Dear Ones,
The purpose of doctrine is to set a true foundation to what we believe and apply. It also corrects wrong doctrine, wrong ways of believing that produce wrong or bad fruit. The test of any doctrine is the fruit it produces. By their fruit you shall know them! If what I’m doing is not producing results, then I need to look at what I believe. This is my attempt to outline right doctrine for us as individuals in the Church and for us corporately, but it’s only an outline, and it could need corrections. If there is any insight you want to share with me considering the subject, please write to me with your thoughts.
Love you, dear one! KRP
THE CHURCH IN THE THRONE ROOM OF GOD
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Eph 3:20 NKJV
We began this study asking the question, “Is this all there is?” I’m a blood bought child of God, forgiven of my sins, seeking to be a good person and waiting for heaven. Is that all there is? We started our study in Romans Three, where we were found guilty of our sins, indeed, we were born that way, fell on the mercy of the court, and were acquitted of our crimes by the substitutionary act of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ – the Cross. Romans Three was where we began a journey in our renewed minds from the Cross to the Throne of God.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… Rom 5:1 NKJV
The next stop on our journey was Romans Five, where we found we had peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; that one man’s catastrophic sin had condemned the world but one Man’s redemptive sacrifice, the second Adam, had undone the work of the first for all men, giving us a peace treaty with ABBA. Then in Romans Eight we found out that there was no condemnation – no reversal of the Court’s verdict that we were made the righteousness of God through Christ – and that NOTHING could separate us from the love of God which is in Christ our Lord. Pretty good, huh? But that was only the beginning, the necessary foundation of what was to come.
…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Eph 1:4 NKJV
In Ephesians One we discovered that we were members of His body with Him as the head, and that all the authority Adam had lost was restored to us as His EKKLESIA. What we have been given is greater than Adam’s authority, because his was conditioned on whether he walked righteously, while ours is unconditioned because it’s built on the finished work of Christ. You can’t lose it or sin it away because you can’t change what He accomplished, but you can lose its effectiveness if you don’t walk in faith.
Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 1 Cor 6:1-4 NKJV
Finally, in Ephesians 2:1-10, we saw that we were raised and seated together with Christ at the right hand of ABBA our Father, seated on thrones of judgment in the court of God, presiding over affairs on the earth. We are no longer defendants in God’s court, as in Romans Three, but judges in trial courts under the Supreme Court of the Godhead. I recently got to sit in a municipal court and watch a judge adjudicate matters with defendants, public defenders, defense lawyers and prosecutors. As I watched her, I said, “That’s us!” Our thrones, while seated at His right hand, are subservient to His throne, just as trial courts are under appellate courts and a supreme court. Subservient – our verdicts are reviewable by the Supreme Court – but are nonetheless, very powerful!
The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. Ps 24:1 NKJV
How do we render judgment? Let’s say God’s enemies decide to build a mosque down the street in your town. You ask the Lord, “How do I render judgment in this case?” Case law – the Word of God – says the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The Lord’s enemies do not have the right to build an altar to a false god in your town, no matter if they own the land or have building permits. The land ultimately is owned by God and you are His representative. So, as you are led by the Spirit, having reviewed the evidence and case law, you decree – not rudely, or even in front of anyone, but before the Lord – ‘this mosque will not be built.’ You hold that decree in your heart, perhaps even decreeing it daily, like Elijah held the decree that it would not rain or even have dew in Israel until he said so, until the Lord releases the final verdict, the elimination of the mosque. Simple, elegant, powerful!
