The Christ Institutes Reclaiming a Consequential Christology Fostering Christ Awakening Movements

The Christ InstitutesReclaiming a Consequential ChristologyFostering Christ Awakening Movements

Before we begin Session VI…

Praise. Prelude. Passage. Prayer.

PreludeThe cry of every believer’s heart, is for more of Christ –

more of Christ at work within us and within me.In His great love toward us, God’s Son intends

to dwell among us, bringing with Him all He is to us, for us, over us and before us,

as He inhabits us, to reign within us.

Of every congregation on planet Earth, it can be said: The Lord Jesus is fully there, residing, and presiding

–not just a part of Him, but ALL of Him.

And wherever He abides, in His spectacular supremacy, the Triune God is fully involved.

PassageJohn 17 – My prayer is not for the world, but for those you

have given me, because they belong to you….

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me...

I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.

Prayer(in unison)

Father – We celebrate this rich truth of the Gospel: that Your anointed Son, who claims preeminence in the entire universe, has come to dwell among your people, here and now, intimately and pervasively, in the fullness of His lordship and love.

Awaken us, to His presiding presence. Help us, to gather to Him, and around Him, like never before -- to experience in Him fulfillments of all your promises to us.

During this Session, bless us, with fresh infusions of His life within us – individually. Even more, reveal to us, grand possibilities, that belong to Your people, corporately, who welcome their King, unconditionally.

Christ is all! AMEN


Boxing

Boxing Prayer

Prayer: pursuing a fuller awakening to Christ

for ALL He is!

Prayer: pursuing greater manifestations

of the spectacular supremacy of God’s Son…

TO us

FOR us

OVER us

BEFORE us

WITHIN us

THROUGH us

UPON us

Boxing Prayer

Side-bar

“The key then to loving God is

to see Jesus, to hold him

before the mind with as much fullness and clarity as

possible. It is to adore Him.”

We hear a lot today about developingthe PURPOSE driven life

In order to have a PURPOSE driven lifeyou need to have a….

PASSION driven lifewhich requires you to have a



PROMISE driven lifewhich requires you to have a



PROMISE driven lifewhich requires you to have a

PERSON driven life!

One more side-bar

National Conversation on Revival

REVIVAL IS CHRIST!Preeminently, all true revival is about God bringing

glory back to His Son by the power of the Holy Spirit through His church. Between the Ascension and the Consummation, this is one of the most strategic activities of the Holy Spirit…

We can only think rightly about revival when we think rightly about Christ’s place in revival. He is the criterion by which we define it, measure its legitimacy, and vindicate its impact…

The first issue before us as Christian leaders, then, is not to define the characteristics of revival. Rather, it is to comprehend more fully the supremacy of Christ who is at the heart of all corporate revival.

AN URGENT APPEAL, p. 18

AWAKE TO Who Christ is

BEFORE us

And…where is He headed?

IN FOUR DIRECTIONS:

• Into the Future …in order to bring it back to us.

• Into the Heavens ...in order to bring us into it.

• Into the Promises …in order to make them ours, too.

• Into the World …in order to open the way for us to serve.

To sum up:Christ not only draws His people

onward

(into the future),

upward

(into the Heavens)

and inward (into the promises),

but also

outward(into the nations).

As Christ goes BEFORE us…

• Live on tiptoes – in anticipation of “so much more”!

• Because there’s always so much more Christ deserves, desires, decrees, designs, deploys.

Session VI

Session VI

Awake to ALL Christ is

WITHIN us

Colossians 1

God has planned to give a vision of the full wonder and splendor of his secret plan for the sons of men. And the secret is simply this: Christ is within all of you bringing with him the hope of all glorious things to come. So, naturally, we proclaim Christ!

NOTE:

Christ WITHIN usbrings with Him all He is

TO usFOR us

OVER usBEFORE us

THROUGH usUPON us

He is all of thisand

He brings all of this as He dwells

within us and

as He workswithin us.

Christ WITHIN us =Christ AMONG US

“Linsanity!”

“Christ is risen in the prison.He calls among the walls.

He dwells in the cells.He’s the One you see at EJSP.”

God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles

the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ within you, the hope of glory.

