The fulfillment of Covering

We are moving forward in our study of covering. Today, I want you to see the fulfillment possible where there is covering. John 14:12 New Living Translation (NLT) 12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

While in this realm in the likeness of man, Jesus stayed under the covering of the Father and the Holy Spirit. He told His disciples He was going to the Father. Then He explains the advantage to them His going will be to them. John 16:7(NLT)
But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.

These two verses show Jesus preparing His disciples for the shifting of the covering by returning to the Father with His mission of redemption completed in this realm. His ministry to this realm is not over but His earthly presence in a body was almost complete. Earthly bodies are necessary to do the work of ministry in this realm. With the coming of the Advocate, a new level of ministry would be possible for these disciples. They would be an extension of the works Jesus had been doing but now they would be under the covering of the Holy Spirit Who had a new level of work (ministry)for this realm.

I used to wonder how Jesus could leave the new Church He had purchased at such a great price in the hands of untrained men. But He did not. He had personally trained in constant daily contact men He was discipling. His commission to them was to disciple others. This is what they did. Each one discipling others. We wonder that the apostles of the new church all lived together with such a great group of people, but this is how they had learned. They lived with Jesus. They ate what He ate and walked with Him and listened to Him as He listened to them. They discussed together and learned of Him.

But Jesus gave them an explicit command at the very last of His time with them.
Acts 1:4-5, 8 (NLT) 4Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The disciples became the hands and voice of their covering. God has committed the authority of this realm to mankind. That authority was usurped from Adam by Lucifer. God is the author of authority and He did not give it to Lucifer. Satan only has usurped authority so he must do his deeds through man. But because God gave the authority to man, He must use man for the work of His ministry. He respects the authority He has given to man and does not fail to use the voice of His prophets to speak of His purposed plan of action. Man is raised up to carry out His Will. Mary was a chosen vessel to give birth to our Savior. He came into this realm the same way we all do--through birth. He lived out a life in stages as we all do. He has the legitimate right to defeat Satan and take back the full authority of this realm. When He says He has the authority of this earth and commands us to go in His Name, He has earned the right in a flesh body.

Our flesh cannot be an obstacle. We cannot look at our frailty as an excuse. The power and authority is in our covering and it is not about us, it is all about Him. An obscure maiden from a poor background could be chosen by a King to become his Queen and she would have the authority to command respect of her position. We have a position we have not deserved nor earned. We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ of His Kingdom.

We can do whatever God wants us to do. "Miracles" are simply doing the will of God in a realm that has chosen to not have God in their daily lives. Whatever God does in this realm seems to be a "miracle". We live with miracles every day. His watchful care over us is often necessarily a supernatural intervention to protect us and keep us moving in the right direction. We pray for family, friends, requests that come to us from others, our nation, our sport teams, our schools and our church and often forget the prayers soon after they are uttered. But God hears our every word and knows every tear and heartache. He listens when we speak. He has a different aspect of our prayers than we do. He sees the complete picture and weighs it with His Purpose. He always answers our prayer but we do not always understand the answer. If it is exactly what we asked Him to do, we call it a miracle. But His answer in our realm is always a "miracle" for it is His hand at work. Sometimes He uses our hand to extend but it is always His power working in us. He is in control. He has chosen us to be His vessels and we become one with Him. That is the fulfillment of covering.