"All Power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
Matthew 28:18
The one thing we know for sure is that Jesus came to represent (re-present) the life that God intended for man to live from the beginning. All that we lost in Adam has been recovered and restored to us in Christ. There is "nothing" that lies beyond the scope of the finished work of Christ that has yet to be completed. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in him, and it is up to us to discover the realities of our redemption.
Everything Jesus did was set as an example for us to follow (1 John 2:6; 1 Peter 2:21).
He even told his disciples,
"As the Father hath sent me, so send I you..."
(John 17:18). It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that all that Jesus did we are called upon to do.
In John fourteen, he made a very bold declaration. He said:
"The works that I do shall ye do also..." (John 14:12). Think about all the marvelous things Jesus accomplished and then ponder upon such a thought!
Just before Jesus went to the cross he told his disciples,
"Tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).
The Greek word for "power" is DYNAMIS. It is where we get the word dynamite.
It actually means a strength or power; an inherit ability residing in a thing by virtue of its nature.
Obviously, there was something needed for those who would follow in his steps to achieve the success in life that he himself was able to achieve.
Although the Holy Spirit has always been here, even from the beginning, Jesus clearly implied that his ministry and the operation of his involvement within man had been limited. Something had to happen to bring his ministry to its fullness. In John seven, He explains how that would occur: "If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. This spake he of the Spirit, which they which believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:38, 39).
Everything we now know about our redemption is based upon the law of substitution and identification.
Christ became everything we were, so that we could become everything he is. According to Ephesians chapter two, when Christ was made alive we were made alive with him.When he arose, we arose.When he ascended up on high, we ascended up with him and sat down together with him in heavenly places. John even wrote these words: "As he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).
Something was established in the new birth that granted us the same position of authority and power that Jesus was given. And yet, in the evening of his resurrection, when he breathed upon his disciples and said,"Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22), he later told them to wait for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4, 8). If they had already received the Holy Spirit when he breathed on them, why would they need to wait to receive something that already had?
The coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost brought a dimension of fullness to the ministry of the Holy Spirit that had never been available to man. Make no mistake about it; this command was not an option. It was a necessity - a requirement in order to serve the plans and purposes of God. Without the full work and operation of the Holy Spirit there was no way the church would be able to do the works that Jesus did! It is clear from the scriptures that Jesus "was anointed with the Holy Ghost and power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). If it was necessary for Jesus to be anointed with the Holy Ghost, then it is surely necessary for us as well. Paul said,"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).
God expects us to be filled with the Spirit and anointed by the Spirit in order to fulfill the Great Commission. In Mark sixteen, Jesus told his disciples what that Great Commission was:"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature...And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17, 18). In the overall Church worldwide, we have carried out the first part of this command, but we have fallen far short in carrying out all of it.
I think it is clear that the power of the Holy Spirit was and is that necessary part to the empowerment of the Name of Jesus. And when we learn how to connect our God-given authority to the present day ministry of the Holy Spirit, then we will begin to see the exercise of our heaven born rights to live and to do the marvelous works that Christ so aptly carried out and intended for us to carry out as well.*
