We read in 2Corinthians 5:15-17 (Amplified), "And He died for all, so that all those who live might no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake." Verse 16 says, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). (No) even though we did once estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) We know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh)." Verse 17 continues, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether): the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
In these passages from a letter to the church in Corinth, we come upon the revelation of Jesus the Church must begin to see. The Man, Jesus, Who once walked the earth has been resurrected into a new and higher position than before. We use His earthly walk, as a man, as an example of how we're to conduct our lives now that we're born again. We must also come to the revelation that when Jesus rose from the dead, He raised us (those who believe on Him as Lord) with Him to a higher place than those who walked with Him previously in the flesh.
2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says that, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether): the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
We've accepted the fact that our sins have been erased and we've been born again, but we still try walking in the same way we used to do. More than just the removal of our sins was accomplished when we became born again. We were truly born again into the Image and likeness of God. In Genesis 1:26 (Amplified) God said, "Let Us (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image, after Our Likeness and let them have complete dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the aid, the (tame) beasts, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth."
1Peter 1:23-25 (Amplified) says that, "You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm) but from One that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God." Verse 24 goes on, "For all flesh (mankind) is like grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off." Verse 25 says, "But the Word of the Lord (Divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever, and this Word is the good news which was preached to you."
When we were born again, we were raised into the setting that our Father had from the beginning, a people made in His Image and Likeness. The seed (sperm) by which we are born again is God's Own seed, His Word.
In John 1:14 (Amplified), we read, "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us: And we (actually) saw His glory (His honor, His majesty) such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His Father, full of grace (favor, loving kindness) and truth."
This is the same Word (seed, sperm) of God that gave us new life when we were born again. 1Peter 2:9-10 (Amplified) says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, (God's) Own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Verse 10 says, "Once you were not a people (at all), but now you are God's people; Once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy."
We refer to ourselves as God's children, yet we're fearful to say that we are in His Image and Likeness. We say that we're born again in His likeness, but still allow fear to hold us down into the old way of being. 1Corinthians 3:1-3 (Amplified) tells us, "However, Brethren, I could not talk to you as to spiritual (men) but as to non-spiritual (men of the flesh in whom the carnal nature predominates) as to mere infants (in the new life) in Christ (unable to walk yet)." Verse 2 goes on, "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough (to be ready for it) but even yet you are not strong enough (to be ready for it)." Verse 3 says, "For you are still (unspiritual) having the nature of the flesh (under the control of ordinary impulses). For as long as there are envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?"
People still get upset when you refer to yourself as though you were on the same kind of level with Jesus. If God is the Father of Jesus and He is also my Father, then are we not raised to a new creature? If we were created in God's Image and Likeness, then we must be like He is.
I didn't say that you are the Messiah or that you are God. I did say that we were born of the same seed (the Word) as Jesus Himself. My earthly father had three sons. We all have his name and we all have his same characteristics and features. I am not my father, but I am like my father. The things he taught me were the things of his character. The way I talk and the way I govern my life are the very things that show my father in me. I wasn't born inferior to my father, but on the same level as he was...a man. The species of man has continued for thousands of years. It doesn't matter where they were born or what color or nationality they are, they are still the species of man. Nothing's changed since God created man. The fall of man in the garden changed the life of man into the death of the enemy. But, the life of God (the Word, the sperm) of God, has restored everything to the original plan of God.
If God is our Father, then we must be like Him. When satan became our father through Adam, didn't all mankind become like him? When we were born again by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, then we were once again like Him. His legacy for His family has never changed from Genesis 1:26 (Amplified) which says that, "Everything that was lost, has been restored, for those who believe."
We see Jesus as the "Christ," man while He was here. He's our example of how we're to walk and rule over the enemy in this body. But, we are to learn about Who He has become since He has risen from the dead. We see Jesus from this side of the cross as the sacrifice and now we see Him on the other side of the cross as the Risen Christ. We are to truly rule with and in Him from His position as the Risen Christ, the glorified Messiah, as kings and priests, before Him to carry out His will and rule of Authority.
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