Genesis 1:26-27 (Amplified) says, "God said, Let Us (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image (after Our Likeness), and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the (tame) beasts, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them."
This was and still is, God's Original Intent for mankind. God made man in His Own Image and Likeness and gave him authority over everything He made on earth. Through the Blood Bought Sacrifice of Jesus, God restored man to what He intended from the beginning. Those who've accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, have been redeemed and become new creations, made after the Image of our Heavenly Father. We've been conned by the world and the carnal thinking of men, into believing something very different though. We've never truly seen ourselves after the Truth of God's Word.
Our false humility has kept us in a place where we feel unworthy and believe we're just "forgiven sinners, but Romans 8:16-17 (Amplified) sheds a different light, saying, "The Spirit Himself thus testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God. And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ sharing His inheritance with Him, only we must share in His suffering if we are to share in His Glory."
We don't share the suffering of Jesus on the cross, but we share the persecution He bore from the enemy and unbelievers, who mocked Him. What Jesus bore on the cross, He did in order to restore and redeem us back into the Father's Original Intent. Through Jesus, we've been placed back into what God had in His heart, at the beginning. We're now in His Image and Likeness again, having the same authority God delegated to man in the beginning. Our authority now, is the Power and authority through the Name of Jesus, the Name above all names. All Power has been given to Jesus, both in Heaven and in the earth and we share His Name and His inheritance.
This seems impossible to the natural, carnal mind, because the carnal mind refuses to accept Revelation Truth, according to Romans 8:7 (Amplified), which says, "That is because the mind of the flesh with its carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot." Much of today's Church follows the direction of the carnal mind, with man's ideas of religion. Through the centuries, some believers have entered into the depth of Revelation knowledge, but not without suffering persecution and mocking similar to what Jesus suffered. Some in the Church revered John G. Lake, but most mocked him. Most have forgotten the ministries of Oral Roberts and Smith Wigglesworth and others still believe they were "radical preachers."
Paul instructed us to "renew our minds" and the only way to do this, is by reading and meditating on God's Word, until it becomes Revelation, instead of education. Before sinning in the Garden, Adam was a spirit man, living in a flesh and blood body, just like we are. Before sin entered his life, his mind was what we've inherited today through Jesus, which is the mind of Christ. Adam submitted his physical mind, soul, and body and they were subject to the Holy Spirit and his Father.
How old was Adam, when he sinned in the Garden of Eden? We know that he lived 930 years after sinning, according to Genesis 5:5 (Amplified), which says, "So altogether Adam lived 930 years, and he died." How long did Adam live and walk with God, before sin brought death into his body? Scientific studies tell us that the earth is eons of years old. God and Adam walked together, even in Adam's natural form, for more centuries than we know. This is our future in the new creation glorified body that is incorporated in Jesus.
Even now, in this world and in these natural bodies, we're capable of walking with the Father, like Jesus did in His earthly Body. We haven't renewed our carnal minds to accept the Truth of God's Word in our lives, like Jesus did in His earthly walk with the Father, though. Paul refers to our natural body as being, "a house," in 2Corinthians 5:4. We're new creatures born of God, but we're still living in a house that is corruptible and has been programmed by the world and carnal minds, for years. We're a new creation people, with a new spirit that is once again in God's Image and Likeness, but we're still living in an old house.
We're living in our physical body, with it's carnal mind that were once ruled by sin and death. All it's thoughts were carnal and not subject to God. Now that we're born-again and are one with the Spirit of God, we hear thoughts that are against our new creation man/woman. Oppression, depression, fear, suicide, adultery and all these thoughts that come against you, are left over spirits that once controlled and lived in our house (body and mind).
Jesus says in Matthew 12:29 (Amplified), "How can a person go into a strong man's house and carry off his goods (the entire equipment of his house) without first binding the strong man? then indeed he may plunder his house." We're living in a house, that was ruled by "the strong man." We must bind the strong man, by renewing our minds with the Word of God. Our body didn't get born-again, our spirit did. The old man/woman must be bound and cast down by the new tenant. The former tenant has left residual thoughts, which pressure your new man/woman. This causes a struggle and is why we entertain thoughts of being unworthy and unrighteous. We must renew our minds and get rid of the thoughts and habits of the former tenant.
Paul instructs in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external (superficial) customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new ideals and it's new attitude." This is how we bind the strong man and spoil his house. We must learn to renew our mind, so we think and trust what God's Word says about us, who are new creatures in Him. The strong man will still try to hold you captive, even after you've been made free, by using thoughts and voices that are contrary to God's Word.
Hebrews 9:14 (Amplified) says, "How much more surely shall the Blood of Christ, Who by virtue of His Eternal Spirit (His Own preexistent Divine Personality), has offered Himself as an unblemished Sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the Ever Living God." Paul contrasts the sacrifices under the old covenant, with the new covenant made by Blood of Jesus, in Hebrews 10:2 (Amplified), saying, "For if it were otherwise, would these sacrifices not have been stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin."
If the old covenant sacrifices have been able to rid the guilt and consciousness of sin, then the people wouldn't need to continue making them. Through the Blood of Jesus and by trusting that God accepted His Sacrifice on our behalf, we shouldn't have guilt or consciousness of sin any longer. We need to bind the guilt and condemnation of the old man (the strong man), who lived previously in our body and mind. 1John 3:19-20 (Amplified) tells us, "By this we shall know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate, and pacify) our hearts in His Presence, Whenever our hearts in tormenting self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us, for we are in God's hands, For He is above and Greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understanding) everything, nothing is hidden from Him."
When the memories and thoughts of the old man/woman tries to torment you, just remember the cleansing Power Jesus' Sacrifice provided you and accept the peace that Jesus Promised. You can cleanse the strongman's house, and realize you're the temple of the Holy Spirit, by your faith in His Blood. We must cast down all imaginations and leftover thoughts of the old man. We must refurnish and renovate the old man/woman. We can't just paint the outside to look good, but must refurbish the inside of the temple, by the Glory of the Holy Spirit Who now lives in us. 2Corinthians 10:3-5 (Amplified) says, "For though we walk (live) in the flesh (the old house) we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds. In so much as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
We must stop listening to the condemnation of who we once we and replace them with the Truth of who God has made us to be, in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh [the voices of condemnation of the former tenant], but after the dictates of the Spirit."
Don't let the dictates of the old man/woman constantly remind you of who you once were and what you once did, because through Jesus, "Old things are passed away and all things are made new." We all had a past, with things we're not proud of, but after we accepted Jesus and He accepted us, we must bind the strong man (the carnal thoughts and memories) and spoil the strong man's house. Guilt and condemnation will try dictating your life in Christ, but you must bind the strongman, so you can live in the Lord's Promised Peace and Truth and after the dictates of the Spirit. Romans 8:11 (Amplified) says, "And the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to Life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you." We spoil the strong man's house, by the casting down of imaginations, the voices of condemnation, the guilt of the old man, and accepting the Power of our Sacrifice. This restores Life, in our body, which opposed Truth in our minds.
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