Intercession to Transform a City

By James Tarter

Romans 8 in the Bible reveals that God has a plan to transform creation. His plan has been used so little that no locality has received much of the freedom from corruption that He offers. His children in Christ Jesus need to learn how to work with Him, with each other, and with His ways to fulfill His plan. This book shows key features of His plan that can help His children to enter into it with Him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781312951549

Book preview

Intercession to Transform a City

Intercession to Transform a City

Dr. James M. Tarter

Copyright Page

15th Edition, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-312-95154-9

Copyright c 2015, 2018 by James M. Tarter.  All rights reserved.  Printed in the United States of America.  Permission granted to make copies for purposes consistent with furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® (1995 Updated Edition): c 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.  (www.Lockman.org)

I call the New American Standard Bible the NAS.  I add boldface or underline to specific words and phrases in Scriptures to add my emphasis for discussion.

Introduction: God Has a Plan for His People to Follow

Jesus has a little-used plan in the Bible to transform any location.  Consider Rom. 8:20-21 in the New American Standard Bible:

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

After decades of writing on Rom. 8, I was struck with a simple idea that opened up the theme of this book: God never hopes helplessly.  Instead, He has a way with its PLAN to free His creation through His children, to set His creation free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (v. 21).  In His plan, His children learn to work with Him and with each other to fulfill it.

Almost all of creation is still bound to corruption. V. 21 aptly shows a thorough transformation of creation in every locality that has fully received Jesus with all that He plans to do.  Intercession is often a key part of His plan to prepare the way for the locality to receive Him fully.

This book is adapted from a series of six topics sent out weekly by email to some intercessors who want Jesus to transform the area of Roanoke, Virginia, in the United States.  This book provides a picture from Scripture that is consistent with the following:

* God’s nature that is revealed in Jesus;

* His work with His children on earth to prepare them for all eternity;

* His adoption of us into His family as beloved children whose hearts are to learn the loving, life-giving ways to live in His household if they differ from the ways to live learned naturally in this fallen world; and

* His work for His people to heal a land (whole nation) in 2Chron. 7:14.

A believer in Jesus does not need to know the insights in this book to be a mighty intercessor, but this book brings out key purposes and features of His wonderful plan that have rarely been fulfilled in nearly 2000 years.  This book does not contain the plan to transform your city or my city, because I do not know either: only Jesus does.  With this book helping you to realize what God is seeking to accomplish and some reasons why His way is so good, you should recognize and be able to move into early steps of His plan to transform your locality, and recognize subsequent steps as He unfolds His plan to you His child.

Chapter 1: God’s Plan in Romans 8 to Transform Anywhere

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  (Rom 8:20-21)

Never helpless, God’s hope in v. 20 shows that He has a plan to free creation from its slavery to corruption.  This goal helps us realize the enormous work that God will do to transform a locality.  Realizing this work can help His interceding children – who are still learning His better ways – to work better with Him and with each other to fulfill His plan.  It is manifold, sequential, and beyond all human plans.

Let us consider the meaningful context of Rom. 8:21.  Rom. 8 describes the Spirit-filled life in Christ that Jesus has made available to His people.  All of v. 1-18 helps us to live the Spirit-led life, but here I quote only v. 14, because it identifies the sons of God in v. 19: "¹⁴For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."  In v. 14, sons includes females.  As God’s sons continue letting His Spirit lead them, He manifests His character and nature in them and through them.  This glorifies God and REVEALS the people who are His sons to His creation, which waits eagerly and longs for their revealing:

¹⁹For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  (Rom. 8:19-22)

God’s creation has a key problem: too many people do not really know God, so that they get alienated from Him.  Their wrong ideas about Him or themselves keep them from relating to Him and thereby keep them from solving their key problem.  Their alienation causes many other problems that people want solved.  But creation must wait for "the revealing of the sons of God" (v. 19).  How do sons of God get revealed?  As previously stated from v. 14, God’s sons get revealed by letting His Spirit continue to lead them, so that they reveal their Father’s true nature.  Creation longs for (v. 19) this revealing of the sons of God.  People need to see God well enough to know to turn to Him with their problems.  Only His sons and children can manifest His character in ways that many people need in order to receive Jesus, which heals creation’s key problem and sets up other solutions.

The Church has often made it harder to see and find God than it should be.  Because we have not yet manifested His character well, creation must wait and hurt until the Body of Christ grows up in all aspects into Christ (Eph. 4:15) and shows people what our God is really like.  Localities and nations are literally sick because most people in them cannot see what God is truly like, which limits their ability to repent and truly turn to Him.  For a healing that will not be quickly corrupted, a big majority of the people in a land must personally want to relate to Him.  But people rarely do: their wrong ideas about God or themselves ruin their relationship with Him.  The revealing of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19) is God’s call for the Church to humbly correct this problem.

Creation waits in futility (v. 20) – really unable to help itself because it cannot see invisible God accurately enough to trust Him, to turn to and receive Him.  Many deceived people, localities, and whole nations stumble and fall in futility until believers grow into manifesting our Father’s nature. People want solutions they cannot find.  This is futility (v. 20) and is creation in "slavery to corruption" (v. 21)!  There God shows that He has a way with its plan to free creation "into the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21).

What exactly does this mean?  A good definition of Biblical glory is the visible manifestation of internal qualities.  What is the greatest "glory of the children of God" on earth?  To have God live in us and to manifest Him with His nature in our lives.  Jesus the Son of God did this as He emptied Himself to be our perfect Example (John 5:19, Phil. 2:7, 1Pet. 2:21).  We can intercede for believers in a locality or a land to manifest Him better.  As we improve, more people in God’s creation will join us in turning to our Savior and letting His Spirit lead us, which lets His freeing of creation from its corruption to spread wonderfully.

Why don’t we see greater freedom from corruption with God’s plan for 2000 years?  Rom. 8:23-26 shows that believers were not ready for our role in God’s solution 2000 years ago, and we shall see why we are not fully ready now: we also wait