DEFINITION OF TERMS

(For Serious Students Only)

LAMB

LAMB OF GOD

SACRIFICE

SACRIFICE AND OFFERING
I. In the Old Testament
II. In the New Testament

Satan has been defeated, and death overcome by Jesus, 'positionally' on our behalf. However, we still need to work out this process 'experientially' in our lives. This ongoing necessity for 'discipleship' is ignored by too many today. As we overcome the sin in our life through the victory of Jesus, so we too will cloak ourselves with immortality.

The question then arises as to how do we overcome satan in this 'experiential' way in our life. The Bible tells us how. Precisely! In its final book, that of Revelation. The 'accuser of our brothers', the 'him' referred to, is satan. The method of overcoming 'him' follows.

Interestingly, in terms of our study, in Revelation 12:11 the victory, the overcoming of satan, is firstly accomplished through the blood of the 'Lamb'. Let's have a look at the verse in detail, for it is the foundation upon which 'Walking With Jesus Ministries' is based.

They overcame him (ie satan)…….
in three ways, each building upon the other.

a. by the blood of the Lamb (Salvation through Jesus)
The very first step of our Christian walk is the acceptance of Jesus as our Savior. The blood, the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross is the first step in the process of setting us free from satan's bondage of sin.

As we saw right back in the first section about Adam and Eve, God requires 'a life for a life' in order that we might be restored into relationship with Him.

This process is much better explained than I can, in chapters 5 of the book of Romans. Here are two excerpts to confirm this to you.

The first step we must take then when seeking victory over satan is to believe in Jesus and accept what He did for us in dying on the cross. While this is all that is required to become a 'Christian', it is but the start of our walk with Jesus, not its fulfilment. For us to gain victory over satan in our lives now, we need to apply the remaining two stages set out in Revelation 12:11. Let's look at the next step.

b. and by the word of their testimony (Through the Holy Spirit)

How then does the word of their testimony relate to the Holy Spirit?"

Well, that was my question of the Lord too, when he first stopped me at this verse. As usual, He had an answer. He took me to Matthew 12:34.

The book of James similarly tells us that “no man can tame the tongue (James 3:7)”.

Yes, in the end, no matter how we try to cover things up, the words we speak reflect our heart attitude. And our heart, the symbolic seat of our emotions or feelings, is the realm of the Holy Spirit. That is why, when we are baptised in or released into the power of the Holy Spirit, our ability to express our emotions in our worship, in the adoration of our God, increases amazingly.

In order to have the victory over satan now, we must, as well as the blood of Jesus, release and utilise the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Spirit must be overcome with Spirit.

We are given spiritual gifts to help us.

And through developing spiritual fruit, we are to take on the character of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to understand the Word, and also the revelation of the Word, the words between the lines.

Through which we build up faith and strength to win the battle.

But that is not all! For their remains one further step in preparing us to win the victory over satan.

c. a. they loved not their lives so much as to shrink from death. (Obedience to the will of the Father)

While there is an obvious physical meaning relating to martyrs, those of us who are left are required to apply this in a spiritual way. And spiritual martyrdom is even more difficult than the physical version!

This is the most difficult challenge of our battle to overcome satan. So difficult that most of us pay lip service only! For our nature is contrary to God’s nature. Full stop. To win the victory over satan, to re-establish the best relationship with God, the one Adam had before his foray into the tempting delights of the forbidden fruit, we have to discard our own inherently sinful human desires. We must submit (what a horrible ‘s’ word!) to God’s perfect desires (His – not what we see them as being!) for our life. Unnecessary? Too Hard? Let’s see what Paul had to say in his letter to the Romans 8:6-8,16.

Jesus himself confirmed this.

But Jesus set us free from our sins on the cross, didn’t He? So we don’t sin then? Or do we? So what is happening? I wondered about this until I was shown how we have two natures battling against each other inside us. Paul realised this - and his submission to God is well documented – literally unto death! We can see Paul's dilemma in reading Romans 7:7-25. The last sentence summarises.

And what a battle it is sometimes too! For our new, perfect nature in Jesus, still battles the remains of the old sinful nature that continues to rear its ugly head within us. Far too often in me for my liking! Dealing with the remnants of this old sinful nature is what dying to self is ultimately all about.

Jesus set the example.

The reality and challenge of this process for you and me, is to put the interests of God the Father above our own, to become like Jesus. The example He set in His amazing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed for Himself before submitting to death on the cross is indelibly etched on my mind.

Jesus had the option to say no to his Father but He chose to be obedient, even though it was going to cost Him his life. Worse still, to temporarily separate Him for the first time ever, from his Father. Remember those agonising last words on the cross. Were they about the physical pain He was in? No. Translated into English He cried out,

This ultimate submission required of Jesus, is what the Father is calling all of us to, in the spirit. Don’t let’s kid ourselves - Jesus didn’t want to go through this ultimate, horrendous experience. But He did it because of His commitment to the Father. It is no easier for us.

This full, 100% submission to the will of the Father is the final step that enables to achieve victory over satan. It is the real test of our commitment to our spiritual walk, taking a lifetime to achieve. But, as we do it…….

We all want to inherit God's kingdom at some time.

Biggest trouble is though, most see it as a future event rather than a current possibility!

The seventh and final revelation of 'The Lamb of God'.

The difference between 'positional' and 'experiential' is similar, in a way, to the difference between Greek and Jewish mindsets. We think it is simply okay 'to believe' but, to the Jews, to believe must be reflected in the way you live, to be of worth.

Living out our beliefs through the trials and testings of life proves the genuineness of our faith. If it was all too easy, our faith, our walk of discipleship, would be of little value. We could never become 'overcomers' if we had nothing to overcome!

ANCIENT MEZEZAH IN DOORWAY

The word "mezuzah" is Hebrew for doorpost. Moses commanded that the Word of God should be written on the doorposts of every house in order to keep His words constantly in their minds and in their hearts. At a later time the Jews took this literally, by placing Scriptures (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21) on a small parchment scroll within a cylinder and upon each post of every room in their houses.

Source: http://www.bible-history.com