Friday, October 2, 2020

Lesson 58 The Church's Identity Crisis

      Many born-again believers aren't familiar with their identity in Christ and the new creation family of God.  We haven't been taught from God's Word, about who we've been made to be in Christ.  Many have adapted to the religious form of Christianity, which leaves us knowing very little about what's been made available to us, in Christ.  Some think we're unable to attain our new identity, while we're on earth.

     When Jesus said in John 10:10 (Amp), "I have come that you may have Life, and have it more abundantly," many believe He was speaking about when we die and get to Heaven.  This Life though, is ours here on earth too.  It's difficult for us to believe or hope that if we "Seek first the Kingdom of God, all these things will be added to us," while we're living in these earthly bodies. 

     The carnal mind is unable to see that the born-again, new creation beings are  Super-natural being.  Some who witnessed Jesus' earthly ministry, had difficulty seeing their new identity and mission in this world, after His departure from earth.  Even though they denied the preaching, they couldn't deny the proof of the lame man's miraculous healing.  Today, we hear so many negative things and outright lies, that it's hard for anyone to know or see Truth.  The constant barrage of fear, panic and tumult in the world, makes it difficult for hurting people to believe in a God Who Loves them and wants to help them find peace.

     Paul writes to the Church in 1Corinthians 2:4-5 (Amp), "And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive, enticing, and unusable words of wisdom, but they were in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and Power (a proof by the Spirit and Power of God), operating in me and stirring the minds of my hearers the most Holy emotions and thus persuading them. So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the Power of God."

     The Church that began in the Super-natural, will finish in the Super-natural, especially in these Last Days before Jesus returns.  This end time awakening won't be in the religious order of mankind, but will demonstrate the Power of God to the world.  Not everyone will accept or walk in this, but there will be those who dare believe God's Word and will allow the Holy Spirit to work miracles through them.  The disciples prayed in Acts 4:29-31 (Amp), "And now Lord, observe their threats and grant to Your bond servants full freedom to declare Your Message fearlessly. While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the Authority and by the Power of the Name of Your Holy Child and Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and courage."

     We read about believers who prayed over people or situations, followed by signs and wonders throughout Acts.  Jesus said in John 15:7-8 (Amp), "If you live in Me (abide vitally united to Me), and My Words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. When you bear, produce much fruit, My Father is honored and Glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine."

     There has always been those who will deny the tangible proof of God in this world, but even unbelievers must acknowledge what they see with their own eyes.  Peter and John prayed for the lame man at the Gate Beautiful in Acts 4:14 (Amp) which says, "And since they saw the man who had been cured standing there beside them (Peter and John) they could not contradict the fact or say anything in opposition."  

     When Jesus sent His followers out into the world in Mark 16:17 (Amp),  He said that, "These signs will follow those who believe."  There has always been different degrees of submission in Christianity, but all Christians belong to the Father.  Every believer makes a choice of how far he/she will walk with God.  We read about how those in the Wilderness failed to enter into God's Rest,  in Hebrews 4:8-9 (Amp), which says, "This mention of a Rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan, for if Joshua had given them rest, He (God) would not speak afterward about another day. So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath Rest reserved for the true people of God."

     Jesus is our Rest and has already done everything needed for the new creation family of God.  We must allow Him to take us all the way into His Rest.  This requires that we trust Him to deliver us, even in the face of giants.  There are things in today's world, that only God can deliver us from.  The Israelites didn't enter into the Promised Land (God's Rest) according to Hebrews 4:2 (Amp), which tells us, "The message that they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith by those who heard it."

No comments:

Post a Comment