Introducing Jesus | His Person & Mission Part 2 by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Revelation has the unique ability to move you from where you are to the next level in the spirit.

The moment revelation comes, it stops you from remaining at the same level. Revelation is like a vehicle — it pushes men into the manifestation of prophecy. When God wants to move you forward, he brings his light, and when that light comes, it sustains the ability to cause you to arise and shine.

A Recap: The Three Questions About Jesus

The previous session attempted to answer three questions:

1. Who Jesus was and is
2. What his mission and assignment were
3. Whether that mission was successful, and what proof exists

The best description of Jesus captured in scripture comes from John chapter 1. John did not begin the discussion of Jesus from a historic or archaeological standpoint — he traced it right to his divinity, calling him the Word. The first twelve verses of John 1 do justice to a thorough description of Jesus from his divine standpoint.

The clearest description of Jesus, however, is found in what he said about himself. When Jesus asked the disciples who men say he is, all kinds of opinions came. But what matters is what he said about himself. Ten profound self-descriptions from the Gospels through Revelation:

• The Bread of Life
• The Light of the World
• The Good Shepherd
• The Resurrection and the Life
• The Way, the Truth, and the Life
• The True Vine
• The Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End
• He that liveth, was dead, and is alive forevermore

The Threefold Mission of Jesus

According to scripture, Jesus had three principal assignments. Not understanding these assignments affects a believer's efficiency, because the believer's assignment is to be an extension of that mission.

1. Jesus Came as an Accurate Revelation of the Misunderstood God

   Until Jesus manifested, it was impossible for men to have an accurate understanding of God. God remained a mystery for many years. The nation of Israel's interpretation of God came purely through the lens of priests and prophets — whatever they said God was, they believed. But the Bible acknowledges that we see in part and prophesy in part. Many things the prophets credited to God, viewed through the lens of Jesus, were not seen correctly.

   Jesus came to correct our understanding of the misunderstood God. Everything the Bible says God is or does, there is a right to examine it through the life and ministry of Jesus. When the Bible says God loved with an everlasting love — how is that confirmed? By examining what Jesus did around children, around the sick, around all kinds of people. When a lying spirit is credited to God in scripture, Jesus is the standard used to verify that statement: is it consistent with the character and person of God?

   John 1 answers this — Jesus came full of grace and truth.

2. Jesus Came to Make the Life of God Accessible to Man

   The second mission of Jesus was to ensure all men have a chance to receive the life of God — the Zoe life — by reconciling man to God.

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   It is important to understand that the life now available in Christ is not the same life Adam had even before the fall. The Bible calls Adam a living soul, but in Christ believers are called quickening spirits. The believer is not just alive — they have the power to transmit that life. Something can literally flow from a believer to other men. This is the reason the healing ministry can function.

   Not everything believed about Jesus grants eternal life. Demons believe certain correct things about Jesus. Believing he is a founder of the Christian faith from a sociological standpoint is correct but does not save. There is an exact body of knowledge that must be believed:

   Romans 10:9–10 — with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Believing him as Savior, as Lord, and as Christ — this is the jurisdiction of the knowledge that administers eternal life.

   Believing him as Healer brings healing, but not eternal life. Everyone Jesus healed died. Everyone he cast demons from died. The one miracle Jesus could not perform before the cross — the miracle all believers can perform today — is midwifing men into the experience of the life of God. This is why he said "greater works than these." It is greater because Jesus himself could not give anyone eternal life before dying. His death was part of the process that made eternal life available. By communicating the gospel, a believer becomes a channel for people to be translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his dear Son.

3. Jesus Came as a Model of God's Expectation for Man

   It would be unfair of God to have expectations for man without creating a pattern. Jesus came as a model — God's description of what the believer should become.

   John 20:21 — "As my Father has sent me, so send I you."

   The reason it is critical to understand Jesus as portrait and pattern is so that as a believer engages the word, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the ministry of the teaching priest, they keep verifying what they are becoming against that reference. When a person finds themselves becoming something outside the portrait of Christ, they have a right to stop, vet, and judge the various influences building them.

