Who we are in Christ #1
When a person is born-again, he has a revelation of who Jesus is. The Church is built on this revelation. Next comes “KNOWING WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST.” That’s when we’re going to have victory in every area of our lives. At least that’s what is available to us.
I) 1JOHN 4:17.
A) The part that I wanted you to see is the last past, “As He is, so are we.”
1) Notice the present tense in that V. “As He IS.”
a) Right now Jesus is, Full of Power and full of Victory.
2) “So are we.”
B) But in order for us to have that kind of Victory, some growth needs to take place.
1) 1st of all, as I already mentioned, we need to have a revelation of who Jesus is.
2) MATT 16:13-16.
a) Having this revelation of Jesus is essential for us to enter into the kingdom of God.
b) Romans 10:8-10.
(i) (Romans 10:9-10) (Amplified) "Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Verse 10) For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth, he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation."
(ii) Salvation comes through acknowledging and confessing to God that Jesus the Christ is God and believing in and receiving Him as Lord.
(a) Ephesians 2:8-9.
3) Let's go back to Matthew 16:13-16, 18.
a) In this V He’s not saying that He’s going to build His Church on Peter.
b) If we look at it in the Greek it’s a little more clear to us.
(i) Jesus is saying, “Thou art Petros, and upon this Petra I will build my church.”
(ii) In other words Jesus is saying, “Thou art Peter, a rock, but upon this LARGE ROCK I will build my church.
4) What is the large rock that the Church is built upon? The revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior.
a) This revelation is not something that is revealed to us by man, but by God.
b) MATT 16:17.
(i) Many times people think that God doesn’t show them anything.
(ii) But if you have this revelation then God has revealed it to you.
(iii) God does show you things and you might not even be aware of it.
II) Now there are rewards for this revelation.
A) MATT 16:19.
1) The reward is the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
a) These keys will unlock the treasures of heaven, like: Provision, health, Peace, purpose in life, and really all of God’s promises.
b) Along with those keys comes the key to unlock those who are bound. Weather that’s you or someone else.
c) And the 3rd key that we receive is the key to bind Satan’s activities from our lives.
2) LUKE 5:3-7.
B) We’re talking about WHO JESUS IS and WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST.
1) But there’s 1 thing that we must never forget and that is our salvation and all the promises of God and benefits that we have by being in the body of Christ belong to us because of the blood of Jesus.
a) ROM 5:8-10.
b) That’s the main part of the Gospel. Jesus Christ was crucified, shed His Blood, died for us, and was resurrected for us so that we could have eternal life.
2) Go back to ROM 3:25.
a) I like that statement, “Through faith in His Blood”.
b) We have to put our faith in the Blood of Jesus. It will never lose its power.
c) It’s because of the blood of Jesus that we have salvation; it’s because of the Blood of Jesus that we have all the promises of God.
d) 1TIM 6:17.
(i) The NIV translation says, “God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
(ii) It’s through the Lord Jesus Christ that we can enjoy all things.
III) For us to Enjoy all things, having God’s best, we need to go on Maturing in the things of the Lord.
A) Part of that maturing is for us to see “Who We Are in Christ.”
1) By us being in Christ, we have God’s nature in us.
a) (2PET 1:4) Says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
2) If we’re in Christ, then we are “SONS and Daughters of God.”
a) (JOHN 1:12) Says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, {even} to them that believe on his name:”
3) COL 2 9-10.
a) Sometimes people don’t feel that they’re complete. We feel that we’re not smart enough, good enough, or even fast enough. But the Word of God says that you are complete in Him.
(i) I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to improve our education or work hard. But what I am saying is that we don’t need to feel inferior, because in Christ we are complete.
4) In the book of (GEN 1:26) it tells us that we are created in the image of God.
a) I feel that we lost part of that during the fall (sin consciousness), but now through the work of Jesus we have regained everything that was lost. (Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them, which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”)
IV) Part of that maturing is for us to be Transformed by the renewing of our minds to the Word of God. That’s the only way we’ll begin to see “Who We Are in Christ.”
A) ROM 12:1-2 (turn there) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, {which is} your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what {is} that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
1) When our minds are renewed our THOUGHTS, ACTIONS, and ATTITUDES change.
B) There’s 3 things that happen in that transformation process:
1) EPH 4:22-24.
2) #1 We put off the old man (V 22).
3) #2 We’re renewed in the spirit of the mind. (V 23).
4) #3 And we put on the New man. (V 24) The man that follows after righteousness.
a) These are just some of the things that we have when we are in Him.
b) Victory and the promises of God belong to us because we are in Him and He walks in total victory.
5) (Ephesians 4:22-24 Amplified) “Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; (23) And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], (24) And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.”
WOLCC Sun AM 9/15/91 and WOLCC Sun AM 4/5/98 WOLCC Sunday, December 02, 2001