I (Jesus) will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…---Matthew 16:19a
Jesus knew His future would be the crucifixion and death, but He also knew He was going to defeat the works of the devil so that those that would believe on Him would and should live a life of victory on this side of Heaven. Satan had held the keys of dominion over mankind since Adam rebelled in the Garden of Eden and within months, Jesus was going to complete the plan for the redemption of man back to His Father that would deliver the lost dominion back to mankind.
Jesus also knew that without help, this new fledgling Church would not be successful in completing that dominion. With this thought in mind, let’s look at this scene where Simon Peter and the rest of the disciples are hearing Jesus lay out a plan for the future; a “Church” that would be so powerful that even Satan and his demons couldn’t break it up. In Matthew 16:19 Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” Let’s stop here for a minute. There is something VERY important about this statement. Jesus just said there is an enemy of the body of Christ, the Church, but I am giving you a tool that will help you conquer and defeat the threat of the enemy.
The “keys” that Jesus said He was giving were not tangible. In fact, the keys weren’t even viable yet because Jesus had not completed His full assignment on earth yet. It was to come in the future, after His death, burial and resurrection. The keys were extremely important to the success of Simon Peter, the brand new Church and to the believers of the future…that is you and me.
Distance and time have not diminished the importance or the power of these keys Jesus delivered to Peter, who was the representative of the Church throughout the ages. In the spirit-realm, Jesus was giving a powerful tool to the Church as a whole. The Lord has helped me unwrap those keys and I have found they are incredibly necessary to each believer and for the Church to use as they were intended. Jesus gave them to us to defeat the strategies of the devil so we could live a LIFE OF VICTORY!
Next week, I will share with you each key so that you, too, may apply them to your lives and pass them on to others.
Confession: I will admit that I have been intimidated by the enemy of my soul. I see that Jesus has given me, as a Believer, tools that will defeat the enemy. I will trust that God will reveal these keys as a way to defeat the strategies of Satan in my life and the lives of my friends, family and church.
No comments:
Post a Comment