Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 19
Now is the best time to do that. If we through the Holy Spirit put the appetites of the flesh to death we will attain eternal life. This is the meaning of Romans 8:13.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
What does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God? It means that each day of our lives we are waiting on the guidance and power that the Holy Spirit gives as He labors over us in the task of preparing us for eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 1:12 states: "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." When we receive Christ we are given the authority to be the children of God.
We are not unlawfully assuming that relationship but are entitled to be God's children on the basis of the redemption God has placed in Christ. The initial receiving of Christ is not the end of the program of redemption. We then must continue walking in the Spirit of God if we wish to be considered sons of God; otherwise we revert to being sons of the flesh.
We are discussing the second of the five operations of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification—that of destroying the works of the devil. We are seeing that the operation of sanctification results in the demolishing of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sin that we have inherited and acquired.
One of the effects of sin is sickness. This is not to say that every time we are sick it is because we have sinned. Such is not the case. Sickness and sin are closely related in that both are the work of Satan. He is the destroyer. The healing of the sick and the casting out of devils go together.
One of the chief works of Christ in the earth is the healing of the sick. It was so when He walked the shores of Galilee and it is true today. "By whose stripes ye were healed." It is the Lord's will that the members of His Church be healed in body and that there be healing power in the Church. Bodily healing and the Gospel go together. Wherever the Lord Jesus is working together with His ministers there will be works of healing taking place.
Another effect of sin is death. We humans regard death as a natural condition (perhaps desirable in some instances) that God designed as part of life on the earth. This is a false belief, although we are not going to judge the actions of anguished believers who have lost a loved one through death.
Physical death is the enemy of mankind. We are subject to death because of sin.
The message of the Gospel is that Christ has overcome death in the flesh. His body did not experience decay and was raised from the dead. The good news is that we too will be raised from death at His appearing and will see our loved ones again, not as disembodied ghosts but as real, joyous people alive on the face of the earth. This is the Gospel of Christ—the Good News of everlasting life in a physical body.
Overcoming strength is flowing into the members of the Church today. By every spiritual means God is increasing the spiritual strength, faith, and purity of His people. There is an awareness that our wrestling against the wicked spirits in the heavenlies finally will result in victory with our opponent pinned to the mat, as the Lord Jesus Christ goes to war through us.
The wrestling match will end soon and our victory through Christ will be total. Death itself will be destroyed in and through the Church of Christ. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (I Corinthians 15:26).
The work of God in redemption has operated in the spirit realm for so long that Christian people have come to believe that redemption is a spiritual work only, that the earth will be abandoned in the Day of the Lord and we will all go to live in Heaven with Jesus forever.
Such a misconception is understandable because of the long period of time that has been required to call out the members of the Body of Christ from the nations of the earth. The disciples of the Lord have been wandering in the land of their inheritance as in a strange land, so to speak.
The work of Christ in the material creation—which is His inheritance—has been suspended while His Body is being formed and brought to full stature. The "heaven," the spiritual domain, always must be created before the "earth."
The Day is approaching, however, in which the redemption that is within us at this time will be expanded to include the material realm.
"He that raised Christ from the dead shall also make alive your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." The indwelling Spirit of God will continue to redeem us from the hand of the enemy until our body has been made eternally alive. Our Lord Jesus Christ is King and Lord not only of the spiritual but also of the material creation. The kingdoms of the world are destined to become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:19-21)
The effect of sin on the natural creation has been to curse it with futility and corruption. Nature groans in pain. Our body is locked in the power of sin and suffers sickness, decay, and death as a result. Our body continues in this condition while the Holy Spirit works intently on the new inner nature that we possess as the result of receiving Christ into our personality. Our physical body is held in subjection, awaiting the perfecting of our new nature.