“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” Ephesians 1:3 al 6

THE CONQUEST OF THE SAINTS

“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses” Joshua 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” Ephesians 1:3

We see in these passages of the word of God, Joshua 1:3 is for the Israelites what is for the church Ephesians 1:3. God had said to Joshua, before entering the Promised Land, that everything that stepped the bottom of your feet. Paul tells to that we form the church today, that God blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. These two passages speak of “all”, all that stepped the plant of your feet and all spiritual blessings.

Joshua God heard this and believed it, then took the people of Israel, crossed the Jordan and was heading to the Promised Land. God had made this promise to Abraham: “I would give the land of Canaan”. He had said it was a land that flowed with milk and honey. But when they entered, they found that the land was inhabited. Nations and kings were there. Israel camped across the Jordan and God commanded to circumcise all the males, because they had not done in the desert. Having done this, celebrated Passover and prepared for the conquest of the land God had given them. Here we see two things: Before the conquest of the earth, God commanded to circumcise. Circumcision for Israel comes as baptism do for us. Once circumcised they ceased to be natural men to become God’s people. Then they ate the Passover, which is the sacrament for us, so they ready to conquer the land God had given to them. The first nation to fight was Jericho.

The Bible says he was walled up to the sky and looking at it with the naked eye, one would have said it would be impossible to get into it; but God gave Joshua instructions on how to do it, which, for any army chief would be ridiculous.

“Take a walk around Jericho once for six days”

What they would say the people of Jericho? What is what they do these, circling around the city? Can they be entering? But Joshua did not care what others say, but what God had commanded him to do. On the seventh day God said: “Seven times”.

After the last lap the Israelites did not return to Gilgal as the previous days. And here is a lesson for all of us today.

Them to go around Jericho, returning to the place where they were camping, that is, Gilgal, and there they could see the waters of the Jordan run. But, however, they had crossed over in dry. When the priests put the soles of his feet on the waters of Jordan, these are gone away backward and stopped like a lot in the distance. Now they were on the other side and saw water running in the Jordan, but somebody had done something, if they on their own had attempted to do, they would not have achieved. When looking at the waters, they took confidence and possessed the security of that everything that God had promised, if they believed, would be a reality. To them watch running waters in the Jordan is, is like for us today, look at the cross.

Someone did something on the cross that no man could do.

If Christians often looked more to the cross and what happened there, we would not stop ever and we would move to conquer the heavenly places. That’s why they always returned to Gilgal. The seventh day came.  They turned seven laps, Israel stood around Jericho, the trumpets sounded and they shouted and the walls of Jericho crumbled. Jericho is the type of this world, obstinate in rejecting the Lord. But no one can prevent the Saints from taking over the heavenly places and here on earth extend the Lord’s kingdom.

Jericho was discovered and the Israelites, with sword in hand, moved forward and stripped. They killed with the sword all the inhabitants of this place, as the Lord had commanded. Thus, began the conquest of the Promised Land.

In the chapter 13 and 14 of the books of Joshua we see the conquest which Joshua carried out. After a long time of war, made no alliance with any of his enemies. Joshua defeated 31 kings, many joined to fight against him, but all were defeated. Upon arriving time partitioned the conquered land, although there was still much to grab. Joshua was almost old and had commanded that they should take all the land that God had given him and told them:

“If nations remained unconquered, these would be for them as goads to his eyes and Thorn in his side”

That is why the order was:

Conquer all the land and not let a single one of his enemies.

Once the land was divided, the Israelites took locations and their land and lived in their homes in the same places where the ancient inhabitants carried out such evil, as chapter 18 of Leviticus teaches, now there the Israelites praise and worship God.

The enemies were defeated and what could see was completely different regarding the conduct that the inhabitants defeated had. If Joshua and the people of Israel have been satisfied with knowing that there was a good land and had looked by far, If Joshua and the people of Israel have been satisfied with knowing that there was a good land and had looked by far, is like many Christians today, who received the life of Christ and knowing that it is full of perfect spiritual riches, never take hold of it.

But Joshua was not content to look and contemplate but believed what God said: “That all of you bottom of your foot steeped on would be of them”

That is why he cross the Jordan and fought to seize it. Now the wealth of the land was theirs. We moved to the church of today and we take the passage in Ephesians 1:3 where Paul has an exclamation and blessing to God because of what He has given us. Paul says: “Every spiritual blessing”

When we are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit who came forth from God and in him is the perfect life of Jesus Christ. However, living in this body works of the flesh, which is enmity against God, but the Lord says, who gave us his life, But the Lord said to us his life, which we must develop in ourselves. Just like Israel was given to us conquer the heavenly places, that is to say, that the spiritual life that God has gifted us in Christ will be developed to reach its image.

