Skip to content Fully Defined Part 4 with Kenny Luck Feb 5 · 31 min ...more
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Defining Moments and Jesus' Authority 0:00 Welcome to the men's global livestream. If you have a bible, I want you to hold 2 spots. 1 in Matthew 16 and the other in Ephesians 2. Now we are in part 4 of our series0:12 called fully defined, and the theme is simple. All of us have defining moments. You know, those moments that fundamentally change the arc of your life, take0:24 it in a new major, direction. And what we're saying is that all of us have those. You know, it might be meeting someone that changes the arc of your life. Getting engaged, graduating from college, getting0:35 your first job, leaving a job. Those are kind of positive developments that can be negative too. You can lose somebody in your life. You can experience trauma. Right? You can you might be forced to move.0:47 Your family might break apart. So, these are defining moments which, dramatically impact how we view ourselves, our purpose, our future. They're big. But the Bible says that there's0:59 no bigger defining moment for any man other than when he decides to cross the line and to begin and eternally continue a relationship1:11 with God himself through the person of Jesus Christ. And the reason why that is the biggest defining moment and should fully define us is because it changes our1:23 identity. How how I how I believe, how I behave, It changes our energy, where we put it, our filter for decision making, which ultimately1:35 changes our expression in every dimension, in every space, in every place. And we're learning that that is exactly God's intention. Your1:47 relationship with God, from God's perspective, is designed and intended to fully define you. And so in part 1, we learned a little1:58 bit about God's intention to make us like Christ and that being like Christ fully defines us. And in this series, we've been seeing how life with God and life in2:10 God is intimately linked to the experiences of the son of God. Say, Kenny, what do you mean? Well, Jesus lived a life on earth that we're2:22 called to imitate. He died a death. He died for sin. We die to sin. He came alive, again, on earth for God's purposes. We come alive to God's purposes2:34 on earth. He is now seated at the right hand of majesty with God. We also, the Bible teaches, are seated with him, and that's what we're gonna look at today. And2:46 he's coming again in glory, and Jesus glorified, is glorifying, and will glorify God. Those are all intended to fully2:58 define our spiritual process and fully define our spiritual experiences. So now, in part 4, what we want to do is we want to look at that 1 aspect of Jesus' literal3:10 existence and how that fully defines us, and that is that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. And when you talk about seating, in the Bible,3:22 you have to talk about authority because seating and authority are intimately linked. So here's the progression of how our study's gonna go and I hope that you have the downloaded notes because then you3:34 can follow right along and do the fill ins and see the scriptures all right there. First, we have to see how Jesus viewed his authority as a basis for understanding seating, and3:46 then how he wanted his followers to view their authority. Second, we're gonna see what the Bible says about being seated with Christ. Third, we're gonna apply how being seated3:58 with Christ presently impacts our daily spiritual life. But first thing we want to do is we want to watch Jesus. We want to see how he spoke about, and how he lived out4:10 his heavenly identity, and his heavenly position here on earth. Because what we'll find out is that heaven's agenda is the prevailing4:22 matter. We see in John chapter 10 at the top of your notes, verse 17, Jesus saying this, the reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No4:34 1 takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received4:46 from my father. So you see Jesus living out his heavenly identity, listen, and his heavenly position on earth. Who talks like that? Right? What is he saying? He's4:58 like, you're not in charge. Man is not in charge. Even though it may appear that man is in charge, man's not in charge. I'm in charge. I am voluntarily laying down5:10 my life because I have a command from the father to do that. And so God's agenda is primary for man, and that is unfolding, not man's agenda for me.5:23 I'm gonna say that again. God's agenda for man is unfolding, not man's agenda for me. This is Jesus, and Jesus is in us, and we're gonna learn that this is gonna be5:35 us. He started communicating that to the disciples, especially as, he was standing in the shadow of the cross. And we read about that in Matthew5:46 28. And just remember these themes of seating and authority, heavenly identity, heavenly position. Right? Says this in Matthew 28. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee5:58 to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and6:10 on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have6:22 commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. And so we see in this passage, Jesus talking6:33 about how authority in heaven and authority on earth has been granted to him, and that is the basis for him then saying, all right, go and6:45 advance heaven's agenda. So we wanna make 3 simple but 3 very profound observations about spiritual authority based on Jesus6:57 living out his heavenly identity and position and on this commissioning statement to the disciples. And the first thing we want to observe is that Jesus exercised spiritual authority. You see in7:09 that passage about, he has authority to lay down his life, he has authority to take it up again. And that's the command he received from the father. Alright? So7:21 Jesus on earth exercised spiritual authority. Just make that simple affirmation. Second observation is Jesus delegated his spiritual authority to the disciples.7:34 Right? That's an easy 1. All authority's mine, you're connected to me, now go. In my authority, to make disciples of all the nations, advance heaven's7:45 agenda, equip the saints, and I'm gonna be with you the whole time. So you see that Jesus not only exercised spiritual authority, but he delegated spiritual authority. And then third,7:57 we see from the great commission that we just read in Matthew 28, Jesus expects us to use our spiritual authority. Write that down. So it's it's8:09 it's an easy connection to make, although it's a harder connection to fully define ourselves by and understand, but maybe this will help. So this is Jesus, he's exercising his spiritual8:21 authority. Jesus is in us, right? And if Jesus is in us, that means he's delegating his spiritual authority to us, and and this is us. We're actually8:34 expected to use our spiritual authority because he's in us. Here on earth, we're gonna use our authority from heaven. So just make that connection. Jesus kinda sealed this8:45 concept in Matthew 16 when he was talking to his guys about these these things related to spiritual authority. Listen to what he says. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of8:57 heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So there's that heaven and earth direct9:09 connection of energy and activity and authority, and it's happening in parallel time. Right? There's heaven's agenda, there's what's happening9:21 on earth, and heaven's agenda is being executed on earth. And there's a direct line for the believer of power and authority from above,9:33 right, for use of the by the believer on earth. So there's the foundation. There's heaven. There's earth. There's position in heaven,Seated with Christ in Heavenly Realms 9:45 and there's practice of that position here on earth, both by Jesus and by the disciples who are commissioned, to do that. And so now we need to look at, you know,9:56 how our seating with Christ gives us access and authority to use on earth. And so just to kinda set this up, we have to follow the journey of Jesus.10:08 Right? He lived a life. He died a death. He came alive again on earth, and now he is presently seated at the right hand of the father. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, after he10:20 had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of majesty in heaven. So if you're unfamiliar with biblical images, terms,10:32 when you're at the right hand, you are in the position of power. You are in the position of authority. So, thrones, seating,10:45 positions, power, authority. I think you you get the picture. Right? And, it talks about how this experience of seating10:57 is our spiritual process and reality because we are fully identified with Christ. We're baptized into his life, the Bible11:08 says. We are fully immersed in his life, his life on earth, his crucifixion, his resurrection, his seeding, talks about this in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7. It says this,11:20 but because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.11:32 And God raised us up with Christ, listen, and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. In order that, in the coming ages, he might show11:44 the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. It is just a miracle that God who is in11:56 his position humbled himself and came and joined us. And then for those who would believe in the person and work of Christ, that God would fully identify12:08 us with Jesus in these ways that we've been talking about in this series, fully defined. And so when it comes to Jesus'12:20 actual experiences on earth and now his seating in heaven, these become our spiritual process that we have to work out. But I want us to make a few12:32 observations here. So write these down. Presently, in Christ, we have a new position in heaven. So the Bible says in that passage,12:43 God raised us up and seated us with him. So Jesus lived a life, he died a death, he came alive again on earth, and then the disciples watch him ascend into heaven, and now he's seated, he's completed his work on earth,12:55 now he's seated in a position of power. And the Bible says that we now, presently, spiritually, in the heavenly realms are13:06 also co seeded. We're co crucified, we're co resurrected, we're co seeded. So we actually, because we're fully identified with Christ, we're seated with him in13:18 that position right now. Secondly and presently, we have a new arena of existence. It says that we're seated with13:30 him, in the heavenly realms. K? There's a it's a supernatural realm. It's not a realm that you see. It's the13:42 unseen realm of the supernatural. It's the unseen realm and agenda of the kingdom of god, and it's the unseen realm of those forces aligned against13:54 the kingdom of God, God himself, and God's agenda. So we have a new arena of existence. Right? The unseen spiritual reality of14:06 supernatural forces, supernatural agendas. Right? The kingdom of God. Alright? Third, presently in Christ, we have new rights in the kingdom of14:17 God, in Christ. So because we're fully identified with Christ, and because Christ is seated in a position of power and authority, and because we are now included14:29 with him in that seating, in that arena of existence, right now, again, there's the heaven to earth connection. There's heavenly realms that are operating right alongside14:41 the earthly realm in space and time. We have new rights that we have now acquired because of our full identification in Christ. And14:53 we are in a process, spiritually, of learning what those are, possessing them, and exercising those rights. And so the new position, the new arena, the new right, the15:05 Bible says to fight the spiritual battle. Talks about that in second Corinthians chapter 5. It says, for though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons15:17 we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up15:28 against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. So this new right to the kingdom, the new15:40 rights that we have is 1 of the major rights, is that we have the right to fight the spiritual powers that are