Our lesson this week addresses our TRUE identity in Christ. We are asked at the beginning of the lesson to choose a number between 1 and 10 that represents our view of ourself. The lesson begins in the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:16, 17. Our identity is determined by birth, not by performance. When we are born into this world, we inherit the spiritual traits and nature of the old man, Adam, who, as we know, decided that he could be his own boss. He became the first lord of the ring. As humans, we inherited that broken nature.
However, God created ALL things for His purposes--including time. Faith requires the time dimension. When faith is no longer needed, time will cease to be. God is not controlled by His creation. He is not time dimensional. You and I are time-dimensional beings. Bill describes our timeline as shown in Figure 3-4 to the left. It is important to understand that God never allows a problem to come into our life for which He does not already have a solution. Isn't that a great thought?
As a descendent of Adam, you and I have inherited his spiritual characteristics. We are born with a dead spirit. Thus, we must be born again (see the story of Nicodemus, John 3: 1-15). As mentioned above, birth always determines identity. All we have to do to go to hell is show up on the planet as a descendent of Adam.
Salvation is a change in your nature and your identity from the inside out. When you enter into Christ's lifeline, you receive His nature (His spiritual characteristics) and His life. You receive a new present, a new future, and a new past.
Your heritage from Adam is history. God had to do away with your old identity in order to give you a new identity. God has no plan to make something beautiful of your life (in Adam). The plan is to kill it and start over again.
It is from the perspective of who you are in Christ that you understand your true identity and realize that Christ is your life. Review the information in "Your True Identity in Christ" to better understand who you are in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment