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The Message of the Cross

1st Corinthians 1:18 says the message of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing, but to us that are being saved it is the power of God.

This is a fascinating statement that points us to what we desperately need. The power of God is quite literally the key to victory. And the verse tells us that the message of the cross is the power of God.

What exactly is “the message of the cross?” Some may assume the message is that Jesus went to the cross and rose again, but it goes deeper than that.

Today we’ll explore the message of the cross, and how it is the power of God.

God’s Chastening in the New Covenant

The chastisement of God is a mysterious and frightening thing for many people. Simply mentioning the word ‘chastisement’ conjures up thoughts of severe beatings, pain, suffering, and many other kinds of punishment.

Today we will be looking at God’s chastisement as defined in the scriptures in the light of the New Covenant in Christ. It is through Jesus that things can be clearly seen, and when dealing with something as intimidating as divine chastisement, it benefits us to have the clear perspective of Jesus’ atonement.

Living in Union With Christ

Over the last four weeks we’ve explored the various aspects of New Covenant deliverance from strongholds. We’ve seen the foundation of what strongholds are, how they come, and how they fall. And last week, we began looking at how to attain freedom from strongholds through Christ— and that’s a crucial distinction.

The draw of Christian performance, legalism, and religiosity can be very strong. And oftentimes, we resort to self-effort to attempt to break free from strongholds or when we feel pressure from circumstances. 

Today we will conclude our series on New Covenant deliverance by seeing how to apply what we have learned in daily life, to break free from strongholds, through Christ, without any self getting in the way.

Freedom Through Jesus’ Obedience

For the last three weeks we’ve been exploring New Covenant deliverance from strongholds. We’ve looked at what strongholds are (imaginations, thoughts, emotions, feelings, and traditions that exalt themselves above Jesus), and we also saw the foundation of the finished work of Christ and our new identity in Him upon which our freedom stems.

Today we are going to continue from where we paused last week and go deeper into how to apply the deliverance  of Christ based on His sacrifice, and our new identity in Him as reborn new creation.

Breaking Strongholds (part 2)

In last week’s video we began looking at strongholds, and how we can have freedom from them, not by efforts, but by resting and receiving the grace of Christ through our reborn identity in Jesus Christ.

Strongholds can be utterly debilitating, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Even if they don’t appear to be that harmful at first, the doubt, fear, and uncertainty they cause can be quite costly in the long term.

Although many of us can recognize at least some part of a stronghold when it grips us… we know on the inside that something just isn’t right, we also, at the same time feel powerless to do anything about it. We fight, struggle and try to break free, and we might experience some kind of success for a day, week, or even a month, but then we find ourselves right back where we started.

This vicious cycle can cause people to doubt the efficacy of their salvation; to just give up and throw-in the towel and become depressed, and disillusioned.

However, as we began to uncover last week, our victory through Christ is greater than our perceptions. And today we continue exploring how our new identity in Christ gives us freedom from strongholds.

Breaking Strongholds (part 1)

Do you have a nagging thought or feeling that you just can’t seem to shake? Perhaps an addiction, or sin that seems to persist despite your best efforts? Some camps within Christianity would claim that this is a sign of demon possession or that you need a spiritual intervention, usually in the form of a special deliverance or healing.

Such rhetoric can breed a lot of fear and uncertainty, leading to thinking that there’s something wrong with you, or that you’re not even saved.

Countless Christians have lost hope or given up entirely because of these ideas; so today we will explore how to truly break strongholds, through our union with Christ.

What the Prince of Peace Means for You

Of the many titles given to Jesus, none are perhaps quite as striking as “the Prince of Peace.”  When considering the names and titles which God describes Himself to us as, we should remember that God doesn’t need to name himself for His benefit. Whenever God gives himself a name, he does it for our benefit.

So when the God-breathed, holy Spirit inspired scriptures refers to Jesus as the Prince of Peace, what does that mean? That’s a challenging question to answer, but it’s vital to understand to appreciate the gift of divine peace that Jesus gives to us.

Speak to Your Mountain

When faced with a problem, the typical Christian can react in a few different ways:

With extreme passivity — “everything is God’s will; he’ll help if he wants to”
With self-abasement, doubt — “Why is this happening? Am I being punished?”
With anger and resentment — “How could God do this to me! This is bogus!”
While all of these positions look at the problem from a slightly different angle, they all produce the same result; these ideas immobilize you.

Think about it; if you believe that absolutely everything is God’s will, then you will never resist anything, because all of it is his will. So when spiritual forces attack, you’ll just roll over and accept it because, hey, it’s God’s will.

Similarly, if you believe that negative situations are God’s punishment for some wrong you’ve committed, then you still will not resist, because you deserve what is happening… it’s your punishment after all. So you’ll just suffer through the pain.

And the third idea is even more straightforward. You just directly accuse God of causing the problem.

All of these ideas keep you in a mental and spiritual box— never able to move forward, because moving forward requires the power of God. But if you see God as the source of your suffering or somehow complicit in it, then there’s no reason to even ask him for help!

Looking at things this way can seem rather hopeless; but all is not as it appears. The scriptures show us a different perspective; one not of hopeless reassignment to loss, but one of strength, power, and victory.

Why No Evil Can Touch You

There are many promises and facts in scripture that assure us of wonderful things. Promises for a future in the heavenly Kingdom of God, and facts that we can stand on right now to secure us in the truth and free us from bondage and fear.

One particular fact that is very powerful yet a often ignored or misunderstood comes from Psalm 91:10 which says that no evil shall befall you.

For many people, these words are too fantastic to believe. Surely God did mean to suggest that no evil could touch us! You’re dreaming!

But what if He did mean it? How would that change your outlook, your emotions, or even your life? Let’s check it out.