We are looking at hope in relation to the question of John the Baptist sent to Jesus and recorded in Luke 7:16-28.
The second point is – and this is awesome – Jesus told the people that a person who was least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist! Not only is the weakest person who is born into Gods kingdom greater than John the Baptist, but that believer is greater than Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Elijah, and Elisha!
What Jesus said means that all of us who are born again are greater than anyone who lived under the old covenant! This truth is amazing! But what does it show us? It reveals the fact of how much going to the cross cost Jesus. It shows us that all the great men and women of God who lived before Satan was defeated by Jesus dying on the cross and rising again did not have the Spirit of God in them!
They may have had the Spirit of the Lord come upon them, but we have the Spirit of God in us! This reality is awesome, and when Jesus said in John 14:12, Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father, Jesus means exactly what He said. We can do the same works Jesus did, plus more!
The other reason why we are greater than those saints of old is that Jesus said in Matthew 28 that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth. In the beginning, Adam was given authority on the earth, but not in heaven or over demonic activity. As we are joint heirs with Christ, we have authority on earth and over principalities. The saints of old never had that authority, and they did not have authority even on the earth, because Adam gave his authority to Satan.
But why dont we enjoy this authority? The reason is simple: it is unbelief. We read in Hebrews 6:18 that it is impossible for God to lie; therefore, what the Word of God says is always true. If Jesus said that any one of us who is born again is greater than all of the Old Testament prophets, He was speaking the truth!
We see that John the Baptist was expecting Jesus to come and get him out of jail and that most people who believed Jesus to be the Messiah expected Jesus to set up a earthly kingdom, where the Romans would be defeated and the Jews could reign with Jesus.
Post published in: Opinions