Have you ever wondered what makes you who you are? Ever wonder what is the core, central understanding of your existence. Well Jesus understood what makes a man or a woman who they are. Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. The life illuminates a man as to who he is. The cross that Jesus hung on was a pivotal point in the dispensation of times that resulted in the end of one generation and the beginning of a new one, and that which was by the operation of God through Christ. By peering into the past and finding its end in the present a mystery is unveiled to all the eyes to which it is revealed to.
Jesus Christ is seen by many as just a man that was crucified for teaching his beliefs; but by revelation of God, those who have tasted of the heavenly gift know him to be much more that just a man. Jesus in fact is the Son of God and is from the beginning. For the Word declares: Heb 10:5 "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:", signifying that he would enter into a fleshy body and that of man. It is the anointing that was placed in us that has enabled us to know him as the Son of God. The first generation of man was created by God through Adam and was made alive by the breath of life breathed into him of God. The life determined the creatures existence as a man, and was uniquely given by a puff from Gods very mouth. We see the life that was in Adam gave him function unlike any other creature, Adam had fellowship with God. The life breathed into Adam gave him existence and functioned within a purpose God had created man to fulfill. He had created mankind for himself; to worship him, serve him, and have fellowship with him. God had created man in His likeness and image. Adam was created to resemble and reflect the Glory of the Lord. The ultimate purpose man was created to do is glorify God! The height of worship was when man reflected back to God the joy and love he experienced with his Creator. In this worship man was one with God in this communion - the Creator being mans source of glory. We see this in part with Moses communion with the Almighty; Exo 34:29 " And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him (him being God). Exo 34:30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him." The word "shone" in the Hebrew means to shine. Another scripture that illustrates this is found here: 2Co 3:7 . . . the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away." We were made to radiate back to God his glory! Yet it is the life within man that also became marred by sin. The image, after Adam had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, now did not reflect the glory of the Lord, the image now performed after the likeness of the devil. Fear, murder, and destruction soon began to be in the populous of the Earth and men soon were distant from God and living outside his purposes. The first generation of man was now defiled. Yet God did not simply have to answer to evil, but had a will for his creation to prosper and overcome the evil He foresaw from before the foundation of the world. Eph 1:4 " According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we exist holy and without blame before him in love." God foreseeing the great evil that would ensnare man on the earth, had a plan before that evil was perpetrated. In His great love he had chosen a new generation of man that would exist holy and righteous by the Life of His Son. Before that Life could dwell in man the Son would have to come to Earth, dwell in the flesh and be offered up as the ultimate and final sacrifice for all.
The end of one generation and the beginning of another would not take place on a battle field but rather through the crucifixion of one man, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to fulfill prophecy that was declared by God in the days of Adam, and destroy the works of the devil. Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This signified the very death of Christ, having his heel bruised, and the triumph Christ would have over the devil in bruising the serpents head. Jesus stated very boldly the opposition: Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Notice that Jesus came to bear life. He didnt say that he came to change peoples life styles. He came to give man a new life - His very own Spirit. This new life would be what would change mans output from a sinful nature to a Godly nature. From the fruits of the devil to the fruit of the Spirit. Life determines what a creature is. For we see this distinction between a man of the seed of Adam and Gods new creation of the seed of Christ by his Spirit in this portion of scripture: 1Co 2:11 "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." We see that it is the spirit of a man that causes him to know the things of man and the Spirit of God that causes any one to know of the things of God. It is further shown that a man cannot know the things of God because he possesses not the Spirit of God. 1Co 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Knowing this we understand now why Jesus spoke, using the example of birth, to establish the entrance of the Kingdom of Heaven when he spoke to Nicodemus: Joh 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." We see that one must first be born of the flesh to enter this world and that there is a necessity for one to be born again of the Spirit of God to enter the realm of Gods Kingdom.
To further digress on the Life Jesus spoke of we will look to the Greek to get a further understanding of the word Spirit. The word for Spirit is the Greek word pneuma. This word can mean many things but it specifically speaks of divine life. The translators of the bible have used this word, pnuema, in one other place in the new testament, in Revelations, where they translated it to mean life. By giving man new life and that of God, man is now enabled to know God. Joh 17:3 "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." By comparing this verse to the others we see that man could not know God unless He be born again. The new life, which is Christ, now brings a new disposition to the person causing this person to think more like God and forsake his sin. Rather than reforming ones behavior, God knew it would take putting his Spirit in man to change mans ways. Heb 8:10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Now having new life in this earthen vessel - one now is a new creation.
Jesus brought an end to one generation in his flesh and raised up a new generation by his resurrection. How did he accomplish this? Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We see that the oldest conflict in time is between Gods chosen people and the nations around Israel. God chose to end this enmity by reconciling both Israel and the nations in one body by the cross to Himself. That body was Christs body. To as many as are baptized into Christ are baptized first into his death. Rom 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" What does this mean? This means that we were crucified with him, and our sins were punished in him bringing a death to the old person. Rom 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Further more: Rom 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin." What the scripture show is that when you were planted together with Christ, the old you literally died in Christ, destroying the body of sin. Now one may wonder what happened to themselves? Search no further, having been enjoined to Christ your identity is now found in him. Your old identity that was marred by sin is destroyed in Christs death. The new creations identity is Christ. Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The identities that once held great conflict now have been abolished and now we are raised together in Christ, having dominion over death, and thus we are created as one new man. Paul shows his loss of his personal identity and the gaining of new identity in this verse: Gal 2:20 " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." He is saying that: I (the old person of sin) am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I (the new man in Christ) live; yet not I (the old man), but Christ lives in me! We know that the life creates our identity and so now that Christ is risen and has given us His Spirit we now no longer have a sinful identity but an identity in Christ. We are now justified by his blood and are righteous and holy.
Having been crucified with Christ our new identity is found in him. For when we died with him we were also instantaneously given new life so expediently that we didnt even miss a heart beat. Rom 8:11 "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." The word quicken means to give life. Now that Christ dwells in us, we no longer need to know our old selves any longer for they are dead in Christ. Rom 8:10 "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." We now our identified in Christ as a new species. Our new nature is now righteous and holy. We revisit Ephesians to gain this understanding: Eph 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." In the literal word for word translation of the Greek, the last sentence reads. . . "we exist (present tense) holy and blameless before him in love." We are righteous by Christ having no fault before the eyes of our God! Having Christ in us make us sinless and unable to sin because he is the seed that produces the fruit in our lives now - Christ does not sin. 1Jo 3:9 " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." But you may say why do I yet sin if Christ abides in me? It is true that we yet contend with our flesh. Bu t we must understand that it is no longer us that commits the sin but that it is the sin in our body that does it. We no longer identify ourselves with the old man for he is dead. We see Paul has had a great revelation and accepts that he is a new creation in this statement he has made: Rom 7:20 "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." He has completely left his old identity behind and notices that he is no longer the one that does it but that it is sin in him. We now know that the fruit of the Spirit is what we have as our output and not sin. Now we must learn to walk in the Spirit that we do not fulfill the deeds of our flesh. Rom 8:13 "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." We must bring to death those things that our contrary to the truth by keeping our mind stayed upon the truth that we are a new creation.
Mans complete identity is found in Christ. To find true joy is to find ones existence. Christ has won the victory over sin and death and we have been made partakers of this victory. Peace is won for the whole earth in one act of obedience through Christs humility to do the work which his Father gave him to do. Through the death of Christ man loses his sinful identity and through His resurrection man gains a new identity in Him. One new generation has emerged by the Spirit of Christ. We are now free from sin through Him, and have victory over death. Col 1:27 "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." To God be the glory forever, Amen.
Jesus Christ is seen by many as just a man that was crucified for teaching his beliefs; but by revelation of God, those who have tasted of the heavenly gift know him to be much more that just a man. Jesus in fact is the Son of God and is from the beginning. For the Word declares: Heb 10:5 "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:", signifying that he would enter into a fleshy body and that of man. It is the anointing that was placed in us that has enabled us to know him as the Son of God. The first generation of man was created by God through Adam and was made alive by the breath of life breathed into him of God. The life determined the creatures existence as a man, and was uniquely given by a puff from Gods very mouth. We see the life that was in Adam gave him function unlike any other creature, Adam had fellowship with God. The life breathed into Adam gave him existence and functioned within a purpose God had created man to fulfill. He had created mankind for himself; to worship him, serve him, and have fellowship with him. God had created man in His likeness and image. Adam was created to resemble and reflect the Glory of the Lord. The ultimate purpose man was created to do is glorify God! The height of worship was when man reflected back to God the joy and love he experienced with his Creator. In this worship man was one with God in this communion - the Creator being mans source of glory. We see this in part with Moses communion with the Almighty; Exo 34:29 " And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him (him being God). Exo 34:30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him." The word "shone" in the Hebrew means to shine. Another scripture that illustrates this is found here: 2Co 3:7 . . . the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away." We were made to radiate back to God his glory! Yet it is the life within man that also became marred by sin. The image, after Adam had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, now did not reflect the glory of the Lord, the image now performed after the likeness of the devil. Fear, murder, and destruction soon began to be in the populous of the Earth and men soon were distant from God and living outside his purposes. The first generation of man was now defiled. Yet God did not simply have to answer to evil, but had a will for his creation to prosper and overcome the evil He foresaw from before the foundation of the world. Eph 1:4 " According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we exist holy and without blame before him in love." God foreseeing the great evil that would ensnare man on the earth, had a plan before that evil was perpetrated. In His great love he had chosen a new generation of man that would exist holy and righteous by the Life of His Son. Before that Life could dwell in man the Son would have to come to Earth, dwell in the flesh and be offered up as the ultimate and final sacrifice for all.