   If someone claims to be studying the word, praying, receiving from the ministry of the teaching priest — yet their becoming is not becoming like Christ — it means they are using another mirror, another lens.

Did Jesus Succeed in His Mission?

Colossians 2:13–15 — Jesus succeeded absolutely. When he shouted "It is finished" on the cross, he meant it. Paul details what Jesus actually accomplished: he forgave all trespasses, blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us by nailing it to his cross, spoiled principalities and powers, and made an open public show of them, triumphing over them.

The reason Paul takes time to give these details is that all demonic spirits are stubborn. In light of all that Christ has done, they will still wage war. Victory now is not only predicated on what Christ has done — it requires a thorough comprehension and a consciousness the believer must come into to walk in the experience of that victory.

Ephesians 1:7 — in Christ, believers have redemption. To redeem means to buy back by paying a price. The value of what is redeemed is determined by the value of the price paid. No price was worthy enough to redeem man except the blood of the Son of God himself. In ancient times, the age of the sacrificial lamb determined the validity of the atonement. The lamb who died for humanity was ageless — the Ancient of Days. This means the atonement is eternal, based on the age of the Lamb that died.

Jesus succeeded in:

• Defeating sin and the nature that produces unrighteousness
• Defeating Satan himself
• Making redemption available to all men — John 3:16 — whosoever
• Creating the portrait and pattern for what believers can become

Why Believers Fall Short of the Experience

Every attack on a believer's life — sickness, poverty, failure — is Satan attempting to wrestle back the finished work of Christ. When Satan plagues men, there is a goal: a reorientation that causes the believer to call God unfaithful in light of their pain. When life captures no semblance of victory, and the word declares you are victorious and seated with Christ, Satan — master of the sense realm — manipulates understanding into agreeing with him that God may be lying somewhere.

The defeat of many believers does not mean Jesus Christ failed to defeat sin, Satan, hell, and the grave. There is a requisite level of transformation that brings men into the experience of the Spirit life.

Ephesians 4:18 — "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."

Paul was speaking to believers — not unbelievers. Even genuinely saved believers, who have received the indestructible life of God, can be alienated from the experience and the riches that come with that life through ignorance. The primary assignment of the prince of this world is to blind the minds of people.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: "I fear lest Satan should beguile you, as he beguiled Eve." Satan's raw material is what God said. He fashions attacks around what God has declared. He came to Eve and asked: "What did God say?" Then, after hearing the answer, he introduced doubt — "Don't you think God is trying to hide something from you?"

Adam was not deceived — he fell because of love. In the same way, Jesus was not deceived — he came to the earth and became man because of love, being the second and last Adam. An attack on Eve was an attack on the authority given to Adam. An attack on the church is not ultimately about the church — it is an attempt to discredit something about the finished work of Christ.

Witchcraft, at its essence, does not merely mean enchantment — it means to cause a person to err using the tool of deception.

A lie is not just an untrue statement. A lie is anything God did not say.

Abundant Life vs. Mere Life

John 10:10 — "The thief cometh not but to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Satan isolating and attacking a specific person is a verification that God has deposited something in that life worth stealing, worth killing, worth destroying. The thief is too busy to isolate someone arbitrarily.

Jesus did not just come to give life — he came to give abundant life. Abundant life is the initial translation from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son, together with all the benefits.

Psalm 103 lists at least six of those benefits:

1. Forgiveness — who forgiveth all thine iniquities
2. Healing — who healeth all thy diseases. A person can be saved and still live in sickness — they have life, but not abundant life
3. Deliverance — who redeemeth thy life from destruction
4. Honor — who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies
5. Satisfaction — who satisfieth thy mouth with good things
6. Renewal — so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's

The benefits are part of the package. When you receive the life of God, there are things you carry — and when people ask where you got them, the answer is: you can't find this in the marketplace. You only find this with the Savior.