What we want to study right now is what I call the Church in the Throne Room of God – Ephesians 2:10 – 3:21. Each of these subjects could be a book, but I’m just trying to give you the glimpse that I see of the greatness of His Church, His sons and daughters, as we dwell in His presence in the Throne Room, and how we can aspire to walk with Him. We will briefly look at five great truths:
THE POIEMA OF GOD – OUR ACCESS TO ABBA – THE CHURCH AS THE NAOS – THE GREAT MUSTERION OF THE CHURCH – FILLED WITH ALL THE PLEROMA OF GOD
THE POIEMA OF GOD
For we are His workmanship (Grk. POIEMA), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10 NKJV
For we are His workmanship (Grk. POIEMA – masterpiece) – The Church is the masterpiece of God. We were called from before the foundation of the world. Suppose Adam had never sinned! We still would have been born. We still would have become the Church, the EKKLESIA of God, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, His sons and daughters. ABBA would have had His family! At some point Adam’s conditional authority would have become permanent, and we would have become the Church. Even though Satan intervened with Adam’s catastrophic sin, the purpose of God from time immemorable would have been fulfilled because we were called from before the foundation of the world.
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Prov 29:2 NKJV
created in Christ Jesus for good works – When you study the phrase GOOD WORKS you will find in some places it used as a generalized statement but in others, it lays out a list of specific actions. I believe here it refers to our actions as judges, presiding over the affairs of the earth. When we preside as led by Him we protect and bless everyone, saved or unsaved. Paul protected the lives of all in the wheat ship, not just the believers. Our decrees carry weight as we believe God has spoken through us in that situation. We must shift our thinking from being defendants in God’s court – Romans Three – to being judges in God’s court – Ephesians Two. Do you see it?
…which God prepared ( Grk. PROETOIMAZO) beforehand that we should walk in them. PROETOIMAZO is only used twice in the Greek NT, and it means to prepare or ordain, and it speaks to the foreknowledge of God. God has prepared the greatest life possible for us but we must choose to rise up and walk in that calling. You don’t live at the level you desire, you live at the level you accept. The Lord never intended for us to live in mediocrity or debasement or defeat, but we must choose to strive for that high calling and never compromise our integrity at each level of growth. This is the POIEMA, the masterpiece of God, the Church.
OUR ACCESS TO ABBA OUR FATHER
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation… Eph 2:13-15 NKJV
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Eph 2:18 NKJV
The first great reality that we see is that we have access to God. Under the OT, access was limited to one guy, the high priest, entering once a year into the Holy of Holies. But our Lord’s redemptive work has broken though all the barriers, and because we have been made the righteousness of God in Him, we are lifted up as sons and daughters of His and we have access to a holy God, ABBA our Father. This is why we have easy access to revelation. We can walk with the Lord like Adam and Eve did before the Fall, enjoying sweet fellowship and dealing victoriously with every situation. As we rise up in our souls to see the reality of what He has done in our spirits, then access to every solution becomes available to us.
THE CHURCH AS THE NAOS – THE TEMPLE
“Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the Lord; 13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”‘ Zech 6:12-13 NKJV
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Eph 2:19-22 NKJV
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:23 NKJV
It’s been said that the OT is the NT concealed and the NT is the OT revealed. The Ark, the Tabernacle and the Temple in the OT were all foreshadows of what would come through the Church and in the future with the reign of the Lord on the earth especially in the new heavens and new earth. As Israel carried the ark of the covenant and the presence of God on its journeys we carry the presence of God in our spirits through the Holy Spirit. God dwells in us! No wonder the angels desired to look into these things as we shall see when we talk about the Church as the MUSTERION of God. Christ is in you – Col. 1:27 – the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit dwell in you!
Please, dear reader, take time, slow down and meditate on these truths as I have tried so poorly to present them to you. The Church in the Throne Room is so much greater than what I can possibly share, but the Lord can use these words to communicate truth to our hearts that changes, transforms and lifts us up to new heights of faith and glory. Next week we will continue with the Church as the mystery of God and the fullness of God in you, expanding our understanding of the Church in the Throne Room of God. You and I are judges in the courts of God. May we be found faithful to bring the blessings of the kingdom to all the earth, and all the glory to our ABBA. Amen? Love you!
Remember dear one, we must be about our Father’s business…