More Random Rambling on Dominion

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul teaches clearly that Jesus shall subdue all rule, authority and power prior to the defeat of death in the resurrection of believers. This means plainly that Jesus shall subdue the Powers prior to the Second Coming. That is the simple message that Paul teaches. But what does it mean to subdue the Powers? Who are the Powers? And what does this dominion look like in the world?

First of all, the Powers are fallen angels (as I understand it) that rule the world through the agency of men. The Powers are the governments and institutions that wield power over the lives of men. The IRS, for example. The Powers are both spiritual and physical. The Powers are not “flesh and blood,” as Paul says, but they control flesh and blood. The Powers are the power behind the thrones of men.

 

The Powers were given control over the nations at Babel when God scattered the Gentile nations and called out Abram to father a holy nation. But Jesus took the authority of the Powers back when He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. “All power in heaven and earth is given to me,” Jesus said. However, the defeated Powers are entrenched in the institutions of man and refuse to yield without a fight. They are hostile to Christ and resist His rule. Thus, Christ sent His church into the world to confront the Powers through the proclamation of Christ’s rule. The church is sent to enact His authority and rule. The church is at war with the Powers. The church is the means by which Jesus is subduing the Powers. 

 

So, when the Powers are subdued by the church, what does that look like? The Postmills say that this looks like Christians taking over the governments and institutions of man until Christ’s rule over the nations is actual and evident in every realm of life. This means for them that Jesus shall be in charge of every government in the earth and every cultural and societal institution prior to the Second Coming. They see this as the realization of the OT prophets’ vision of the new heaven and new earth prior to the final new creation at the Second Coming. For them, the Second Coming is the culmination–the flowering and fullness–of Christ’s rule that has already been enacted and fully realized in the world.  

 

But I think that goes too far. It seems to me that the dominion of Jesus is directly related to the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20) Dominion is directly related to teaching the gospel, baptizing those who believe and discipling them as followers of Christ. Dominion is all about evangelism. Dominion is all about discipleship. Jesus shall subdue the Powers so that He may build His church and call out His elect from every nation. 

 

In other words, the dominion of Jesus in this present age is simply Christ sending the church into every nation and restraining the Powers through preaching, praise and prayer until the Powers cannot prevent the salvation of God’s elect, the building of the church and the leavening of the earth through the positive influence of the church upon society (Matthew 13). Because exile continues until the resurrection (1 Peter), the church remains in a position of serving the nations like Daniel and Joseph did. Of course, in the days of Daniel, Jesus, the Son of God, was not in charge of the kingdoms of the earth, so it is true that the church has greater influence and dominion than Daniel. But I still see that exile continues until the Second Coming.

(Exile is the period of waiting for the final fulfillment of the prophecies made to Israel. Exile is not over until the resurrection, though it has already ended in a proleptic sense in the resurrection of Jesus and the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost.)

This means that the church will influence the world, but not necessarily rule it politically and culturally until Jesus returns. 

 

Another passage that leads me to believe that full realization of Christ’s rule upon the earth cannot come until the resurrection of believers is Romans 8. Paul’s teaching there on the groaning of creation until the resurrection together with Peter’s teaching in 1 Peter on exile leads me to believe that the church exercises dominion in a targeted manner until Jesus returns. Our goal is to go into all the world (cosmos) and make disciples of every nation. As we do so, the Powers will resist our advance because we represent the King who took their power away. But as we go forward, the King empowers us with the Holy Spirit to take dominion over the Powers so that they cannot prevent the salvation of God’s elect, those whom God has chosen to save. 

 

As we exercise this dominion–which means, as we enact the dominion that Jesus has already taken at the cross–the Powers are subdued under the authority of the church, and the elect of God is saved. As the elect are saved, the church is established in every nation. As the church is established in every nation, society and culture, politics and government, education and economy, the arts and entertainment are influenced by the presence of the church within the culture. The church acts as salt and light in the world, and the world is changed as a result. This is the “shalom of the city” that God speaks about in Jeremiah 29. This may not mean, as the Postmills say, that the world becomes fully Christian, but it does mean that the Christian church changes the world for the better. It is impossible for the church to be anywhere in the world without changing the world for the better. Just like light cannot enter a dark room without dispelling the darkness, so the church cannot enter a nation without driving back evil powers and advancing the rule of Jesus Christ.  

