What Most Christians Don’t Know
When I read what many Christians post on social media, it’s clear to me that many truly don’t know who they are.
A person posted a video of a gentleman singing “Jesus will fix it” on Facebook – a song I love and sang in church many years ago. One of the lyrics goes something like this: “Trouble in my way, I’ve got to cry sometimes. I can’t sleep at night but that’s all right. I know that Jesus, He will fix it after a while.” I now know, from the Bible, that this is not true.
Jesus “fixes” people so that they can “fix” the problem themselves.
Do you remember the record in 2 Corinthians 12 about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”? Satan had sent his top gun with an assignment – do whatever you need to do to stop Paul from teaching the Gospel. The “battle” was so fierce that Paul begs the Lord three times to do something to stop the demon. Look at how the Lord responds.
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (verse 9).
The Lord tells Paul, “Everything you need to deal with this demonic attack is found in my grace. Just access my grace. It’s all the strength and power you need to defeat this attack.” Three times Paul pleads with the Lord to “fix” his problem. Did the Lord “fix” it? No. He tells Paul what is already available to him to “fix” it – His grace! Will God tell us something different today?
We’ve been taught to diminish who we are as God’s sons and daughters. We’ve been taught to believe that if things are going to change, God will have to change them for us. No, He won’t. He has given us the grace we need to change whatever needs to be changed in our lives.
The Church has not taught us this.
And this is why many Christians are not seeking change in their lives. “If God is going to fix it, then I don’t need to do anything. I’ll just continue doing what I do, living the way I live, and wait on God.” When you live this way, you are not living the life your Heavenly Father has designed for you. Did Jesus wait on God to fix things?
It’s interesting to me how we often refer to Jesus in terms that reflect him as a “fixer”.
When we’re sick, we pray to Jesus because He’s our healer (fixer). When we’re running short of money, we pray to Jesus because He’s our provider (fixer). When we’re in situations that we can’t figure out we pray to Jesus because He’s our deliverer (fixer). You see my point.
Yes, Jesus is the “fixer” but what exactly did He fix? He fixed our brokenness and separation from God. Now we are God’s family. We are the ones for whom our He “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” and because of this, “how shall he not freely give us all things (that we need in this life to live for Him)”? (Romans 8:32)
When we come to the place of understanding – and believing – that our lives should be mirror images of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) we will begin to walk in this world the same way Jesus walked and do the same things Jesus did (John 14:12).
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, (now read this carefully), even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
We need to know who we are.
And we’ll begin in Acts 19 – one of my favorite records. Paul travels to Ephesus and meets 12 disciples who have not heard about the baptism of the Holy Ghost (verse 2). They only knew John’s baptism of repentance (verse 4). Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus, lays hands on them and they receive the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues (verses 5 and 6).
He stays in Asia Minor for nearly two and a half years and everyone “heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (verse 10). Paul’s teaching and preaching are so powerful that the faith of the people grows so much that God is able to do special miracles through Paul:
“So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them” (verse 12).
I want you to see something. Paul, every day for two years and three months, taught the people the Word of God. The Bible says faith comes when we hear the Word of God again, again, and again (Romans 10:17). Because Paul faithfully taught the Word, the faith of the people grew so much that it gave God the avenue He needed to release miracles in their midst!
Faith moves God. He cannot and will not move in our lives without it.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened...” (Matthew 9:27-29)
Notice the words in green. Before he touches their eyes, Jesus asks the blind men if they believe he’s able to heal them. Everything we receive from God starts with believing He is able do it. Then Jesus says, “Okay, since you say you have faith in me to do this, receive your sight.”
The blind men were not born again. I hope you see this. Our faith, ladies and gentlemen, plays a huge role in determining what we receive or don’t receive from God. And the more of God’s Word we have living in us the more we will have living faith.
Back to Acts 19:12. Let’s read again the special, or notable, miracles God performs through Paul.
“So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”
Notice the last part of the verse. After God performs the special miracles, copycats begin to try to demonstrate their power over evil spirits using the name of Jesus. The copycats we’re going to focus on are the seven sons of Sceva in verses 14-16.
“And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so” (verse 14).
What happens next is so very important.
“And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know (ginisko), and Paul I know (epistamos); but who are ye?” (verse 15)
The evil spirit looks at the sons of the religious leader and says “I know Jesus and what he can do, and I’ve heard about Paul, but you – you are nothing to me!” The evil spirit recognizes Paul in the same breath he recognizes Jesus – but not the sons of Sceva.
Here’s my point: the sons of Sceva thought that because they used the name of Jesus the evil spirit would obey them. He didn’t. The question is why?
The name of Jesus, separated from faith, has no power.
The name of Jesus, motivated by zeal, also has no power.
I know you just dropped the letter on the table and you’re waiting for the lightning to fall and fire to burn it up. Don’t worry, it won’t.
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils ...” (Mark 16:17)
The sons of Sceva could not cast out the evil spirit because (1) they did not have the capacity to believe in Jesus because (2) they were not born again. You must be a child of God before you can believe in the name of Jesus and have signs follow you.
Let’s finish up Acts 19 with verse 16.
“And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
Why did I highlight these phrases? Remember in verse 15 the evil spirit says “Jesus, I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” What we read in verse 16 can happen to people who don’t have the life and nature of God – being like Jesus – living in them. What we read in verse 16 never has to happen to the blood-washed believer! Notice I didn’t say it will not happen. I said it never has to happen if we are living like Jesus.
For many Christians, the “evil spirit” – figuratively speaking – has convinced them that he doesn’t know them – when he actually does – and treats them like unbelievers because they don’t know themselves.
But who are ye? Let’s answer that question.
Our Heavenly Father tells us in the very first book of the Bible.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26, 27)
These two verses use the word “image” three times. It’s because God is making a point – His sons and daughters are just like Him in every way except one. We are not deity. We have a beginning. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t.
John 4:24 tells us that “God is a Spirit.” The “image” that God gives us is His spirit, which is His very life and nature. Get a hold of that. The Spirit that Lucifer faced in Heaven and crushed him is now in us! (Oh, read that again and say Hallelujah!)
So when the evil spirit, leaped on, overcame and prevailed against the seven sons of Sceva, he was dealing with men who did not have the life of God living in them. This should never happen to us.
The evil spirit was not dealing with Christians – people like you!
Let’s look at one more place in Genesis. “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it (guard, protect)” (2:15).
Who was supposed to dress and keep the garden? Adam. God gave him the responsibility and the power and authority to do so. If God gave this to the first man, do you think He’s given His sons and daughters anything less? C’mon!
We’re going to close with Ephesians 2:10.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
The word “workmanship” indicates the work of a master. We are God’s masterpiece. We are God’s design. We are God’s craftsmanship. See the imagery? Remember in Genesis 1:26 when God said “Let us make man...”? Every creative act prior to man the Bible says “And God said.”
But He made us. Our Heavenly Father got personally involved with us!
He didn’t speak us into being. He created us in Christ Jesus for good works. What good works? Let me show you.
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38)
Now do you see why I say the evil spirit in Acts 19 is not dealing with a person like us? We were created to follow in Jesus’ footsteps – doing good and healing those the devil oppresses. This is who we are. This is why we are here! We were created to continue the work that Jesus started!
“Jesus will fix it after a while.” The Bible doesn’t teach this. If this were true, wouldn’t He have fixed Adam and Eve after they rebelled?
There is nothing in this life that Jesus has to fix for us – not if we’re truly born again. We have the same life in us that Jesus has in Him. We have the power and authority to fix everything in our lives that the devil has broken or tries to break when we walk by faith.
And it starts with knowing who we are.
