Do you want to move into all that God has available for you? It will cost you. It will cost everything that you have and more. It will also cost you everything that you are. It will cost you your entire world.
Do you remember the Scriptures that talk about the sun being darkened, the moon turning to blood, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, and nations rising up against nations? (See Acts 2:20; Luke 21:25-28; Mark 13:24-26; and Matthew 24:6-7). Most people are only expecting these things to take place in the natural world. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set the world in man. In a real sense each person is a world in himself, and your world is different from anyone else’s.
Revelation 6:2 shows Christ coming on a white horse with a bow conquering and to conquer. The Lord is not going to come out of heaven riding a horse. That picture reveals a spiritual truth: the Lord is going to come forth in our lives conquering and to conquer. He is going to bring down our world and establish His world, bringing forth His Kingdom in us. The horse represents war. The Lord is declaring war on everything of our world that is opposed to His world. It is the day when two worlds collide.
Luke 17:20-21 And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God
should come, He answered them and said, The Kingdom of God comes not with
observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of
God is within you.
Jesus was asked when the Kingdom would come. He responded, “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation.” It doesn’t come in the natural realm of man. The natural man will not be able to observe it. So do not say, “Look here,” or “Look there,” for the Kingdom of God is coming forth within a people. And when His Kingdom comes forth within you, your sun will be darkened and your moon will be turned to blood and the stars of your heaven will fall. Your world will be brought down when the Lord invades your life to set up His Kingdom.
Your world doesn’t have to be invaded by the Lord. You can be lukewarm and religious. But if you want the reality of His life in you and you in Him, then it will mean the tearing down of your world and the establishing of His world in you. That is what Paul was talking about in Galatians 2:20. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. It is the Lord living in a people. And we can be that people! We can be the tabernacle of God! Are you willing for Him to invade your life? Are you willing for Him to come forth in your life conquering and to conquer?
“Will it hurt?”
Yes, it will hurt! And you won’t always like it, either. Do you think Jesus liked hanging on the cross? He despised the shame of it! But, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured it (Hebrews 12:2). If you don’t have a revelation of what is set before you, of what He can be in you and what you can be in Him, you won’t have what it takes to go through your work of the cross.
Matthew 16:24-25 Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his
life for My sake shall find it.
Do you want to come after the Lord? Do you know what that means? It means to become as He is, to share in His life. The first step of wanting to come after Him is not too difficult, except it takes you to the second step of denying self. A lot of Christians have faced the second step and decided that their “want to” wasn’t great enough, and they backed away. Then they go through life thinking that the Lord will honor them because of their desire. “Well, maybe my wanting to come after Him will be honored by the Lord, I can’t handle that second step.” Satan is a master at making some Christians think that having the desire is enough. “One doesn’t really have to deny self. Surely the Lord doesn’t really want His people to be denied of all the blessings of this world.”
Some will go a step further, saying, “I’m going to deny myself.” So they have their rules and regulations to live by. However, no matter how much you deny self, it doesn’t establish His Kingdom in you, but it does bring you to the next step, taking up your cross. Again, the number of Christians that want to continue on becomes smaller. Many want to stay on the denying self level. They will deny themselves of many things, but they will not relinquish their rights to the Lord. The greatest sin a Christian can commit is to maintain the right over his own life. That is not real Christianity. Real Christianity is when you give all your rights to your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian you have one right: the right to have no rights. “Do I have to be that dedicated to Christ?” Yes, but when you really see the value of Him living in you and you in Him, it shrinks the cost. When you are really hungering after Him to know Him, the cost doesn’t seem so great. It is when you have your heels dug in, saying, “I don’t want to give up my rights.” Then the cost is very great.
You don’t realize how you cling to various aspects of your life. The second Psalm talks about the kings of the earth rising up against the Lord and His anointed (Psalm 2:1-2). When the work of the cross begins in your life you realize that the kings of the earth rising up against the Lord are the various aspects of your adamic nature that are opposed to His entrance into your life. You have allowed the kings of your earthen nature to rule over you, and they must be brought down so the Lord can be your only King. How does the Lord respond to your desire to become one with Him? He responds as the white horse Rider coming forth in your life conquering and to conquer. He brings down your world and establishes His world in you.
Copyright © 2001 by Henry DuBose