Hebrews 2So now Jesus and the ones

he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to

call them his brothers and sisters. For he said to

God, “I will proclaim your name to my

brothers and sisters. I will praise

you among your assembled people.”

Hebrews 2

The Lord Jesus Christ is personally

proclaimingand

praising…among us

Sometimes WITHIN can refer to

Christ at work inside each individual life

John 14Anyone who has my commands and obeys them loves me. My Father will love the one who loves me. I too will love him. And I will show myself to him. Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love him. We will come to him and make our home with him.

Galatians 2My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Romans 8And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

2 Corinthians 4Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. (New Living Bible)

2 Corinthians 11It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness…abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

“Christ in you”appears far less than

“You in Christ”––––––––––––––––––––––

“Christ in you”appears far less than

“you in Christ”––––––––––––––––––––––

In both cases, note that

“You” in the singularappears far less than

“You” in the plural

• Over 50% of adults are single• 28% of households consist of one person (50% in

NYC)• Aging society leave many seniors living all alone• Most associations are tenuous: jobs, marriage, political

parties, neighbors, hook-up culture• Lifestyle values: fulfill myself, develop my own

potential, remaining independent to pursue my own interests

• Hibernating in one room while living on-line

• Fastest growing religious category: unaffiliated

The “you” is plural!

John 15I am the real vine…As the branch cannot bear any fruit unless it shares the life of the vine, so you (pl) can produce nothing unless you (pl) go on growing in me. I am the vine itself, you (pl) are the branches…the plain fact is that apart from me you (pl) can do nothing at all….This is how my Father will be glorified – by you (pl) becoming fruitful and being my disciples…It is I who have chosen you (pl). I have appointed you (pl) to go and bear fruit that will be lasting. (Phillips)

John 15 “The Revised Southern Version” (RSV)

As the branch can’t bear no fruit ‘less it shares the life of the vine, so all ya’ll can’t produce nothing ‘less ya’ll go on growin’ in me…the fact is that apart from me ya’ll can’t do squat….This is how my Father will be glorified – in all ya’lls bein’ full of fruit and being my disciples…It is I who have chosen ya’ll. I set it up for ya’ll to go on bein’ fruity forever.

Christ within “me” and Christ within “us” unfold together.

But…what He accomplishes in “me” is derived primarily from what He does, first of all, among “us”.

Selah!

Christ WITHIN us =Christ AMONG US

What if Jesus were to come to your church to visibly serve us as your “church consultant” for the next three months? What if He sat in on all of our activities, our committee meetings, worship times, small groups, as well as meeting with individual families in their homes?

– What differences would we expect to see at the end of His time among us?

– What would change from what we experience now?

Christ Within His people A dominate theme of Scripture

1 Corinthians 10

They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the

same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Malachi 3“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.

Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Shekinah Glory

Shekinah = “to dwell”

Immanuel = “God among us”

John 1• The Word became flesh and made his dwelling

among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

John 1• The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among

us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

• The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (The Message)

John 1• The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among

us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

• The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (The Message)

• And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory. (Amplified)

Luke 2“At last, Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, as you promised! For with my own eyes I have seen your salvation which you have made ready for every people – a light to show truth to the Gentiles and bring glory to your people Israel…he will expose the secret thoughts of many hearts.” (Phillips)

“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that

I must be in my Father’s house?”

Luke 4Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, “God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor…”

Luke 4Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, “God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor…”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back…“You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

“Destroy this temple. I will raise it up again in three days”… The temple Jesus had spoken about was his body. His disciples later remembered what he had said after he had been raised from the dead. Then they believed. (John 2)

“I tell you that one who is more important than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12)

…he poured out his life unto death, and He was

numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for

the transgressors. (Isaiah 53)



Selah!

Snapshots and Starter-thoughts

John 14I will ask the Father. And he will give you another Friend to help you and to be with you forever. The Friend is the Spirit of truth…you know him. He lives with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you like children who don't have parents. I will come to you …Because I live, you will live also. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father. You will know that you are in me, and I am in you.

John 17…I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me….I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

John 17“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may

be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.”

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.”


• Jesus gives us God’s glory because He is God’s glory – “full of grace and truth”.



• To see Jesus’ glory is to see the outward manifestations of the true character and nature and instincts and passions and purposefulness and dignity and righteousness and holiness and love and saving power of the living God.



• To see Jesus’ glory is to see the outward manifestations of the true character and nature and instincts and passions and purposefulness and dignity and righteousness and holiness and love and saving power of the living God.

• And, this is the “glory” Jesus reveals to us by the Spirit of God – so that we are united by both its manifest reality and its pervasive potency.



• To see Jesus is to see the outward manifestations of the true character and nature and instincts and passions and purposefulness and dignity and righteousness and holiness and love and saving power of the living God.

• And, this is the “glory” Jesus reveals to us by the Spirit of God – so that we are united by both its manifest reality and its pervasive potency.

• Jesus forever remains what unites us because He dwells among us as God’s glory – bringing with Him the promise of more intensified and magnified glory for all ages to come.

Ephesians 2We are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.

1 Peter 2As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 3No one can lay any other foundation than the one that has already been laid. That foundation is Jesus Christ. A person may build on it…Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple? God’s Spirit lives in you.

1 Corinthians 3No one can lay any other foundation than the one that has already been laid. That foundation is Jesus Christ. A person may build on it…Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple? God’s Spirit lives in you.

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. God’s temple is holy.

And you are that temple.

Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Eph. 4

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 1 Cor. 12

God has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church], which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself]. Eph. 1 (Amplified Bible)



Selah!

ACTS 5... “The whole church and all who heard about these things

were filled with fear.”

Acts 19… “The Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard

about this. They were all overcome with fear. They

held the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor.”

Fear of the Lord?

Fear of the Lord

“When we take God’s Son

as seriously as

He takes Himself

for ALL He is,

in light of

the full extent of

His supremacy”

1 Corinthians 5When you come together in the name of our Lord Jesus, I will be with you in spirit. The power of our Lord Jesus will also be with you. When you come together like that, hand that man over to Satan. Then his sinful nature will be destroyed. His spirit will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

1 Corinthians 14But if… unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring: “God is truly here among you.”

2 Corinthians 13

Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with

you. He is powerful among you…

2 Corinthians 13

Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with

you. He is powerful among you…

Take a good look at yourselves to see if you are

really believers. Test yourselves.

2 Corinthians 13Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you. He is powerful

among you…Take a good look at yourselves to see if you are really

believers. Test yourselves. Don't you realize

that Christ Jesus is in you? Unless, of course, you fail

the test!

2 Corinthians 13

So, what IS the test?

Revelation 3

Since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me – gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see…

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends… Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” (NLT)

Ephesians 3I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in [in the midst of] your hearts through faith.

Ephesians 3And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Galatians 4It is because you really are his sons that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts to cry “Father, dear Father”…...Oh, my dear children, I feel the pangs of childbirth all over again till Christ be formed within you.

Selah!

Points to PonderWithin every congregation on planet Earth,

the Lord Jesus is fully there. Not just part of Him, but ALL of Him.

And wherever He dwells, the Triune God is fully involved.

Points to PonderUnlike other religions, for Christians our faith is not about a

“place” but about a Person. Wherever He dwells among us there we become His “place” because He is there.

Points to PonderIn every congregation, every time we gather,

Christ is present even as Christ is presiding as King.

Points to PonderThe good news is this:

Christ does not want to exercise His supremacy without us or against us,

but rather for us and among us.

Points to PonderAny sense of His “absence” is merely bodily absence.

By His Spirit He is among us fully, more real than anything material or visible.

Points to PonderChrist among us assures

of His full provision for the needs of His people and full empowerment for the mission of His people.

Everything we seek already is ours in Him who already dwells within us.

Points to PonderHaving already cleansed us from the guilt of sin, now

He works among us to deliver us from the power of sin.

Points to Ponder All the way to Heaven is Heaven….

because as Christ operates freely among us, in principle His final glory awaiting the Consummation is able to find multiple expressions among us right now.

Points to PonderNot the quantity of the Consummation

but the quality of it is what He unleashes within us.

Selah!

Prayer

“Prayer is opening the door and inviting Jesus to come in.”

Ole Hallesby

Prayer

When we pray we are saying, first of all, that we welcome our Lord Jesus to come among us to fully involve us in His supremacy.

Prayer

We open up ourselves corporately to experience in Jesus the extraordinary and the unique among us – as well as among many others beyond us.