 

So, what sort of dominion should we expect to exercise? At least this: we should expect to enter a city in any nation under heaven and begin the work of preaching the gospel, praising the one true God in worship, and praying the purpose of God into existence through powerful intercession. Preaching, praise and prayer. These are the weapons of our dominion. As we encounter spiritual resistance, for the Powers will not remain idle as we storm the bastions of their control, we must proclaim the authority of Jesus. We are simply messengers enacting the rule of Jesus in every realm of life. We proclaim the gospel, the good news that Jesus lives and rules from heaven and shall return soon to rule upon the earth. We proclaim the gospel in our preaching, praise and prayer. 

 

As we gain dominion in the Spirit, the Lord will begin to open doors for the salvation of His elect. He will save those whom He has chosen to save, and the Powers cannot stop it. As the elect of God are saved, they are steered by the Holy Spirit into positions of influence and power like Joseph and Daniel. The church is established in the city and the strongholds of evil are broken. The church begins to change the world one soul at a time. Legislation is influenced. The economy is influenced. Education is influenced. Entertainment is influenced. Bars start closing. Adult bookstores and strip clubs shut down (a reality that we have seen happen in Fort Worth!). The church has an effect on the city as the church grows within the city. The government of the city may remain pagan, but it will be influenced by the Joseph’s and Daniel’s that stand by the side of those wielding power. And, in some instances, Christians may become the mayors, governors and presidents. But the focus of the church remains evangelism and discipleship. This is how dominion comes.

 

Since dominion comes through evangelism and discipleship, we cannot get bogged down in the delusion that it comes through seeking political, cultural or military power. That is exactly the sort of quest for dominion that Jesus condemned when He preached against those who sought to advance Messiah’s kingdom through violence. The kingdom cannot come by the violent who seek to take it by force. The cross showed clearly that the kingdom can only come through love that yields to violence and thereby breaks its power. “Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.” Or, to say it another way: “Those who live by political action shall die by political action.” 

 

The kingdom simply does not come that way. The kingdom comes through the preaching of the gospel and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom comes from within. The kingdom comes as the Spirit enacts the rule of Jesus in the hearts of believers. This is why we cannot get distracted with attempting to advance the kingdom through political and social action. We may exercise political and social action as citizens of the kingdom–that sort of influence is exactly what the church shall eventually wield. But we must not confuse influence with dominion. The dominion of the church is directly related to evangelism and discipleship. The collateral effects of Christian life and and faith in the world are powerful. The world does change when Jesus comes to town. But our focus must remain on breaking spiritual strongholds that prevent the saving and discipling of God’s elect. Save the lost and build the church, and the world will be changed. 

 

I can continue like this for hours. I really can. But all I want to emphasize is that we must not swing to either of two extremes: (1) the extreme of thinking that Christian dominion means that we shall Christianize the world and actually rule the nations prior to the Second Coming; and (2) the other, more common extreme of thinking that the church will have no discernible and actual effect upon the world at large until Jesus returns and personally defeats the Powers and sets up His kingdom. In my opinion, based on what I think has been a careful study of the material, both of these extremes are wrong. Jesus will subdue the Powers prior to His return. Paul makes that clear. But this subjugation of the Powers is directly related to the Great Commission and must be seen as the evangelistic and discipling work of the church. Yet, the church will affect the world. It could not keep from it if it tried–and it has definitely tried! 

 

For those like me who are deeply interested in the effect of the Christian faith upon culture and society–and if you have read this far, that would be you!–this discussion is unbelievably important. For too long the church has been held captive by an escapist mentality that despairs of making any sort of difference in the world and sees our mission as nothing more than saving the few we can and holding out until Jesus comes back to rescue us from this present, evil age. But there is something in the heart of believers that cries out for more than defensive, defeatist Christianity. There is something in our heart that cries out to make a difference in the world. But we have to be careful here, for this was the zeal that pushed the first-century Pharisees into delusional visions of the kingdom. We must stay focused here. We cannot succumb to despair, but neither can we forget what we are called to do: teach, baptize and make disciples. If we will do this, the difference we seek to make in the world will flow out of it. And our influence upon the world will like a city on a hill that cannot be hid. 

 

Today, this is our prayer: “Our Father who is on heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.”

 

 

Hidden Treasure

The Heterosexual Agenda

There is a great deal of fussing these days among conservative Christians about the homosexual agenda, and there should be. It is a disaster. But the real irony is that the homosexual agenda is not the problem. Homosexual “marriage” is not the problem. Heterosexual marriage is the problem. Or, to put it more exactly, the corruption of heterosexual marriage through rampant adultery and unbiblical divorce is the problem. 

