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Archive for April 2013

Apr/13

24

Christ IS Our Identity Pt 2

FINGERPRINT IDENTITY

Christ IS Our Identity

The Father spoke over His Son, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17 NKJV)

Let’s now transfer these words to believers who are ‘in Christ’. As He is so are we in this world (1Jn 4:17 NKJV)

 A)  You Are My Beloved Son:

 1 Jn 3:1,2 Behold, what manner of love the Father ‘hath bestowed’ upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

 The words, ‘hath bestowed’ in the Greek are one word. This word is in the ‘perfect tense’. The perfect tense is an event or statement that took place in the past and is a once for all thing, never to be repeated, never to be changed,never to be revoked. It lasts throughout all time.

 Therefore, at the cross 2000yrs ago, Jesus defeated sin and fulfilled the law. This released God to ‘bestow’ His perfect unconditional love upon mankind.

 When you and I became a believer, we received His love upon us, and now we become the beloved sons of God.

Rom 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God.                                        

 SUBSEQUENTLY, GOD LOVES US FOR WHO WE ARE NOT FOR WHAT WE CAN DO!

 B) With you I am well pleased:

 Rom 8:8,9 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  (NKJV)

 The word for ‘flesh’ in this context is the sinful nature. Therefore, unbelievers who are in the flesh, cannot please God. But believers are not in the flesh, They now have a new righteous nature and the Spirit of God dwells within them. They are now, in the Spirit and are pleasing to God.

 We must realise that we are always in the Spirit, therefore we are always pleasing to God.

 SUBSEQUENTLY, GOD IS NOW PLEASED WITH US FOR WHO WE ARE NOT FOR WHAT WE CAN DO!

 C) Love and Pleasure Returned:

When we become the recipients of God’s love and pleasure, we are so grateful and thankful, we want to respond and return this love and pleasure to God.

 We are not doing this because we have to (Law) but because we want to (Grace).

 So – just like the Son, you and I are now great beloved and well pleasing to the Father!

 Meditation Point: Lord, open the eyes of my spirit to see that I am greatly beloved and well pleasing to You for who i am not for what i can do!

 

 

 

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Apr/13

15

Christ IS Our Identity Pt 1

FINGERPRINT IDENTITY

1 John 4:18 AS HE IS SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.  (NKJV)

Jesus came into this world to accomplish numerous things, one of which was to be our representative before God; remember that Jesus was not only the Son of God, He was also the Son of man.

Rom 1:3,4  Regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God. (NIV)

I want to show through this Blog that as Jesus is before the Father as a man – so are we!

When Jesus rose up out of the river Jordan, the Holy Spirit came upon Him and and the Father’s voice boomed from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17.  KJV)

Why did the Father speak audibly at this time:

1) The Father’s Declaration: When the Father spoke these words, He was bragging on His Son, He was telling the world how proud He was of His son. He especially wanted the Pharisees and Sadducees to hear His voice (Mt 3:5,7).

WHY! Because later they would attack Jesus for calling Himself the Son of God and accuse Him of blasphemy saying He was making Himself equal with God, but now they were hearing it from the Father’s own lips.

There were thousands of people milling around on the banks of the Jordan river that day who also heard the Father’s proud voice boom fron heaven.

He was also affirming His Son before the people. He wanted everyone to know that He had chosen Him and given power and authority to Him to bring in the kingdom of God.

2) Character Before Works: Before Jesus did any preaching or teaching, performed miracles, cast out demons or healed the sick, the Father spoke two things over Him:

a) “You are my beloved Son”. He was declaring to Him that He loved Him for who He was, not for what He could do. He was establishing Jesus’ identity as His Son by declaring His unconditional love for Him.

When a child knows it is unconditionally loved, it establishes in them identity and a security and stability that enables them to overcome the challenges of life. It was the knowledge of the Father’s love that enabled Jesus to overcome the many attacks on His identity and calling and took Him all the way to the cross where He overcame death and the grave and rose victorious.

b) “In whom I am well pleased”. The Father was declaring to His Son that He was pleased with Him for who He was not for what He coulddo. He was saying to His Son that He didn’t have to perform in order to please Him, He didn’t have to fulfill any conditions, He loved Him for who He was!

Jesus was so grateful and thankful to the Father for His unconditional love and pleasure, that it would cause Him to say, “I do always those things that please Him” (Jn 8:29 KJV).

If we read these words with a law mind set we will think that Jesus is obeying the Father in order to receive His love and pleasure. The reverse is true. Jesus is so grateful for the Father’s love and pleasure that He wants to do those things that please the Father, not because He has to do those things that please the Father. This is grace!

In our next Blog we will look at how these same words of the Father apply to all Christians.

Meditation Point: Father, I invite you to work in me the desire to please You, because I want to, not because I have to!

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SHOULDA – WOULDA – COULDA

In the final part of this series i want to look at those people who feel life is passing them by. They began their Christian life with joy, a passion for Jesus and a desire to proclaim the gospel of grace to a dying world.

Along the way however, they have raised a family, had problems, difficulties, ill health, or have retired from their employment; one or more of these things have left them exhausted, burnt out and hopeless.

They find themselves stuck in their relationship with God and have lost their passion, joy and zeal. They still have a heart for God but don’t know how to revive what they once had.

Let’s look at some key points of guidance:

Standing Before God : We must never ever forget that God does not judge us for our mistakes, sins or failures! He judged our sin on Calvary 2000 yrs ago, and now we are ‘In Christ’, He judges us as righteous (given right standing) which is justified or in simple speak, ‘just as if i have never sinned.’

So if we have been living under a cloud of guilt and condemnation, we need to come out from underneath it and embrace God’s forgiveness, acceptance and peace.

Rom 8:29-30 For God knew His people in advance, and having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them his glory.

Feed On Christ : After Jesus had fed the 5000 on natural bread, He turned around and said to the people following Him,

 ”I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger.” (Jn 6:35  NKJV)

How do we come to Jesus and feed on Him who is the bread of life? We feed on Him by meditating on His Word. Jesus is the Word of God (Rev 19:13).

Many people have missed feeding on Christ because they read His word like any other book and seek to acquire head knowledge. ‘No, A thousand times No.’

The word of God is not a fast food read. I suggest taking 2 0r 3 verses and reading them very slowly, going back and reading them very slowly again, going back and reading them very slowly again. You will find a word or phrase will jump out at you and speak to you.

Stop any further reading. Take this phrase and turn it over again and again in your mind as if you are chewing and chewing your food (yes, like a cow chews cud). The Holy Spirit will open this word to you and give you understanding into it.

Ask God to bring these thoughts to your remembrance throughout the day and continue to chew on them. This is meditating and feeding on the word of God, and this new understanding will feed and strengthen your spirit and renew your mind which will in turn transform your life.

Changed From The Inside Out : Do not try to change yourself from the outside in. This is called, ‘Behaviour Modification.’ This will not change our heart and will lead to a religious and legalistic lifestyle resulting in defeat, failure and hopelessness. Many stronger than you and I have gone down this route and have had to retrace their steps back to a place of grace which changed them from the inside out.

The key thought in the word for ‘grace’ taken from Strong’s Greek Dictionary says:

GRACE : The divine influence upon the heart, and it’s reflection in the life.

The revelation that comes to us from feeding on the word of God is what will change our heart and give us righteousness, peace and joy.

Phil 2:12-13 Therefore, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (NKJV)

Meditation Point: He works in – I work out!

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Apr/13

1

Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda Pt 3

APOLOGIES: Due to personal issues my Blog has been offline for a number of weeks. Also, problems with WordPress means I’m not able to show any media at this time. Thankfully i am now able to resume normal service but without the media.

SHOULDA – WOULDA – COULDA

We’ll continue this series by looking at past sins, mistakes and failures.

Many Christians still struggle with incidents of the past. They know God has forgiven their sin but  guilt, condemnation, shame and hopelessness still plague their lives.

This is because we lack a full understanding of the work of forgiveness.

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (NKJV)

Forgiveness is a two stage process: Stage 1  Jesus has forgiven our sin.  Stage 2  Jesus has taken away our sin.

It is this second stage, the taking away of our sins, that many are ignorant of. Thankfully this whole process is shadowed forth for us on ‘The Day of Atonement.’ (Lev 16)

On this day, the whole congregation of Israel stood at the entrance to the Tabernacle of Moses. Two goats were presented to the High Priest. One was called the goat for sin, the other, the goat of escape. Let’s look at these in detail.

The Goat For Sin: Aaron (High Priest) would take this goat and lay his hands on it’s head. He would then confess over the goat the sins of the nation for the previous year. The goat now became a substitute in place of Israel and a symbolic transference of sin passed from  Israel onto the goat.

Aaron then offered the goat up as a sin offering on the altar of sacrifice. He took the blood of the goat into the Most Holy Place where the ark of the covenant stood. The presence of God’s glory would descend to rest on the mercy seat on top of the ark. He then sprinkled the blood with his finger 7 times upon the mercy seat.

When God saw the blood, it was the evidence to Him that the punishment for sin had been carried out on the goat instead of the people of Israel. This enabled God to release His mercy and forgiveness for sin upon the people.

On the cross of Calvary, Jesus fulfilled this shadow when He was offered up as the goat for sin. The Father transferred the sin of the world onto Jesus who became our substitute. When He died and shed His blood, it was the evidence to God that the punishment for the sin of mankind past, present and future had been carried out. This enabled God to release His mercy and forgiveness upon all mankind.

This is the forgiveness we experience when we invite Christ into our life,

The Goat of Escape: Aaron would take this goat and again lay his hands on it’s head and confess over it the sins of the nation. But instead of sacrificing the goat, he would take it to the front gate of the tabernacle and release it to escape into the wilderness, never to return.

This symbolised that the sins of the people had not only been forgiven (goat for sin), they had also been ‘taken away.’ The people now knew they were free from sin.

On the cross of Calvary, Jesus not only took the punishment for our sin (goat for sin), He also became the goat of escape. That is, He took our sins away. How did He do this? When He died, He went down into the grave. God then resurrected Him from death. As He rose in resurrection life to become the firstborn from the dead, He left behind Him in the grave, all the sin of mankind. Haleljah! Praise the Lord!

This signifies that God is saying to us that our sin is not only forgiven but has also been taken away never to be brought back to remembrance, never to be brought back to condemn,  make us feel guilty or ashamed. Completely removed!

Thus, when satan seeks to accuse us of past sins, mistakes and failures, we can stand against him and remind him that all sin has been forgiven and taken away. There is nothing left for him to accuse. He’s been made redundant.

Meditation Point: Father, please open my eyes to see this wonderful revelation, that in Christ, my sins are not only forgiven but removed completely.

Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  (NKJV)

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