With regard to the new creation in Christ Jesus and the associated promises of God, we may seek a deeper understanding. Our Savior and Lord emphasizes Luke 23:46a-b, which describes Jesus’ cry on the cross as He committed His spirit into the Father’s hands (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17 i.c.w. Luke 23:46a-b).

 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!

 

46a-b Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ …

 

This refers to a new identity in Christ, which requires us as disciples to ascend to a higher spiritual level, where God’s Word carries a new dynamic that is yet unknown to us.

 

 

This dynamic is like the transition from a sword to a spear, which involves a greater range of influence, so that strongholds of darkness are destroyed, just as Phinehas confronted the immorality in Israel through faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 i.c.w. Numbers 25:6-8).

 

4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

 

6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; …

 

These spears correspond to messages or even books that today address the immorality within the body of Christ, confront those responsible, and call them out by name in order to prepare the way for the Lamb of God, because God is holy.

 

Entering the higher spiritual realm is like the breathing in of God, who is the Spirit and who, on the basis of the truth in John 17:11b, desires to draw us in and take hold of us.

 

…11b Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

 

This drawing is like a vertical suction created by the wind pulling upward.

 

Because of this effect, we are drawn into the realm of God’s thoughts and ways, so that we suddenly receive thoughts we have never had before and walk paths we have never walked before (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9).

 

8 ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.

9 ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

This encompasses life in our new identity in Christ as disciples, like how some disciples were given new names by Jesus, and how the overcomers in the ecclesia of Pergamum receive the promise of being inscribed with a new name (cf. Mark 3:16-17 i.c.w. Revelation 2:17).

 

16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘sons of thunder’), …

 

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

 

For each of us, this transformation into a new identity means setting aside and letting go of our own intentions and past conclusions. It is about renewing our minds so that, in spiritual maturity, in the Spirit, and with full trust in the LORD, we may act prophetically, empowered and accelerated from a higher sphere of the Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:11 i.c.w. Isaiah 40:31).

 

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

 

… 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

 

In this process, we face spiritual resistance, which we must break through with the power of the Holy Spirit in the triumph of Jesus, by commending our spirit into the Father’s hands so that He may mold us into what He has predestined for us (cf. Jeremiah 18:1-6).

 

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’

3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me.

6 He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

 

 

This process of renewal of our spirits through the hands of God prepares us for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who calls us forth and lifts us up as the ecclesia by enabling us to see with a new perspective. It is like what happened at the creation of Adam. It is the Holy Spirit who guides us in our new identity, based on the renewal of our spirit and mind, into the proper perspective (cf. Genesis 2:7 i.c.w. Ephesians 4:23-24).

 

7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

 

… 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

As a result, we can discern more clearly in our interpersonal communication. This means that it becomes evident when people speak from the nature of the first Adam (Note: soul) or from the nature of the last Adam (Note: Spirit) (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:45).

 

45 So it is written (cf. Genesis 2:7): ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. …’

 

Here we encounter behavioral patterns that involve aspects of shame, joyless drudgery, struggle, and various forms of fear —such as the fear of having too little, the fear of loss, and so on— which are rooted in the nature of the first Adam after the Fall.

 

On the other hand, we encounter the dynamic of the freedom of the Spirit and the associated glory of the sons of God, which lie in the last Adam—that is, in Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:17).

 

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

 

It is essential that we speak the truth of God’s Word from the presence of the last Adam —Christ Jesus — because this leads to freedom. It is a freedom that some have never experienced before and that may be unfamiliar to us (cf. John 8:31-32).

 

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

 

When the truth of God’s Word is spoken from the presence of the first Adam, it tends to emphasize following rules rather than a passionate transformation into living in the freedom of God’s Word.

 

This previously unexperienced freedom goes hand in hand with God’s accomplishment of the impossible. This means that people’s ‘chains’—that is, whatever was holding them back—are broken, and they enter the glorious freedom of the sons of God through open doors in the form of opportunities (cf. Luke 18:27 i.c.w. Acts 16:24-26; Romans 8:21).

 

27 Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.’

 

24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.

 

… 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children [Note: sons] of God.

 

 

God’s promises associated with the new creation in Christ go hand in hand with the ‘Yes!’ and ‘Amen!’ in Him, which are carried by the angel of wisdom and the angel of revelation in order to enter into a greater knowledge of the Father (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20 i.c.w. Ephesians 1:17).

 

20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.

 

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

 

Furthermore, the ‘Yes!’ and ‘Amen!’ are connected to a greater dynamic of prayer through God’s apostolic drawing together. It follows that this leads to a shift toward greater freedom—namely, the freedom found in God’s presence, which is the Spirit. It begins with the entry of the sound (Note: Spirit-filled intercession) into a vertical movement, which is later brought into a circular movement, resulting in powerful manifestations of God in heaven and on earth (cf. John 4:24 i.c.w. Revelation 8:3-5).

 

‘… 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

 

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.

4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

 

This manifestation is brought about by the essence of God —who is a consuming fire— being woven into the aligned prayers. This interweaving is like the roar of a lion, which envelops the united prayers of the saints and causes shaking in the cosmos, in the atmosphere, and on earth (cf. Deuteronomy 4:24 i.c.w. Hebrews 12:26).

 

24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

 

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised (cf. Haggai 2:6), ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’

 

 

Furthermore, it can be said that the angel’s casting of the censer is directed against the influence of the ‘Nephilim’ (Note: demonic powers that influence influential people to establish injustice on earth). These oppose God’s plan—much as the Philistine giant Goliath stood against David, whom David brought down with one of the five smooth stones from his sling (cf. 1 Samuel 17:40.49).

 

40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. …

49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

 

The spiritual intervention of the saints in our time is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, the powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (cf. Ephesians 6:12).

 

Ephesians 6:12:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 

This means that, as mentioned earlier, God, through His people in the form of prayer and worship, shakes the cosmos, the atmosphere, and the earth, so that the dark rulers fall from their positions of authority in the air, similar to what Jesus said about Satan’s fall (cf. Luke 10:18 i.c.w. Ephesians 2:2).

 

18 He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. …’

 

… 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

 

It is no coincidence that Jesus’ triumph on the cross, after He committed His spirit into the Father’s hands, was accompanied by an earthquake, resulting in the release of a great testimony on earth due to the appearance of the departed saints (cf. Matthew 27:51b-53).

 

… 51b The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

 

This makes it clear that the LORD is bringing about a greater dynamism in the testimony of Jesus, which connects the truth of God’s Word in the natural realm with the truth from the supernatural realm, which is unshakable (cf. Hebrews 12:26-27 i.c.w. Revelation 19:10e).

 

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised (cf. Haggai 2:6), ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’

27 The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

 

‘… 10e For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.’

 

As we surrender ourselves more deeply to the Father’s shaping hands on the spiritual level, we are empowered to move forward in faith with God’s holiness, which leads us — in the body of Christ — to hope and unity in the Holy Spirit and allows the Word of God to grow (cf. Ephesians 4:4.6 i.c.w. Acts 12:24).

 

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

… 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm