Contending with Heaven for Kingdom legal rights

I was talking last day about the legal rights that we have as Christians, and I was using Proverbs 16:7 as an illustration, where we can claim to have our enemies to be at peace with us. There is a lot of talk in our day about rights, and while some of these are certainly legitimate, a lot of it is all about the “I, me, my” type of right. And there is a natural clash among these type of rights. For example which right trumps the other in my son’s right to play his drums at 3 o’clock in the morning, and my right to a peaceful nights sleep?

But we are not talking about this kind of right this morning, we are talking about Kingdom rights. Kingdom rights have Kingdom values, Kingdom priorities with Kingdom outcomes. The Christian for example has the legal right to life in all its fullness. We know this, because Jesus told us that that is why he came (John 10:10b). But again, as I pointed out yesterday obtaining our rights is not automatic. In particular as the first part of this verse clearly tells us, we have an enemy whose agenda is to kill, steal and to destroy. In fact we are in a war to the death with the enemy of our souls! We do have weapons, the weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. These weapons include purity, knowledge, longsuffering, kindness, sincere love all of which is mediated by the power of God within us (2 Corinthians 6:6,7).

But the weapon that is uppermost on my mind this morning, is faith. With faith, we are able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16). And a huge part of this faith, concerns knowing who I am in Christ. And it seems to me this morning, that the battle to move the knowledge of who I am in Christ from my head into my heart, to my experience, is the most important battle of all. The point is that when I truly know my identity in Christ, then I know my authority in Christ, and I am able to confidently claim the legal Kingdom rights that He purchased for me when He died on the cross. In particular, I can stand against the wiles of the devil, and I can tear down strongholds!

Father, Your church has hardly begun to take up our legal Kingdom rights, the Kingdom power and the authority that You purchased for us on Calvary. It’s a journey Lord, but we are not alone, and You have not finished with us yet! You have given us Your Holy Spirit to comfort, strengthen and encourage us. And with Paul this morning, I pray for myself and all those reading this blog, that You would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of whom we are in You (Ephesians 1:17). We need to see it Lord, we need to feel it, we need to know Your presence and Your peace, and Your power, and Your authority at work in us. We cannot do this without You Lord, I cannot. But with You all things are possible. Thank You Lord for Your promise that You will build your church on the rock of our faith, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). We believe help our unbelief in Jesus Name Amen