Resurrection 8 The Bill of Rights and Beyond

[HKHaugan]

Resurrection 8 The Bill of Rights and Beyond
If you watch TV crime shows you know that when a police officer apprehends a suspect he is required to say the Miranda ruling, “You have the right to be silent, whatever you say can be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and if you can't afford one, one will provided for you. Do you understand your rights?” Those refer to your secular rights. There are of course other rights, known as the Bill of Rights from the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. “
But there is another level of rights, spiritual rights, which influenced the Declaration. That life is the risen life of Jesus out of which all rights come. His right to life, life not only after our body dies, but the life that He brings to each of us now as we are being restored moment by moment in Him. He died on the Cross to give us the right to true life, His life, His resurrected life, the one He lived on earth, eternal life. In a relationship with Jesus we are being brought to see in Him human life as it was meant to be. His life is the right life that presents us with how we can be restored starting with the Spirit. No other human life in history was raised from the dead as proof of what being right was all about. There are three immediate assurances Jesus gives us that this is true:
First, He gave us the right to be children of God. “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (Jn.1:12).”
Second, He becomes real to us. “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you (Jn.14:20).”
Third, we will never be alone. He never leaves us. If there is any 'leaving' involved it is us who leave Him. Especially true when He says “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age (Mt.28:20).”
These three are Holy Spirit assured, insured and procured by Jesus' death on the Cross and His Resurrection. Notice the sequence: we receive Him, believe Him and are given a right, the right to be children of God. The life He lived was reality before Creation, before the world and its people. That life, life in the Spirit, is the life we receive when we say yes to Jesus. That's our second birth, our real birth, our being brought back to our spiritual Father.
Let's look at the idea of 'right.' First, it is a 'birthright'. When you are born right you have the privilege of receiving the Father's hand of acceptance as His child in His Kingdom. You are guaranteed a spiritual inheritance in that Kingdom. Second, it is a right to claim kinship to the King of the Kingdom as a younger brother or sister of the King. Third, it is a spiritual right granted through belief and faith. With that right comes all the lifestyle, the gifts and the power, the full riches of the Kingdom of God. This starts with knowing you are right with God. You have the right to repent and be forgiven.
Being right with God means you are right within. It's an ongoing permanent right relationship. You have His mind, His heart and His Spirit as the relational means to grow in Him and for Him wherever and with whomever you are. He has given you the right to love and be loved. He has given you the right to obey Him before anything in the world is obeyed. He has given you the right to be humble before Him even in the presence of our enemies and the right to love them regardless of their behavior toward us.
You have the right to hold your personal knowledge of Him as your testimony. No one can take away regardless of the means used to destroy it. That personal experience is your personal history. It is eternal and you are recorded in the Book of Life (Rev.3:5). You have a right to all the promises Jesus has made.
Here's the biggy. You have a right to a personal Counselor with whom you can consult 24/7 in mind, heart and spirit for every next moment. If you don't have a counselor, One has been appointed for you. He is God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Right (Jn.15:26-27, 16:7-15). You have a right to His counsel whenever you desire. Make it often.
Now with all these rights comes the reversal of the world order from prideful arrogance to honest humility. The world's claim to right is through pride, the shrill cry “I know my rights and I want them right now!” But the new rights, our spiritual rights, are couched in a new heartstyle, a new mindstyle and a new spiritstyle called humility. Jesus' claim on the Cross was that very right. Heaven's claim, humility, was earned by Jesus for us on the Cross. We don't earn that right. It is His gift to us by His Cross and Resurrection which we believe and humbly receive through faith.
But how is the right of humility experienced?
The right to be humble is exercised when we relinquish all control to the Lord Jesus who directs our relational traffic within and without through His Word. In Jesus we are not humble before the world's power structure. We are humble before God and follow His will for us in the midst of the world's powers. That's spiritual wisdom. Where do we put our fears that are so common in the world? We humble ourselves before God and shift our fears to Him, which is why Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of making wise choices that come from Him (Prov.9:10, Ps.111:10). This isn't cowering fear like the world uses to intimidate us.
It is a fear of not being right like the Father is right, like Jesus is right, like the Holy Spirit who is the power of right acting in and through us.
OK, humility you say. What does that look like? In Jesus it is a right to be humble before God, a right attitude, a right posture and right way of life and response. See how He humbled Himself. Even though He was the Son of God He didn't use His position to 'lord' it over people nor did He seek to be a self-made man, the best among equals, superior in conceit, a 'one-upsmanship' to win arguments and impress people. He chose the right to be a servant (Php.2:5-11). “For I have come down from Heaven not to do my will but the will of Him who sent me (Jn.6:38).” It was His vertical relationship with His Father and our Father that was the perfect example of humility.
What we have been given is the right to be humble like Jesus was humble before His Father's will in all circumstances. This is the right to live in faith always looking forward to every next moment as the Spirit guides us to see and serve the Lord Jesus working in that moment. He is 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' fulfilled.