day 1558-1560

“For no word from God shall be void of power.”

 (Luke 1:37, ASV)

The previous teaching was concluded with the magnificent promise Jesus makes in John 15:7 – “If you abide in Me, and My [rhema] words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” What a promise!

The immense power that is nestled in rhema-words-in-community becomes the impetus of the new life that is revealed in Christ: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Ponder this, especially also because Jesus had said in John 6:53: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” And a few verses later: “The [rhema] words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” The Message translates it as “a Spirit-word” (verse 63).

According to Rom. 10:18 the following quality is ascribed to these rhema words: “But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ‘Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their [rhema] words to the ends of the world.’” If this is possible then we can begin to understand that this gospel of the glory, specifically this “knowledge of the glory” (2 Cor. 4:6) will spread across the entire earth: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14).

The Bride must start understanding that their rhema word identities are not just something to wear like a name tag, but rather that which is hidden and unique, which God created by uttering it (Ps. 33:6 & 9; 148:5), with all the potential of the power of creation and life nestled within it, coded within us by his DNA-breath. You ARE not only a rhema word, you have your entire life and being because of this rhema word, which is also working within you; each of us is “(equipped for their intended purpose) by the (rhema) word of God” (Heb. 11:3, AMP).

In Luke 1:37 we find the following: “For with God nothing will be impossible.” The word nothing contains the word rhema! The Greek can be translated in more direct terms as: “No rhema word of God can fail”! A translation like ASV presents another compelling iteration: “For no (rhema) word from God shall be void of power.” The AMP reads: “For with God nothing is ever impossible and no (rhema) word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.” Once again: what an incredible promise!

You and I need to realise that our rhema identities are a personal revelation of what your part and position is in Jesus the Christ, thus a unique “express image” (Heb. 1:3, KJV) of the Son – the concrete expression of a facet of his manifold (Eph. 3:10) personality and character.       The following section, from the theologian J. R Durye, describes this “express image” in excellent etymological terms: “For the phrase ‘express image’ there is a single word in the original, a word transferred and familiar in our own language, viz., character. It is formed from a word signifying to sharpen, then to scratch or furrow with a sharp instrument, to write, to engrave. Our term, therefore, means a writing or engraving, and in this sense we often use it. So, also, as a form is engraven on a seal, and then stamped upon wax, the word indicates a figure enstamped upon wax or soft metal. The figure impressed is precisely like the graving which determines it. The word accordingly signifies likeness. Then, from the notion of likeness, it extends to that of sameness, so that we say of one’s combined qualities, they constitute his character, and more emphatically the character is the man. It is the man revealed and known. The Son of God is, then, the revelation of the person of God. And to this term person, in the language of the New Testament, we do not attach the later metaphysical notion. It is simply equivalent to ‘self.’ We have now the whole thought in this pregnant phrase: Jesus Christ is God’s very Self revealed and known. He could say of Himself truly, as He said, ‘He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me.’” (http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/duryea/express_image.htm).

But what Durye says about Jesus as “express image’ of God is precisely applicable to the Bride of Christ as “express image” of Jesus, our Head! Remember the explicit way this is pointed out in 2 Cor. 3:18: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

In John 10:34 Jesus refers to Ps. 82:6 (and notes that this is part of the law!) when He answers the Pharisees on their question about his right to calling Himself the Son of God: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? And then in the next breath He makes sure that this statement is not misunderstood: “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) …” (verse 35). The Amplified Bible spells it out in even stronger terms: “So men are called gods [by the Law], men to whom God’s message came — and the Scripture cannot be set aside or cancelled or broken or annulled—”.

The word that is used in Hebrew to denote “gods” is ‘ĕlôhı̂ym, which in transliterated spelling is Elohim. This word is found 32 times in Gen. 1 alone, and which points to the revealed Name of the Living God. But here, even if He is a “one and only God” (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29), He speaks of Himself as “us” – “Let Us make man …” (Gen. 1:26). Heb. 1:3 speaks of Jesus in these same terms: “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word [= rhema] of His power”. Remember – this is the verse where the phrase “express image” is used! Thus: the express image of God’s “express image” in the Bride carries all things through power! This word power can best be described as the spiritual life force that is nestled in the Christ, which is made possible by “the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). The Holy Spirit, who is also the returned Lord Jesus, is often presented as “power”:

 

  • “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee …” (Luke 4:14)
  • “… but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49)
  • “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you …” (Acts 1:8)
  • “… how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38)
  • “Jesus Christ … declared to bethe Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1:4).
  • “that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13)
  • “in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God …” (Rom. 15:19)
  • “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man …” (Eph. 3:16)
  • “… in power, and in the Holy Spirit …” (1 Thess. 1:5).

 

If we understand that there is an inseparable bond between this power and the Spirit, it is very important that we realise that “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3)! Everything! If “the gospel of Christ … is the power of God” (Rom. 1:16), but is simultaneously called “the power … of God” (1 Cor. 1:24), then it becomes clear why 2 Cor. 12:9 speaks directly of “the power of Christ [which] may rest upon me”. In addition, it is “the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20) – this is “His working which works in me mightily” (Col. 1:29). Remember what we quoted earlier: “For no (rhema) word from God shall be void of power.” (Luke 1:37, ASV). For the first time I truly understand Phil. 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

As we ponder the Christ, and the rhema words thus dwell within us, 1 Tim. 1:12 will become manifest, that we can say, like Paul: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me.” (Take note: Christ Jesus.) With this teaching 2 Pet. 1:16 is made manifest: “we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ …” Indeed: “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come …” (Rev. 12:10).

The power that rightfully belongs to God and Jesus (Matt. 6:13, 1 Pet. 4:11; 5:11), which is His property (Rev. 12:10), is inherited by His sons (or Bride): “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12).

For centuries, the church believed in the anointing of individuals, referred to as “the anointed,” like Smith Wigglesworth and John G Lake, who were known for the miracles that marked their ministries. These types of signs and wonders are obviously a great gift, but should never become a goal in itself. In this dispensation of the third dimension the focus is no longer on the individual who has particular gifts. It is absolutely clear the focus lies on “being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). As Paul beautifully explains in Rom. 15:19: “in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God … fully preach … the gospel of Christ”. People are often compelled to faith through signs and wonders, but when the newness of the miracle has become old the amazement fades, and leaves no foundation on which to build. Therefore, Jesus says in John 4:48: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.’” After all, He knew this from His own life: “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him …” (John 12:37).

The earth has not been changed much by believers in the last two thousand years, despite sporadic miracles. There is a new dispensation in the third day of corporate resurrection power. This spiritual power is only possible when they move in the Bride, in wheels within wheels (Ezek. 1:16), the ecclesia reflecting “the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph. 3:10). Every ecclesia-edition of rhema-words-in-community is “one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Rom. 12:5). These rhema-words-in-community will release “the power of Christ” (2 Cor. 12:9). Thus “the personal self-disclosure of God in His total being; the virtual concrete expression of His personality” takes place. This statement of Dr. D. W. Ekstrand specifically refers to Jesus as the Logos word of God (http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/spiritual-life-studies/the-power-of-god-s-word), but it could also serve as a particular formulation of the nature and function of rhema words. As we ponder these words, internalising them and having them dwell in us, the new dispensation of power will be manifested in exponential terms. “For no (rhema) word from God shall be void of power.” (Luke 1:37, ASV).

 

  • Selah: Ponder the possibilities of this new dispensation.
  • Read: Luke 22-24 and John 1-6
  • Memorise: John 1:14
  • For a more in-depth understanding: Read one of the articles mentioned in the teaching.