God sees these things as finished facts because He sees from eternity to eternity and the end from the beginning. The church sees from the fall in Genesis 3 and our bondage to sin onward to redemption. Some can only see onward to heaven and some see onward to God’s eternal purpose. A few can "see" the world yet to come. Most of us only see from the actual history of the church as it relates to time. God sees beyond time and into eternity.

From God’s viewpoint the church is fashioned 100 % out of Christ and contains nothing of the old Adam! Nothing that is of Adam will be accepted in His eternal dwelling places. From our viewpoint the visible church still contains too much of the earth and the fallen nature of Adam. The church that God sees is already without spot or wrinkle and she is holy and blameless and will be ready for the glorious presentation to His Son. From the natural / earthly viewpoint we see her defects and the lack of Christ’s Life in her activities. It is not that the church has NOT received Christ in His fulness but that we have so many other things of Adam within us that prevents His Life from being manifest in its fulness.

Some of the scriptures evaluate the church from God’s viewpoint and indicates that the church is already made perfect "in Christ." Those who write "church doctrine" then assume that nothing more needs to be accomplished to present the "glorious church" to Christ as His perfected bride. This concept certainly ignores many scriptures that speak of going on with God and growing up in all things into Jesus Christ. For this reason many believers then ignore the putting off of the old nature and the putting on of the divine nature and being conformed to His image.

Eph 5:25----Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; [26] that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.

This refers to the "washing by the ‘rhema’ or the "spoken or the now" word of God. While the Laver speaks to us of the "logos" [the eternal Word] it is really the rhema [water/ word] or the spoken / now word that cleanses us, as we obey it.

The "cleansing" that is referred in Eph 5:26 is the process of removing the filth of this world and the fallen nature of man. [This of course follows the forgiveness of sins by the "shed blood."] "Washing" refers to a subtraction of all that is unacceptable in eternity. Washing by the word is not to add something to us but to remove something from us. It is natural man’s human understanding that insists upon God adding something to us before there is a subtraction. We listen to this "gospel of the free ride" and determine that we do not need cleansed by the washing of water with the Word {rhema} because we have had our sins forgiven by the blood. There seems to be a conflict between what the blood does and what the Word { rhema} does. Those who think they have no need of the cleansing by the water of the Word are either ignorant or deceived. Some do not know the difference between the shed blood and the sprinkled blood.

1 John 5:6] This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. [7] And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. [8] For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

It is a great mistake to attempt to participate in the blood and ignore the water. The Greatest Witness to this eternal fact is the Spirit.

To ignore the water or the shed blood or the sprinkled blood is a great error! Thank God for the shed blood, we all need it, but does that eliminate our need for the Water of the Word or for the sprinkled blood which depends upon our obedience? There is BOTH Christ’s Life that was laid down on Calvary AND His Resurrection Life that is available for us. There was also His body that has died for us!

John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him; 33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs;

John 19:34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.

John 19:35 And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN." 37 And again another Scripture says, "THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED."

This corresponds to the deep sleep that fell upon Adam when God opened his side and removed a substance from which He made Eve. In this historic fulfillment this "substance" is identified as Blood and Water. Now we must depart from the natural interpretation of the water which is said to be the water that came from the womb when Jesus was born and the blood for forgiveness. Here we see the value of the types and shadows that reveal truth not clarified in the New Testament. If we believe the type in Genesis 2 it is clear that it is this "substance" that Christ will use to build His Church. This is what we are calling the New Eve.

Lev 17:14 "For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, 'You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.'

The "blood" speaks about life because the Life is in the Blood. First the Blood that was "shed" for the forgiveness of sins and then afterwards, when His side was opened, the Blood that provides His Life to us. It is this Life, Zoe, that He uses to built His church. It is for this reason that we say "believing something about Jesus or saying certain words" is totally ineffective unless we receive His Life, Zoe!

We all know that the "shedding of blood" is for our forgiveness of sins. However, by this time He was already dead, His blood had already been shed and our redemption was paid for. This is the first part of our redemption which He said is "finished."

Then what is the purpose of this opening of His side and the "outpouring of water" AND the "outpouring of blood" after Jesus was dead? The water must be "the Substance" that was released or given to complete something in God’s Purpose! Some new dimension of the Living and Abiding Word of God was suddenly made available to mankind.

1Pet 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed { Sperma} which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

Not only can we be forgiven but now we can participate in the same kind of birth as Jesus. We can be born from above but not by the will of the flesh or by the will of man but be born of God. That is from His Divine Sperma, the Living and Abiding Word of God. The releasing of this Divine Sperma was not possible until He died and completed God’s purpose in the incarnation.

In addition to this new kind of birth, something more is necessary. This is the Water for Washing by the releasing of the Word of God for our cleansing. The Logos that became flesh is now released as the Rhema so that all His sheep can hear His voice, receive the now word and be cleansed. In Exodus the people said "Don’t let God speak to us again because we will die if He speaks again." In this New Covenant and within the new species of men the people are once again "supposed" to hear His voice but now live and not die.

The "experiential washing" of Ephesians 5:26- 27 must become the church’s actual experience during the church age. Since redemption was already achieved by His death, this "water and blood" must also release His Resurrection Life and make it available to us. This was NOT available to the Old Covenant saints because this grace began at Calvary.

Relying upon forgiveness by the shed blood may get us to "heaven" but this does not

exempt us from the washing of water with the Word {Rhema} for our glorious presentation to Christ as His bride. Forgiveness of sins does not exempt us from the necessity of receiving His Resurrection Life as our new Life, Zoe. A good portion of the visible church will accept redemption through the shed blood but reject any further cleansing by the Word or the necessity of receiving His Life. We can sit under good doctrine and not be changed but the Rhema demands action and obedience or we may be listed with the lawless and disobedient.

A large part of our failure as "ministers" is that we preach the "Logos" rather than the "Rhema" and little cleansing takes place. Men speak while the Lord is silent and we wonder why the church doesn’t change. It is the living Word of God, the Sperma, that produces life in those who respond in obedience. The next dimension of the blood, the sprinkled blood, is connected to our obedience.

1 Pet 1:2] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.

One of the uses of the sprinkled blood was to sprinkle the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. Even if we minister the "Rhema" it still requires a response of obedience in those who hear before they are washed by the Word and sprinkled by the blood. Even the sword of the Spirit is the Rhema of God. The logos is wonderful but it is still not the sword of the Spirit. For the most part we see a misapplication of the Sword of the Spirit by people quoting the Logos. Some are just doing "warfare with evil" by quoting cliches and going without food.

In all our preaching and Bible studies we have delivered a lot of facts, knowledge and information. It is not a matter of "if what we heard is right or wrong or good or evil" but what is the source of our knowledge. Is it from the "Rhema or from the Logos?" Is it just outward knowledge or is it an inward revelation. There can be a lot of preaching but very little of the Rhema of the Word of God. The growth and cleansing of the church is totally dependent upon the Lord’s speaking directly to us and hopefully IN US. It seems to me that one of the unique privileges of the church is to hear His Voice, His Rhema., and to live by His Life. Still, without full consecration we may have our sins forgiven but then we just continue to live by our old life, psuche!

Jesus clearly said that His sheep will hear His Voice. We should ask what went wrong? My thought is that hearing His voice should be the major focus of our prayer. "Lord bring me to that place where I can clearly hear your voice." Those who have never heard His voice within have probably never sought God diligently and sincerely ask Him to speak to them. This has seriously hindered the subjective work of God in us to cleanse us of so many inner defects. This limits the effectiveness of God’s grace toward us and in us, which in turn limits our growth and perfection in Christ.

The other difficulty we have with hearing His voice is that He speaks from between the Cherubim in the Most Holy Place of our developed spirit. If we are content to listen from the Outer Court there is a possibility that we will never hear very much. Especially if He speaks in a clear but small voice in our spirit.

While the shed blood deals with sin and forgiveness, the church will be seriously lacking if she doesn’t participate in His Life, Zoe! For this reason Calvary must also provide for the impartation of His resurrection Life, Zoe. Those who only emphasize the shed blood are offended when we mention something in addition to forgiveness of sins. This offence causes the church much harm because it leaves the church forgiven but unchanged.

Unless the Word of God extracts something from us as it washes us, we miss the very reason for the washing of water with the Word. It is what remains of the old and unclean that is supposed to be removed so everything becomes new. The Rhema ,the Word of Jesus Christ spoken to us and in us, is Spirit and it is Life. There must be His Life imparted with His Word to produce His Life in us. While His Word informs us, it is His Life that first touches the new inner man and then changes us as we respond. To get offended by either His Life or His Word will surely cause us eternal loss. The Lord has designed His Word, Rhema, to restore and recover "the church" to His eternal purpose. To lightly evaluate the Word of God, or be indifferent to do it, is such a serious mistake that it is impossible to measure the eternal loss.

We are still sticking to our theme about the water and the blood released AFTER He died.

I and many others have confused "spiritual knowledge" with "spiritual growth". We think that if we know, then we are what we know. However, spiritual growth is not a matter of participating in the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" but "spiritual growth" is a matter of eating from the Tree of Life. The best of knowledge (gnosis) will produce in us very little of the Kingdom Government of God while a fulness of His Life in us is highly regarded by God.

I have noticed some confusion about the "body of Christ" and the "bride of Christ" in my explanation in these last studies. It may be erroneously assumed by the majority of ministers that the body of Christ now is also the bride of Christ in eternity. That what we call the body of Christ on earth has it’s future goal in eternity to become the bride of Christ. The distinction may not be so clear but let us try to clarify it. The body of Christ is now on earth and is identified throughout every generation since Pentecost. Therefore, we can follow it’s history throughout the church age. However, the bride of Christ will only be recognized in glory as the ONE without spot or wrinkle and prepared and perfected to be presented to Jesus Christ to become His eternal wife. She is the ONE who is radiant with His Glory and clothed with fine linen garments as we see in Revelation 19. Today, the scriptures seem to confirm that all who are part of "the true church in preparation and in discipline" are included in His body as revealed in Hebrews 12. He is therefore disciplining, testing, trying, purging, cleansing and preparing His body to become the fulfillment of Eve which is Christ’s bride and His wife for all eternity. Those who have come to this "perfection" will be presented to Him as the "glorious church" without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless. To teach that all this takes place when we are born again is ignorant and a great disservice to the church and produces a lot of apathy and lukewarmness among believers.

While it may seem that we put too much emphasis upon the spiritual life and development of the inner life of the new inner man, we don’t want to neglect the divine calling to preach the gospel and complete the objective work of the church during the church age. It is certain that both are necessary for the perfection of the church. Our character development is certainly essential but an inner life without an outward manifestation is not complete. While the greater part of the book of Ephesians focuses upon the spiritual life and maturity of the church, there is the summation of the work and practical calling of the church in Chapter 6.

Since most of us have been bombarded by teaching on spiritual warfare, I want to include in this study some obvious things about our calling to deal with God’s enemies. A few years ago a few pastors took some days for prayer and fasting and this discussion came up and I listened to several theories about pulling down strong holds and disarming principalities and powers. Over the years we have done our share of yelling at the devil and calling him names. We have cast out countless demons and tried to discern the strong man over our area. However, now I want to put all this into perspective for this study of the body of Christ and the glorious church. This is directed toward the many questions about "spiritual warfare" that you had when here in Ohio. The reason I didn’t spend a lot of time on this is because we needed to focus upon the purpose of God first.

The first thing that we discern about the armor of God and the schemes of the devil is that there is obviously a mighty battle raging and those who are ill prepared will be taken captive. Many theories and some wild and strange teaching has resulted from these scriptures in Eph 6:10-20.

First we need to assembly some facts about this battle that is between the church and Satan’s hierarchy of fallen angels and demons, principalities and powers, serpents and scorpions, and spiritual wickedness that make up Satan’s army. This also include taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ!

We need to ask, was the victory of Jesus Christ completely decisive and was the battle at Calvary completely won? Has He been given ALL power and ALL authority over both heaven and earth? That answer is YES! Is there still other victories to be won over Satan? The answer must be NO, if we are convinced that Christ completely defeated Satan at Calvary! Then what is all this armor for? If we examine the armor it is clear that the armor is defensive and not necessarily offensive. The exhortation is not to attack the enemy and defeat him but to "stand firm". Since the enemy is already defeated, the church must maintain and enforce the victory of Calvary that has already been won by Jesus Christ. The devil is shooting flaming arrows and the church is supposed to put on the corporate armor and stand firm. We are not to give up any ground and we must resist every attack! This is not an exhortation to attack the enemy and defeat him! It is an exhortation to hold on to the victory that we already have and to pray for the saints who are under attack.

