Christians have viewed themselves for so long as being the same as before they're being saved and still being in their natural bodies, rather than being born again into God's Image and Spirit. The old saying about being in the "Spitting Image" of someone, came from the term "Spirit and Image" of our Father.
Jesus is not only our Savior and Lord, but He's what our Father intended His family to be when He formed us. First, we're made in is Image and Spirit and then, a body was formed for us to abide and be able to live in this natural world God created. We were spirit beings living in a natural body and we were meant to be in total contact with our Father. Our spirit was to have authority over our flesh and over everything else.
Although in a flesh and Blood body, Jesus was in complete control of His carnal being. He wasn't only to be our Savior and Lord, but He was our example of how to live in this natural realm after being born again. Our new, living spirit was to be connected once again to our Father. We are now to be "led of the Spirit" and not of the flesh.
We have struggled, fought and failed to keep the flesh under control. We haven't worked as hard though, to listen to and allow the Holy Spirit within our spirit, to have dominion. We continually strive to stay right before God instead of believing we have already been made right through Jesus. And, of course, the accuser of the brethren (satan) is always reminding us of our failures and we fail to put faith in the "Firstborn of the brethren" for our success.
Romans 10:2 (Amplified) says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs) but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its new attitude) so that you may prove (for yourselves) what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God; even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect (in His sight for you)."
We haven't spent nearly enough time "renewing" our minds by the Word of our new birth. We were made in His Image and Likeness. We have our Father's DNA and only He only knows how to succeed and not to fail. If we dared believe what has happened to us once becoming born again, then we'd learn to walk more in victory. Jesus is Who we were all to be like, and not as Savior, but as sons. There is, and only can be, One Savior of the world and His Name is Jesus. But, as "sons" of God, we're to walk like Him, talk like Him and be led by Him.
God still talks to His children like He always has. Jesus knew to keep His mind on the things of God rather than the things of the world. If we watch Jesus' earthly walk, then we will see how He met every situation with the Word. Jesus never tried "reasoning" things out or copy what others did. He only did what the Father said for Him to do.
Can you even imagine what would happen to this world if we began doing only what the Father said to do? We would hear the voice of the Shepherd telling where to go and who to minister to. He would lead us to the needy and then would meet those needs. We get caught up in doing what we think God wants us to do instead of doing what He really wants. We seem to think that just getting born again is the fullest extent of our earthly walk and our main goal should be just "holding on until we get to heaven."
Jesus called us to be "the light of the world." We are to "set at liberty those who are bound and set the captives free." Jesus said in John 17:18 (Amplified) that, "Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." In John 17:20 (Amplified) He said, "Neither for the alone do I pray (it is not for their sakes only that I make this request), but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching."
As we read this scripture, we must realize this is a prayer Jesus prayed for us, just before He went to the cross. If there was ever a Man to have His prayer answered, then it would be Jesus. So, you know that God granted this prayer on our behalf. Everything we need to walk this prayer out, was answered at Jesus' resurrection and at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The amount of power the Holy Spirit has in our lives directly correlates to the amount of listening to the Father we do.
The Father will never tell His family to do something that would be wrong or sinful. Everything the Holy Spirit says, is what the will of our Father wants done. We are born again and made new and all things are made new. We're now made again in the very Image and Likeness of our Father. His "supernatural" Spirit abides in us and with us like He did with Jesus, Peter, Paul, John and anyone else who was born again. The Holy Spirit is the character and person of God Himself.
Sometimes, we act like or think that we only have a small, limited portion of the Spirit. He didn't come "divided into small portions," like we've believed. He came in the "Fullness" of the Spirit. We, though, have chosen to believe that some people have more of the Spirit than others. This isn't so. The difference is that some listen more to the Spirit than others. God is searching for those who "Have ears to hear" what the Spirit is saying.
The problem isn't that God has failed to do what's needed to deliver us, but that we haven't received our deliverance. If we are actually made in His Image and Likeness, then how are we not empowered by the same Spirit He breathed into Adam and Jesus? Is there a difference in His children? Are we not all of one Spirit and Life?
It's not sacrilegious to believe that we are like our Heavenly Father. Everything bears seed after itself and produces after kind. If we are born again of His Seed, then we are as He is, a Spirit.
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