The Driving Force

"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." [2 Chronicles 7:14]

2 Chronicles 7:14 has long been used to stir our hearts to revival. However, I want you to look at this verse through a different lens. In the past, I have talked about the need for the followers of God to humbles themselves, pray, seek the face of God, and live a life of repentance. In other words, I taught the principles. My belief was that if we got the principles right then God would do all that He promised. Here's the problem with what I taught: It was focused more on the principles rather than His presence. Another problem is that I rarely focused on our identity in Christ.

While these are wonderful principles, the primary concern of a New Testament believer should be to seek the face of God. And the purpose of our seeking the face of God is so that we can be continually conformed into the image of His Son. The danger of religion is to be driven by the principles rather than by His presence. In this way, we have confused the normal christian life with duty over relationship.

Let me point out a few things:

#1 - We don't pray toward a temple, we are the temple of God.
The New Testament makes it very clear that God does not dwell in a temple made with human hands. He has chosen through the new birth to dwell in the temple that was made after His image. Our bodies are the temple of God. Therefore, seeking the face of God is not about gathering in a particular building at a particular time. Seeking the face of God is about communing with the Father wherever we may be.

#2 - These principles deal with a closed heaven and we live under an open one.
Much of the difficulties that Israel faced in the Old Testament was their own doing. Drought, devastation, and disease were all seen as the symptoms of their walking away from the Lord. In other words, the natural world around them was always testifying to where they stood in relationship with God. But we have been given the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God within us always guides us in the truth and continually reminds us of the truth in Christ. When Jesus spoke of prayer to His disciples it was always with the understanding that God would answer them.

#3 - These principles also focus on what God is going to do in response to what the people do. In Christ, we respond to what God has already done.
Since many of us have preached the principles of this verse without a focus on who we are in Christ, we have fostered Christian culture that sits and waits on God. It is my belief that God is waiting on us. Think about it: We have been saved from our sin, baptized in the Spirit of God, and made a new creation in Christ. Rather than waiting for God to bring revival to the earth, we should be the revival.

In Christ, we must learn to walk in the finished work of Christ. Our past, present, and future are secure in the Lord. And it is my belief that God did this so that we wouldn't be so concerned about our holiness but more concerned about His kingdom advancing in the earth. What am I saying? I'm saying that you have been made in the image of God, born from above through salvation, and made the righteousness of God in Christ. You are to take the divine nature that you have been allowed to be a partaker of and transform the world you live in. In this sense, we don't have to wait on God to move in a particular way. We simply join God in what He is already doing in the earth.

Do we need revival? I do believe we need revival in the earth. But the revival we need isn't about what God does to transform the world. The revival we need is a bringing back to life what has been missing in the church so that we can be the transformation. And what has been missing primarily in the church is a pursuit of His presence. This lack of pursuit is a direct result of being driven by the principles because we have failed to see ourselves in light of what Christ has already done. If I cannot wrap my faith around the finished work of Christ then I will always be trying to accomplish what has already been accomplished. I will always strive for victory rather than from victory.

Folks, we are called to live a life of faith. But it doesn't take much faith to believe we are sinners. It does take faith to believe in what Jesus has already done. Ask yourself this question: What am I going to allow to be the driving force in my life?

Choose His presence!!!