Will You Test Positive+ for ChrisϮ?

What is your belief based on Job or Christ? The purpose of this teaching is to help you move from the mindset of victim to victor.

“God allowed the trials to come on Job so God allowed the trials in my life also”

to

“God allowed Jesus to give me life so I will walk in that life”

For a New Testament believer, the story of Job is not an apples-to-apples comparison as we live in a different dispensation from that of Job. So, does this mean that the book of Job isn’t relevant to us today? Of course, not. There are many differences between us and Job, just as there are differences between N.T. believers and Abraham or Moses. But we can still learn tremendous lessons from these O.T. saints (1 Corinthians 10:6 and 11) and they are presented in the Bible for the purpose of our learning and edification. Given that we live in a sinful world, nearly everyone can associate in some way or other with Job because his life is filled with trials of various kinds and while there is an element of comfort one might seek from the story of Job, that comfort should not be at the cost of our ignorance or misunderstanding of the true character of God. We may be experiencing tribulations in our lives but we do not live in the same dispensation that Job was living in. Instead

God has purchased our redemption at a high price. It was not available to Job. Therefore, we must allow the word of God to determine the way we react when trials come in our lives. We have the mind of Christ and by that, God has given us the ability to understand Him fully. We have the word of God written and preserved over the ages so that in these last days, the Holy Spirit can teach us through the written word. Outlined are nine summarized differences between Job and a New Testament believer so that we can live to the fullest in the purchased redemption.

1. Jesus is the Son of the living God

John 14:9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

True revelation of God is in Jesus Christ! Truth and grace to the fullest extent were revealed in flesh in Christ. Jesus is the express image of the Father’s person. Jesus and God are not of different minds. They have the same Spirit in them and the same Spirit is in us too! Jesus is not different from the Old Testament God as most believe. He is the true representation of grace and truth in flesh. Until Jesus, people were operating under a limited revelation of God through the voice of the prophets but now God is revealed in Jesus who is the perfect expression of God.

Hebrews 1:3

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

The word ‘express image’ in Hebrews 1:3 literally means ‘character’. So in other words, Jesus is the true character and the nature of God. All that is true of God is true of Jesus.

Colossians 1:15

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

The account of transfiguration of Jesus on the high mountain is recorded in all the synoptic gospels implying that it is a significant event. Peter, James and John saw His face shine like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light. Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with Jesus.

Mathew 17:4-5

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”

Moses and Elijah represented the time of law and Jesus represents the grace! God commanded the disciples to ‘Hear Him’, to listen to Jesus.

2. Our Position in God’s family

Our position in the Kingdom of God is placed in Christ. We are in the very family of God. When we were born again, the Holy Spirit baptized us into the body of Jesus!

I Corinthians 12:12-13

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

When God raised Jesus from the dead, He made us alive with Him and we are His body!

Ephesians 2:4-6

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

And God placed all spiritual things under the feet of Jesus which is a part of the body!

Ephesians 1:22-23

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Now read these scriptures again to let them come alive in your heart. The body is one unit and we are the body of Christ of which He is the head. The head and the body do not abide separately but all parts make one unit! So when God raised Jesus from the dead, He raised the body - His body and made us (who are His body) seated by His right hand in Jesus! Beloved, pray that the Spirit will reveal this awesome incredible truth. We need to get past living seated at the foot of the cross and start living in the resurrection of the body of Christ by the throne! Our place is in the very heart of God, right by Him, right with Him! Not after we die but right now!

Sonship is conferred (biblical meaning: bestowed) to us in Christ Jesus! We are no longer servants of God but we are the very sons of God and our born again spirit witnesses with the Holy Spirit and cries out “Abba Father”.

Luke 22:29

And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,

Romans 8:16- 17

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together

.

We are not servants of God but He has called us His friend, His sons and has revealed Himself to us!

John 15:15

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

In another place concerning us the Spirit says,

Hebrews 2:11-12

For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:

“I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

3. Regeneration

Believers are the regenerated creations and our bodies are the very temples of the living God! As new covenant believers, we are born again in our spirit. We are made a new creation that has the nature of God! We are not ‘fixed up’ or upholstered creation but new creatures in Christ Jesus. But, Job was not born again. His heart was still unregenerated. He was not a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

1 Corinthians 6:19

19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

Our new nature drastically changes our perspective:

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We are created to reign with Christ:

Hebrews 2:5

5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.

4. Ignorance concerning the Spiritual or Spiritual blessing

Job did not have the Holy Spirit, spiritual weapons or the spiritual armor because the ministry of the Holy Spirit in man had not begun then. The promise of the Father was made manifest on the Day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus. Job was ignorant concerning the spiritual but we have no excuse! The Holy Spirit through Paul warns us not to be ignorant concerning the spiritual.

1 Corinthians 12:1 – Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant

The power of the Holy Spirit not made manifest yet at the time of Job

Acts 1:8

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The need and knowledge concerning armor of God was not available then:

Job 6:4

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; My spirit drinks in their poison; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Contrast the above with Paul’s revelation as a new covenant believer who had an understanding of the unseen and a real enemy in the spiritual realm. Moreover, Paul exhorts us to wear the armor of God to protect ourselves from such adversities. We need to renew our mind and walk in the newness of the Spirit and in the blessings of the New Covenant.

