The Talents and Ranks of the Bride of Christ 3

Recently I went to a meeting where we, among other things, discussed how to develop deeper relationships in the church and how to increase fellowship among members in the body of Christ.  When I got home the Lord continued to minister to me from this theme and answered some of the questions we had raised and from the Bible showed me the root of the issue and how to appropriate what Jesus did for us in this area.

Genesis 3:6-11 says, ⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹ God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten [fruit] from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” AMP

As seen in the passage, Adam and Eve had a wholesome relationship with God. This means that they could be open with Him and not be afraid of being judged or misunderstood. God also revealed Himself to them and showed them many facets of His deity. Both, God and the humans were comfortable and able to fellowship and become deep with each other freely. They valued each other`s company and demonstrated their appreciation for their companionship and friendship. But when the serpent came, it took that away from them. Then they were afraid of being naked and vulnerable before God and fearful of being underestimated, undervalued, and misjudged. That is why they chose to put on fig leaves which represent a covering of their true identity and a way to act as if everything was fine. They were now afraid to allow others to see them for who they were and the fig leaves were also a mask to hide the fear that was in their lives which kept them from being effective vessels because now they were toiling for what had once come easily to them before the fall when God`s grace was upon them.

Thankfully, this is one of the things Jesus paid the price for us to receive. He was wounded, chastised, rejected, and beaten beyond recognition, so we could be healed of the demonic oppression that, based on fear, came to rob us of that wholesome relationship with God and with each other. Isaiah 53:3-5 says in the Amplified Version,

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.

⁴ But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].

⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.

When we have been wounded, offended, and we have sinned against others or others have sinned against us, we are now free to go to our heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus, who already took for us what we would not have been able to stand on our own. Because He went ahead of us to remove the oppression of the enemy, we can go freely to Him again and be open and vulnerable, naked before Him and not ashamed to give Him all our wounds, offenses, and pain from what we have done or others have done against us.

We are also to go to Him as many times as it takes for us to be completely free from what caused us pain and sorrow. Once we are free from the pain of the things done against us or the condemnation that the enemy brings when we fall short and miss the mark, we could perhaps, if circumstances allow it, give the person(s) another chance or hope that we can have another chance with them. We do this being mindful of what is their place in our lives because we have gone to God to give us that insight.

So when the first Church started after Jesus went to the Cross, rose again, and ascended to the Father, they were able to partake of the new freedom that Jesus made available to all of us to fellowship with the Father and with each other in a deep way again. This is demonstrated in Acts 1:13-14,

¹³ When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying [indefinitely]; that is, Peter, and John and [his brother] James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas (Thaddaeus) the son of James. ¹⁴ All these with one mind and one purpose were continually devoting themselves to prayer, [waiting together] along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. AMP

Notice that verse 14 says that the men and women were of one mind and one purpose. This is how they were able to come together to pray and wait together on the Lord to move among them. Being able to be of one heart and one purpose did not come overnight. These people purposely gave themselves to fellowship and getting to know each other deeply so they could find out what each one stood for and devoted their lives to. This is what is going to remove the superficiality and mask of the fig tree from among us.

Also, it was revealed to me that this superficiality and masking gave way to cliques which is another form of racism. A person that is given to be part of cliques while rejecting others that may not have the same affinities or similarities in taste or thinking is a person with racial tendencies. The sense of superiority above others comes from fear and insecurities which are the bases of the Antichrist presence that came to the Garden of Eden. Not accepting others for who they are is not just seen when competing among the races, but this is also seen within every race.

Oxford Dictionary defines racism as such:

1) the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

2) prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

The superficiality in relationships that the enemy brought to the Church is only so we can see each other skin deep and not be able to go beyond the walls of prejudice that leads to injustice. The Bible says we are to think of others more highly than ourselves and not look down on them as the enemy influences us to do when we are wearing the fig leaves. That is why it is important to have sound judgment for God has given to each a measure of faith and purpose designed for service (Romans 12:3 AMP).

Moreover, the fig leaves were also used of the enemy to cause us to leave in condemnation which detours us from walking in authority to rule and have dominion over the things God has entrusted to us. This includes being able to defend those things He has entrusted to us and put the enemy to flight. From the beginning of the Bible we see that God gave us “complete authority,” but the enemy came in to steal it from us when Adam and Eve fell from the way. Genesis 1:26 says,

Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

But once again we can walk in the victory Jesus obtained for us at the Cross where He regained the authority stolen from the enemy and delegated it back to us in the great Commission mentioned in Matthew 28:18-19 ¹⁸ Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” AMP

1 Corinthians 1:10 reiterates this by saying, But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment [about matters of the faith].

Jesus also recovered for us the authority to speak to the mountains and see them moved from before us. So now let us come to the Lord our God in intimacy with Him to appropriate the authority to rule and walk in dominion over the things He has entrusted to us and the ability to fellowship with Him and with each other openly and as He leads us so we can see in our lives the manifestation of the withering of the fig tree that Jesus spoke to, because it was a tree of deceit and only gave leaves and no fruit as shown in Matthew 21:18-22, ¹⁸ Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, “Never again will fruit come from you. (The fruit of deceit)” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, “How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?” ²¹ Jesus replied to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen [if God wills it]. ²² And whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive” AMP (Emphasis mine).

This helps us obtain the level of unity necessary to obtain great victories and do the greater exploits Jesus promised we would do which contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of God and His message to a dying world. Psalm 133 helps us see that it takes for us to walk in unity for God to command His blessing upon us because it releases an anointing that breaks yokes and destroys the works of the enemy in an exponential way for us and those we are called to influence,

¹

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
²  It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].
³  It is like the dew of [Mount] Hermon
Coming down on the hills of Zion;
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.

To Him alone be all the glory. ▪

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