Before he was betrayed, before he went to Pilate, and before the Sanhedrin condemned Him to death, Jesus said that nobody was taking His life; rather, that He laid it down on his own. “I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” First of all, he wants you to understand that nobody was taking His life, but He was laying it down. Secondly, he said, “I want you to know that I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to pick it up again.” When He said, “I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again,” at that moment He did not have the power. He was going to need the power after that; but because He understood the vital principle of faith, and because He had the mental disposition of faith – that speaks what it believes in the present tense – He said, “I have the power,” not “I’m going to have” or “I will have.” He said, “I have the power now tto lay it down, and I have the power now to pick it up again.”
Chapter 3 - God's Will
The will of God does not come because somebody knows it; the will of God comes because somebody says, “Thy kingdom come, They will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus says, “Say it.” If you do not say it, you will not see it. You, as a believer, need to understand this because some of us have been going to church for twenty years saying, “I need to know the will of God.” Read the Book and start speaking that Word! In John 10:17, Jesus was speaking before the cross:
Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father (John 10:17-18)
He was saying, “No man takes My life; I lay it down. It may look like the Sanhedrin, Pilate, and the Romans are in control, but understand that this is a setup and nobody take My life from Me – I lay it down of Myself” In other words, “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to pick it up. I am saying this because God said it to Me, and, I am saying it before I get betrayed, before I go before Pilate, before I hang on the cross, and before I give up the Ghost; because if I do not say it, it is not going to happen.” See, if you do not speak God’s Word concerning your circumstance God’s will not come to pass in your life. It is God’s will for you to be victorious, holy, a vessel meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work, but just because it is God’s will does not mean it is going to happen. It is not going to happen until you get the Word in your mouth and start speaking that Word into your future.
Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one take it from me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My father (John 10:17-18).
Before he was betrayed, before he went to Pilate, and before the Sanhedrin condemned Him to death, Jesus said that nobody was taking His life; rather, that He laid it down on his own. “I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” First of all, he wants you to understand that nobody was taking His life, but He was laying it down. Secondly, he said, “I want you to know that I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to pick it up again.” When He said, “I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again,” at that moment He did not have the power. He was going to need the power after that; but because He understood the vital principle of faith, and because He had the mental disposition of faith – that speaks what it believes in the present tense – He said, “I have the power,” not “I’m going to have” or “I will have.” He said, “I have the power now tto lay it down, and I have the power now to pick it up again.”
Let me demonstrate what I mean by saying, “He did not have the power when He first said it.” Remember when Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane where He wrestled with the will of God being done in His life for the first time? He said, “Father, if there is any other way to get this done without Me dying, let this cup pass. If We can do this any other way, let Us do it another way.” That does not sound like somebody who has the power! Not yet! He, like many of us, was trying to find and alternative means of getting the will of God done; he was trying to do it another way, just like we do. He was wrestling with His flesh, but because he had already said, “I have the power,” when h got into the situation where He needed the power, his confession met Him. This is what the life of faith does.
Before he was betrayed, before he went to Pilate, and before the Sanhedrin condemned Him to death, Jesus said that nobody was taking His life; rather, that He laid it down on his own. “I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” First of all, he wants you to understand that nobody was taking His life, but He was laying it down. Secondly, he said, “I want you to know that I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to pick it up again.” When He said, “I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again,” at that moment He did not have the power. He was going to need the power after that; but because He understood the vital principle of faith, and because He had the mental disposition of faith – that speaks what it believes in the present tense – He said, “I have the power,” not “I’m going to have” or “I will have.” He said, “I have the power now tto lay it down, and I have the power now to pick it up again.”
