Revelation Revolution
by Dr. Kay Fairchild
Chapter 1 Part 2
Pages 26-43
The Key Is Over the Door
The key to the interpretation of every book of the Bible is over the entrance. The meaning of the name of the book gives understanding as to what that particular book is about. Also, as we study the first few verses of a book we find the key. So, right up front we see that Revelation is a book of sign and symbol.
Continuing with Revelation 1:2:
Who bare record of the word of God, and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things
that he saw.
The word “record” in the Strong’s is #3140, “to be a witness” or “give testimony,” and it comes from #3144, which means “martyr.” The word “testimony” in this verse is #3141, which again, comes from # 3144 and it also means “martyr.” John was a witness of the death of Jesus Christ when he saw himself crucified with Christ.
Revelation 1:3 declares:
Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand.
The same scripture in the Amplified Bible reads:
Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who reads aloud [in the assemblies] the word of this prophecy; and blessed (happy, to be envied) are those who hear [it read] and who keep themselves true to the things which are written in it [heeding them and laying them to heart], for the time [for them to be fulfilled] is near.
Jesus Has Blessed Us
Happy? How happy could John be if he were going to be a martyr for the testimony of Jesus? When he saw that he was crucified with Christ at Calvary’s cross and it was no longer John that lived, but Christ who lived in him, John was blessed, happy, and to be envied (Galatians 2:19-21)! Happy? If this is a book about a seven year tribulation, how can we be happy? If this is a book about all those literal things we’ve been taught, then I don’t think it would make us too happy. In fact, the majority of the Church world is unhappy and fearful because of the literal letter that only ministers death (Romans 7:6, 2 Corinthians 3:6). The thing that is going to make us happy and full of the joy of the Lord is the thing that satisfied little Ruth. When she ate bread and wine (the broken body and the shed blood) she was happy. That is the thing that is going to make us happy, fully satisfy us, cause the joy of the Lord to well up within us, birth praise, worship, and ministry out of us—eating bread and wine.
Blessed. That is an interesting word. In Acts chapter 3, we will see how we are blessed in reading verse 26:
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son, Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
We are a blessed people. We are blessed to live in the time we are living in. We are blessed because the little book is opened and we are partaking of bread and wine. We are blessed because the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him has been imparted to us. The word blessed here is where we get the English word eulogy. There has been a eulogy spoken over us. When was that eulogy spoken over us? It was spoken at our death 2,000 years ago at the cross of Calvary. All the way through chapter 1 we see it. He is on the isle of Patmos, the place of my killing and my death, and he is feasting on bread and wine.
Revelation 1:4:
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne;
Notice “grace and peace from him which is, and which was, and which is to come.” When you understand what took place at the cross of Calvary, or the “which was” part, it is going to change your “which is” and your “which is to come.” It will change because you’re bringing the past into the “now” and that will bring the expression, the revelation of Jesus Christ in our “is” realm, our now, and it will intensify as time goes on. We have not seen anything yet, compared to what we’re going to see and what we’re going to experience in that which God reveals unto us. We’ve barely scratched the surface.
Jesus—The Firstfruit
What is “firstfruit?” Every fruit-bearing tree has some fruit that matures and ripens first, before the majority of the remaining fruit. There is a firstfruit company in the earth today hearing from God, partaking of bread and wine, and going forth to rebuild the tabernacle of David. According to Acts chapter 15, this firstfruit company ministers to the Church world that is still entangled in religion, so that the residue—all of humanity—can come into the Kingdom of God.
We see the person and the work of Christ, bread and wine, from the beginning to the end of the Bible! In the very first verse of the Bible we see him. Look at Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” The word “beginning” is the Hebrew word “firstfruit.” Who is the firstfruit but Jesus Christ?
Genesis 1:2-3 declares, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” That literally happened. God created the heavens and the earth. But it is also a prophetic picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the finished work, and our condition from the fall of Adam. Our earth was without form, and void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God fluttered and hovered and moved upon the face of the waters. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. That happened at the cross of Calvary over 2,000 years ago. As we believe and receive that, and as the Holy Spirit draws us unto him, we are born again! God said through Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary, “Let there be light!” We became a brand new creation in Christ Jesus.
In Genesis 1:11 we see bread and wine. “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed (there is the bread), and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind” (there is the wine).
