You re either in Christ or you re in crisis.

Transcription

1 Being in Christ Mark Hankins You re either in Christ or you re in crisis. II Corinthians 5:16-17 We want to recognize who Christ is in the Spirit (connect to His supernatural identity) All things are new = this changes everything God, the Creator, has done creative acts in the death and resurrection of Christ, to make a new kind of humanity When you got saved, you were in-christed now your destiny and identity comes from Jesus Christ Saved = delivered from power of darkness, satan s dominion, sin s dominion, and from everything that produced Born again = God put in Christ everything He wanted you to be and everything He wanted you to have According to Paul: the whole Bible is about 2 men (Adam and Jesus) Romans 5 o First birth puts you in Adam Adam s condition, identity, inheritance was passed on to you because of the choice he made before you were born o How could Jesus die on the cross and His death be for every man? The same law that allowed one man s (Adam s) sin to affect every man is the same law that allowed one man Jesus Christ to die for every man o God s work in Christ far exceeds any damage done to us by Adam s fall (Romans 5:20) o First birth put you in Adam, but second birth puts you in Christ o Romans 5:15 can t compare them on this point (Adam s sin & Jesus obedience in becoming sin for us) because what God did in Christ is so much greater than what satan did in Adam In Christ, God forged a union with man that can never be broken; Jesus is both the Son of God and son of man You re not only human if you re in Christ you re a new kind of humanity that never existed before You ve been re-fathered it s in your genetics When you got born again, God used everything He put into Christ to make you what you are as a new creature Pass from death to life (the life of God) Different kinds of death o Physical death o Spiritual death (separation from God) o Second death (eternal separation from God) 1 The Wells at 7th Street

2 John 5:25-26: God has life in Himself (zoe) He put that life in Jesus In Him was life (John 1) = the devil cannot dominate anyone that has this life; once you know you ve got it and you know what it is, satan s dominion over you is ended This life is the crowning achievement of the plan of redemption Acts 5:20 when the angel got them out of prison, he told them Go and tell them all the words of this life A new kind of human life that has the life of God in it The life that quickened Christ is the same life that He gives to every believer Satan could not dominate Adam until the day he died (sinned) Zoe (the God kind of life) is the same life that was in Christ, and the same life that comes into every believer when they make Jesus Lord of their life When that life comes into you, immediately the dominion of satan is broken God s got so much of that life that He can t contain it rivers of life come out of Him This life: o Is a spiritual substance o Always produces light o Increases your intellect (produces light) o Contains everything that s in God healing, joy, love o Is the crowning achievement of the plan of redemption (the #1 reason Jesus came) = I have come that you might have life ( Every religion offers lessons, but only Jesus gives life. ) o The Word is full of it; the Holy Spirit brings it o Puts you in union with Christ Meditate on this life and scriptures about it and then agree with it and declare I have eternal life (this life, the same life that s in Christ is in me) The necessity of the cross is that Jesus paid the penalty. If the penalty hadn t been paid in full, God would have had to compromise His own righteousness to restore you. But once Jesus died, He could walk across that righteousness and give you eternal life. Once that righteousness comes into your spirit, it delivers you from the death realm, from satan s dominion. Once you get eternal life, you don t enjoy sin anymore your new nature just doesn t agree with that anymore Ephesians 2:4: even when we were dead in sins, He quickened us (made us alive together with Christ) (Amplified: He gave us the very same life as Christ Himself) That same life whatever it does in Christ, it does in you This life: o Delivers you from satan s dominion o Quickens your spirit o Overflows into your soul, mind, body and you become a carrier of this life 2 The Wells at 7th Street