Ephesians 6:11-13

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

5. Divine Promises

Job could not access the promises of God because the knowledge of Him and His glory was not available. He was not a partaker of the divine nature because the work of the cross was not yet finished.

2 Peter 1:3-4

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Jesus accomplished the purpose for which He was sent and declared that “It is finished”

John 19:30

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

6. Job worshipped God in ignorance

The law documenting the rituals and ceremonies for sacrifices was not available to Job. He was offering sacrifices for his children just in case his children sinned and cursed God in their hearts. We do not know if Job was sacrificing on their behalf out of fear or out of reverence for God, but we surely can understand that Job wanted to have a clear heart towards God and sacrifices were his way of expression.

Jesus has taught us a whole new way of worshiping God! As new covenant believers, we are worshiping God based on the truth of our born again nature.

Job’s worship

Job 1:5

..Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman:

John 4:23-24

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

We are in that hour where we worship the Father in spirit and truth!

7. Job lived in fear (and ignorance) and without Covenant of God

Job 3:25-26

For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. 26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

There is no confidence without the covenant of God.

Deuteronomy 28:66

66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life

Abraham had a covenant with God and God called Himself the shield and reward

Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

As New Testament believers, we have the blessed assurance!

Hebrews 10:19-22

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

8. Job had no intercessor

Satan had every reason to question God concerning the hedge of protection He had placed around Job because Satan was the ruler of this world and the father of the sons of children of disobedience. But by offering one great sacrifice, now Jesus is our intercessor. By the blood of Jesus Christ and Jesus being our High Priest, we can enter the presence of God without any condemnation!

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Romans 8:34

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

9. Authority of a believer

God gave man the authority and dominion over the earth but Satan through deception and subterfuge took that authority and dominion from man when Eve and Adam disobeyed God. Job was a blameless man and the trials that befell him were neither a judgment from God nor perpetrated by God. Job was a captive and his master was Satan. Given that humanity is under the bondage of sin, the enemy had the right to inflict trials upon Job and God being a just God, did not violate His word and tried to protect Job. It was not God’s will for Job to go through these trials. God had blessed Job and called him blameless. God did not violate His justice when questioned. And God cannot violate His justice.

Job 1:11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

The goal of Satan was to prove that Job would ‘curse God’. He operates on the same agenda even to this day. The goal of all persecution is to shipwreck the faith of man because his name is written on the book of life. Satan is not content with making people sick, he wants to steal and kill and completely destroy us.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The work of the cross, at the time of Job was not finished yet. Therefore, God being a just and fair God, had to step back:

Job 1:12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”

At the cross, Jesus took the sin of humanity and at the resurrection He defeated death and took the keys of dominion back from Satan. Jesus restored the authority that man gave to Satan when Adam committed the first sin; and by Him and through Him alone those who were held captive by Satan have been set free as prophesied by Isaiah the Prophet which Jesus declared as the fulfillment in the synagogue in Nazareth.

Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Therefore, Jesus delegated that authority to His disciples

Mathew 16:19

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Mathew 28:18

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

John 14:13-14

13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus has given us the authority to use His name because His name is above all the names:

Acts 3:16

And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

Luke 10:19

19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Jesus has defeated the enemy but as long as we live in ignorance, he has the ability to inflict fear, steal, kill and destroy! He does not have the authority as he did at the time of Job but he sure does have the ability. And you have the authority in Christ to trample the scorpions, snakes and crush the young lions! You have authority over every weapon of the enemy in the spiritual realm in Christ Jesus! What we do not know can kill us!

Look for the complete study on Dominion Life so that you can learn how to operate through life like the one from the Kingdom which is not a new concept but our inheritance in Christ Jesus.

CONCLUSION

The book of Job poses a question. Job asked “Why me?” and if you are at the same place today as Job questioning God “Why did this happen to me?”, my beloved, the answer is in JESUS. Look to Jesus and listen to Him. Quit living your life from the victim mindset and discover the truth and get over to the other side of the storm with a victor mindset. Put on the new man that is made in the image of Christ. (Do not be a victim but be a victor in Christ)

Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him

It is incredible to know that as partakers of this new covenant we are not servants but are made sons! What would you rather be? Someone who is blaming God out of ignorance or a born again child of God who is going to walk in the glory of the inheritance of the purchased salvation?

We live in a fallen world and there are challenges that we will face but instead of taking the stance of a victim and seeking comfort in the unanswered questions of Job, we ought to resist the devil in the authority that Christ has given us and live by faith in the Son of God! Be a follower of Christ instead of Job! If your faith is tested, then test positive for Christ!

Let this mind be in you that God always (not sometimes but always) leads us in triumph in Christ through our knowledge of Him!

2 Corinthians 2:14

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you, teach you as He leads you to understand all truth in Christ. And I pray that grace and peace be multiplied greatly in your life as you grow in the knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son.

Blessings