No Longer a Sinner - Divinity of Christ in Us

The Bible is full of symbolism. For instance, water baptism is a symbol of our death, burial and resurrection in Christ. We raise to walk in a new life with Him.

We do not die physically in baptism, but our flesh dies spiritually, and is now able to disregard the lure of sin in this world. Sin no longer tempts us as it used to, and we are free from its bondage.

We relate to Christ's new life in us to a greater degree than we connect to this world. We died together with Him; and it is Him, not us, that now lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20).

We are one with Christ; and through His divine nature within us, we die to the desire to sin. God adopts us into His family. We share in His benefits in His Kingdom of God as co-heirs with Jesus.

In Christ, we gradually become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our focus in life, our habits and the people we hang around with all change. Our life is spiritual now, rather than carnal and fleshly.

Our vital union with Jesus, puts us in right standing before God, our Father (John 15:1-11; Romans 6:3-11; Ephesians 5:30). He births our spirit, and we live a life which is pleasing to God. We are one with Christ and members of His Body.

Our old, carnal flesh - our intellect, emotions and will - is crucified with Christ and we died to sin (John 15:4; Romans 6:6, 8:11; Colossians 3:3, 9; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 4:22). We are filled with the fruit of God's Spirit, which is the divine nature of Christ in us (Galatians 5:22-23).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that the fruit of Your Spirit grows in us only as we abide in Christ and follow Your will for our life (John 15:4). Our living union with the Trinity allows us to fellowship with You every moment of our day and results in our eternal security (John 10:27-30).

Create in us a clean heart, and use us as a living testimony for Your glory (Psalm 51:10). Thank You for loving us unconditionally and changing us from the inside out. We look forward to You continuing to change our relationship with You by Your Spirit, until our human nature is altered to one that reflects Your goodness to a lost and dying world.

Thought for the Day:

As a Christian, we are transformed by God's Spirit from one stage of glory to another until we reflect to the world the exact image of Christ in us. - 2 Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 1:3

Hoping in God

As human beings, we place our hope in many things: people, places, careers, stock markets, etc. We often fail, however, to realize that our only lasting hope is in God.

Jesus secured our hope by His death, burial and resurrection. His sacrifice touches every part of our life, even the most devastating moment we could ever experience.

At salvation, our hope in God turns to faith, which is authentic, powerful and enables us to enjoy God's company as our loving and nurturing Father.

His presence opens the door for us to enter into the citizenship of heaven, the Body of Christ, the circle of His beloved children, His Saints and called out ones. We are no longer pilgrims and sojourners (Philippians 3:20-21; Ephesians 2:19).

For those of us who believe in God, this hope is tangible evidence of the calling He gives to each one of us. We inherit His glorious riches and enjoy His great power and assurance now and forever (Ephesians 1:18-20).

Moses failed to deliver God's people when he killed the solitary Egyptian soldier who mistreated his Jewish brother. He ran from the consequences of that behavior and hid in the desert.

He forgot that God allowed Him to be raised in the king's castle and that He was actually a child of the almighty King. His self-image was polluted by Satan's lies and accusations of his failure.

This occurs in our life as well. Satan throws our past up into our face over and over in order to render us ineffective in any ministry for the Lord. We are riddled with self-doubt.

We can trade God's truth about us for the devil's recrimination and lies about our failings. Taking our journal, we sit in silent meditation and listen as God speaks His truth about who we really are and how He feels about us. ( www.theophostic.com )

We can read the back of the book, the last two chapters of Revelation, and understand that God returns to us everything which Satan attempted to steal from us in the first chapters of Genesis.

Prayer:

Father God, Your truth ignites our passion to have more of You in our life and to walk in Your Spirit and will for our life (Galatians 5:15-25). We live as a testimony of Your existence for the world to see. We read daily affirmations from Your Word about who we are in Christ, which transform our thought life from a negative image to a Godly one (Galatians 3; 2 Corinthians 5; Romans 8).

Your Spirit testifies that we are Yours and He breathes the breath of life into our spirit until He transforms us from one level of spiritual maturity to the next (Romans 8:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We overcome the world and our doubts and fears through the victory that overcomes the world - our faith in Your faithfulness (1 John 5:4) - and You empower us by Your Spirit as we walk in Your will moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:

Regardless of what we view with our human understanding and vision, we live by the faith from God's promises about the unseen world, which are just as real and tangible.