Romans 8:16-17 (Amp) says, "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 His suffering if we are to share His Glory." The suffering Paul writes about here, isn't the suffering Jesus endured on the cross. No man can suffer that, except Jesus. This suffering was for our salvation and redemption and the new creation Life we have in Christ Jesus.
The "suffering we share with Him," is the rejection Jesus received from those who misunderstood Who and What He was, as the Son of God. Many today, don't understand who and what we are in Him, so they persecute and reject us, like they did Jesus. Being joint heirs with Jesus, means that everything the Father did and furnished for Christ, has been made available to us today. This is the Super-natural provision our Father has provided from our new position in Jesus, so we can do what we've been commissioned to do, which is to reveal the Father to world and bring the salvation that Jesus provided to them. Jesus said in Mark 16:15 (Amp), "Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the Gospel to every creature of the human race."
At the time of His earthly ministry, Jesus was the Only Begotten Son of God. After His Resurrection, He is called "the First Born of many brethren." Romans 8:29 (Amp) says, "For those whom He foreknew (of whom He was aware of and Love beforehand), He also destined from the beginning, foreordaining them to be molded into the Image of His Son and share inwardly His Likeness, that He might become the First Born among many brethren." Jesus isn't the Only Begotten Son, but is now the First Born of many brethren.
God sees us through Jesus, as being as much His children as Jesus is. Jesus is the First Born and is exalted to High Priest and Lord over all that God has in His new creation family. We're brothers and sisters of Christ, sharing in His inheritance the Father gave at Jesus' Resurrection, in order to bring back what the Father had intended for His family in the beginning, before time. God isn't waiting to see how we turn out, before He accepts us. We were in His heart, before the foundation of the world. There was no reason for God to create the earth, if His family didn't need a home. God created everything here for His family, including the beauty of the flowers and the glory of the sun and stars. It was all for you and is now yours again, through Jesus.
Jesus prayed in John 17:22-23 (Amp), I have given to them the glory and honor which You have give to Me, that they may be one even as We are One; I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You have sent Me and that You have Loved them even as You have Loved Me." Jesus didn't refer to us as being, "step children," but called us "God's Own Offspring." This is for now, while we're still on this earth and not just when we get to Heaven.
We've been taught that humans are low and weak beings, that fall short of what God intended. Adam's sin of disobedience resulted in mankind's being separated from God, but the Father never left us there. Through Jesus, we've been lifted up and exalted above all creatures, including satan, by the Power of His Name, which is above all names. We're identified in Him and not in ourselves. When we confess that we're unrighteous, we're telling the Father that Jesus wasn't enough for us. This is prideful and is false humility.
Jesus' death and Blood were more than enough to pay the Price for Adam's transgression and to satisfy the Heavenly Courts of Justice. We're to humble ourselves under the Mighty Hand of God, according to 1Peter 5:6 (Amp), which says, "Therefore humble yourselves, demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation under the Mighty Hand of God, that in time He may exalt you." The Holy Spirit inspires Jame to write in James 4:7 (Amp), "So be subject to God, resist the devil, stand firm against him, and he will flee from you."
The only way the devil will flee from us, is by understanding the Authority of who we are in Christ Jesus. If we try standing against him in our own power, then satan will rule over us and keep us in the same bondage he's held mankind in for millenniums. We must submit and be subject to God. How do we do this? By accepting what Jesus has done for us, when He made us without sin and perfect and righteous before God, even when we don't feel righteous, sinless or perfect in our own righteousness and imperfections.
Being subject to God, is believing what He says about us, instead of what we say about ourselves or what others say about us. If God says we are righteous in Jesus, then who are we to disagree with the One Who created us? Paul says we must renew our minds, in Romans 12:1-2 (Amp), saying, "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice, holy, devoted, consecrated and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent), service and Spiritual worship. 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, so that you may prove for yourselves what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing that is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
Paul goes on in the next Verse, saying we're not to have an exaggerated opinion of ourselves. Some have read this scripture and believe we're to debase ourselves, continuing to see ourselves as old sinners saved by Grace. This is contrary to scripture. When we think of ourselves in ways that are contrary to what God has made us to be in Jesus, then we're thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. You've never done anything that the Power of Jesus' Blood hasn't covered. If you think otherwise, then you won't have Power in the Blood of Jesus and you won't know God's will and purpose for you life. Many prayers aren't answered in Christian circles, because we feel like we don't deserve God's Blessing. WE DON'T DESERVE IT---this is Grace. Don't deny God's Grace and try "getting" God to answer your prayers, by your own merit. Romans 4:16 (Amp) says, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor)."
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