Seeing Cross-eyed

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” – Col 2:9-10

What an amazing gift we have in Christ Jesus! As believers in the saving grace of Calvary we have been given something the world longs to see and know. We have been grafted into the bosom of Christ Himself, born again, and seated at the right hand of majesty. This incredible gift cannot be earned. It is not something that we strive for as if the works of our hands can somehow bring us to that place of reconciliation with God. It is a gift of grace for all that call Him Lord.

The problem is that the same church that understands the nature of saving-grace struggles when it comes to believing that they are filled with fullness of the Godhead. That somehow, after receiving salvation, we have to work at, or struggle even, to receive all that the Holy Spirit has to offer.  We pray for an open Heaven. We strive to be filled with His presence. We work with all that we can muster, to try to obtain what we already have. What we fail to understand is that this striving is often based on a works mindset. Now that does not mean that we do not hunger and thirst for more. We do. Our soul craves for more of Him. However, that hungering is birthed out of relationship and longing, like a bride for her groom. Works, on the other hand, is performance driven. We call out wanting what Christ has already given us. In Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. The promise of Jesus is that the believer would be filled to the full with Christ, Poppa, and the Holy Spirit, for all of the Godhead is in Him. 

Consider the following scriptures:

“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” – John 14:23

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” – John 1:16

Paul reinforces this truth when he tells us:

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” - 1 Cor 3:16

So I thought I would talk about a very foundational truth. You have been redeemed and all of the fullness of God dwells in you. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, bought and paid for. It was the Father’s good pleasure to fill you even as Christ is full (Col 1:19). When you were born again, you were crucified with Christ, raised from the dead, with Christ, and are now seated with Him in Heavenly places.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” – Gal 2:20

“and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” – Eph 2:6

You have a completely new nature. You have a dual citizenship. You are a child of the King with residency in Heaven, seated at His right hand, and you are an ambassador of Heaven on Earth, created to bring the Kingdom of God to the rest of humanity. You have more of God in you than you can imagine. You did not earn your Poppa’s DNA. You do not “press in” for it. It is who you are. There is nothing you can do to gain the Holy Spirit. Christianity is not a lifelong course of moral activities and performance. You are a new creature in Christ. It is not about doing, it about being. You have the same power living in you that raised Christ from the dead. You just have to believe it.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” – Rom 8:11

Belief is the catalyst for all that is in Christ. No longer do you have lack. At that very first moment of faith in Christ, you became a source of Kingdom blessing. Luke 17:21 says the Kingdom of God is within you. You are much larger on the inside that you are on the outside; you just have to believe it.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” – John 14:12-14

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” – John 7:38-39

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” – John 14:16-18

Everywhere you go your life should spill over with God’s abundance. I don’t know why it is easier for us to believe that someday Jesus is going to do a work in us, instead of believing that the work was finished at the cross of Calvary. On the cross, your old sinful nature was abolished and you were given access to a glorious new world. All of your problems were solved on that cross. It may seem hard to believe but it’s true. That’s why they call it good news.

A while back, the Lord gave me a vision that really changed my mind-set in this regard. I had gotten to church, I was getting ready for worship. I walked up to the communion table to take communion. I stood there, held the bread in my hand, and began to thank the Lord for what He did for me. My heart was set on really digging into the moment. Suddenly, the Lord gave me an incredible vision.

I was standing in a café. The café was full of life, action, buzzing with excitement. To my right was a large hearth oven. Right next to me was a chef with a wooden peel in his hand. He was pulling out of the oven large loaves of warm flat bread and tossing them into baskets. Waiters were moving about handing out loaves of warm bread. Everyone was filled with incredible joy. The place was alive with enthusiasm and energy – and they were all smiling. The counter in front of the oven was an "L" shape that wrapped around to the front of the café. In the corner next to floor-to-ceiling windows were two very large wine barrels – Napa Valley style. The wait staff was pouring wine from the spigots into large beer pitchers. They were running around pouring glasses of wine – smiling all the way. The front to the café was all windows, and the door was open. In the street in front of the café was alive with people rushing over to enter the café.... A paperboy was riding his bike in front of the café. He stopped in front of the café with a paper in his hand. He had an incredible smile on his face, almost animated. The paper was the “Good News Journal” and the headline across the front page read, “This Is That.”

