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Sonship: A Spirit Realm Perspective

Spirit School

God has adopted us into his family: he has made us his sons and daughters. This is true of every single person who believes in Jesus Christ, which means all the promises and spiritual realities that are entailed with being a son or daughter of God, are true for every believer.

 

The Holy Bible is very clear that we have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:3). We receive every single spiritual blessing straight from God. Nothing can cause him to withhold his love from us as we remain in him, that is, to believe in Jesus Christ.

 

As God commands a blessing toward us, so his spirit agents, the angels, must also work according to his word and will. This means the angels are continually working to ensure we are spiritually blessed. We have all of heaven behind us, constantly blessing us. In Revelation 8:1 there was silence for half an hour in heaven. John made the point of the silence because silence was unusual, if it happened at all in the heavenly realms. Heaven is full of noise - praise to God, honour to God and blessing to God, but also noise of angelic chattering and discussing as they strategise to fulfil God’s will toward us.

 

Romans 12 tells us our good deeds we do, are considered worship to God. Worship is not just the songs we sing. So it is with the angelic realm: worship is considered the good deeds the angels do, in accordance with the will of God, and his will is that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

 

The Apostle Paul had such a great understanding of this reality, he must have struggled with the concepts of being blessed amidst persecution, beatings, suffering, poverty, hunger and worse. He even addresses this in Romans 8:31-39, where he raises the question:

 

If we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, why do we suffer so much on Earth? Surely being blessed of God should mean that everything goes well for us, right?

 

Paul goes on to answer and explain that our blessing in the heavenly realms is just that - in the heavenly realms. We may be blessed here on Earth but that is not a reflection of our spiritual reality, which is hidden from the visible eyes and the physical realm. Our blessing is hidden in Christ, wrapped up and entangled into our identity and reality of being united with God in spirit. So then, as one with the Lord in spirit, so every good thing that flows from him, flows into our spirit, moment by moment. That is life, a renewed heart, a renewed mind, kindness, gentleness, patience, grace, mercy and everything that is according to love, as God is love (1 John 4:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4 - 7).

 

In every circumstance our spirits are united with God, so nothing can separate us from the love of God. Our physical situation on Earth: our wealth, our bank account, possessions, popularity, number of social media followers etc, is not a reflection of our spiritual blessing. In fact, if we suffer for the name of Jesus Christ then we are even more blessed, for the spirit of glory rests upon us (1 Peter 4:14).

 

It is as if when God sees that we suffer for the name of his son, Jesus Christ, he rushes toward us and clothes us in a special way, with his glory so that all of the heavenly realm may witness how much he loves us. What an amazing blessing, to be vindicated by God in the heavenly realms in such a way, that all the angels and all the demonic realm should witness his glory resting upon us.

Glory

God’s glory is so special, for by it the Israelites knew they could win wars. It was even said that if the spirit of God did not go with the Israelites, they would perish. This is why the ark of the covenant went out first, with singers and praises to God. 2 Chronicles 20:22 shows us that at times, it was by praising God that the people won battles.

 

Exodus 33:14 - 16 we see that it is by God’s presence, we are marked as different from the rest of the world. When the spirit of glory and of God rests upon us, we shine bright. It is as if when we are persecuted, we attain a brighter glory than is attainable elsewhere.

 

The passage in Exodus also tells us the presence of God gives us rest, and Jesus encouraged people to come to him to find rest (Matthew 11:28 - 30). The spirit of God is found in rest, peace, joy and praise, while the glory of God is found in persecution and suffering for Jesus’ name and is often an unseen thing.

 

When Stephen was martyred for carrying the name of Jesus Christ, the people witnessed his appearance change (Acts 6:15). In the suffering and persecution for Jesus Christ, God revealed his glory that rested upon Stephen and his face changed so that he appeared to look like an angel. This is how we look in the spirit realm when we face troubles for the name of Jesus Christ, because God wraps his blessing, and so his glory, around us.

 

In Matthew 13:34 and Daniel 12:3, God has revealed that the righteous (we who believe in Jesus Christ) will shine bright. Our eventual end is to be clothed in the glory of God that shines so bright, we will have the likeness of the bright shining sun!

 

How easy is it then, for angels to recognise us, for our spirits are clothed in Christ, united and bound into his spirit. We are marked (Ephesians 1:13) as targets to receive every spiritual blessing of God.

Clothed With Power

As he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). Jesus Christ is God, so he is love. Among some things, love is patient, kind, gentle, keeps no record of wrongs and delights with what is good. So these things mark the spirit of Jesus, and so they mark our spirits too as we are united with Jesus Christ in spirit.

 

So as he is, so are we: we are patient, we are kind, we keep no record of wrongs, we delight with what is good.

 

Although these are the foundations to the nature of immortality, for love (and all that love is) shall remain forever, there is another spiritual reality that has been blessed to us. Jesus promised his disciples that they would be clothed with power from on high, and they should not go out to fulfill his commission until they were clothed.

 

This parallels the model in the old testament as seen in Exodus 33:14 where Moses did not want to go from where he was, unless the spirit of God went with him and the people. It is because the spirit of God distinguishes us from the people around us.

 

How can this be, as the things of spirit are invisible?

 

The answer is in the fact that our difference is in our hearts and minds, being conformed to the heart and mind of Christ but it is also in the reality that, being united with Christ has made our spirits so bright, we shine in the spirit realm.

 

Imagine for a moment that God is holding a blessing in his hand for you. Using biblical imagery for God the Father, he is light and every good and perfect gift comes from him, the Father of lights. In his light we see light, so light comes from the Father. So it is that blessings in the spirit realm are represented by light. The blessing that the Father holds has the appearance of light, and it is imparted into our spirit, which is also light (Matthew 5:14).

 

The light of our spirit signifies our spiritual blessing, for without Christ we remain in spiritual darkness but in Christ, we have come into the glorious light of God. Our spiritual blessing causes us to be so apparent to the heavenly realm as our spirits shine like stars.

 

As we are clothed in the light of God, so we are clothed in the power of God. Just as Jesus Christ was raised from death in power and by the power of God, so he has clothed us with the same power. Our spiritual blessing is that we are clothed with power from on high.

The Backing Of Heaven

The angels are working for our good, ministering to our spirits through every situation. They minister and are attracted towards those who are clothed with the spirit of God, just as by his spirit we are marked, so we are now a magnet for the angelic activity that imparts blessings into our spirit.

 

When Jesus was in the garden of gethsemane, the angels appeared and ministered to him. In his hour of need, the angelic realm moved with blessings from heaven to strengthen his spirit. So it is with us, the angelic realm moves and operates to bring the blessings of the heavenly realms to be imparted into our spirit.

 

The ArcAngel Michael is described as the prince of the people of God, the angel who presides over them and commands angels under his charge. Michael, who is so highly revered among all angels, commands the angels under him to minister to us. They work day and night for our good, they even long to look into the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ because they have witnessed how good a spiritual blessing it is. Naturally curious as to the ways of God, they want to understand the mechanics and spiritual principles that have given us such a huge privilege and standing with God.

 

The angels adore and love God. For them to witness how close we get to God by the power of his spirit, is a mystery and a delight to them. It brings so much joy to the angels when they minister the blessings of God into our lives, because they rejoice with good just as love rejoices with good.

 

We have been seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realms, one of the highest spiritual blessings we can receive, which comes as a result of being united into his spirit. So as the angels walk around the heavenly realms, they acknowledge as see our spirit connection with God. It is something that can not be ignored and is witnessed by the entire spirit realm.

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