3 The life of the Eternal One it s about the quality, not the length of it (although it lasts forever because of its quality) When you receive eternal life, you receive the life of the Eternal One which launches you into eternity; even though you live in a temporal world, you have eternal life Ephesians 4: banished into darkness (ignorance); only cure is to receive eternal life There s a whole lot more to this than I m going to heaven some day. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus the first fruits of a whole new world, the firstborn of a new creation. The life that s in you is the life that goes beyond this world This life is the divine nature and this life is in His Word (carriers of this life) This life that s in you: o Will develop your spirit o Gives illumination to your mind and makes you smarter o Gives life and strength to your body o Enhances your personality o Makes you better looking ( When you have this life in you, people forget you re ugly. People are attracted to the life of God in you, not your natural appearance.) o Becomes the dominant factor in who you are. Your #1 identity becomes who you are in Christ In Christ #1 terminology used 130 times God did in Christ what He wanted to do in every man; He put in Christ everything He wanted the new creation to have In Christ = supernatural term that describes a spiritual reality Prepositions are key to the gospels: for, with, in, through, by For = in our behalf, as our substitute; substitution, identification, and union with Christ; everything Jesus did, He did in our behalf When Jesus said I came that you might have life, it is not the continuation of your present experience. I came to give you something that nobody down here has had before. 3 The Wells at 7th Street

4 This life: o Is the God-kind of life, the divine nature o Is going to put you in the realm of God o Will make you more than a match for the devil o Is a spiritual substance that comes right out of God o Has God as the original source. Jesus carried this life for the purpose of putting it in everybody When you get saved, you re not only not the same person you re not the same kind of person. New creature = new in kind, new in quality, unheard of before; a new kind of species that never existed before, new creation, new kind of humanity that never existed before You re a mountain-moving, devil-stomping kind of humanity because you re carrying this life on the inside of you We live way below our rights and privileges because if we don t know, the devil takes advantage of our ignorance. But the moment that you know who you are and what you have in Christ, there is a certain boldness that comes into your voice. It s not faith unless it s got a bold edge to it. When you pray and lift your voice, your boldness comes from the understanding of who you are and what you have in Christ. This is radical, revolutionary overthrows satan s kingdom Ephesians 2:4-6: He made us alive together o Together: same time, same life; in the mind of God, He saw us there o Spirit of wisdom and revelation: you are seeing what God saw o Same life, same blessing, same authority, same righteousness If you want life to be different, pray Ephesians 1 & 3 every day for at least 6 months (Kenneth E. Hagin) Some things God simply will not do until He sees that you are serious about it. You re a new creature that means your spirit responds quickly to the Word of God The Spirit of wisdom and revelation takes you out of the theology and into the reality The death and resurrection of Christ is an eternal God event eternity hit the realm of time 4 The Wells at 7th Street

5 Since it s an eternal God event, it can be visited at any point in time as though it were happening right then Through the power of the Holy Ghost you can ask for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and you re there Jesus came to duplicate Himself in Paul s revelation He shows our identification with Christ Paul wasn t there when Jesus was crucified but He saw what God saw Mind renewal does not begin until you recognize your identification with Christ. (E.W. Kenyon) Warfare has changed some new weapons have been released into the body of Christ through the blood of Jesus and the name of Jesus and all of this must be launched from your present position in Christ Colossians 3:9-10: put on the new man everything Jesus has done for you o This new man is renewed in knowledge if you don t know or you re not conscious of it, you may have all this but never put it on o You have to own it o While you re taking the knowledge of the revelation of the Word out, the Word contains the same power as the event; while you re meditating on the Word, the Holy Spirit brings the power of that Word This life is refined out into everything that runs your motor. Everything runs off of this life. 5 The Wells at 7th Street

6 Confession I was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. I am a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away. Everything is new. I am a new kind of creature that never existed before. I am in Christ, joined to Christ the very life of Christ. I was made alive together with Christ, raised up with Him, seated together with Him, and blessed with Him the Anointed One. His anointing flows in me now that I am in Christ, in Him. I am righteous. I am blessed. I am redeemed. I am seated together with Him in heavenly places. Right now, I give You thanks. Thank You, Father God. It is amazing your amazing grace. I go Wow! Look what the Lord has done. I am alive with the life of God. His divine nature flows in me right now His love nature, His righteous nature, His victory nature, His champion nature is in my heart, in my spirit. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. Old things have passed away. Everything is new. Thank You, Jesus! Victory is mine. I have been delivered from the power of darkness. I have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of God. In Christ, I have redemption through His blood even the forgiveness of sins. Thank You, Lord, for the blood of Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me and quickens my mortal body. Life is flowing in me in my spirit, my soul, my mind, my body the very life of God. Heaven s life overcoming life is in me now. 6 The Wells at 7th Street