My last lesson ''Our identity''

My last lesson ''Our identity''

Our Identity
I believe two of the main problems in western/American Christianity is #1 We do not have a true revelation of who God/Jesus really is, and #2 We do not have a true revelation of who we really are in Christ. When we are born again we are adopted into the family of God and our identity changes. We are no longer children of wrath, but the righteousness of God. Satan main course of action is to make sure we never realize who we are in Christ, and if we do to eventually, he comes steal our identity from us. If we forget who we are in Christ, if satan can get us to believe that we are still sinners then he can keep us in sin. However if we ever realize that we are overcomers, then we will overcome. When the prodigal son was in the mud eating sloth with the pigs he wasn't a pig, he was a son. But it wasn't until he remembered who he was, even more so who His father was, did he pull himself out of the pigpen and return to his fathers house. So it is with us, when we know who we are, moreover whoms child we are, we will live accordingly.

Here is a list of who scripture say we are in Christ.
Forgiven
Chosen
Friends of God
The seed of Abraham
Overcomers
More than conquerors
Citizens with the saints
God's elect
The light of the world
The beloved of God
A new creation fashioned after Jesus Christ Himself
The righteousness of God in Christ
Kings and priest to God
Rulers of the nations
Co heirs with Christ
Sons and daughters of the living God
The Bride of Christ
The highest order of all God's creation

Forgiven
Ephesians 1:7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

1st John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
First and foremost we are forgiven. When we come to Jesus with a truly repentant heart He forgives us of all our sin, and declares us righteous before the Father. Satan would have us remain mired in self hatred, shame, guilt, not being able to forgive ourselves, but Jesus has forgiven us, and we need to know above all else we are forgiven, and have been reconciled to the Father.


Chosen
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
You have been chosen by God to be in a relationship with God. The God of all creation wants you to love Him, and has specifically chosen you to be a part of His house hold. It is almost incomprehendable. Yet Satan would have you to believe you are unloved and unwanted, rubbish, you are loved and wanted by the most powerful being in the universe the most powerful full of love being through out all time and space.
1st Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Not a whole lot more that I can say God has chosen you since for the foundations of the world and has called you out of darkness and into His marvellous light. What an honor, no wonder Satan wants to keep us blind to this truth.
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:


The Friends of God
John 15
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Jesus not only loves us, but He likes us, not ashamed to call us His friend. He laid down His life for me and you, so that He, through His resurrection, could become the first of many brethren.
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Abraham was called God's friend for simply believing Him. Any of us here that believe God's word and have out our faith in His redemptive plan have not only had righteousness imputed upon them, but have also been made the friend of God.


Children of Abraham
Galatians 3
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
We who are of faith in Christ have been grafted into a covenant relationship, that all the blessing of Abraham fall on us. We are partakers of the blessings spoken of by God to Abraham that through him all the nations would be blessed.


Overcomers
1st John 5
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
We have already overcome the world simply by placing our faith, our trust in Christ. Now I am no proponent of OSAS, and scripture does tells us to receive eternal life we must overcome. However, all we have to do to remain overcomers is to not be moved away from our faith in Christ. That is why it is so important for Satan to steal our identity, because when we forget who we are then we just might return to who we were.


More than conquerors
Romans 8
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. We ARE more than conquerors through the faith we have in Jesus Christ. Satan wants to tear us down, tell us we are defeated, but when push comes to shove, as long as our trust is in Jesus Christ, we are victorious over all the works of Satan.
1st Corinthians 15
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
The reason we can remain stedfast and unmovable in our faith towards Christ is because we know that we are already victorious. We need not to fight to win, we have won, we need to simply stand in our victory, and not let Satan steal the truth from our hearts.
2nd Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
God always causes us to triumph. We are image barers, once we know who we belong to, how could we do anything else but remain triumphant. Satan is a liar, he wants to make sure you never understand you have already won, so that you never walk out your victory.