In Genesis 4 we see some more pictures. Abel brought of the firstling of his flock in verse 4. That is a picture of the person and the work of Christ. But in verse 3, Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. People are still bringing of the fruit of their energy. It is not in works. By grace are you saved through faith, not by works lest any man should boast. You can’t add one cubit to your stature by doing one good work. You are the righteousness of God because of what happened at the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago. The works that we do, we do because we are righteous, not because we are trying to get righteous. That will lift a load off of your shoulder! That will bring you out of legalism! That will take the veil away from between your ears, which was done away at the cross of Calvary! That will cause us to be an expression of him! That will cause the unveiling, and will cause the Christ within us that has up until now been just a hope of glory, to become the reality of God in manifestation—to become an expression of God, an expression of his nature—and God will fill the house with his glory!
Jesus—King Of Kings
Again, in Revelation 1:5 we read:
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Notice the three phrases here; “the faithful witness,” “the first begotten of the dead,” and “the prince of the kings of the earth.” The faithful witness exposes the false prophet. The first begotten of the dead exposes the false prophet that tries to heal the deadly wound by saying you have two natures (Revelation 13). We do not have two natures. We are not trying to rehabilitate Adam. God is not saving Adam. The carnal mind is not subject to God, neither will it ever be subject to God. We only have one nature. Our old man was crucified. He was that goat on the Day of Atonement that was sent out into the wilderness never to return again. Our old man is not going to return again. It may sometimes look like he has returned because of the residue of Adam that is yet in and over our minds, but we do not have two natures. Any man who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation, old things have passed away and all things have become new. And the last phrase, “the prince of the kings of the earth” exposes Babylon’s lie that says she is the ruler of the kings of the earth. The word “prince” is the Greek archon, from the word archo and it means “to be first in political rank or power, to reign, to rule over.” Jesus is the Prince of the kings of the earth or the King of kings.
In verse 6 of Revelation chapter 1, he says:
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
How did he make us kings and priests? In the preceding verse, 5b, we see that it happened when he washed us from our sins in his own blood.
A Great Multitude
Now look at Revelation 1:7:
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
This particular verse is a big issue in a lot of Churches. Some believe that the clouds mentioned here are literal, atmospheric clouds that Jesus is going to return on. The word tells us he is coming in clouds, as seen in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, and as this verse tells us, he comes with clouds. Webster’s dictionary lists one of the meanings of “cloud” as “a great crowd or multitude.” “Clouds” are symbolic of a people that are filled with life-giving substance, bread and wine, to give to the earth, to water the earth. We can read in Jude about ministers who are clouds without water, without lifegiving substance to give to the earth. Peter wrote about false teachers who are clouds that are carried with a tempest. We can read in Hebrews about a great cloud of witnesses who are heroes of faith. The word “cloud” here refers to people.
Lucas and Washburn write in their book Theomatics, that the word “Cloud,” singular, has the number value of 100 x 6. (“Theomatics” is known by the ancients as “gematria,” or number in scripture.) The number 6 is the number of man. Any time you have a number followed by zeros, the zeros serve only to amplify and add clarity to that number. Therefore, the word “cloud” (600), refers to a many-membered body of Christ, a kingdom of priests unto God, a holy nation. The word “clouds,” plural 11, has the gematria of 100 x 8. The number 8 is the number of new beginnings, the new day dawning, the new creation. So “clouds” refers to people who are in Christ and are new creations—an in-Christed people. In him, each day is a new beginning. His mercies are new every morning. He is the New Day. And this is the Day of the Lord!
Seeing The Invisible
Something helpful to keep in mind when we study the word and when we compare literal things (like clouds) to spiritual things, is
Jesus’ own words recorded in Luke 17:20-21 (Amplified Bible):
Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display, nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you].
Righteousness, Peace, And Joy—In The Holy Spirit
You can’t see the kingdom, but when you do see it, this is what you’ll see: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 1:7, notice the phrase “and every eye shall see him.” That is not because he is going to be on satellite television. Every eye is going to see him because he is a many-membered Christ! “Every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.” Some are still piercing him today. In Isaiah 52 we read that his visage was marred. That passage is primarily about the fact that he was crucified. The Spanish translation says that when he was beaten, his body looked like hamburger meat. He was unrecognizable. He was also pierced in Spirit when he became sin and died spiritually. People are still piercing him today by saying he just became a sin offering. It is of utmost importance that we understand that it was not just a physical death, but it was a spiritual death, because then we can realize that our sins are not just atoned for, or covered, as they were in the Old Covenant, but they were removed as far as the east is from the west. We received a brand new nature. I am not the same person I was before I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and was born again. I received a new nature.
Revelation 1:8:
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
In considering the phrase, “I am the Alpha and Omega,” let’s look at Genesis 1:1:
And in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The word “beginning” is firstfruit. Jesus Christ is the firstfruit of God (1 Corinthians 15:23). That is the Alpha. He is the author of our faith. Then we have the Omega, the end, the finality, the finisher of our faith. Everything begins and ends in him. 1 Corinthians 15:45-50 speaks of the first Adam, the first man of the earth and those that are earthy. Then it speaks of the last Adam, the lifegiving spirit, the second man, the Lord from heaven and they that are heavenly. At the cross of Calvary, Jesus died according to the law of identification in that he fully identified with who we were in Adam. He did not just die for us. He was not just our substitute. He also died as us. He became all that we were and all that we inherited through Adam, and more. He totally did away with the first man at Calvary’s cross. That only leaves one man, the Lord from heaven. If you are in the first man, Adam, you are in death. If you are in the last Adam, the second man, the Lord from heaven, you now possess eternal life. The word of God begins with Jesus in Genesis 1:1 and ends with Jesus in Revelation chapter 22—The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Lucas and Washburn write in their book Theomatics 12:
The definition of the name Adam in Hebrew is simply “man.” If one were to go to the text of the Old Testament, he would find that the Hebrew words are full of multiples of 276 throughout the text of the creation of man. For the sake of illustration, we will show one verse containing two features. Here is Genesis 5:2, which has a number value of 2,760 or 276 x 10: He created them male and female, and He blessed them (276 x 10) and called their name man, in the day when they were created. The words “their name man” form the most distinct portion of the above verse. Here again, the same design is present: Their name man (276 x 3). Now here is something remarkable, The name Adam (or man) in Hebrew (Genesis 5:2) has a theomatic value of 46, and in the Greek (Romans 5:14) it is also 46. … in the Greek the word man is 276, and Adam is 46 in both Hebrew and Greek. At this point you may be asking yourself the question, What relation does the number 46 have to the number 276? Watch! 46 x 6 = 276. Now the number six has been universally accepted by Bible scholars as being the number of man. There are many instances in Scripture where this is brought out. It was on the sixth day of creation that God created man. So 46 (the number of Adam in both Hebrew and Greek) times 6 (the number of man) equals 276 (the number of flesh and sin). When Jesus died on the cross, He took with Him man’s sin. Scripture declares that Christ became sin for us, and it was in His body that He bore our sins …We are now going to discover something of unique significance, In 1 Corinthians 15:22 we find these words: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The word for in in the Greek is … also the word for the number one in Greek. Therefore, this verse could have easily been translated: “As one Adam all die” instead of “As in Adam all die.” … As Adam all die is 276 x 11.
In light of this, look at an often misquoted scripture, Hebrews 9:27-28: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this in him! We no longer have the nature of the old man, but we have the nature of the new man, Christ. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. And when we take the second look at the cross, he will appear the second time without sin, unto full salvation!
Jesus—The First And The Last
In Revelation 2:8, when Jesus talks to the Church at Smyrna, he first tells them something about himself before he tells them what is required of them. Why? Because you have to understand the person and the work of Christ before you can be empowered to overcome. Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:34: “Awake to righteousness, and sin not.” He did not say “fight this sin and that sin.” He did not say to get in the pulpit every Sunday morning and preach on the works of the flesh and focus on that. He said “Awake to righteousness, and sin not.” I am convinced that if we will minister a God-conscious message, rather than a sin-conscious message, we are going to see people walk in victory in every area, in every aspect of their lives. What I mean by a God-conscious message is a message that focuses on the person and the work of Christ.
Now let’s look at Revelation 2:8 in light of our previous discussion:
And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. He was telling them something about himself. “I was dead and now I am alive forevermore.” He talks in verse 9 about their tribulation, poverty, and abuse then in verse 10 he says, “Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Some believe that the Christian life is one struggle after another. They say “I’ve got to work and I’ve got to spend ten hours a day in my prayer closet and I’ve got to just trudge along on this hard road and one day I’m going to overcome, if it kills me!” That is not what he is saying. We have taught too much processing and “if we suffer with him we will reign with him.” I already suffered with him!
God does not bring things upon us that he nailed to the cross. He works in all kinds of situations, conditions and circumstances, but people do not go through a “Job experience” by the ordination of God. God does not put us in a Job experience. We may experience extraordinarily difficult trials and circumstances, but God is here with us to take us through them and deliver us from them—not to put us in them. What we have been taught about the book of Job is not even what the book is about! Job is a perfect type of Christ. He is a perfect type of Christ in that he lost everything and in the end, received more back than he lost! That is exactly what we read in the New Testament about Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Why? In Jewish families, the firstborn are considered sacred, the key to the family line. They receive double inheritance and are given a seat of honor over their brothers as well as the special covenant with God. Being the firstborn of many brethren, Jesus knew that he was going to get a people that he would reproduce himself through.
So he tells the Churches in Revelation about himself first. That is what we have to do. We have to minister bread and wine. We must minister a God-conscious message, rather than a sinconscious message. We have to show people what happened at the cross of Calvary and how they are identified with that. The more we feed the sheep the message of the cross, placing it in their consciousness, empowering them to renew their minds to the person and the work of Christ, the more victory they will walk in. In doing so, we will hasten the coming of the Day of the Lord experientially in our individual and corporate lives.
Back to Revelation 1:9, 10:
I, John, who am also your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.
We know the isle called Patmos means “my killing” or “my death” and he was there for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. That word “testimony” in the Greek means martyrdom. John was on the isle called “my killing,” or “my death,” for the word of God and for the testimony—or to come to understand the martyrdom or the death of Jesus Christ. In verse 10 we read that he heard a great voice behind him. We see in verse 12 that he turned to see that voice and where did he turn? He turned behind him. That is what we need to return to. We need to return to what happened at the cross of Calvary and how we were identified with that. That is what we need to be focusing on. That is the little book. That is what we need to repent—or change our thinking about—and turn to.
Jesus—The Lord’s Day
He said “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” The Lord’s Day is not a Sunday, or a Saturday. The Lord’s Day is the Most Holy Place where all of us are seated. Throughout scripture Jesus is referred to as “The Day.” Jesus is the Lord’s Day. This is the Day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. It is a dimension in God. In the Lord’s Day, if we hear what the Lord is saying, we are going to hear him saying that Tabernacles is a second look at Passover.
In Revelation 1:10-11 we continue:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; and What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
The revelation that the apostle John received here is the same revelation that the apostle Paul received. John wrote it more in symbolic terms and Paul wrote it in common day language. Paul wrote to seven Churches also. We can see the parallel here.
So many people say that Laodicea, the last Church, represents the Church in the “last days.” Laodicea does not represent today’s Church in this hour, because there is nothing good said about Laodicea. There are a lot of good things said about today’s Church! There are a lot of good things being said about a people today that fill their minds with bread and wine, eat nothing but Lamb, have their ear nailed to the door, and do not want to hear anything but Christ.
Revelation 1:12-20: And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girded about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass. as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter: The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
John turned behind him and saw seven golden candlesticks, which are the seven Churches, and in the midst of them he saw Jesus. His eyes were as a flame of fire. Fire speaks of judgment. His judgment was our judgment. His feet were like unto fine brass, which speaks of judgment also. When Ruth came and uncovered Boaz’s feet, she got a revelation that his judgment was her judgment. The twoedged sword speaks of the word of God. All of this is a revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection that John received on the isle of Patmos. The seven stars are the angels, or the pastors, and the seven candlesticks, are the seven Churches. Everything that is said about Jesus is said about the Church. Why? Because his death was our death. His suffering was our suffering. His judgment was our judgment. The Church has taught judgment in such an imbalanced way, as if God’s wrath and judgment is going to come upon a wicked world. The world is reaping what they are sowing— but that is not God bringing judgment on them, it is their own doing. The religious Church is also reaping what she is sowing.Romans 4:15, James 2:10 and Galatians 5:4 tell us that judging one another and keeping people under the law will bring wrath, guilt, insecurity, and alienation. Religion is reaping what it has sown.
The judgment of God that is going to come upon this world is not going to be God kicking them down any further. They are down far enough. The judgment is going to be a Melchisedec priesthood that is going to bring a word of bread and wine to them and show them that they are not condoning their sin, but they are not condemning them. This will be a priesthood showing the mercy of God and that his judgment was their judgment 2,000 years ago at the cross of Calvary. That is a totally different mindset than what we’ve heard in religion, in the Church as a whole. Judgment is not unto condemnation. Judgment is unto victory (Matthew 12:20)! This is the revelation of Jesus Christ!
We have to enter into rest. In this day, we are entering into rest. How do we enter into rest? The word says we labor to enter into rest. That does not mean “labor” as in doing our good works. I’m not against good works. We show our faith by our works. But we don’t do good works to make ourselves more righteous. We do good works because we are righteous. The laboring to enter into rest is laboring over the word, filling our mind with the truth of the word of God.