The end of one generation and the beginning of another would not take place on a battle field but rather through the crucifixion of one man, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to fulfill prophecy that was declared by God in the days of Adam, and destroy the works of the devil. Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This signified the very death of Christ, having his heel bruised, and the triumph Christ would have over the devil in bruising the serpents head. Jesus stated very boldly the opposition: Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Notice that Jesus came to bear life. He didnt say that he came to change peoples life styles. He came to give man a new life - His very own Spirit. This new life would be what would change mans output from a sinful nature to a Godly nature. From the fruits of the devil to the fruit of the Spirit. Life determines what a creature is. For we see this distinction between a man of the seed of Adam and Gods new creation of the seed of Christ by his Spirit in this portion of scripture: 1Co 2:11 "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." We see that it is the spirit of a man that causes him to know the things of man and the Spirit of God that causes any one to know of the things of God. It is further shown that a man cannot know the things of God because he possesses not the Spirit of God. 1Co 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Knowing this we understand now why Jesus spoke, using the example of birth, to establish the entrance of the Kingdom of Heaven when he spoke to Nicodemus: Joh 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." We see that one must first be born of the flesh to enter this world and that there is a necessity for one to be born again of the Spirit of God to enter the realm of Gods Kingdom.
To further digress on the Life Jesus spoke of we will look to the Greek to get a further understanding of the word Spirit. The word for Spirit is the Greek word pneuma. This word can mean many things but it specifically speaks of divine life. The translators of the bible have used this word, pnuema, in one other place in the new testament, in Revelations, where they translated it to mean life. By giving man new life and that of God, man is now enabled to know God. Joh 17:3 "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." By comparing this verse to the others we see that man could not know God unless He be born again. The new life, which is Christ, now brings a new disposition to the person causing this person to think more like God and forsake his sin. Rather than reforming ones behavior, God knew it would take putting his Spirit in man to change mans ways. Heb 8:10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Now having new life in this earthen vessel - one now is a new creation.
Jesus brought an end to one generation in his flesh and raised up a new generation by his resurrection. How did he accomplish this? Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We see that the oldest conflict in time is between Gods chosen people and the nations around Israel. God chose to end this enmity by reconciling both Israel and the nations in one body by the cross to Himself. That body was Christs body. To as many as are baptized into Christ are baptized first into his death. Rom 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" What does this mean? This means that we were crucified with him, and our sins were punished in him bringing a death to the old person. Rom 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Further more: Rom 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin." What the scripture show is that when you were planted together with Christ, the old you literally died in Christ, destroying the body of sin. Now one may wonder what happened to themselves? Search no further, having been enjoined to Christ your identity is now found in him. Your old identity that was marred by sin is destroyed in Christs death. The new creations identity is Christ. Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The identities that once held great conflict now have been abolished and now we are raised together in Christ, having dominion over death, and thus we are created as one new man. Paul shows his loss of his personal identity and the gaining of new identity in this verse: Gal 2:20 " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." He is saying that: I (the old person of sin) am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I (the new man in Christ) live; yet not I (the old man), but Christ lives in me! We know that the life creates our identity and so now that Christ is risen and has given us His Spirit we now no longer have a sinful identity but an identity in Christ. We are now justified by his blood and are righteous and holy.
Having been crucified with Christ our new identity is found in him. For when we died with him we were also instantaneously given new life so expediently that we didnt even miss a heart beat. Rom 8:11 "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." The word quicken means to give life. Now that Christ dwells in us, we no longer need to know our old selves any longer for they are dead in Christ. Rom 8:10 "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." We now our identified in Christ as a new species. Our new nature is now righteous and holy. We revisit Ephesians to gain this understanding: Eph 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." In the literal word for word translation of the Greek, the last sentence reads. . . "we exist (present tense) holy and blameless before him in love." We are righteous by Christ having no fault before the eyes of our God! Having Christ in us make us sinless and unable to sin because he is the seed that produces the fruit in our lives now - Christ does not sin. 1Jo 3:9 " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." But you may say why do I yet sin if Christ abides in me? It is true that we yet contend with our flesh. Bu t we must understand that it is no longer us that commits the sin but that it is the sin in our body that does it. We no longer identify ourselves with the old man for he is dead. We see Paul has had a great revelation and accepts that he is a new creation in this statement he has made: Rom 7:20 "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." He has completely left his old identity behind and notices that he is no longer the one that does it but that it is sin in him. We now know that the fruit of the Spirit is what we have as our output and not sin. Now we must learn to walk in the Spirit that we do not fulfill the deeds of our flesh. Rom 8:13 "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." We must bring to death those things that our contrary to the truth by keeping our mind stayed upon the truth that we are a new creation.
Mans complete identity is found in Christ. To find true joy is to find ones existence. Christ has won the victory over sin and death and we have been made partakers of this victory. Peace is won for the whole earth in one act of obedience through Christs humility to do the work which his Father gave him to do. Through the death of Christ man loses his sinful identity and through His resurrection man gains a new identity in Him. One new generation has emerged by the Spirit of Christ. We are now free from sin through Him, and have victory over death. Col 1:27 "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." To God be the glory forever, Amen.