Citizens with the saints
Ephesians 2
11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
We are with the saints of old. Abraham, Issac, Jacob, their God is our God we are fellowcitizens of the household of God with them. Elisha, Elijah, John the Baptist, we carry all the power they did, I would say more because we live in the new covenant age where the Holy Spirit actually indwells us permanently. What we need to do is tap into that power and one main way we do that is by realizing who we are.


God's very elect.
1st Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Colossians 3
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
We are the elect of God the apple of His eye those that He has decided would reign with Him forever. Why because we are better than others? No. Because of some divine eny meeny miny moe as taught by Calvinist? No, But because we saw into our hearts from before the foundation of the world and He knew we would love Him. It is a privilege to be one of God's elect, and He fells privilege to have elected us. We are in a love relationship with our God, He will give us anything we need to overcome. Why can't we see the wonderful position we have been placed in.


The light of the world
Matthew 5
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We will never shine if we never realize we are light.


The beloved of God
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1 st John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
God's love for us in unconditional we do not have to earn it, we do not have to work for it, He simply loves us.He doesn't love us more when we are reading our Bibles and praying, and love us less we we are not, His love is unmeasurable to us all. All we need to do is sit and soak it in, His love will restore us. When we do good works it is out of our love for Him because He already loves us, not out of duty, obligation, a striving to get Him to love us. We need to understand that no matter what He will always love us and that will propel us to do good for Him


New creation fashioned after the image of Christ Himself
Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

2nd Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Ephesians 4
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The reason some of have such a hard time struggling with life issues, sin, self identity, unforgivness of self or others is because we see ourselves as ourselves, and not as ''Christ''-ians fashioned in His likeness we look to ourselves, and not to Christ to forgive others, to keep ourselves from sin, to get ourselves through the day. We need to stop looking to ourselves for we are dead, and it is is Christ that lives in us and for us. So what we need to do it die, and let Him live. Then we will be able to live in peace through the storm, resist temptation forgive ourselves, forgive others, see ourselves as God sees us, for it will be Christ that is doing it and not us. All though when He does it in us and through us it will actually be us doing it by proxy. Let us see ourselves as new creations, fashioned after the very image of Christ Himself, and then others will be able to see Christ in us.



Kings and priest to God.
Revelation 1
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Not only does Revelation 20 tell us we will be priest and reign with Christ during the millennium, but Revelation 1 tell us we are now currently kings and priest before the Father. Hate to be redundant, but we need to get this deep down in our hearts of hearts we are not lossers holding on by a thread we are kings, and priest before God the Father.


Rulers of the nations
Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

1st Corinthians 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
We will one day be set in authority over all the nation including the angels. I think Paul said it best, ''how much more should do the things necessary that pertain to this lifetime''. He will give His true followers positions of rulership in His Kingdom, where, it is specifically stated, "we shall reign on the earth." Are we, in such a rush in this life, that we forget who we are? Are we neglecting the fact that God will turn the governance of the things He has made, this awesome universe, over into our hands? Is this why we act as poor and pitifully weak as we do now? Let us not forget who we are!!!!!


Co heirs with Christ.
Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
We are heirs of God the Father, and we are co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Christ, by inheritance, has obtained the promises. Are we not co-heirs with Christ? Will we inherit the same things that He did? All authority and all power has been given to us. The sooner we get this revelation deep down in our spirits, the better off we will be.

Sons and daughters of the living God.
Romans 8
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
God has given His children the power and authority to bring down the strongholds of satan. The Lord has given us the wisdom to denounce mind set that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God, and tear them down. Understanding has been given us to heal the church and teach unity. We have been given the power, now let us walk in it. Satan is deathly afraid that we will one day wake up and relaize who we are. Let us arise we who sleep, for the glory of God is shining upon us.


The Bride of Christ
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

2nd Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Ephesians 5
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Revelation 19
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
When we see Christ as our beloved Bridegroom, and we as His cherished Bride perfect in His sight, we will undoubtedly rid ourselves of all sin, and rededicate our lives to loving, and serving our Groom. We are able walk victoriously in love with Jesus because of our Bridal identity, and the knowledge of this truth.



The highest order of all God's creation.
Genesis 1
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Romans 8
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

1st Corinthians 15
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

1st John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
We were created in the image of God Himself with a living spirit. After the fall of Adam are spirits died, and those born after Adam were born in the image of fallen man. However we who have been redeem again bare the image of God through Christ. Let us get this revelation deep in our heart and we will start sharing with the world the image we bare. all of creation groans for us to manifest the our new nature. Some of these verses are clearly taking about our being glorified at the 2nd coming and others can be interpreted that way. However I believe we can manifest ourselves as God highest order now in this life. Let us now begin to bare the image of the Heavenly even as Jesus Himself bore that image even before His glorification.



Because you are in Christ, every one of these statements is true of you. Simply choose to believe what God says about you. "How can two walk together unless they agree?" Amos 3:3 Try reading the above list every day for a month, preferably out loud. The more you know who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will reflect your true identity. We were meant to walk in all the power and authority Jesus himself walked in. So why don't we? Because we do not know who we are.

You need to know who you are in Christ so that you can live a successful Christian life. A successful Christian life is not making it to Heaven but fulfilling all God has called you to accomplish. If Satan can not keep you from Heaven he will try to keep you from fulfilling your calling. The more you agree with God about your identity in Christ, the more your behavior will reflect your God given identity. Learn to see yourself as God sees you. Accept what God says about you and become the spiritual person you are. God's opinion is the one that counts.

Understanding who you are in Christ will give you a strong foundation to build your life on. Your identity doesn't depend on something you do or have done. Your true identity is who you are in Christ. Understanding your identity in Christ is crucial to your success. Train yourself to say the same things that God says in His word. Become who you are in Christ. God wants to do more in your life than you imagine.

Satan is at war against the knowledge of this truth. He has sent out all the hounds of Hell to attack your identity, to make sure you never come to the true understanding of who you are. For he knows once you get this understanding you will be able to move mountains. Like I said earlier I believe two of the major problem are...
#1 We do not have a true revelation of who God really is.
#2 We do not have a true revelation of who we really are in Christ.

Add these two together and it equals us not realizing what we can accomplish through God's Grace and that causes us to never achieve. We were meant to walk in all the authority and power that Christ Himself walked in, but we don't. So, why? I think the key comes from John 7:38. I know we all believe on Christ, but do we believe on Him as scripture says we must? I believe our fruit would say no. What do I mean? I am mean we are not reaching the lost, we are not healing the sick, we are not raising the dead we are not changing the world, and when I say we I mean me. I am not reaching the lost, I am not healing the sick, I am not raising the dead, I am not changing the world or even my neighborhood, I am not walking in the power God's word says that I should be. Once again why not? Because I have yet to grasp who Jesus really is or who I am in Him. Now don't get me wrong I am not saying we do not walk in any power at all now, I am saying we are not walking in the fullness of power that God wills for us to.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

It is my personal prayer that the Holy Spirit would teach me to believe on Jesus as the scriptures have said. So that rivers of living water would truly flow from my belly. That I would walk in all the power and authority Christ did, radiating grace and truth to all I come in contact with. I do not want to just believe this is possible, but I want it to be manifest in my life and in the lives of the rest of the Church.

Let us get a revelation of who we are.