I asked the Lord what was going on, and He said, 

"Religion has taken my communion and placed it in a box of lethargy. It lies dormant at the foot of the cross, never moving to the place of resurrection and life. Yet, My kingdom is full of Life, where Mercy flows continuously from the vats of heaven and is waiting to be poured out and served up in the Kingdom Café. Heaven is so full of my grace that it comes out of the oven of my presence like loaves of warm bread – eager to be served up, and full of life and abundance. When My people embrace the abundance of grace and mercy that I have placed in them – people will flock in groves to get into my Kingdom and Joy will be the hallmark of my wait staff. The fire has been lit, the ovens are hot, the dough has been prepared for this hour, and the vats are already overflowing with my grace and mercy. The bread and the wine point to the glory of what I have done; what I am doing; and what I will be doing in the days and months ahead. The gift of my atonement did not stop at the cross – it is perpetual – it moves to create a Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven - full of royalty – a royal priesthood – sons and daughters of God reflecting the Glory of who I AM and what I AM doing... ageless, ceaseless, full of life and abundance. Kingdom Café is open – tell them to come – come to my banqueting table... the table has been set, destiny is today, see what I see – behold the beauty and the glory of the Kingdom Café – Oh how I love the life in this place.”

Religion wants you to kill yourself into holiness. There is no striving and straining in the Kingdom Café. You simply serve up what has already been poured out and prepared. Jesus died to give you what you could never gain on your own. Religion wants to give you formulas, keys, tasks to perform, when you already have the ultimate free gift. The problem for us is that so often we are not outwardly manifesting the fullness of God so we lower our theology to meet the standard of our experience, or lack thereof. The truth is, the perfect sacrifice of Christ was actually good enough to get the job done. If you are not manifesting the fullness of God it is simply because you don’t believe. I know that this sounds harsh, but it is the truth. Stop striving and rest in the fact that you have it (Heb 4). As you rest and trust in His finished work on Calvary, you will begin to act and live like a completely different person. A person always manifests what he believes. 

The word “believe” in the Greek literally means “reality.” Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is a tangible substance. True believing always involves demonstration. 

The Kingdom of God is not a matter of mere talk, but of demonstration of power.

“For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” 1 Cor 4:20

Really, this is a process of changing the way we think. It is a call to have our minds renewed to believe the truth. I like the way John Crowder puts it.

“You have become an oasis in the desert. Your inner life bubbles up like pools of fresh water in a thirsty land. On the one side of the cross, you were a beggar, longing for a blessing. But on this side of the cross, you have truly become a source of blessing. You are provision for the hungry. You are drink for the thirsty. You are an endless supply of supernatural oil.”

Remember the primary goal of salvation was not to empty you of evil, but rather to fill you with Himself. The work of the cross gave Him a Holy Vessel to fill. Your purpose was to be – the temple of the Holy Spirit! Calvary is our foundation and our capstone. It is the Spirit Filled life. It is the open door in Heaven. When we seek to move in the fullness of Christ, and understand the mysteries of the Kingdom, it takes faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. It is faith that causes us to access the things of the Spirit. Faith is the magnet and aroma that attracts the dancing hand of the Spirit.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8

Encounter with the Holy Spirit is not a onetime encounter. We should be receiving the Spirit fresh every day! The cross put us into forever union with the Spirit, and by abiding in Christ, we can continually drink from His presence. We already have an open heaven and it is open because the veil of Christ’s flesh was torn.

As you seek to understand how God communicates, please understand the depth of your relationship with Christ and know who you are in Him. The blood of Jesus is the anchor of our faith, it’s the oil of our anointing, it’s the fountainhead of our praise, and it is the lens in which we see the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is our stairway to Heaven. 

When I speak of seeing cross-eyed, this is exactly what I am talking about, peering through the finished work of the cross and completely being submerged into this vat of glorious wine and finished work. Revelation of this truth creates a true sense of peace and freedom to pursue the lover of our souls. It is the place of rest!