Homosexuality is the fruit, not the root, of society’s decay. Thinking that we can reform society by opposing homosexual marriage is like thinking that we can chop down the apple tree by hacking at the apples. The only way to chop down the tree is to lay the ax at its root. And the root of this tree is heterosexual adultery and divorce. The only way we are going to stop homosexual “marriage” is by restoring biblical marriage.

 

Here is where it all started. Mom and dad allowed their marriage to decay. They pretended all was well and kept up the facade of happy marriage in public while defying God’s command to love and respect each other at home. This hypocrisy led to unfaithfulness in marriage. Dad flirted with the secretary, and mom winked at the boy taking out her groceries. Eventually, affairs and adulteries undermined the moral foundation of the home, and the adults stopped hiding their sin and made it official. They simply legalized no-fault divorce, and swapped partners with social sanction. They relabeled adultery and called it “moving on.” 

 

The kids watched the moral collapse of their parents’ world and started living out their own sexual disorders through fornication. Shacking up is much cheaper than divorce. Fornication, which is soulless, unsatisfying sex, led to bizarre sexual experimentation and perversion. Boys and girls raised in unhealthy heterosexual environments starting living out their dysfunction through homosexuality and lesbianism.

The adulterous parents found it difficult to condemn the sins of their children when they lived in such open rebellion to the law of God. So, the pressure was on to accept deviant sexuality in every form. In fact, it seems these days that the only form of sexuality that is not accepted is normal sexuality. 

 

We love to fuss about the societal and political acceptance of homosexuality. But that was inevitable the moment that we made adultery and divorce okay. If you get on this train, don’t be shocked when you end up at the end of the line. Adultery and unbiblical divorce will always lead to fornication, homosexuality and, eventually, pedophilia and bestiality. It is already happening. Yale University hosted Sex Week last week where lectures were given on tolerating all forms of sexual behavior including incest and sex with animals. Should we be surprised?

 

No, we should not. But before we ramp up the outrage, we should set our own house in order. If we want social renewal in the Western world, then we must get back to basics. We must pray for a renewal of the family, for a renewal of husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the church. This is where it all begins. Men–and I speak to men directly because we are the head, the source, of our households and thus the source of the problem–if we want to stop the encroachment of societal decay, then we must get back to building our homes, marriages and parenting on the foundation of Christ and His love for the church. The only way to defeat the homosexual agenda is to refocus on the heterosexual agenda: renewing the Christian home. 

 

Brothers, we can change the world. But it will be one family at a time. As everyone and his brother likes to say, Quit cursing the darkness and light a candle. And, in this case, everyone and his brother are exactly right. 

 

 

 

Taking Orders or Getting Wisdom?

 

A while back I had a really strange experience in prayer. I was praying fervently asking God for specific direction, appealing to Him to “tell me what to do” in a certain situation. That was not the strange experience, by the way. The request part is fairly routine. No, the strange experience came next.

As I prayed and asked the Lord to “tell me what to do,” I felt like He spoke to me and said that He would not tell me what to do. Now, this was startling, to say the least. I paused for a bit and prayed about it again. I asked the Lord to “tell me what to do.” He refused. I mean to say that the Holy Spirit impressed me strongly that God was not going to tell me what to do in this specific situation.

That puzzled me, and I prayed for a while longer to understand it better. I am not used to being told that I should not expect the Spirit to tell me what to do. I mean, I am willing to do whatever, just say what I need to do. But I cannot do what I am told until I am told. That is pretty straightforward. Just tell me what to do!

 

But, no. The Spirit began to deal with me in a new way. The Lord said that in this particular situation He would not tell me what to do, but that He would help me figure out what to do. The Lord said to me, “You have come to me asking for orders, but I am not going to give you orders; I will give you wisdom. And with Spirit-led wisdom, I will help you figure out what you need to do in this situation.”

 

He continued, “To simply be told what to do is to live as a child or a servant. But to be taught how to make wise decisions is to live as full-grown son.” God wants to give us wisdom and show us how to make decisions. This means that God will often not answer us when we ask for specific instructions. He will require us to figure it out for ourselves. But, of course, He does not intend for us to figure it out by ourselves. For ourselves, but not by ourselves. God will guide us with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, opening our eyes by the Spirit so that we may see clearly. But He will not simply tell us what to do, at least not always, not after we have grown a while in the Spirit. 