In all honesty any way I could explain my understanding of who Jesus is scripturally (God incarnate, King of kings, Creator of the universe, my friend, my Savior, prince of peace, eternal Father, mighty God ect...) would be inadequate. I personally am still in the process of receive a seemingly ungraspable revelation. However I know #1 that when I get it something will awaking in me that will inspire me to walk even as He Himself walked, with all the power and authority He had, and #2 that it is God's will that we get this revelation, and walk in this power.
1 Timothy 2
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
The truth that God wants us to come to is not saving faith, because He want all to be saved AND come to the knowledge of the truth. The truth spoken of here is all spiritual truths including a scriptural revelation who Jesus Christ really is, and who we are in Him. Even though it may seem ungraspable, I am believing that God will reveal Himself to those that diligently seek Him.
Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

So let me ask who has implemented the 8 disciplines I spoke of last time?
#1 Pray/ meditate daily
#2 Read our Bibles daily
#3 Fast weekly
#4 Do justly
#5 Give generously
#6 Live holy/righteously
#7 Lead diligently/take initiative
#8 Speak boldly

Doing or not doing these disciplines do not change your Heavenly status or God's love for you. What they do is bring you closer to God. They cause you to become more intimate with Him. It causes Him to begin to share His heart with you. Once this occurs we will be more easily able to get a grip on the truths I have taught in this lesson, and when we do, and when the Church gets the Revelation of who God is and who we are in Him the we will change the world like they did in Acts. We will be warrior kings for Christ full charge ahead destroying the army of darkness.


Let us seek God's face, let us learn who Christ is, let us receive the knowledge of who we are in Him, that we will be able to walk in all the grace, truth, power, and authority that He walked in, let us arise and wage war against the enemy.
 
Good stuff .

I think the main thing is seeking God to reveal these things to us if they don't seem so apparent . i recall a passage stating "i remember your precepts because you have taught me" so if i am to learn who i am then when i read lists such as the above compiled and something doesn't add up in my life . then i bring it to God in prayer . "i see this is written of me but it is not happening why not?" . since it is a relationship . i have found it helpful over the years to open up a dialogue with God about stuff like this because it may take a bit of time for Him to show me "why not .. yet"


hope you have a great day Ezek33 .Thanks for the lesson
:)
 
Wonderful use of scripture. Very uplifting verses. Ezk 33 you are like a light shining in a dark world of confusion.
Using your thoughts their is no time to be negative when your thinking such positive thoughts.

The title for my next sermon is ;2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I would like to use your list which dramatically points out who we are in victory.
The point I was going to make in my talk was that if we dont claim the victory over the devil that is our fault.
Hbr 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

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Hbr 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.We are free, free at last, thanks to the all saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Sin cerley Craig
 
Thank Michael, and Joshua, and Joshua, you can used any part of this or the three other studies I have posted any time you need to.
 
I want to thank you again for these wonderful studies and I have enjoyed them tremendously .

Our Identity
I believe two of the main problems in western/American Christianity is #1 We do not have a true revelation of who God/Jesus really is, and #2 We do not have a true revelation of who we really are in Christ. When we are born again we are adopted into the family of God and our identity changes. We are no longer children of wrath, but the righteousness of God. Satan main course of action is to make sure we never realize who we are in Christ, and if we do to eventually, he comes steal our identity from us. If we forget who we are in Christ, if satan can get us to believe that we are still sinners then he can keep us in sin. However if we ever realize that we are overcomers, then we will overcome. When the prodigal son was in the mud eating sloth with the pigs he wasn't a pig, he was a son. But it wasn't until he remembered who he was, even more so who His father was, did he pull himself out of the pigpen and return to his fathers house. So it is with us, when we know who we are, moreover whoms child we are, we will live accordingly.

I especially love the association of the prodigal to our Heavenly Father . So many just reflect upon the prodigal and what he did , not realizing that our Heavenly Father is that loving father in the story . Father , God waits for us with open arms , forgiviing all our trespasses and waiting for us to come to Him . This is a perfect example of the God we serve . Never demanding , never asking us questions , always ready to accept us , and giving us a royal robe of purple and a ring on our finger and welcoming us into the family of God to live with Him forever and to partake of the celebration of the spotless church of the Bride of Christ .

That is so exciting .
 
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