The Life of God Requires the Mind of Christ

The life of God is like a brand new clock — it cannot work until you put the battery inside. The battery that powers the manifestation of the life of God is the mind of Christ.

Having the nature of God without the mind of Christ means it will be a spiritual reality that you are saved, but the experience of the Zoe life will never be captured in your daily experience.

At every point in a believer's life, there is a major pursuit that should be prioritized:

• The greatest need of an unbeliever — salvation
• The greatest need of a believer — transformation, by revelation
• The greatest need of a transformed believer — empowerment; the engracing that enables you to defend and validate the truths you know
• The greatest need of an empowered believer — purpose; because empowerment without purpose is like a fueled car running without direction

Jesus gave the disciples all the information they needed, but told them to tarry — they needed engracing. When you can say "God lives" and demonstrate it, when you can say "God heals" and demonstrate it — that is empowerment. Purpose is what removes the distraction that leads to pride, because you know why the anointing came and why the influence came.

Every Pursuit Must Be Connected to the Revelation of Jesus

The moment you connect any desire to the revelation of Jesus, it becomes a profitable desire.

The value of any pursuit in a Christian's life is derived from the ability of that pursuit to partner with the revelation of Jesus. When believers ask God for things blindly — simply to fulfill personal desires — the Bible says, "Ye ask and have not because ye ask amiss, to spend on your lusts." James 4:3

This is also the secret to answered prayer. Consider every major desire:

• Why do you want a child?
• Why do you want increase?
• Why do you want promotion?
• Why do you want anointing?

If these cannot be connected to the revelation of Jesus — even good things will hurt and destroy. This is why people clamor, make money, gain anointing, receive increase — and still find no fulfillment. God designed man to never find fulfillment until connected to the project called Kingdom Come.

1 John 5:14 — "This is the confidence, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us." Not anything we want — anything according to his will.

This is one of the major reasons God hates pride: pride is an attempt to shift Jesus as the focus of every pursuit and replace him with self.

When your life becomes about the revelation of Jesus, God will defend his name in your life. He will shift systems and structures to ensure you keep going forward. Many people do all they can but do not advance — the profit factor from their life as far as the kingdom is concerned is not present.

In the parable of the talents — when the master returned, he was dissatisfied with the servant who produced nothing, even though the others had multiplied theirs. He still called that person wicked and unprofitable, and took the one talent and gave it to the one who now had ten.

From Believer to Witness

The assignment of transformation is to turn believers into witnesses.

For as long as you remain only a believer, there is only so much that can happen. The transition from believer to witness — a validator of God's claim, a promoter and defender of his interest — is when you will see prosperity, increase, and influence like never before.

There is no miracle or magic about God raising and promoting people. But there is a non-emotional spiritual system of vetting motives until God finds his purposes. When that becomes the epicenter of a life, God will raise destiny helpers from anywhere — from across the world, even if you are in a village — and bring them to you.

Men who never find help are men who do not sincerely love God. They say it mechanically, but God is not a fool. He subjects a person through a rigorous period of vetting. One day he will say: do you love me enough? Empty your account. He told Abraham: take your only son. There are things you cannot pray away. This is how men rise in the kingdom.

The price for life is death. If you cannot die to yourself and to your ambition, you have wasted the presence and benefit of having Jesus.

There are two kinds of cross. One has been carried for you by grace. The other, you must carry yourself — your own cross.

God Blesses by Destabilizing Your Independence

Consider how God blessed Jacob. He asked him: what is your name? Jacob confessed — a cheat and a supplanter. God said: you shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel, for as a prince you have had power with God. Then he touched Jacob's thigh. He destabilized his balance.

God does something to your life that ensures you can never ignore him and go forward again — and he calls it a blessing.

This is the portrait of a genuine encounter with God. Psalm 24:3–5 — he that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity — he shall receive a blessing from the Lord. This is the generation that seeks his face.

The Correct Understanding of Prosperity and Benefits

People don't come to Jesus and go down. People don't come to Jesus and fail in life. Beyond receiving the benefits, the benefits themselves are tools that help make the nations know Jesus is worth receiving.

• You are a better Christian being prosperous than having nothing — in prosperity you can bless people and package Jesus through love to serve the nations
• You are a better Christian when you are healed and healthy — agile enough to serve God than a sick, defeated one
• You are a better Christian in a position of influence — where you can defend God's purposes using an elevated platform

Everything that is prayed for, everything that is sought sincerely, is not for the benefit of that thing in itself — it comes as a tool.

This is the correct understanding of prosperity, of anointing, of ministry, of growth. When a heart reaches the point of desiring things for the sake of God's house and name, that is when life and ministry begin to move forward. There are men and women of God whose point of transformation was when they got out of the way and replaced their pursuit with Kingdom Come and the revelation of Jesus.

The reason a believer prays "Lord, change my son" while more conscious of shame than of the son being used to bring glory to God — that prayer does not secure the attention of heaven. But when the desire becomes: "Father, beyond my reputation, may I have the honor of giving you another vessel" — God will wake someone to intercede for a year for that child, and the transformation will come.

The easiest way to live the Christian life is to focus on revealing Jesus.

Prayer

• Every motivation behind my pursuit and my desires that is not the revelation of Jesus — let it die. Purify my desire. Purify my passion. Why do I want fame? Why do I want lifting? Why do I want a name? Father, align every desire with your kingdom purposes.
• Lord, I see many people who are sick, wounded, and broken by Satan. I see many going back to the devil. Trust these hands of mine — frail as they are — and may your glory rest upon them, that they become extensions of your healing power for the nations, for your glory.
• Lord, I see confusion scattered across your body. Grant me the spirit of revelation that I can bring clarity and understanding of doctrine and scripture — not for a name, but because I do not want those you are raising to be deceived.
• Father, I am trusting you for increase. The reason is that it is within my heart to sponsor the work of God, to serve the kingdom. Until such people are found, we cannot fully reveal Jesus to the nations. Purify that desire and fulfill it for your glory.

Healing and Impartation

• Every infirmity, every death sentence manifesting as sickness and disease — in the name that is above all names, be healed now. Blood diseases, terminal diseases, bone conditions, eye conditions, ear conditions, respiratory conditions — be healed now.
• For everyone whose life is not going forward — because your heart is stayed on revealing Jesus, I prophesy: go forward. Break forth on the north and on the south and on the east and on the west.
• I call forth the ministry of destiny helpers. May they appear in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. They will come like the magi from the east, bringing gifts in the name of Jesus.
• For anyone going through any kind of demonic attack — on life, health, or family — in the name that is above all names, I curse that spirit now. When Jesus said "It is finished," he meant it. We stamp that statement over your life. Whatever has fought your walking in the victory that is in Christ — that hindrance, that obstacle, that impediment — gives way now.

Prayer for Spiritual Life

• For everyone struggling with their prayer life — who loves Jesus but finds that the zest and impetus to pray has gone down — receive the grace to pray. Jesus prayed and was prayerful all through his life.
• Jesus was a student of scripture and of knowledge. Receive the grace to pant after knowledge.
• Jesus was tempted in every way, yet without sin. The power to live above the grip of sin and unrighteousness — let it be released upon your life in the name of Jesus Christ.
• For as long as Jesus walked upon the earth, he was indestructible — they did not kill him, he gave himself. Therefore, nothing brings you down before your time. Receive that reality.
• Jesus, from birth until he left, never lacked helpers. Whoever must be positioned at every prophetic instruction of your life to help you actualize destiny — they are pushed prophetically to your life in the name of Jesus Christ.
• At the end of your life, may it be said that you spent your entire life revealing Jesus — beginning from where you are now, but with a jurisdiction that extends to the ends of the earth, in Jesus' mighty name.