 

This means that we must pray daily for wisdom. Wisdom is Spirit-led insight combined with hindsight that produces foresight. Wisdom is the ability to judge things correctly in advance. Wisdom evaluates situations and accurately predicts outcomes. Wisdom sees the end from the beginning. Of course, only God can do that perfectly, which is why we must pray for wisdom. We need wisdom for our families, for the church and for our ministries. We need wisdom to make decisions. So, we must pray for it.

When we don’t know what to do, we should ask for wisdom. God may not give us specific orders, but He will help us work through the options and assess the consequences and come to a godly, wise decision. This sort of decision-making requires time and patience, but if we will persevere in living wise, then the principles of wisdom that the Spirit imparts will become second nature. 

 

This approach brings great peace. We get so bogged down begging God for specific orders, and it seems that the orders never come. We halt between opinions and vacillate between options. If only God would say this or that! If only He would tell me which job to take, which school to choose, which car to buy, which person to marry, on and on it goes, asking God for orders.

And sometimes, no doubt, He does give specific, detailed instruction. But, for the most part, God attempts to lead us into maturity by working through decisions and coming to wise conclusions through the leading of the Spirit. Our prayer should be, “Lord, give me wisdom to know what is the right decision.” We should lay all options out on the table before the Lord and pray our way through them. Then, we should ask God to let us see things the way He does. By following His leading, we can make wise decisions that we can live with.

 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8) 

 

 

Breakout!

NEW Book: Evangelism Jesus-Style

 

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Book description:

This is a small book with huge ambitions. It aspires in less than seventy pages to unleash the spirit of evangelism in you. The spirit of evangelism is the Spirit of God that works within our human spirit to develop our individual witness in concert with the spirit of fellow believers. The spirit of evangelism within believers then flows together into the one spirit of the local church until the church is full of the spirit of evangelism. All of this is rooted in the idea that Jesus did evangelism in individually creative ways. By looking at His approach, we can learn to do “Evangelism Jesus-style.”

Get Rich Quick!

The world is full of schemes for getting rich, and most schemes carry the promise that you can do so in a hurry. “Get rich quick!” is the cry, and countless millions follow that cry like lemmings plunging over the cliff. (That comment should bring the lemming myth nitpickers out in force.) We should all know by now that you cannot get rich quick. 

Or can you? There actually is a way to get rich quick, and it is quite simple. Give thanks. Give thanks, and you will realize that you are already rich. Maybe you just haven’t stopped today to think about it. You are rich in the things that matter most, the things that make a man or woman wealthy beyond belief. Probably not what the get-rich-quickers wanted to hear, but there it is, anyhow. Give thanks, and you will get rich quick.  

Tell the Story

To be a soul winner, you have to become a good storyteller. There are three stories that must be told. First, we must tell the story of Jesus. Too much evangelism starts with what the person must do rather than what they must believe. No doubt, faith without works is dead, and everyone who comes to Christ must do something–as in, obey Him. You must repent, be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. No exceptions. But if faith without works is dead, works without faith are deadly. Believers must believe, and they cannot believe if we do not tell them the story of Jesus. And we cannot assume that everyone knows the story. We must tell it.  

Peter did this on the Day of Pentecost. He told the story of Jesus, how He died and was buried; how He rose again the third day and ascended into heaven to rule at the right hand of God; and how He received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured His Spirit out upon those gathered in the Upper Room. Peter told the story. He told the first story first.

Then, we must tell the second story. The second story is our story. We must testify of all that God has done for us. Peter did this when he told the gathered multitudes of how the disciples had been with Jesus and witnessed His resurrection. Effective evangelism always includes personal testimony.

 

Finally, the third story is our friend’s story. We must help the person we are reaching see where they fit in God’s story. If they can see the possibilities that God has for them, if they can see their future in the kingdom of God and all that means for them and their family, then the story  becomes much more than just a story: it becomes their experience. Peter did this when he spoke to the crowd of how they crucified Jesus and how God graciously offered them forgiveness of sins–“For the promise is to you and to your children.” Peter told their story the way God tells it.

 

We must do the same. We must tell the story of Jesus, our personal story and the story of the one we are reaching as God sees them. Soul winners must be storytellers. 

Candle Under A Bushel

Be Set Free