Who You Are in Christ
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Image #1
Col 3 (v. 9) ....you have taken off your old self with its practices (v. 10) and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Your sense of worth is based on your identity in Christ and your growth in character, both of which are equally accessible to every christian.[2]
Eph 4 (v. 13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
.…many don’t know their purpose and destiny and why He called them into His kingdom.…saved for ten or twenty or thirty years but bearing no fruit, with no spiritual growth.…we have become barren fig trees: A form of religion, but denying the power. We have lost our way. It’s time to get back to the perfect will of God….[3]
II Tim 1 (v. 8) Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.…but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, (v. 9) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus.…
Should it matter to us what people think of us? [Apostle] Paul said he would gladly be labeled a fool for following Christ, and anyone giving his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ in our day is also going to be considered a fool in the eyes of the world....Do you think people are going to understand if you completely consecrate yourself to God and let Him remake you into a new creature? They won’t! They will think you are a fool; they will say you’re being fanatical; they will say you are making too great a sacrifice. Only when self has been totally crucified is it possible to make such a surrender, and patiently endure the world’s disdain.[4]
Phil 2 (v. 5) Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus....who....(v. 7) made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. (v. 8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Image #2
It is not what you do as a christian that determines who you are; it is who you are that determines what you do.[5]
Gal 3 (v. 26) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (v. 27) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
As a believer, you need to know who you are in Christ. You also must learn to see and accept yourself as God sees and accepts you. You are no longer....deserving of death, or separated from God....Nor are you condemned or guilty! These types of things are lies from the enemy to keep you a prisoner. Accepting these lies keeps you walking and acting outside of the true nature of a child of God.[6]
John 1 (v. 12) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
When thinking about who you are in Christ: If you think of yourself as an evil and worthless piece of meat, you will live like it. You cannot live contrary to what you believe. The truth is, you have died to the old self, you are no longer associated with your past! If you have accepted Christ, you are a whole new person! ....we have been washed by the blood of Jesus....You are not just a servant of God, but you have been adopted into God’s royal family as a child of God![7]
I Jn 3 (v. 1) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Image #3
.…the devil steals many believer’s and unbeliever’s identities by robbing and stripping them of who God created them to be. The devil’s ultimate purpose in his kingdom, with his demons and principalities, is to steal your identity. This tactic is designed to keep a person from the Cross, redemption, and salvation. It progresses from taking their purpose and identity to leaving that person just barely surviving.[8]
Eph 1 (v. 5) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, (v. 6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
Being a child of God who is alive and free in Christ should determine what we do. Then we are working out our salvation (Phil 2:12), not for our salvation.[9]
I Jn 3 (v. 2) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Image #4
Rom 8 (v. 16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (v. 17) and if children, then....heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ....
You change your perception of yourself by believing the truth. If you perceive yourself wrongly, you will live wrongly because what you are believing is not true. If you think you are a no-good bum, you will probably live like a no-good bum. If however, you see yourself as a child of God who is spiritually alive in Christ, you will begin to live accordingly.[5]
Gal 4 (v. 6) And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts.... (v. 7) Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
The greater your knowledge of God, the greater your faith will be. The more we understand about God, the less we will doubt, the less we will fear, the less we will suffer anxiety, and the less we will feel alone. He is our all-sufficiency and He constantly desires to impart to us any good and perfect gift. How wonderful it is to know that this all-powerful, all-sufficient God created us to have intimacy with Him. Our completeness can only be fully found when we enter into relationship with Almighty God through the Lord Jesus Christ.[10]
Jam 1 (v. 5) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (v. 6) But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
Image #5
The major strategy of satan is to distort the character of God and the truth of who we are....If however, he can get us to believe a lie, we will live as though our identity in Christ isn’t true.[5]
I Cor 6 (v. 19) ....you are not your own.... (v. 20) For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
....your hope for growth, meaning and fulfillment as a christian is based on understanding who you are, specifically: your identity “in Christ” as a child of God. Your understanding of who God is and who you are in relationship to Him is the critical foundation for your belief system and your behavior patterns as a christian.[11]
Who you say I am. I'm a child of God, yes I am! music video ref. [12]
Now that we realize there is a problem, we can begin the journey to discover what we can do about it. The next webpage will start us moving in the right direction of finding out who we are in Christ.
Return Back To other Webpages:
References:
1. Neil Anderson, (2013). Victory over the darkness, p.43, Bethany House.
2. Neil Anderson, (2013). Victory over the darkness, p.141, Bethany House.
3. John Ramirez, (2015). Unmasking the Devil, p.104, Destiny Image Publishers.
4. Dan Augsburger, (2009). The Branch and the Vine (sermons by Frank B. Phillips), p.70, Booklet.
5. Neil Anderson, (2013). Victory over the darkness, p.47, Bethany House.
6. Bill Niland, (2004). The War Manual, p.83-84, Real Deliverance Ministry.
7. http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/three_stages_bondage.php
8. John Ramirez, (2015). Unmasking the Devil, p.33, Destiny Image Publishers.
9. Neil Anderson, (2013). Victory over the darkness, p.27, Bethany House.
10. Bill Niland, (2004). The War Manual, p.71, Real Deliverance Ministry.
11. Neil Anderson, (2013). Victory over the darkness, p.24, Bethany House.
12. Hillsong Worship (Lyric video) "Who You Say I Am" Online video. YouTube, 21 Mar 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcC1Bp13n_4
Image #1: “M” words and the Christian woman, (n.d.). Who I am in Christ matters more. Retrieved from http://www.mwordsandthechristianwoman.com/young-women.html
Image #2: Cherie Fresonke, (2014). Who you are in Christ. Retrieved from http://www.cheriefresonke.com/four-ways-teach-christ-esteem-kids/
Image #3: Cracked-Pot, (2016). Identity in Christ, know who you are. Retrieved from https://cracked-pot.com/2016/04/13/jesus-i-know-paul-i-know-but-who-are-you/
Image #4: Christ our identity, (2014). But if you see yourself as a child of God who is spiritually alive in Christ, you will begin to live accordingly. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/JanEgil/christ-our-identity-41474422
Image #5: The Vortex, (2017). Distorting the Truth. Retrieved from http://www.pagadiandiocese.org/2017/06/13/the-vortex-distorting-the-truth-its-how-the-church-of-nice-makes-its-living/
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