ARE WE THERE YET?
We’ve all been on one of those long family road trips, haven’t we? You know the kind I’m talking about, right? Dad has on his captain’s hat, and mom, the faithful navigator, has the map spread out on her lap and the dashboard. The car is filled to absolute capacity with luggage, pillows, blankets and “last-minute-must-haves”. The kids are crammed into the back seat, ear buds (headphones) lodged firmly within the ear cavity and iPod’s working at full steam. Fast food wrappers litter the landscape of the vehicles floor and the smell of sweaty bodies and old french fries fills the air. Arguments regularly erupt between captain and navigator as to the best and fastest route to the destination, while the children’s media-induced coma seems to keep their annoyance at bay for stretches lasting several hours.
Then, it happens. Perhaps it was when little Johnny’s Gameboy ran out of batteries, or maybe when the death of Susie’s cell-phone battery brought her 5 hour text-a-thon to a screeching halt. However, it occurred…it most certainly did occurr. It began with a stirring in the back seat. A short, whiny, semi-muffled moan is emitted by one of the children. It begins simply, “uhhhh…”. The parents whose bickering finally gave way to a long period of much desired peace and quiet, very slowly peer over their shoulders. Their eyes quickly and cautiously scan the backseat, their heads then quickly snapping back into a forward position. “Perhaps if we don’t make eye contact”, the parents reason, “there will be no further unrest from the ships battered crew.” Then there comes the inevitable follow-up moan, this time from another family member. Then, another…and another, and another…until before long, the whole back seat is absolutely abuzz with moans, groans, complaints of discomfort, pleas for bathroom stops and perhaps even the sound of hands slapping legs as the elder sister asserts her dominance as queen of the backseat. Then, the question is posed.
“ARE WE THERE YET!!??”
Does that scenario sound familiar to any of you? Does it bring back memories of hot, sweaty, station wagon trips to the Grand Canyon? Or maybe it reminds you of the long and arduous mini-van trip to Disney World of ’95? You might be surprised to hear what it reminds me of, because to me, the scenes depicted and the cries emitted sound curiously like the modern Church whilst gathered at any given service or prayer meeting. What exactly do I mean by this? Truth be told, we behave in a strikingly similar manner to the characters in the “family vacation” illustration. Much of this behavior comes as a result of our belief that we are on a journey as opposed to having arrived at our destination!
When I speak of our destination I am not speaking of Heaven or even of arriving at a state of spiritual perfection. I am, however, speaking of a place of total attainment and complete fulfillment in Christ. For years we have been taught (albeit by very Godly and sincere individuals) that we are on our way towards some great climactic revival moment, or that we are on our way to becoming some mutant, super-church that will far surpass anything that the Church of Acts had ever dreamed of being. Do I believe and anticipate a great end-time move of God and a victorious, last-days Church? Absolutely! However, I do not believe that these will come about as a result of God finally answering our moans and groans from the backseat. Rather, I believe that there will be an awakening amongst God’s people to the reality of what has been available to us for the past 2,000 years!
Sometimes a deep desire for something greater can blind you to the glories of the present tense. When Jesus Christ uttered those earth shattering words, “It is Finished!”, He wasn’t just being poetic or dramatic–He meant it! Man’s journey towards God came to an end and a door of opportunity was opened to us that very few have ever actually taken advantage of. Sometimes, we become so frustrated with ourselves for not perfectly manifesting the nature of Jesus that we revert to Old Covenant ways of thinking. We see ourselves on a perpetual journey towards some ideal plain of Godliness and live frustrated existences, wondering why our fasting, prayers and acts of devotion just never seem to be enough. We see ourselves like that great company spoken of in Hebrews 11 who were ever in pursuit of something greater and yet all died without ever apprehending the object of their pursuit. We forget to grasp the main point of Hebrews 11, however, which is that we have attained that which the Old Testament saints died in pursuit of!
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (HEBREWS 11:39-40)
The scriptures are very clear on matters concerning our position in Jesus Christ:
- We are not dying to sin, but are dead to sin!
“…We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (ROMANS 6:2-4)
“The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (ROMANS 6:10-11)
- We are not being made alive but have been made fully alive!
“…God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…” (EPHESIANS 2:4-5)
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…” (COLOSSIANS 2:13)
- We are not ascending, we have ascended!