Others have pointed out that all the armor is defensive except the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.. When Jesus was attacked in the wilderness by Satan He used the word of God as a defensive weapon but did not attack the devil in an offensive way. He defended Himself but did not violently attack Satan and pull him down and humiliate him at that time. Jesus’ victory must wait for Calvary. It was at Calvary that Satan was humiliated and soundly defeated. As the "Son of God" it would have been no contest to defeat Satan but as the son of man it was the greatest of victories and the first total victory for authentic man. Satan was totally "overcome" at Calvary by Jesus Christ and it is probably a big mistake for us to try to duplicate His victory through our own feeble effort. Especially by yelling at him and quoting scriptures at him! However, we can enter into Christ’s victory and see to it that His victory is enforced upon this earth and declare His total authority over both heaven and earth. Our greatest weapon against Satan is our obedience to Christ. Satan’s failure was by his disobedience and man’s victory is through his obedience. God can easily judge all disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled. Disobedient "believers" who are commanding Satan and the fallen angels was not very effective for us because we already tried that.

This is probably theologically sound but there are a few scriptures that leave some doubt that total victory was realized.

1Cor 15:23] But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, [24] then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. [25] For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. [26] The last enemy that will be abolished is death. [27] For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. 1 JOHN 2:13] I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. [14] I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

While the victory at Calvary was decisive and final from heaven’s viewpoint there is still the history of the church on earth and God’s eternal purpose to be fulfilled. Christ won a total victory but now He is ruling UNTIL every enemy is put under His feet. Since His feet is in His body this obviously refers to His body enforcing His victory on earth and not trying to win the victory all over again. If Christ has totally overcome the evil one, why does it say that the "young men" have overcome the evil one? Again I think it means that heaven is satisfied in the victory and has declared Jesus Christ to be the winner but now we still have the history of the church on earth. The "young men" are strong and the "logos" of God abides in them and they have enforced the victory of Calvary upon the evil one and overcame him.

Jesus overcame the world and sin and death but now "in history" and experientially His body, His called out ones, must also overcome the world , sin and death. We of course have a great advantage because now it is Christ in us working His purpose out. If He is NOT ruling over us and exercising Kingdom authority in us there will be no victory under His feet.

1 JOHN 5:4] For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. [5] And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Jesus has overcome the world and now we participate in His victory by exercising our faith. The church must present a solid front in resisting Satan, the world and the flesh. There must have been a very important reason why God left the devil, the fallen angels, the principalities and powers and the demons on this earth during the church age. There is! Overcoming the forces of darkness is all part of our "perfection" and part of our "on the job training" for eternity. An ignorant and disobedient church is powerless against the forces of darkness. A "Glorious Church" is quite different from what we see in the visible church system.

Psalms 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens! [2] From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of Thine adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

The rest of the Psalm identifies this "warfare" and is clearly speaking about man defeating God’s adversaries. In other words there is more to defeat than just Satan. Hebrews 2 also identifies man as fulfilling these scriptures. God has given man [and now the church] this work of causing the adversaries, the enemies and the revengeful to cease their activities on earth. There is no question that Jesus defeated their leader, Satan!

We could easily misinterpret why God has assigned this work of overcoming to us. The fact is that the MAN Christ Jesus has gained total victory and now, to fulfill God’s purpose, all the church must do is use His name and His authority to enforce His victory over these principalities and powers. It is not a matter of attacking but of guarding and enforcing. Too much time has been lost trying to defeat Satan, who is already defeated, instead of trusting in the Lord and enforcing His total victory upon the other enemies. This is now a matter of the Kingdom of God casting out the kingdom of Satan and his demons.

MAT 12:28] "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

One of the manifestations of the Kingdom is spiritual warfare and the neutralizing of the kingdom of darkness. Wherever the Kingdom of God is manifest in obedience, Satan cannot stand in that place and must flee to some other place. Where the church is fulfilling her obedience and growing up into Christ and functioning under the absolute and sovereign authority of the Head, His absolute Authority will be manifest. This is a prerequisite of the experiential Kingdom. The church’s work is to release the power and authority of the Kingdom of God and the name and authority of Jesus Christ upon this earth. The church’s work is NOT to assume some power and authority of its own but to submit to and manifest the authority of the Head. This has been a problem within certain emphases. Men trying to share "their authority" with others by the laying on of hands. If we tap into HIS AUTHORITY we won’t need any other human authority. If Christ becomes our armor, the fiery darts of the enemy will have no effect.

