The Daily Word of Righteousness

From Imputed to Actual Righteousness, #7

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. (Revelation 21:1—NIV)

For one thousand years the work of perfecting the Church proceeds. Then the first earth and heaven flee from the Face of God. Soon a new sky and a new earth come into view. Down through the new sky descends the perfected Church, ready to be the representative and glory of God and Christ for eternity. This is the new Jerusalem, the holy city.

Her righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God no longer are merely a legal state. Each member of the Bride of the Lamb in that hour will have been perfected in righteousness, in holiness, and in stern obedience to the Father.

Now the new day of eternity begins, the day that has no end. All has been made new. Sin has been confined in the Lake of Fire.

This is the world and life God planned from the beginning. The adamic race was a temporary device, soon to be discarded and removed. But Jesus Christ and those who belong to Him shall dwell forever in the Presence of almighty God.

The first step, then, in the removing of sin from God's Church, is the gaining of victory by a firstfruits of the Bride. The firstfruits will be robed in her own righteous acts, righteous acts resulting from her interaction with Christ. This work of deliverance has begun. It is a giant step forward in the Kingdom of God.

The story of Gideon and his three hundred.

The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." (Judges 7:7—NIV)

If we had no other story than that of Gideon and his three hundred we still would have a clear portrayal of the temporary division of the whole Church into two groups, the first of which gains victory over the enemy on behalf of the remainder, the majority.

The events involving Gideon, with the light in the clay jars in one hand and a trumpet in the other, may be the strongest type in the Old Testament of the coming of the Lord. The breaking of the vessels and the revealing of the lamps portrays the manifestation of the sons of God as the flesh and blood body is done away and the inward resurrection life shows forth.

Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. (Judges 7:16—NIV)

The vast army of the Midianites filled the Valley of Jezreel. Instead of summoning all Israel, God chose to work with a small number of warriors. It often is a mistake to suppose the more people we can involve in ministry the greater will be the results.

The point is, in this major symbolic portrayal of the coming of the Lord, only a remnant of Israel was involved in the battle.

All Israel profited by the victory.

To be continued.