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (EPHESIANS 2:6)
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (COLOSSIANS 3:1-3)
Now I could go on an on, listing such verses and making such statements, my point, however, is that the New Testament writers (especially the Apostle Paul) seem to spend the bulk of their time speaking of our arrival at a destination rather than our journey towards one. Now certainly, teachings concerning the coming resurrection and eternity abound, however, when it comes to this side of life, the NT writers seem to stress the fact that we have arrived! We have entered into a place of fullness in Christ! In the Charismatic, Pentecostal, Prophetic streams, however, we seem to be forever stuck in the station wagon. We are always speaking of some grand day in the future, which will apparently come after we have fasted ourselves into near-starvation and/or tongue-talked ourselves delirious. Finally, once the last solemn assembly has been held, the final donut has been pushed aside and the last prayer has been prayed, God will break through in blinding power and His Church will rise up victorious and full of power. The nations of the earth will see His Glory and fall on their faces in repentance before a Holy God. Sounds exciting! Sounds dramatic! Sounds intense! But it also sounds kind of…un-biblical!
The problem I have with such a scenario is not the desired end result of massive revival and awakening. The problem I have with the scenario is the means by which we think we can attain such a holy movement. Much of the focus in revival-type movements is on our efforts and our works which will bring about the desired result of revival. This type of thinking has almost mutated into the hope of some type of third covenant which will be established when revival comes. As a result, Christ’s finished works and the power and glory of the New Covenant are absolutely diminished in our eyes. The Old Testament saints, such as the Samaritan woman mentioned in John chapter 4, placed all of their hopes in the coming of Messiah. Today, we seem to place all of our hopes in the coming of revival! The OT saints had it right. They were on a journey, awaiting the coming of Christ. As New Covenant children of God, however, the journey is over and we have arrived at our destination in Christ! There is no greater work, no further covenant which needs to be established! WE ARE THERE!
Now, although we have arrived, we most certainly have not yet experienced everything that there is to experience in God just yet. Just as arriving in the parking lot of Disney World doesn’t mean you have experienced Disney World, we have likewise arrived at Mount Zion, we have arrived in Christ, but there is still much to explore. There is a great difference in understanding things in this way as opposed to viewing ourselves on a journey towards a destination. The “journey-mentality” causes frustration and spiritual depression. It creates hopelessness and anxiety in the heart of the believer. We become so desperate to attain “power” or “anointing” through our efforts that we wind up becoming absolutely irrelevant and burned out. The “arrival-mentality”, however, causes the believer to enter into a state of contentment and rest in which they are free to explore and experience God without the added pressure of feeling that they need to strive or perform certain actions in order to accelerate their progress towards a destination.
The “arrival-mentality” also removes our ability to make “sanctified-excuses” for our lack of power and authority. Once we realize that we have arrived, the responsibility is no longer on the Lord to “move”, the responsibility is on the Church to agree with Heaven and become co-laborers with Christ. No longer can we push revival and awakening into the future! We are forced to either draw back or become the very revival which we have so desperately desired! We can no longer blame a lack of Kingdom expansion on “closed heavens” or “territorial spirits” who require frequent “binding” and “casting down”. When we come into the knowledge that we have arrived in Christ, there is absolutely no excuse for powerlessness. We are forced to cope with scriptures such as Isaiah 60:1 which says, “Arise and shine, for your light has come.” We are not waiting for a light to come, God is waiting for us to access and tap into that which has already come!
We need not wait for a mantle for fiery evangelism in order to evangelize! We need not wait on an impartation for signs & wonders in order to heal the sick and work miracles! We need no greater release of the prophetic to fall from the sky to empower us to be flaming witnesses for Christ. We need only to allow the ever-present rivers of the Holy Spirit to pour forth from our spirit man. (John 7:38) The Holy Spirit was released through Christ’s finished works 2,000 years ago! We must reject the notion that He is coming and must believe that He has come! We must forever forsake the idea that we are ascending to a plain of power and authority and instead declare that we have ascended and are seated in Heavenly places with Christ!
So, are you sick of the station wagon? Are you tired of the bickering amongst believers as to the best and quickest route to revival? Have you had it yet with the disgruntled attitudes created by an “endless-journey-theology”? Tired of the stench of sweat and man’s effort? Well, I’ve got Good News for you, WE’RE THERE! Open the car doors and take a deep breath of that Heavenly oxygen! Stretch your legs and kiss the sky–WE’RE HOME! The journey is over! It is finished! We have arrived! It’s time now to unpack your suitcase and to make yourself at home in Christ!
“There”,
Pastor Jeff
HEBREWS 12:22-24 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
