THE POWERS OF THE AGE TO COME
(week 26/14)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Hebrews 6:5 NKJV: and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
Here, Paul speaks of the church ‘tasting’ of the powers of the age to come: that is the millennial reign of Christ.
This means that we will experience to some degree the powers that will be available in the millennial reign of Christ in this time and dispensation.
In fact the manifestations of the gifts of the Holy, especially the revelation and power gifts are a transient, sporadic release of the Spirit without measure: a taste of the powers of the age to come.
In scripture, we have the example of David who experienced the power of the New Testament age to come. In the OT (Old Testament), the children of Israel did not have access to the Shekinah presence of God. It was in the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle or temple. Only the high priest could go into that presence and that only once in a year under the covering of the blood of a sacrificed animal. If the high priest did not perform the ceremony as carefully as God instructed, He would be struck down dead by the Holy Spirit (Lev. 16.2). This was because in the OT age or dispensation, the blood of Christ had not yet been shed to make a way to enter into God’s presence.
However, we see David who was not a priest or high priest, not of the tribe of Levi, taking the Ark of God having the very presence of God and putting it under a tent behind his palace in Zion (2 Sam.6.17). David, by faith and the quality of His relationship with God, was able to exercise a NT (New Testament) privilege in the OT: he tasted of the powers of the age to come.
Enoch (Heb.11.5) and Elijah (2Kg. 2.11) were caught up to heaven without physical death, an experience reserved for the rapture of the church (1 Th. 4.17) in the NT. In this way, they tasted of the powers of the age to come.
Daniel (Dan. 3.28; 4.24-26) in Babylon, Ezra (Ezr.6.6-14; 7.21-26), Esther and Mordecai (Est.8-10) in Persia, all ruled over Gentile kingdoms by spiritual power through prayer and a life of dedication, exercising the power of ruling over nations reserved for the millennium during the OT. They tasted of the powers of the world to come.
So, NOW the Zion church that is growing into the perfection and fulness of Christ will not only ‘taste’ but ‘eat’ of the powers of age to come by breaking, ruling and discipling the nations in this dispensation BEFORE the physical return of the Lord Jesus and the millennial reign. They will do this, inheriting and so manifesting on a CONSISTENT (NOT TRANSIENT AND SPORADIC) basis the power of the Spirit without measure and use that power to break, rule and disciple the nations and so close this age or dispensation (Mt. 24.14).
This truth is symbolically expressed in:
Psalms 23:5 NKJV: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Psalms 2:6-9 NKJV: “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” (7) “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. (8) Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. (9) You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
Psalms 110:2-6 NKJV: The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! (3) Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. (4) The LORD has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” (5) The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. (6) He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries.
The TIME for this to happen has NOW come, because the Church is growing into the perfection and fulness of Christ and so is releasing GREATER power than Satan and his cohorts as symbolized in:
Daniel 7:17-18 KJV: These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. (18) But THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL TAKE THE KINGDOM, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
Daniel 7:21-22 NKJV: “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, (22) UNTIL THE ANCIENT OF DAYS CAME, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and THE TIME CAME FOR THE SAINTS TO POSSESS THE KINGDOM.
Psalms 102:13-16 NKJV: You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For THE TIME TO FAVOR HER, Yes, THE SET TIME, HAS COME. (14) For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to her dust. (15) So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. (16) WHEN THE LORD SHALL BUILD UP ZION, HE SHALL APPEAR IN HIS GLORY.
How do we know that the time has come?
We know because as I write, the church is growing spiritually to the perfection and measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ and so is becoming greater (1 Jn.2.14; 4.4) in spiritual power than Satan and all his principalities and powers: THE CHURCH IS CURRENTLY SHAKING (Lk. 21.25-28) OR BOMBARDING THE 2ND. HEAVENS, DISLODGING SATAN AND HIS COHORTS FROM THEIR DOMINION OVER THE AIR (EPH. 2.2). The sign of this is the four blood moon tetrad that started in April 2014 and will last until September 2015.
Ephesians 4:15-16 NKJV: but, speaking the truth in love, may GROW UP IN ALL THINGS INTO HIM WHO IS THE HEAD-CHRIST- (16) from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Mark 4:30-32 NKJV: Then He said, “To what shall we liken THE KINGDOM OF GOD? Or with what parable shall we picture it? (31) It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; (32) but WHEN IT IS SOWN, IT GROWS UP AND BECOMES GREATER THAN ALL herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
The church is growing into the perfection and fulness of Christ NOW by the blood (Heb. 13.20-21), the Word (1 Jn. 2.5) and the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Jn. 4.12-13).
In our article next week, we will how the Church is prevailing in striving against sin.
