An Anti-Christ Spirit Says That God Doesn’t Need You

Last week we talked about one of the implications of the incarnation. We can know God’s will because Jesus came in the flesh. An anti-Christ spirit denies that Jesus came in the flesh and it tells us that God’s will is a mystery.

Today we are looking at another implication of Jesus coming as a man. This is another key to recognizing the lies of an anti-Christ spirit and walking in the anointing.

God Has Always Wanted To Partner With Men!

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God has always wanted to partner with men! He created man in his image and gave men dominion over all the works of his hands. God could have chosen to just control everything himself, but giving dominion and responsibility to men enabled us to partner with him. He did this because he wanted intimacy. He wanted us to be able to share in his work and be partakers in his glory. He loved us! His plan was for the earth to be like heaven as men who were in intimate relationship with him exercised dominion over the earth.

Psalm 8:4-6 (NRSV) …what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?  Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.  You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet

Psalm 115:16 (NRSV) The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings.

Of course, I’m using the terms “man” and “men” in a generic sense. I’m talking about mankind, men and women. Throughout scripture, God has always looked for people to share in his work. Yet all men sinned. It was through man that death came into the world.

Romans 5:12, 14 (NRSV) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned…death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

God could have withdrawn the authority over earth that he gave to men. But he never did. He never gave up on his purpose. He didn’t say, “Oh well, that didn’t work out too well.” Instead, He made a way of redemption. His purposes were unwavering.

Psalm 33:11 (NIV) But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

In a sense, God needs men. Scripture teaches it. I’m not implying that God is not sovereign and all-powerful. God has chosen to need men because of his love and purpose for mankind. He still needs men, because he has never abandoned his purpose for mankind or withdrawn the responsibility that He gave to men.

Amos 3:7 (NIV) Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Ezekiel’s prophesy shows us that God wanted to show mercy on the wicked people of Israel. He looked for one righteous man to stand in the gap, but couldn’t find one. Therefore, his wrath was poured out. God wanted to show mercy, but he needed a man.

Ezekiel 22:29-31 (NIV) The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice. “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Isaiah 59 describes the desperate state of things when all men have sinned and become corrupt. Then it says what God decided to do about it.

Isaiah 59: 15-17, 20(RSV) The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intervene; then his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head…“And he will come to Zion as Redeemer, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord.

Jesus Came In The Flesh Because God Needed A Man

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 Isaiah 59 is a prophecy about Jesus! God needed a man, but he couldn’t find any man that was righteous and could stand in the gap. How did he accomplish victory by “his own arm?” He came as a man. Jesus came as a man!

Jesus needed to come in the flesh because of God’s purposes for man. Jesus needed to come as a man because God gave authority to men, and he needed a righteous man. Just as sin and death came into the world through sinful man, God accomplished his redemption through a righteous man, Jesus!

We already read in Romans 5 that sin and death reigned through sinful man from Adam to Moses. Let’s continue.

Romans 5:15-19 (NRSV) But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.

If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.  Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Do you see how the truth of the incarnation is extended? Redemption came through a righteous man, Jesus. Now righteous men, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, exercise dominion in life. We who are in Christ have received the free gift of righteousness. Now the spirit of Christ dwells in us. We are the body of Christ and have the authority to exercise his dominion. Christ not only came in the flesh, but he has come in our flesh. Paul said it so well in his letter to the Colossians:

Colossians 1:27 (NRSV) To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

More Lies Of An Anti-Christ Spirit Vs. The Truth Of The Incarnation

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Our “hope of glory” is the fact that Christ is in us, God’s will has been revealed to us, and He is able to accomplish it through us! As we saw last week, an anti-Christ spirit says that God’s will is a mystery. It also says that God controls everything and doesn’t need men, because it denies that Jesus came in the flesh. It denies that Jesus came as a man, and it denies that the spirit of Christ dwells in you. It denies that the church is the “body of Christ”.

If we are the body of Christ, then God needs us to accomplish his purposes on the earth. The way he has chosen to work is not from somewhere up the sky, but through you and I. God has revealed his will to you, and he wants to accomplish it through you!

If the anti-Christ spirit can convince us that God doesn’t need us, we won’t do the things that God told us to do. We won’t heal the sick, cast out demons, or set the captives free. We won’t be able to stand in faith or persevere. If we don’t have anything to do with whether or not God’s will happens, there’s not much point to the commands of scripture to pray, to believe, to preach the gospel, or do anything else.

The anointing is the Spirit of God in man. It is Jesus come in the flesh, and it is Jesus come in our flesh. If we don’t do our part, not much will happen. The anti-Christ opposes the anointing by denying that Jesus came in the flesh.

Do you want to see God move? Then act. The Holy Spirit is always working. He’s waiting eagerly for you to partner with him! When I see a person in need, I know the Holy Spirit is working. I just need to do my part and partner with him!

And that’s what God has always wanted! It’s a wonderful privilege that we have to co-labor with God! It’s a love relationship. It’s like a father building a tree-house with his son. The father could do everything himself, but he loves that little boy! He wants to work together with him.

I am overwhelmed with this privilege that God has given me, that I should be called a son of God. I love my Father with all my heart. I pray that each one reading this would come to a realization of the wonderful joy of partnering with the Heavenly Father and sharing in his love and nature.

1 John 3:1 (KJV) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God

My heart overflows with thanksgiving to God. He is wonderful, he is perfect, and his ways are perfect. Everything that he has given me is priceless. I’m not a slave, but a son who knows his Father’s will and gets to do my Father’s business.

Wow! I can’t help but weep with gratefulness to God as I write about these truths. His love is wonderful! Next week, I will continue to share about confronting the influence of an anti-Christ spirit in the church.