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” Romans 8:29

Now, all those who have believed and were baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, and in every holy supper meeting we participate of it; we are trained to fight every day against all our enemies, whether the works of the flesh, the wiles of Satan or the temptations of this world system offers. If like Joshua, we believe what God says He has given us, we must strive in the grace of God to achieve growth of this spiritual life that is in us today. Everything the flesh want, the system of this world and Satan have it, who has power over the old man but never on the new man, temptation it offers to those who believe, to make them stumble and so they think they will never achieve. But as Israel looked over Jordan, we look at the cross, could see that Christ overcame everything and He is in us and His victory is ours; then we would not stop at the conquest of this spiritual life. We must not let the old man’s behavior enslave us again, but by faith we practice everything God says in his word.

The apostle Paul says: “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” Colossians 3:9-10

Here the apostle Paul tells us that we must conduct according to the spiritual person that we have received, because the moment we receive Christ we have put off the old man, and told not to lie to each other because such conduct no longer belongs to us and we put on the new man. Talk about a renewal that occurs every day in the image of our Lord Jesus and shows us that if we make this a reality in us, take us to the fullness of knowledge, that is something that we needed and which believers today nor speak, some not even know they can do, but nevertheless, is so valuable and so important that only in light of the Holy Spirit we can know the inexhaustible wealth of riches.

Now, if we pause for a moment and look at the church today, most do not know the value of the spiritual blessings and because of this they spend searching for earthly riches and material blessings, for which use the tricks of the error that this world through the deception offered. So many Christians have departed this earth, and others these days looking to enjoy more temporal things that to conquer the riches in Christ are eternal, not have any knowledge of what it means to achieve the full assurance of understanding, as the apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 2:1 to 3:

“For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”

And this is a trap of Satan to those who believe in Christ do not take over the glorious exaltation to God for the faith which has led them. On this time Christians know few things that God in His word tells us that Christ has purchased, Riches as patience, self-control, are things of which no one speaks. But the scripture says are necessary:

“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” Hebrews 10:36

In reality very few ministers urging their congregations to take over all these spiritual blessings that God has given us. The Bible teaches us that as a child of God must always doing good, doing good to others and we must not tire of this. The only way to defeat evil is doing good and we have received the Holy Spirit and with it the ability to always do good.

We must not let evil enslaves us, Romans 12:21 shows us that evil will want us to believe that we will be unable do it, but the apostle says that by doing good will defeat it.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”

The conquest of the life of Christ and the development from it would have to be for Christians, the most precious treasure, should be something desired and beloved by those who through God’s word, discovered that he from before the foundation of the world has prepared for our glory, Things that like man never knew and as men could never know, Paul tells us:

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” 1 Corinthians 2:9

 We see that some things never our ears heard, neither have our eyes seen, nor have felt the heart of man and are for those who love Him. This means that every day we can have a new experience in the knowledge of these glorious and wonderful things that God has given us. And because of this we should love God above all things and yet, we should seek to love him more every day. The conquest of the heavenly places in developing the life of Christ should be a concern for every believer and a constant desire to reach its fullest. All who believed they received the ability to do so.

For the conquest of the land of Canaan the Israelites had to kill one by one all the inhabitants from that land and Joshua had told them that if they left any nation unconquered these were going to be for stings and thorns in their side false teachers today and those unaware, trying to free the believers at this time, of spirits, such as spirit of strife, jealousy etc.; but the Bible teaches that are works of the flesh. (Galatians 5:19 to 21); but to avoid this, God says that we have died with Christ and together with Hem we resurrected to a new life, are this our freedom (Ephesians 2:5, 6); therefore, we have to do is to practice the new life we ​​have received, is why the apostle Paul says that doing good will overcome evil. Apart from this, no one can get rid of the works of the flesh but by faith in the word of God which says that we have died and born again.

My hope and my wish are that everyone who reads this literary endeavor in the grace that is in Christ Jesus to not losing anything of all that God through Christ has purchased for those that love him.

I love and embrace in the love of Jesus Christ. Amen

Pastor Juan A. Avellaneda