We must see ourselves the way God sees us. We must get up everyday and declare "we are who God says that we are", "we can do what God says we can do", "we have what God says that we have".
Second Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new." Notice if any man be in Christ, not a crisis, not even if any man be in church, but Paul said if any man be in Christ. I like to say if any man be in Christ-ed.
You may ask, how do I get in Christ? John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Notice when you get in Christ, immediately things change; not one day, not next year, next month or even tomorrow, but right now!
To help you understand what happened lets look at other translations. The Modern English Version says "For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether." What becomes new about that man? You must understand 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
When you get in Christ your spirit is recreated in the image of God. First Corinthians 6:17 says "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him." Let's look at another translation: 2 Corinthians 5:17 New Living Bible says, "When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same any more. A new life has begun!"
Look at the word 'new.' In the Greek it means unheard of before, new in quality or kind. Something supernatural has happened to you when you get in Christ. Let's look at Romans 6:11: "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
'Reckon' in the Strong's Concordance says "taking inventory, to count it up, to number, to calculate." It is the same thing that the Apostle Paul said in Philemon 6, "that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."
Acknowledgment means to admit, to recognize, to confess, a declaration, and an admission of the truth. So our faith becomes stronger when we begin to confess who we are according to the word of God. To acknowledge it would mean to go ahead and act like it.
There are over 130 scriptures in the Bible that have the phrase, In Christ, In Him, or In whom. We need to begin to agree with God and not our past or circumstances, but agree that we really are who God says we are.
Going back to Romans 6:11, the two important things that we see that we must do are:
- Reckon or consider yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. A dead man does not sin. Paul says in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
- Consider yourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus. We share in his death, but we also share in His resurrection. Romans 4:25 says "Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."
Dare to declare and get ready for you life to change. Luke 4:17 says, "And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written."
We must open the Bible and find the place where it is written about us. Let the Bible build our identity. John 6:63 says "It is the spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." Get the Word in your mouth and begin to supercharge your spirit!
Meditate on these scriptures:
2 Corinthians 5:17 Ephesians 1:3
2 Corinthians 5:21 Ephesians 2:6
2 Corinthians 2:14 Ephesians 2:10
Romans 8:1 Colossians 2:9
Romans 8:2 Colossians 2:10
Romans 3:24 Philemon 6
1 Corinthians 1:30
2 Corinthians 1:20
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