Prayer

We also open up ourselves individually to enter into increased intimacy with Jesus, and through Him, in the Spirit, with the Father.

“Open wide the gates!”

John 7On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

Ezekiel 47

2 Corinthians 3But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of

the Lord is,there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of

the Lord is,there is freedom.

“The Lord who is the Spirit”The Father sent the Spirit to re-present the Son among us. He is the…

activation of,

everything related to the reign of Christ right now.


activation of, connection to,



activation of, connection to, habitation by,



activation of, connection to, habitation by, revelation of,




manifestation of,




manifestation of,application of




manifestation of,application of ,

fullness of


“The Lord who is the Spirit”

Where the Spirit abides, all of Jesus abides. At all times we should “act as if” Christ were among us – because by His Spirit He really is!


The Spirit is called “HOLY” for three good reasons:

(1) He is God, and there is no other “spirit” like Him.




(2) His mission is to consecrate (reveal as holy) Christ and set Him apart among His people so that we continue to see Him as supreme and therefore give Him his rightful place in our midst.




(2) His mission is to consecrate (reveal as holy) Christ and set Him apart among His people so that we continue to see Him as supreme and therefore give Him his rightful place in our midst.

(3) Also, His mission is to consecrate (make holy) each and all of us and set us apart for Christ, drawing us more and more toward God’s Son and making us more and more like Him.

“The Lord who is the Spirit”That’s why Scripture tells us that anything in our lives, individually or corporately, that is incompatible with who Jesus really is – as well as where He is headed, what He is doing or how He gets blessed – “grieves” the Spirit and even “quenches” the Spirit.

“The Lord who is the Spirit”On the other hand, to be “filled with the Spirit” is to become a person or a congregation in whom the Spirit has full sway to work, without hindrance, to carry out His ministry within us, as He brings us into the fullness of ALL Christ is.

Fruit of the Spirit

Fruit of the Spiritthe character of Christ among us

Gifts of the Spirit

Gifts of the Spiritthe ministry of Christ among us



Selah!

Thus we can say that because of the SPIRIT….

Within every congregation on planet Earth, the Lord Jesus is fully there.

Not just part of Him, but ALL of Him.And wherever He dwells, the Triune God is fully involved.

“Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1)

“Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1)

“Church” = Greek kyriakon (adj.) "of the Lord" –

used of houses of Christian worship since AD.300

The fact is: We are all one body, in the unity of the Spirit, living unto and because of one Lord, who works within us as our Head to will and do His good pleasure.

The fact is: Our primary identity is with a people who stretch out across the earth and across the ages, the “communion of saints” in Heaven and earth, all of whom are “of one Lord”.

Then and NowThus, we should respond to each other here in a manner reflective of how we expect to respond to one another there in the Day of His Appearing, when we surround Him on His Throne

Then and NowThus, we should respond to each other here in a manner reflective of how we expect to respond to one another there in the Day of His Appearing, when we surround Him on His Throne – because who He will be among us then is precisely who He is among us, here and now, every time we gather in His name.

Matthew 18“And I tell you once more that if two of you on earth agree in asking for anything it will be granted to you by my Heavenly Father. For wherever two or three people come together in my name, I am there, right among you!”



1 Peter 3:15

But in your hearts set apart [consecrate]

Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Every time we gather together, this must become our first order of business:

Every time we gather together, this must become our first order of business: Be sure that with all of our hearts we give Christ His rightful place among us as the Lord He truly is, so that we might respond to Him fully as He reigns supreme in our midst, in all we decide, do and declare in His name.

Remember theKing Jesus CHAIRS?

Session VI


WITHIN us

And so, our journey continues toward reclaiming a

Consequential Christology

Next time — Session VII


THROUGH us

Have you any time recently experienced the living Christ working within you in a direct and personal way? How would you share this with a fellow believer so as to encourage them to expect Christ to work within them in new ways, too?

What more of Christ’s reign would you like to see displayed corporately in the midst of today’s Church – in the midst of your own church? What might that look like if it happened -- what differences would it make?


The Christ Institutes Reclaiming a Consequential Christology Fostering Christ Awakening Movements

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aperson driven life

great love

ain order

anointed son

triune god

true revival

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