This is the first article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. I sometimes use other names for this ministry, such as Personal Prayer Ministry and Biblical Healing and Deliverance. The adjective "wonderful" is used because Jesus is the "wonderful Counselor" of Isaiah 9:6. This ministry attempts to make room for Jesus to personally counsel people by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with the human ministers acting as facilitators. This makes it different from most counseling. It is highly effective at teaching the recipient how to hear the voice of the Spirit and to receive his life giving words.
The Almighty God of the Universe sent his Son Jesus to the earth on a mission to rescue and set people free from the awful tyranny and hopelessness of sin and its consequences. Human bondage began when Adam and Eve opened the floodgates of evil by abandoning and betraying their Creator and Sustainer, having been duped by the lying serpent into suspecting that God was a liar. Their decision to make a go at living independently from God proved to be the downfall of the entire race.
Adam and Eve separated themselves from the life of God when they sinned. They were still physically alive, but the death process had begun to work. Their spirits were cut off from the Holy Spirit, their minds and hearts were darkened, and their bodies began to die through what we call the aging process. Sickness – physical, societal, emotional, and spiritual – entered the picture. Satan’s promise of their becoming like God turned out to be a horrendous lie.
One of the things we learn from their fall is that humans, even newly created, did not possess an innate immunity to Satan’s deception.
Afterward, because our minds were darkened by sin, we became even more susceptible to the lies of Satan.
The Bible says that the entire creation took a nosedive that day, being subjected to bondage as a form of God’s judgment.
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Romans 8:20-21 (ESV)
As bad as that day was, it is important that we see that God offered hope to the human race from the very beginning of his judgment upon our sin. God’s punishment was meant to be restorative ultimately, but for that to happen, his Son would have to die and rise again.
When the Law was later introduced at Mt. Sinai, it exposed how deep our sinfulness runs. It also brought upon the human race a new problem, what the Bible calls the curse of the Law, which is God’s specific judgment upon sin. Protection against evil spirits also was removed as a result of our rejecting God and his ways.
When Jesus arrived on the planet, things had been spiraling into a deepening darkness for centuries because generation after generation had drunk deeply from the poisoned cup of sin. The ripples of our lawlessness and rebellion escalated into a mad torrent of crashing waves of destruction and judgment.
After patiently waiting for God’s appointed time for thirty years, Jesus launched his public ministry with these words.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.” Luke 4:18-21 (NET1)
The above passage is the closest thing to a mission statement that Jesus gave us. For the next three years, Jesus went about “doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38 NET1)
During his public ministry years Jesus made withdrawals upon a future deposit he would make into heaven’s bank.
The authority and power to he used to heal, to release people from demons, and to forgive sins was based upon what he would accomplish later through his death and resurrection. Each time he set a person free, he drove the nails a little deeper into his hands and feet. There was no way out for him. He had to pay the price, having made himself a debtor to God’s system of justice, which he did obediently and without complaint. When the innocent Lamb of God gave himself over to death, he defeated Satan, the one who had previously held the keys of bondage and death.
When our Lord rose from the dead, the power of sin, Satan, and death was effectively smashed. And yet we see people, even followers of Christ, still living in all sorts of sin and bondage. What gives?
God’s plan was always for his people to rule and reign alongside the Lord Jesus. After he ascended into heaven where he sits at God the Father’s right hand, Jesus delegated his authority to us who represent him to the world. He has given us his Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us. Now those who make up the church have the privilege and responsibility to proclaim his message of redemption and reconciliation to the Father and to release people from what holds them prisoner.
Jesus’ mission statement is now our mission statement. What he did on the earth during the short period of his public ministry, we are now to accomplish until he comes again to wrap things up.
The Great Commission involves more than just telling people about what Jesus did for them and asking them to believe on him as Lord and Savior. Christ’s followers are to demonstrate the power of the Kingdom of God as well as proclaim the words of the Gospel. Paul made it clear that the Good News is meant to be delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction … 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 (NET1)
God has given us, the church, the authority, the power, and the tools to accomplish this mission. In the following articles under the general heading of “Finding Freedom in Christ,” my desire is to present an overview of what I call Wonderful Counseling (WC), because it depends on the ongoing ministry of Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor. (Isaiah 9:6)
Wonderful Counseling integrates the truth of God’s Word, the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the basic principles of repentance and faith to help people experience a real and growing freedom from sin and bitterness, deliverance from what I call lie-based strongholds, healing for inner hurts, and release from demonization, as needed and desired.
I will do my best to base all of this solidly on God’s Word and give practical applications based on what I have seen work. God has done some amazing things through this ministry, and I hope you will be encouraged that God cares deeply about you and wants you to be free, too. The best revenge we can get against the devil for all he has done to us is to allow God to set us free and use us to help others walk free from his clutches.
