THE BORN IDENTITY - PART TWO

The Word of God is a mirror, it tells us who we are, reflecting the truth back at us. Read on as we uncover our true identity, found in Christ. Following on from last week's post, here is Part 2 of your identity in Christ. 

4. You Are Sons of God

Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul makes immediate connection between sonship and inheritance. Almost every time he mentions sonship he goes straight to inheritance. 

Rom 8:17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

This was a strong connection in the mind of any Hebrew. However, Paul's use of the term is in light of the Romans understanding of inheritance.  Contrary to the well-known maxim of English law, Nemo est heres viventis ('No one is heir of the living'), according to Roman law, the moment a child was born he was his father's heir. 

We have an inheritance, not because we are keepers of a law, but because we have received Christ into our lives. Because of Him and Him alone, we have an inheritance.

You have become a child of God, one of the sons of God!

As a child you now have an inheritance.

The basis of this New Testament inheritance is Christ in us.

There is nothing we can add to improve that position. We cannot improve our status before God. Christ is far beyond sufficient.

The key to salvation is receiving Christ. 

The qualification for every spiritual blessing is Christ in us. 

The basis for salvation or blessing is not our faithfulness as Christians, our maturity, our service to God or our devotional life. All these help appropriate New Testament realities, but understand, it is Christ is us that has qualified us for every promise of God. The fullness of the Godhead resides now in us. Once we have received Christ, His blood washes us clean. This makes us fit for God. 

Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily… and you are complete in Him…

When Christ enters our lives we are born again, from above. Born of God.

The moment we receive Jesus Christ we enter into a contract with God. We will spend time and eternity unraveling all Jesus has accomplished for us.

Psalm 92:4 For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

We 'have been' blessed. We are not trying to get blessed. We are, right now, already blessed. There is nothing we can do to improve on Christ in us. We can offer nothing that would add value to Christ. No, our journey is unpackaging this gift. We pray. We feed on the Word. We realize what has been achieved for us. We appropriate it. We make it real.

When Jesus dies upon the cross, His last words are, 'It is finished'.

He has accomplished complete salvation. 

From here He simply trusts Himself to the Father. 'Into your hands I commit my spirit'. The greatest act of faith, ever. There's little you can do when you're dead. No amount of positive mental attitude will get you up again. No matter how motivated you are before you die, when you're dead, you're dead. Another power has to come into play. Jesus initiates that power through his faith. God raises Him from the dead.

God tells Joshua He has given him the entire land of Canaan. (Josh 1;3) The truth is it has actually been theirs for forty years, however, because they have refused to believe God they have not been able to 'unpackage' this gift. However, now a leader and a generation who believe God get together they are able to begin possessing their possessions.

Obadiah 1:17 'But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the house of Jacob shall POSSESS THEIR POSSESSIONS.

5. You Are Kings, Ruling in Your World

Rev 1:6 … has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…'

Some translations dilute the rendering of this, 'He has made us a 'Kingdom of priests'.

Whatever translation we opt for, there are plenty of others clearly calling us 'kings'. The apostle Peter declares;

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light

The prodigal son forgot who he was.

Gideon forgot who he was.

The Israelites at Canaan forgot who they were.

However, Joseph did not forget who he was.

He kept in the forefront of his mind the vision God had of him.

Joseph saw himself the way God saw him.

He saw himself as a king, even when he was thrown down a pit by his brothers, even when he was sold as a slave, even when he was falsely accused of attempted rape, even when he was thrown into jail, even when he was forgotten by those he had helped. He kept walking and talking like the king he knew he was within. Consequently he kept rising to the top no matter what the circumstances.

Many believers simply forget who they are when they are in the midst of trouble.

We can’t allow trouble to dislodge from our mind the clear revelation of who we are in Christ. 

Regardless of what is happening to us we need to retain the vision of who we are in Christ.

As soon as we receive Christ we are born into royalty. As He is a King so are we. We are born into kingship. We are born to rule and to reign with Him.

Rom 5:17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to be king over all, but all who will take God's gift of forgiveness and acquittal are KINGS OF LIFE because of this one man, Jesus Christ. (TLB)

When the disciples are in a boat sinking in a storm, they approach Jesus to help them. However, He's asleep. God sleeps so we will wake up. To what? To who we are and what we have! We have lived under 'wilderness conditions' for too long. 'Wilderness conditions' is where we expect God to do it all, to make water pour from a rock, provide bread and meat from heaven, cover us from heat in the day and warm us with fire at night. However, God is unwilling for us to stay in this place - where He does it all. He hopes we'll rise to rule in life take charging over our circumstances. We're the ones meant to be slaying the giants. Not God. He'll help. He'll move in our moving. But He's trying to get you and I to discover the power He's deposited in us. Sometimes God seems asleep, completely ignoring our prayers. Why? He's drawing up from within us our birthright, Kings in the Earth. We have as much authority as we are submitted to. We have submitted ourselves to Christ. We've submitted ourselves to the will of God. Our call is to implement that will through the authority resident within us. The crisis you face stirs up power within.

Come back next week to read the final post on your born identity!

See you in church!