Identifying with Christ (Ephesians 2:15)

The word "gospel" means "good news." In fact it is the greatest and most effective news ever shared in the whole of human history. This news is "Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, has entered into the realm of human existence destroying the power of the "evil one" and restoring life and dominion to all such as believe. Because of His powerful intervention, we who do believe are enabled to walk in authority and power over the works and the powers of darkness, over sin, over the fear of men, the fear of death and eventually over death itself.
 
This "overcoming life," the life of victory in all things is available to all those who are willing to yield their lives fully to Him who gave His life fully for them. Yet it is clear that most believers fall a bit short of living in the fullness of this "God-kind-of life." This may be attributed to a variety of things, but one of the main reasons is their lack of knowledge, their lack of understanding the Biblical principles that teach us how to live in victory.
 
In this, and the next two or three, articles we will endeavor to address this serious issue in order to better prepare a people to "rise and shine" in these awesome days of increasing darkness and confusion on the one hand, and days of opportunity and privilege on the other hand.
 
God told Abraham that his seed, his off-spring, would be as the "stars of the heavens." We generally interpret that to refer to how numerous they would be over the centuries. While I do not dismiss that probability, I hasten to add, however, that God was probably referring to the character of light. In essence that those who would identify with Him by faith would stand in contrast to the darkness of this world and would shine as the stars in the night, thus they would become reference points for guidance and direction for those who have hearts for God.
 
There are many great principles to be discovered in the Word of God to help bring that into reality, but in this session, we will focus one incredible insight that will help us to walk in the dominion of the redemptive work Jesus has provided for us. That first step is "We Must Realize Our True Identification with Christ."
 
As we are aware, Adam was the Federal Head of the human race, the "father of us all." As his physical descendants, we were all considered in him when he sinned and lost dominion to Satan. The result of that horrific decision was separation from God (spiritual death). That separation was passed down the line to his children and his children's children and to all succeeding generations.
 
We are also aware that Jesus was the only man who ever lived after the "fall" and did not come under the "curse" of Adam's great betrayal. That was because He was not born of the seed of man, but was conceived in the womb of His mother, Mary, by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit. Thus, He was never tainted by sin. Since He never sinned, the shocking and horrible events issuing out of His crucifixion and death resulted in His being slain illegally for He was never guilty of that for which He was crucified...He never sinned.
 
But, He so identified with those whose sins He bore, that He died, not only for them, but as them, taking their place on the Cross. As in Adam all died, in Christ all are made alive. So to be released from the horrific results of Adam's failure, we lay hold of Christ by faith and are translates out of death and darkness into life and light.
 
In the moment we lay hold of this by faith we identify with Christ in His redemptive work in the same manner in which He identified with us in our previously sinful nature. And in the same manner and degree to which He was made sin, we are made to be the righteousness of God in Christ.
 
In that miniscule moment of time released by faith from our hearts, God sends forth the SPIRIT of HIS SON into our hearts (our innermost self, our core being) so that spontaneously our inner being cries, "Abba, Father." It is an indefinable, indescribable spiritual transaction that occurs in the heart the moment the Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit, which on split second previously had been "dead in trespasses and sin. Jesus spoke of this occurrence as being "born again." It is a spiritual rebirth by which God takes us out of Adam (the fallen) and puts us in Christ, the First-Born-from0the0Dead.
 
The Bible enlarges on this showing that by means of this "new-birth" experience, we are crucified, dead, buried, quickened, raised up together and seated with Christ in heavenly places. (Ephesians 2:6). This is a wondrous place to be seated...and the first result of this is our conscious mind comes into an awareness of a new life position in Christ.