It seems so often in the different circles that people are continually looking for the latest big revelation, prophetic word or some new twist on revelation. From my standpoint this is such a prevailing attitude that people have lost touch with the freshness of the power and simplicity of the gospel. The simplicity of the gospel should always ignite us and stir us for more of Him. Jesus is our inheritance and there is nothing more that you can add to that. If it is not all about Him then what is it all about Where are people putting their focus these days.
Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”– because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.”
Mark 9:2-8
Just as Jesus was on the mount with Peter, James and John and the glory of God descended upon the mount. Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus being transfigured into glistening white. You can see the foolishness of man being manifested in Peter’s response, paraphrased as “Let’s build some tents in the glory!” The Father had to rebuke them saying, “This is my SON. Hear Him!” It is not about glory, It is about Jesus, the Son of God. The glory cloud is not to be the focus. Jesus said, “If I am lifted up I will draw all men to myself.”
God is calling His church to awaken to the revelation of the finished work of Christ, magnifying the work He has done on the cross. This was the centrality of Paul’s letters to the churches. It is our foundation. If the foundation is destroyed what will the righteous do? So much of the mainstream church obviously has not grasped the fullness of the power of the gospel, that is why so many are resorting to self-focused programs concerning inner healing that are no better than the world’s methods of dealing with people’s problems. That is not the gospel. That is another gospel created with man-made methods rather than the power of God. You don’t need a glory light to heal your soul, some strange new age twist that has no clarity of truth from a biblical standpoint. The true gospel is based on Christ and Him crucified. When He died, we died. When He was nailed to the cross, we were nailed to the cross. When He rose, we were raised with Him.
Destruction of the Body of Sin
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:6
The cure is our full trust in what Christ accomplished on the cross as he destroyed the body of sin. The sinful nature is destroyed. The new creation has come in its place making “all things new”. This is true replacement theology. God destroyed the sinful nature through the cross and replaced it with the divine nature through which we are partakers in the promises of God.
This makes the gospel incredibly GOOD NEWS! There is no half-baked gospel here. This is the fullness of the free gift that has been given to us in Christ. Our healing is found as we reckon ourselves crucified with Christ. All that is left at this point is the renewal of the mind, bringing our thinking in alignment with the promises and wisdom of God. People want deliverance, inner healing and attention but they are looking for love in all the wrong places. If we have died with Christ on the cross that is our deliverance, that is our healing, that is our freedom and you cannot add anything to it. It is complete absolute trust in that finished work that sets us free. To do anything else is for man to try to fix what Jesus has already accomplished.
No Hamburger Helper Please
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…
Galatians 1:15-16
There is no hamburger helper needed for the gospel. God wants to reveal His Son in us. That happens as we reckon ourselves crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). It is time to get back to the simplicity of it. There are no 20 steps to healing, no need to lift yourself into the glory to be healed. Trusting in the finished work of Christ, seeing ourselves crucified with Him, resurrected with Him and presenting ourselves by the Spirit to Him for righteousness is the cure for the body of sin that has been destroyed. When we see ourselves crucified with Him we are cured. Look and live!
The work is finished. That is why Jesus said, “IT IS FINISHED!” (John 19:30). Jesus did not go through everything He went through on the cross to leave us hanging with all these man-made programs. It is God who works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. It is now left in our hands to rest in His work and cease from ours. Our devotion to God, the expression of our hunger for Him is what will carry us into the reality of His finished work. We cannot lean on anything more or less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. He did not leave us orphans.
He gave us His Spirit to live within us. Christ in us the hope of glory. If we are hungry in our pursuit with God then we will not be lacking anything. He is full of supply with no shortages. But if people run to other sources just as Saul consulted the witch of Endor for help, then there will be no deliverance (1 Sam. 28:7). Trust in the work of Christ and shun perversions of the gospel (Gal. 1:6-8).
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20