His Heart, My Home

NOTE: This week we will continue to study the subject of our spiritual union with Christ. Please see the previous posts in this series.

We saw in our teaching last week that God completely changed the direction and the destiny of mankind by sending Jesus to be our Substitute, and to fully identify with us.

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of sin and death that had polluted and destroyed God’s original creation by “being made a curse for us”. In doing so, He established a new creation.
(Galatians 3:13)

The only way we can enter that new creation is through the new birth. (John 3:3-8)

One of the most powerful scriptures in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 5:17. Let’s look at it from several different translations:

“If a man is in Christ he is created new. The man he was has passed away, and behold, a new man has been created.” (Laubach)

“… he becomes a new person altogether – the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” (Phillips)

“… he has experienced a new creation according to which his entire old being has ceased to exist and everything has become new.” (Weiss)

The word “new” in our verse means “new in kind, new in quality.” We know that every created being produces after its own kind.

Adam and Eve produced a race that was spiritually dead, separated from God by sin. And this reproduction of spiritually dead mankind continued, generation after generation.

But God, by sowing the seed of His Son’s life into the earth, produced a new creation, a new species, a new kind of human, never seen before. This race of born-again humans are spiritually alive, connected to the very source of eternal life. This race reproduces, not physically, but spiritually, as they sow the seed of God’s Word into the lives of those around them.

You’re not just a new person… you’re now a new “kind” of person. You have the life of God on the inside of you. You are a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Our new identity in Christ requires us to look at ourselves with “new eyes”. We need to see our union with Christ as God sees it.

We have learned that we are one spirit with the Lord. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

But how did this occur? How did we become united with Him in an eternal, unchangeable relationship? How were we born again, made new creatures in His new creation?

● Let’s look back to the time when the eternal Word of God became flesh, when God, while continuing to be God, became a man.

The angel Gabriel told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore, that holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
(Luke 1:35)

Then he added, “For with God, nothing is ever impossible and no Word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.”
(Verse 37, Amplified Classic Translation)

Mary’s faith response was eternally important:
” Behold the maid servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your Word.” (Verse 38)

Mary received God’s Word in seed-form, by faith, and Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in her womb. Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh.

● Jesus, our Substitute, fully identified with us in every way. He lived a perfect, sinless life, but then delivered us from sin and spiritual death by His own death, burial, and resurrection. (Philippians 2:5-11)

● The gospel can be summarized in just one verse, John 3:16!

● That simple gospel is the “power of God” in seed-form. (Romans 1:16)

● When we receive the Word of God in its seed form by faith, Holy Spirit conceives the Living Word  of God in our spirit. We are born again.

“… having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever”. (1 Peter 1:23)

We have become new creatures, connected in an eternal union with Christ as one spirit. We are in Christ Jesus!

Our “in-Christness” is more than a theological,
technical, theoretical term. It is not a promise or a potentiality. It is a present-tense reality in the life of the believer.

Prepositions are words that show the “position” or “relationship” between other words in the sentence. What is the relationship between “us” and “Jesus”? IN! That simple two-letter preposition… “in”… perfectly describes the relationship that exists between us and Christ.

WE ARE IN CHRIST! That us how God sees us. That is how God relates to us. That is our present actual position and our future forever position. And it will never change for the eternity of eternities!

The Bible describes the union we have with Him in these ways:

● The UNION of the Head and the Body
(Colossians 1:18)
It goes without saying that the head/body connection is essential, absolutely vital for the continuation of life, right? And everybody said, “Amen”!

● The UNION of the Cornerstone and the Building Stones (1 Peter 2:4-7)
Unless it is your intention to demolish the entire building, it is never wise to remove the building’s cornerstone. I wouldn’t even try that move in Jenga! The Cornerstone bears the weight of every other stone in the building. The Cornerstone is the support for the entire structure.

● The UNION of the Vine and the Branches
(John 15:5)
The life-sap that is flowing in the Vine is also flowing in the branches. All that is in Christ is now in our spirit, because our spirit shares His life, eternal life.

● The UNION of the Groom and the Bride
(Ephesians 5:25-27)
The marriage union is more than a legal contract. It is more than a physical relationship. It is a literal joining of two lives together to become one.

I can imagine what would happen if someone asked me if I’m married, and I replied by saying, “Well, that depends… theoretically I am. However, it can still be debated theologically.”

Actually, I don’t have to imagine what would happen in that situation. I know what would happen! My wife, Grace is quite petite. She is only 5 feet tall, and that’s on her tiptoes. She comes from Batangas province in the Philippines, which is famous for making something called a “balisong”, also affectionately known as a “Filipino switchblade.”

If she heard me saying I am only “theoretically married” I’d better be running while I’m saying it, because she would be more than happy to help me experience the dis-connection of my head and body… theoretically speaking! (See above!)

Marriage is the strongest of all four of these examples, because it is a spiritual union, a union based on covenant, and a union in which two persons, (male and female), become one.

The realities of who you are in Christ and what belongs to you in Him have been abiding and residing in you, in your spirit, from the moment you were born again.

You may never have heard of some of these truths before. You may be unaware of them because they were never taught to you. But if you will meditate on them and confess them, they will rise up inside of you and you will become more conscious of them.

They can be developed so that they will have a greater impact and influence over your mind and your actions.

Start by praying this prayer at least once  a day:

“Father, I pray that you would give to me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened; that I may know what is the hope of your calling, and what are the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the saints.”
(Ephesians 1:17,18)

Then start looking for and marking verses in the New Testament, especially in the epistles, that reveal who you are and what you have in Christ.

We pray tbat God will abundantly bless you as you explore His Word and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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P.S. We are super-excited about our newest site-page entitled, ” In Christ Truths” !

Check out OVER 100 “NEW CREATION IDENTIFICATION” scriptures contained on the page. Meditate on them daily to build your faith to new levels!