The Anointing and Hope - David Mitts

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. (1Jn 2:20)

Click here to listen to "The Anointing and Hope"

Last session, we looked at the critical nature of association considering the image we carry on the inside of us that literally projects our destiny.  We don’t get the future we want; we get the future we picture! This isn’t about just visualization; it is also about the one who visualizes. The most important image we carry on the inside is how we see ourselves, in the light of God. Look with me at James 1:23-25.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it--not forgetting what they have heard but doing it--they will be blessed in what they do. (Jas 1:23-25)

The mirror is the reflection on the hope, promised by the Word, our kingdom destiny and identity, reflected through how clean the eyes are that look on that Word and are either pierced to the core and transformed or what is listened to in the heart remains only a noisy clang. The kingdom of heaven, our true citizenship, and the power for our manifest destiny is a kingdom that is activated by inner sight.

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)

This scripture points out the difference between what we see with our natural eyes and what is within us that is producing what we could see.

To change the kingdom in our lives we need to change our inner sight, the image and pictures we carry on the inside.  These include not only what we see or imagine, but the lens that we see them through, the mirror in our souls!

The Apostle Paul prayed for this activation knowing that it was a progressive reality:

For this reason I too heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Eph 1:15-18)

Notice the connection between the revelation and the wisdom of “knowing” God and that the eyes of our heart are enlightened which in turn gives power to our hope, which is termed His inheritance in the saints.

This is a powerful connection.  It is what we know about the true image of God that gives power to our ability to see in the spirit and that in turn empowers our hope which is to Him true riches.  The value system of heaven is based on our hope!

Our knowing of Him is called the anointing. God in us and working through us.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. (Act 10:38)

God is no respecter of persons. 

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is respecter of persons:(Act 10:34)

He doesn’t show favoritism. In truth, each and every person is His favorite. You are His favorite, I am His favorite. In other words, He holds each person as unique, a one of a kind creation and is completely devoted to that creation of His, His child.   There are no spare people.

What does separate us, is our "knowing" of who He is, and therefore who we are.

Therefore the image of God is so crucial to our hope and our destiny.  God as plurality teaches us that He exists as a relationship, what Yeshua called being “one”.  The true purpose of Yeshua was to restore oneness. Look at John 17:10-11: Yeshua speaks to the Father, what we call prayer,

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. (Joh 17:10-11)

There is much more to say on that, but for now, let’s agree that the goal is to become “one” as Yeshua determined it. The terminology here is speaking directly about a oneness that is like a marriage. He states, “all I have is yours… all you have is mine”. He calls this the glory.  You can see that what is called the “glory” by many is just the radiance that comes from the joy of oneness.  It is like the glow of an expectant mother who carries a life in her womb and is “one” for that period of time and so the radiance is what we see.

The glory is actually the image.  The glory of His inheritance in the saints, that Paul speaks of is the full expression of the oneness of the Bride in oneness with the Groom.  This oneness and intimacy births prophetic purpose and destiny, true hope.

We all have an anointing from the Holy One.  This anointing is also called knowing the truth.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. (1Jn 2:20)

Similar to the glory, we tend to determine the anointing by what we see on the outside of the life of a person or persons and call them “anointed”.  Yet God is no respecter of individuals.

Let’s take a step back from the outcomes, the healings, the miracles, the teachings, etc. and see what the anointing truly is and how we can fulfill the destiny God has for us.

First, let’s look at the anointing of David as King. 2Sam 5:1

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.'" When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. (2Sa 5:1-3)

Can you see the unity? Even in the case of David who was chosen as king, the anointing was an expression of the image of God.  From the outside, David did kingly things as the anointed but the anointing only had power because of the image.

Even in the case of the direct anointing of David by the prophet Samuel, the image is present: 1Sam 16:1-13. Samuel consecrated Jesse’s entire family first, bringing them into the unity of the Spirit and then David is selected.  Again the anointing requires the image of unity, the oneness of God which is the key to unlocking destiny.

So what actually is the anointing? We know from past sessions, that the term, “Christ” is the literal term for the anointing, coming from the Hebrew Mashiach or Messiah, which means to be anointed. 

The Christ in us is the anointing.

Look with me at Colossians 1:24-29:

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Col 1:24-29)

The Apostle Paul is speaking of the mystery hope of God. This mystery which was hidden is being revealed to God’s people. What is it? The Anointing, Christ in us, the Hope of Glory.  The anointing that we know inside of us is the power generator for our hope, our destiny.  Paul, recognizing this, proclaimed the message, admonishing and teaching everyone in this wisdom, the goal being something he called presenting everyone fully mature in Christ, in the anointing. 

What does it mean to be fully mature in Christ?  I believe it means to be one.  To enter into the true identity as the body, the plural image of the Godhead. 

Like David, who was anointed king by the body, the tribes of Israel, unity brings the anointing into a reality.

It is no wonder that David who experienced the true reality of the anointing penned Psalm 133:

A song of ascents. Of David. How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalms 133:1-3)

A psalm of ascents.  Another way of saying a strategy for getting to the Presence, in the Spirit.

How good is unity? Powerful declaration since we know that only God is good.  Then David describes it as the anointing oil but not just anywhere but in the office of Aaron, the High Priest.  Remember it is the High Priest who alone can bring atonement, or at-one-ment.  On Yom Kippur, the High Priest makes Aliyah, ascends into the sacred place where the glory has manifested the Shekinah.

Hermon’s dew and Mt Zion:  Hermon is in the north on the border with Lebanon, and Syria.  The dew from Hermon and the snows are the source of the Jordan river and the flows into the Sea of Galilee.  This is a picture life flowing into the Land.   There is much prophetic significance of Hermon as this was the place where the fallen angels came into creation.  It is the place of the literal gates of hell and is also the true location, I believe, of the Transfiguration.  There is so much to this but to just keep it simple for today, the dew of Hermon coming to Zion is the picture of the true King coming into His throne.  This is the restored unity of the anointing and the anointed One.

That is why it is the place of the commanded blessing, eternal life or the restoration of the image of God among mankind, the true hope or promise of glory.  When the family of God puts aside divisiveness and comes into a true unity, it will be the promised restoration of all things and it will usher in the King!

Peter declared this when the Holy Spirit fell, the true dew of Hermon in Zion, in Jerusalem at Shavuot.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.' "Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." (Act 3:19-26)

This is the picture of the restoration of the fallen image of God back into unity.

Activation:  

Through unity in Him, we have power, the anointing.  What broken unity is in your life that you might want to reach out for healing?  The strategy of the enemy is to break the unity.  God’s blessing is waiting to be released to those who proclaim healing of the divine image, oneness.