Operate Like Jesus Did from the Courts of Heaven
There are key roles Jesus walked in that allowed Lazarus to be resurrected from the dead. Jesus operated in “kingship and priesthood.”
As He approached the tomb, everything that was necessary for resurrection to occur had been done. John 11:41-44 shows the glorious results. Lazarus was raised from the dead and restored to Martha and Mary. Their faith in operation with Jesus had allowed this resurrection to happen.
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Notice that Jesus spoke to the Father about His previous prayer regarding this. He said to the Father, “I thank You that You have heard Me.” This means that Jesus on His journey to this place had been dealing with spiritual realities. He had been in the Courts of Heaven, dealing with any legal claim the devil had used to put Lazarus in the tomb prematurely. He did this from His priesthood. Remember that we have been made kings and priests to our God according to Revelation 1:5-6.
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
The main job of a priest is to get legal things in place. Kings, from this established place, then make decrees. For instance, Aaron as high priest was charged with going behind the veil once a year to set things legally in place so Israel would not be judged for their sins. He would go behind the veil with the blood of the Passover lamb. As he administered this blood, the children of Israel’s sins would be remitted for the year. Hebrews 9:7 lets us know that the high priest once a year would make atonement with the blood for himself and the people.
But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance.
What the priest did behind the veil granted the Lord the legal right to be merciful to the sins of the people. This kept the judgment of God off the people for a year, until it was done all over again the next year. This was a prophetic picture every year of what Jesus would do in perfection for us. Hebrews 9:11-14 declares that Jesus has once and for all entered the tabernacle in heaven to legally atone for our sins forever.
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The function of Jesus as our sacrifice and our High Priest legally secures for us redemption, forgiveness, mercy, and grace forever. The Holy Spirit takes what Jesus has legally done and brings application of it into our lives. I am saying all this to make a point that the main job of the priest was to get legal things in place. This is what we do as priests unto our God. When Jesus was praying on the way to Lazarus’ tomb, He was functioning as priest. He was dealing with every legal issue that had allowed satan to kill Lazarus before his time. This had to be done or Jesus could not raise him from the dead.
If we are to experience resurrection, we must deal with any legal issue that has allowed the devil to kill, steal, and destroy. Once these legal issues are set into order, we can then stand as kings and proclaim and decree life into every situation. This is exactly what Jesus did. As a result of His function as a priest, Jesus now stood at the mouth of Lazarus’ tomb and proclaimed, “Lazarus, come forth!” The result was that resurrection power entered the dead, decaying corpse and Lazarus came back to life and out of the grave! So it will be in every situation of our life where something has ended and died before its time. We can proclaim life back into it because the legal claims of the devil to hold it in death are now broken.
Once Lazarus was out of the tomb, he was yet bound in the grave cloths they had wrapped him in for burial. Jesus commanded they “Loose him and let him go.” Once resurrection has occurred, there can still be the need to remove all hindrances. This will allow what has been resurrected to move in full liberty and power. Depending on what is raised into life, this can involve organization, attitude adjustment, perspective change, or other issues. Life is present and flowing, but there needs to be a freedom to move in its fullness. The joy of this new resurrected life is found in coming to great freedom and expression.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He desires to bring back to life everything that has died. He manifested this power through the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, and bringing Lazarus out of the tomb. As we operate in the Court of Heaven, we can see legal things set in place so what has died in our life might live. Jesus is the One who brings dead things back to life. Let’s petition His Court for this to be our reality!
Lord, as we come before Your Courts, we ask for Your resurrection life and power to flow in our lives and situations. We stand before You as priests and deal with any legal issue used by the devil to “kill” something prematurely. We ask that what might have “died” before its time would be allowed to live again! We repent for anything in our lives or bloodlines that would have allowed the devil the legal right to kill, steal, and destroy. We claim Colossians 2:14 as a legal verdict on our behalf. We say that every case, charge, or accusation against us is taken out of the way, having been nailed to Your cross. Lord, we ask that it have no more right to speak against us. We now, by faith, roll away the stone and declare, “Live again! Let what is dead now come to life, in Jesus’ Name.” We also ask, Lord, that all restriction against that which is now alive be removed. Even as the grave cloths were taken off Lazarus, let all hindrances be revoked. Thank You, Lord, that from Your Courts we can apply what You have done for us as priests before You. We also from this legal place make decrees as kings. Thank You so much for Your grace and mercy as new life now flows into my life and circumstances. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