Eph 3:8] To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, [9] and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; [10] in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Bringing the revelation of this mystery about Christ’s total and complete victory over all the principalities and powers has now been assigned to the church. This is in accord with God’s eternal purpose. These "principalities" include the adversaries, the enemies, the revengeful, demons, powers, serpents and scorpions. Satan, their champion, is defeated, like Goliath, but the spiritual armies are left here on earth during the church age to enforce that victory. Israel is the type! Goliath falls and then the armies of Israel rush in to enforce that victory on the enemy.

PSALM 149:5 Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds. [6] Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, [7] To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishment on the peoples; [8] To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; [9] To execute on them the judgment written; This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the LORD!

Those who assume it is enough to be saved have failed to recognize the work assigned to the church to deal with God’s enemies until they are subjected under Christ’s feet. Saddam Hussein was soundly defeated in the first gulf war but still insisted upon ruling over Iraq and continued to threaten the world. Most of the world just put up with him, much like the church puts up with Satan and his armies.

It is imperative that we understand the origin of the "church" which is "His body"or we may get discouraged by seeing the pitiful condition of the "visible church" and confuse that with what Christ is building. Much of our criticism of the visible church today could be reduced if we saw the real "church which He is building" is made entirely out of Christ. What man is "building" is not the glorious church! Nothing that originates on this earth can be used to build the glorious church! Since the visible church has developed mostly from this earth realm, whatever is only from the natural / earth realm must be left behind on the earth.

The difficulty is in discerning that which is at the present time invisible to us but visible to God. If we are just looking at that which is natural, visible and outward we will certainly be disgusted by what we see. The glorious church MUST be built out of "the new inner man who is the image of Him who created him." The natural and the outward man will remain on this earth and can never be built into the New Jerusalem. The church He is building cannot be made of "humans" who are just wood, hay and straw. The Lampstand has no wood but is made of pure Gold which is Christ. Like Eve, the real church is built only from that which flowed from Christ when he was already in a deep sleep. This "blood and water" was not a matter of sin but of God’s eternal purpose!

Still, it not just the "spirit of the inner man" that is already in His image [but not yet mature] that must be "built up" but the soul of the new man is also involved in man’s perfection. It is NOT that the "visible church" does not have Christ in some measure but that she also has a lot of things that are NOT Christ. Those are the things that God is at work removing from us. That portion that is "raised up and seated with Christ in heavenly places " is Christ in us. That portion that is left behind is of the Old Adam along with many ugly things we received from him. COL 3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. [3] For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Our goal is GAL 2:20] "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

Many assume that since they can quote this verse that it is their experience! To assume that everything has already taken place and there is nothing more to be done except wait for Jesus to break through the clouds and take us to His throne is a serious mistake! However, from God’s viewpoint it is already accomplished. Our problem is that we will be judged according to our actual history of completing His purpose while in this body.

If everything was accomplished at Calvary and all we have to do is just believe, there are several warnings in the Book of Hebrews that become irrelevant. From God’s side everything is done and Christ’s work is Perfect. From man’s side everything that Jesus Christ has accomplished must be experiential and real and which can be manifest in our lives. Why? Because of God’s Eternal Purpose! This is the problem with just casually reading the Word of God and assuming things are complete which are not yet our experience. It is worse yet to stand in the pulpit and declare that we are all perfect because we "believe" and nothing more needs to be done.

The New and Eternal Eve, the Glorious Church, must be built wholly from that which came from Christ ( blood and water) and not from the dirt of this earth. The real Church is built from Christ in us, our hope of Glory. The Lampstand Church must be built from only pure Gold which means wholly from Christ, the Living and Abiding Word of God. The "SEED" or divine sperma has everything inherent within it that we need to complete God’s Purpose. That Sperma, the Living and Abiding Word of God, is Christ. This is exactly the same "sperma" that formed Jesus in Mary’s womb. For that reason we will have no excuses when we stand before the judgement seat of Christ. The failure to grow as we see in the visible church is not because we received "defective sperma" but the failure is with the growth of the sperma into the full grown Christ. The problem is NOT with the "good seed" but with the soil upon which it falls. Some of this growth / perfection is assigned to the five fold Ministries and the rest is assigned to our own responsibility to hear the word (rhema) and DO it. Obedience is part of our perfection the same as it was for Jesus!