Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) says that, "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion) it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
Your can hardly take in the reality of this scripture that is revealed to us. Ye, I have shared in His crucifixion. This is the legal side of our identification with Christ. You see, God shared with us in His incarnation and He became One with us.
He gave up His place in Heaven and became One with our suffering as lost humanity. Jesus was One with us in His substitution. He shares with us. He shared our sins, our infirmities, and our diseases. He took the place of them on Himself for us. This place of sharing was so real that He Who knew no sin became sin with our sin order to be identified with us on our level. He didn't just have sin reckoned to Him as the High Priest did with the sin offering. Jesus actuallyt became sin.
Our minds seem to lock up when we think of how He actually became sin; but He did. He died spiritually and became separated from God as we had been. It was then righteous for the unrighteous bring humanity back to God.
In this new creation we shared with Jesus, He is the head and we are the body. When He imparted Himself to us, He gave us a new self in place of the old self. The old self, the man of sin and the fallen sinful man who was ruled by darkness and death, has been replaced by a new man who was a God man, a righteous man and a man without any stains and without even a hint of the old man at all. This new man is one who never existed before Jesus was raised from the dead.
When Jesus was raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead. We had died with Him on the cross. When He died for us, He bore the curse of the Law upon Himself and we were redeemed from the curse. When He bore our sin, we were cleansed from sin. When He bore our sickness by His stripes, we were healed.
Jesus became what we were so that we could become what He is. Colossians 3:1-2 (Amplified) says that. "If then you have been raised with Christ (to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead) aim at and seek the (rich eternal treasures) that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Verse 2 goes on, "And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things) not on the things that are on the earth."
Here, we begin to see how really one with Him we really are in His union with us. What can be more real than John 15:5 which says that, "I am the vine, you are the branches?" We are the fruit bearing part of this relationship. We are the ones who now touch humanity with our hands and love. We are the part of Him that now brings people into eternal life by His Word. We are sharing in His resurrection.
If we share in His resurrection, then we share in His victory over satan as well. Satan knows fully well that at Jesus' resurrection, we were a part of His victory over him and that we triumphed over him when Jesus was raised from the dead for our justification.
Did you notice that we were raised together with Him? Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) says that, "And He raised up together with Him and made us sit down together (giving us joint seating with Him) in the heavenly sphere (by virtue of our being) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah,the Anointed One)." Verse 37 goes on, "He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in (His) kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus." Verse 8 says that, "For you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And, this (salvation) is not of yourselves (of your own doing, it came not from your own striving) but it is the gift of God."
We have been jointly seated with Jesus at the right hand of Power and Kingship over sin, death, satan and all that the fall of man stands for. We've been given all power, through and by Jesus. Matthew 28:18 (Amplified) says, "All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me[Jesus]."
Begin to see who you are now because of Jesus. This new man is one that satan has no legal right to control because Jesus broke all power over him for us when He met the demands of justice and was raised from the dead. We are as free from this life of sin and death as Jesus is free.
The camouflage that the enemy used to keep you from seeing this has been exposed by the entrance of the Word which bring light. 2 Corinthians 4:3-5 (Amplified) says, "But even if our Gospel (the glad tidings) also be hidden (obscured and covered up with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God), it is hidden (only) to those who are spiritually dying and veiled (only) to those who are lost." Verse 4 says, "For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers minds (that they should not discern the truth) preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah) Who is the Image and Likeness of God." Verse 5 says, "For what we preach is not ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves (merely) as your servants (slaves) for Jesus' sake."
What I'm writing isn't to puff you up or lift you up, but to let you know that by grace, It was Jesus Who lifted you up and not yourself. It was and is by grace that we are now what He made us to be. You are not who you were , but who He has made you to be and not of ourselves lest any man should boast. Shouldn't we honor Him and walk as free men because He went to such great limnits to make us who we are in HIm?
Don't allow the enemy to take from you what Jesus died to give you. Be raised from the place of blindness of the enemy and walk in the light and power of the resurrection with Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment