No Longer a Sinner - In God's Image

God created us in His image - a triune being (Genesis 1:26-27). He made us into His dwelling place by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). He predestined us to conform to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).

In the first months and years of our sanctification, we struggle with the sin nature. We disobey and fail to win the race. Formerly in the likeness of the first Adam's nature, we fall short of God's glory (Genesis 5:3; Romans 3:23, 6:23).

Yet, as we fall more in love with Jesus than our self or the world, the things of earth grow dim in our heart and the things of God take pre-eminence in our decisions and actions.

The Holy Spirit works in us according to His good pleasure, molding us into Christ-minded individuals who realize that Jesus is our whole life (Philippians 2:13; Colossians 3:4).

As the Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Christ, who is sinless, our desire to sin wanes. The outward, carnal man is sanctified daily into a Saint instead of a sinner.

The character of Christ in now our character. The righteousness of Christ is our nature. The power of Christ in us overcomes any desire to use our body or soul - our mind, will or emotions - for carnal or sinful purposes.

Christ in us gives us His nature that pertains to life and godliness, and He calls us to live in His glory and virtue. We put on the new man and escape from the corruption of sin and the world.

We walk in holiness and purity, conformed to the image of Christ in us. Once we see Christ in us for who He is, we become like Him (1 John 3:2; Colossians 3:4). More and more, we are continually changed into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Prayer:

Father God, help us to realize Your work in our life makes us perfect by Your Spirit just as You are perfect. It is not just in eternity through glorification, but now through sanctification as we cooperate with Your Spirit (Romans 8:30; Hebrews 12:23; Philippians 3:21). Salvation is a three-phased progression and is not something we do.

Just as our salvation in our spirit is by Your Spirit, so is our sanctification in our soul, and eventually You will give us glorification with our immortal body (Galatians 3:1-3; Philippians 2:12-13). Remind us that Christ in us is our hope of realizing Your glory in us now, as Your Spirit replaces our character with His fruit and our nature with the nature of Christ in us (Colossians 1:27; Galatians 4:19).

Thought for the Day:

As we eat Jesus' body and drink His blood, He transforms us into His image for all the world to see; and His glory fills us and shines forth from us by His Spirit. - John 6:54

Redemption

 

Jesus Christ lived on this earth for 33 years and gave up his life to die on Calvary's tree to redeem us from the penalty of sin, which is eternity in hell (1 Peter 2:24). Now, because of Christ's sacrifice for us, we are redeemed and acceptable to God and have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Jesus also provided us with God's grace, so that we can stand through our trials and rejoice in the hope of living in the glory of the Lord (Romans 5:2).

If we suffer according to God's will, we can follow Jesus' example and entrust our soul to our faithful God (1 Peter 4:19). If we are called according to God's purpose and live a life in love with Him, we are blessed beyond our wildest dreams (Romans 8:28). He gives us His faith to believe for things we cannot even see (Hebrews 11:1).

While we live on this earth, we gain courage as we walk in faith (2 Corinthians 5:6-7). We forget the past and look forward to the future as we walk in holiness and relish, by faith, the fact that we will attain the rewards, which God has in store for us through Jesus (Isaiah 43:18; Philippians 3:13-14). We function in the power of Christ in us to move mountains as we live by His faith (Mark 11:23).

God's love allows us to carry on through everything, which comes our way, to believe in His Word and to hope in His enduring promises (1 Corinthians 13:7). God dwells with us. We are His children and He is our God. He wipes away our tears and gives us joy instead of mourning. He redeems our past and gives us a thriving life on this earth and a future with Him in eternity (Revelation 21:3-4).

Prayer:

Father God, we try to avoid suffering at all costs, even though we live in a broken world full of tattered and trodden people. We fear death and tremble at the thought of our life being reduced to a pile of ashes. Remind us of the privilege You give us to live as Your child. Please call those we love to come to a life of advantage and blessings right along with us. Help us to sacrifice our life for others as Jesus did for us.

Thought for the Day:

Put the past behind you and live in Christ's redemption now and always.

The Power of Christ in Us

The Jewish culture looked for powerful signs to follow, and the Greek culture craved the latest tidbit of wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21). When Christ came, He served as a stumbling block for both cultures. To those of us, who are called in Christ, however, Jesus is both the power and the wisdom of God for us (1 Corinthians 1:22-24). To know God personally is to relate to Him in the same way that a man “knows” his wife (Genesis 4:1). This is not an intellectual pursuit, but an intimate union.

Once we know the Lord, we enter into eternal life with Him (John 17:3). We labor with all the powerful energy of Christ working in us (Colossians 1:29). This is the same power, which manifested through Christ when God raised Jesus from the dead and seated Jesus at His right hand (Ephesians 1: 19-20). God does not look for excellence, eloquence and elegance in His people. He simply looks for a surrendered life. He does not need our natural talents. He gives us supernatural abilities.

God does not call those who want the credit, only those who humbly give Him the glory. He wants a submissive person, emptied of him/her self and filled with all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (1 Corinthians 15:10; Colossians 2:9). This takes a work of God’s Spirit in our life. For instance, when the soldiers came to take Jesus, Peter unsheathed his sword to defend Jesus to the death; however, just a few hours later, he denied Jesus three times, just like Jesus said he would (Mark 14:66-72).

Jesus knew Peter’s habit of depending on the flesh to fight his battles. That is why the transformation in Peter after Pentecost is so amazing to me! For the first time, he preached by the Spirit, unashamed of the gospel (Acts 2:14-36). Peter learned that it is not by our human talents or abilities through which we accomplish great works for God, but only by God’s Spirit can we ever make an impression on anyone for the Lord (Zechariah 4:6). We can learn from His example.

Prayer:

Father God, when I lay down to sleep, I remember all that You do for me. I cannot help but to worship You with all of my heart (Psalm 86:5). Remind me that You want all of the glory for what You accomplish through me. I surrender my flesh, which wants to take the credit for Your accomplishments through me, and I ask you to give me Your humility in its place. Do not cast me from Your presence, but create a clean heart in me, and renew me with a righteous spirit (Psalm 51:10-11). Unite me with You in the power of Christ in me (Colossians 3:3).

Thought for the Day:

As Born Again Believers, we intimately know the joy, which belongs to God's Saints, instead of the fleeting happiness provided by the world, the flesh and the devil.