Jesus—The Day Of Jubilee
We read in Revelation chapter 1 about the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day is a dimension of rest or Jubilee that we come into. Jesus is our Jubilee. A few years ago the whole Church was declaring, “It’s our Jubilee!” They were saying, “If you will send us your money, you are going to experience Jubilee, financial blessing, and healing.” That is not Jubilee at all! I want more than healing. I want to be made whole! Wholeness means to be full of God himself, and then the healing will take care of itself! I am not against people laying hands on us for healing, but God wants to do something greater in this Day of Jubilee. “Jubilee” does not mean release; it does not mean what you “get.” All of that comes along with it like tongues come with the shoes. “Jubilee” means “a long, loud blast of a ram’s horn.” Where in the world do you get a ram’s horn? We get a ram’s horn from the death of a male sheep.
There is a ram’s horn that is being sounded in the midst of the Church and we are going to get more than just healed, we are going to get more than just financial blessing. Thank God for that, but we are going to be made every whit whole13. There is not going to be a need. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just that his covenant might be established. The Lord himself is the provision that declares this word through television, through the printed word, through audio and video tapes and other sources, all of which are flowing into and through the Melchisedec priesthoodto the people. If we are preaching just a Jubilee as, “Send me your money and you’ll get healed and you’ll get your needs met, then our focus is very low on the totem pole! We need to have our spirit stretched! It is a long, loud blast of a ram’s horn. Look what it says about the Sabbath day and Jubilee in Deuteronomy 5:14-15:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. (And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day).
Jesus—The Sabbath Day
Jubilee correlates with Sabbath. We are laboring to fill our minds with the truth of the finished work that we may enter into rest. The Sabbath day is not a certain day of the week. It is not a Sunday or a Saturday. It has nothing to do with that. Sabbath speaks of rest. Notice, when they came into this rest, they were to remember how God brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. When they came out of Egypt, they took the blood and put it on the doorposts. That did not mean that the death angel was going to pass them by and there would be no death. It meant that the lamb’s death was their death. So Sabbath and Jubilee is about the Feast of Tabernacles. Look what the Feast of Tabernacles is in verse 15—to remember the Lord! They are to remember Passover. Tabernacles is simply a second look at Passover.
Jesus Will Appear The Second Time
That is what we are doing. We are going back for a second look. Thank God for the first look when we were born again! We saw that Jesus died for us. The Church teaches that one man was crucified, died, buried, quickened, raised and seated. That is good as far as they go—that gets them born again. But we are going back to take a second look to see that we were there. That is why Paul could say, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth 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.” In the King James it almost sounds like it is a daily crucifying. But it’s not. It is daily waking up to the fact that it happened 2,000 years ago.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:31-34:
I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat an drink; for to morrow we die. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Paul was persecuted by beasts at Ephesus, who were people. Paul’s dying daily was not him crucifying his flesh, but daily renewing his mind to the fact that he was already crucified as to his old man and alive as to his new creation. You will be persecuted by religious beasts when you bear the message of the finished work of the cross.
We have been teaching too much “processing.” To fill our minds with the finished work is a process. But we’ve looked at processing as suffering and as what we must go through saying, “If we suffer with him, we will reign with him,” rather than looking at it as; “I already suffered with him. I am seated with him in heavenly places in a place of ruling and reigning.” What we need to understand is that it is not so much a processing, but it is a provision. We need to understand that Tabernacles is a second look at Passover. With the second look we see it wasn’t one man that was crucified, but that all men in Adam were crucified. With the second look we see that in Christ all men were reconciled—not saved—but all men were reconciled over 2,000 years ago at the cross of Calvary. Reconciliation is a provision for salvation. Reconcile means “to cancel, to satisfy, to atone for, to cover, and to change mutually.” Salvation is the believing and receiving of that which has been provided.
Jesus—The Promised Land
We are coming into the Promised Land. Actually, we are already in the Promised Land, we’re just waking up to the fact that we’re already there. What is the Promised Land? Jesus is our Promised Land man. The Promised Land is expressing and manifesting him. I know we are not fully expressing and manifesting the full measure of the stature of Christ yet, but we are already in that place. We are not trying to get into the Holy of Holies. We were seated there over 2000 years ago. We are not trying to get into the Promised Land. We are already there. What we are to do is wake up to how we got there so we can have the expression of that.
When a person is born again, they are placed at the finish line. Now we need to look behind, look back to the cross, as we saw John do in the book of Revelation, and see how we got to the finish line. Looking at the sacrifice and our identification with it, is going to gradually remove, as it were, the layers of an onion that have hidden, that have veiled the Christ, and he will be uncovered.
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