against the kingdom of God15:52 here on Earth. Right? And all of that happens, the the new position, new arena of existence, the new right that we have in the kingdom, that all happens because16:05 we're seated with Christ in the heavenly realms right now. It's not a then and there thing. It's a here and now thing. Otherwise,16:17 you wouldn't have Paul talk about spiritual warfare in the life of the believer, and our capacity and ability to demolish16:28 strongholds that are raised up against the knowledge of God here on earth. So it's it's it's pretty cool. Now the question is, is how do we work it out? And to16:40 get us thinking in the right direction, I want you to think about, of your favorite sports team. K. Could be football, baseball, hockey, or just, you know, your favorite music band or16:52 whatever. K. And they're playing at, at a big stadium or a big arena. And that big stadium or arena has the sky boxes. Right? Everybody know17:04 what the sky boxes are? Those beautiful places. If you've ever had the chance to go into 1, I've I've had I've been in 1 a couple of times. And man, here's the deal. It's17:15 better seats, better benefits, better experience. Right? And, when you get to the better seat. Right? Better seat, better17:27 benefits, better experience. Right? And and that's kinda how I want you to think about this seating with Christ. If if you have been given a seat with Christ in the17:39 heavenly rooms, and you're not accessing it and enjoying it, and you have the best seat in the house, and there's benefits to being there, man, only a fool would17:51 say no to skybox seats. Only a foolish believer would say no or not take advantage of their seating in Christ. Why? Because the the the18:03 better the experience, the bigger the spiritual wins in your life. And that's how we have to think about our seating in Christ. So what does being seated with Christ mean for18:14 my day to day life with God and in God? Number 1, this means that I have a new focus and mindset. I mean, just imagine somebody giving you, you know, those skybox tickets. ThatPracticing Heavenly Access on Earth 18:26 kinda changes the way you're gonna look at this experience, right? That you're about to have. And that's what the Bible says. It changes you. If you understand this, it changes your18:38 focus and your mindset. Says this in Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 4. Since then, alright, so since then, this has happened, you've been raised with Christ, set your18:50 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 is19:02 now hidden with Christ in god. And when Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. So you see this like, hey,19:14 this has happened. This is you. These are yours. This access is now yours. So now your energy is on heaven's agenda first. Your filter19:27 for decision making is rooted on heaven's agenda first. Why? Because you you're Christ is seated at the right hand of God and you19:39 your life, the Bible says, is now hidden with Christ in God. Well, where is he? He's he's seated in a position of access and power and authority. So we're partners19:51 in this. Now we're citizens of heaven, and we're seated with Christ. And now it's all about heaven's agenda. So when you are seated with Christ and fully defined by him, what it means day to day20:04 is that your focus is eternal. Your mindset is eternal. You're seated in the heavenly realms? Great. We're concerned with heavenly purposes. Secondly,20:15 this means that I have all the privileges of a son of god. Well, this is what the Bible says in Ephesians 2. For through him, we both have20:27 access to the father by 1 spirit. Consequently, you're no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people. And listen, and also members20:39 of his household. Okay. So dads, you know how this works. Your kid shows up at work. Maybe someone notifies you. Do they have20:51 freedom of access to you if your kid shows up at work? Of course they do. That's kind of the picture of what the Bible is saying. It's just like, okay, through Christ, he's our ticket in to the father. Right?21:03 We have access to the father by 1 spirit. So we have freedom of access, we have freedom to exercise authority, we have freedom to ask, right, and advance21:16 the kingdom of God in our personal lives and in the lives of others that we meet. So, what does seeding mean practically? Right? It21:28 means my focus is heavenly. It means that I have some privileges that I gotta figure out that I do have and I need to access those privileges. Third, this means I practice the life of heaven21:40 here on earth. And this is that, this is how we're fully defined by Jesus. Jesus practiced the life of heaven in heaven, but he practiced the life of heaven here21:52 on earth. Why? Because he's a citizen. He's the he's the son of god. He's god. Right? Now we're citizens of heaven. We practice the life of heaven here on earth. Talks about that in Hebrews 4. It says, now that we22:04 know what we have, Jesus, this great high priest, was ready access to god. Let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our22:16 reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all, all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to22:27 give. Take mercy. Accept the help. So you see that there is this this emphasis on access and practicing the life of22:39 heaven here on earth. So we can go to God. We're walking on earth, but we have a connection to the most high God. And we can connect with the most high God, and22:51 we can bring heaven down to earth. That's why the Lord said, when you pray, pray along with the others. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth23:03 as it is in heaven. A lot of light bulbs are going off right now. Okay? So we practice the life of heaven here on earth. The fourth thing that this means is it means that we call on god23:16 in all things. And why wouldn't you? Right? That's why Jesus says, your kingdom come, your will be done. That's how we're supposed to pray. And a man23:27 with full access to God, listen, is constantly praying to God. Again, why wouldn't you? Right? And there's a personal23:39 aspect to that, and then there's a other centered aspect to that. Let's look at the personal aspect of that. Philippians chapter 4 says this, don't fret or worry. Instead of23:51 worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting god know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of god's wholeness,24:02 everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. This is the most24:14 stabilizing aspect of having seating, access, and authority with Christ right now, is that we can call on God,24:26 and we can displace worry and concerns happening on the insides, and we can bring God into that. And we can push those things to him because his shoulders are bigger and his capacity is way24:38 better. And then what happens is is that God, who's bigger than all those things that concern us and creates so much anxiety, he exchanges our panic and our worry for24:49 peace. Why? Because he's got it. But you don't get that peace unless you're calling on God and the concerns for your life. Now Satan's goal is just to mute25:01 or limit or distract you from talking to God. Don't let him do it. That's why on the global live stream, we're always saying, man, get your nose in this book first thing of the day. Start your day with25:13 God, talk to God, call down heaven, displace your concerns and worries, put it into God's pile, and that peace from knowing that it's in God's pile and God's at work on25:25 it, and he's gonna give us an answer. Might be a no, might be a yes, might be a not yet, but we're gonna trust his answer because he's good and he knows what's best for us. Man, that is just like,25:37 okay, God's got a plan and I'm part of it. And when I pray, I participate in that plan and the result is peace. So that's the personal aspect25:49 of being seated with God is that we have access and we can talk directly to God about the personal things in our lives. And we can ask for his kingdom to come. We can ask for his will to be done.26:02 And as a result, we experience peace. But there's also this other this other centered aspect and outbound aspect and influence aspect of26:14 being seated with Christ. And we read about it in James 5 13 to 15. It says this, is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of26:26 praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the lord. So a person with full access to god is certainly26:38 praying all the time to god about personal stuff but a person with full access to god is also for praying is also praying all the time for those they personally26:49 encounter to bless them, to protect them. It starts in your first circle. Men, for your wives, and for your kids, and in your family, in your neighborhood, where you work, where you live, where you pray,27:01 where you play. You can bring the kingdom of God into every space and dimension that your feet take you in. And that is God's intention. Right? God wants you to do that.27:13 Remember? Jesus said, go. All authority in heaven has been given to me, so go. Right? You're fully identified with Christ, co crucified, co resurrected,27:25 co seeded. Right? Which means what? I have access to access to heaven to work out here on earth, and I practice that access.27:37 Okay? So this is this is huge. This will change your life if you really understand this and you begin to practice,27:49 the access and authority that you have by being seated with Christ. We're fully identified with him. His literal and physical existence, both here on earth and now in heaven, is our28:01 spiritual process to work out. Alright? So in the downloaded notes, you have some questions that you'll wanna go through, and preferably do it, with a group. But what I wanna do28:13 right now is I just wanna I wanna sink this truth into your spirit, again, because we have access through prayer. So let's use our access right28:25 now. Okay? We got a ticket for the skybox. Better the seat, better the experience, bigger the win. Right? So now we're gonna punch our ticket, and we're gonna go to God. Why?28:36 Because we have we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm. So let's go to the heavenly realm right now. Father in heaven, we come to you because of Jesus. The28:48 blood of Christ was shed for us. The blood of Christ covers us. Your word tells us that we have direct access to you, lord. And we thank you that not only do we have access to29:00 you through Christ, but you want us to have intimate access. Jesus, thank you for showing us how to live the life of heaven out29:12 here on earth. God remind us of our heavenly identity and our heavenly position that like you, because you live in us, we're gonna live out here on earth.29:24 Jesus, thank you for our new position in you. Thank you for this new participation that you have welcomed us into called the kingdom of29:35 God. And thank you for these practical ways that come from our being seated with you. So so, Jesus, we're just we got a plain and simple request.29:48 Help to practice our access. Help us to practice our seeding with you. Let it define our energy, our focus, how we live,30:00 and where we live, and where we work. Let us let it be an influence that we can practice our seeding with you and the authority that you've delegated to us by calling down30:11 heaven into the spaces and places we find ourselves here on earth, in the relationships that we find ourselves in here on earth, in every situation we find ourselves in here on30:23 earth. Why? Because you've seated us with Christ in the heavenlies. That is a miracle. We thank you for it, and we ask that your fullest intention for30:35 that seeding of us with Jesus be worked out in our lives in the days to come until we meet you face to face. In Christ's name we pray, and God's30:47 men said, amen. God bless you, and we'll see you next week.In this video 0:00 Defining Moments and Jesus' Authority9:40 Seated with Christ in Heavenly Realms18:20 Practicing Heavenly Access on Earth56K followers
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