Jesus firmly knew who he was and His identity as the Son of God. However, Satan always tried to shake this core and this is also how Satan tries to attack us. Here is a list of Bible Scripture that helps clearly define who we are in Christ Jesus. We pray this may be a blessing to you.
BELOVED
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” – Jeremiah 31:3
The Bible teaches us that we all love because beings made in the image of God should follow right after he who is love. But in order for us to truly love, we have to first be(accept by faith) loved. If we ever love purely, this love is not from us, but from he whos love is always perfect. We can call him our perfect savior who poured into imperfect me.
A CHILD OF GOD
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” – 1 John 3:1
Originally brought forth through the creation of the holy one, but polluted by the transgressions of the forefather- Adam. This is a great tragedy, but a great tragedy overturned by the great love of the Father. By the willingness of his one and only child, God claimed me( I pray you the reader truly testify this) and brought me back.
John says this with great confidence, confidence that he hoped we would have. Daily we need to see ourselves as God’s child, not his servant, but his child who willingly serves out of appreciation for that love lavished our way. Jesus spoke about our eyes, that if the light inside of us is darkness, how dark that light is. But in light of this verse, there is a great difference in the power of our eyes. John Says ” see” what great love the Father has lavished on us”. We must look(meditate on) at this love often.
DELIGHTED IN
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love, he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17
I always first connected this to( it reminds me of) Adam in the Garden. Theologians always say that he was singing or reciting poetry when he called Eve “bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh”. He was in great delight when he saw his wife. But someone else also likened this to a mother rejoicing over her newborn after the pains of childbirth have finally subsided.
I think the latter is more accurate a comparison. There is so much pain in love because of Sin. God has been long-suffering to bring us back to his side, and as a believer in his son, we can finally rejoice as we know that the lord is rejoicing over us.
“In his love, he will no longer rebuke you” This is the caveat, the blessed caveat. The Lord has brought us into his love, and in his love, the love of this mighty warrior who has saved us, there is no need for rebuke. But this is what Paul spoke of to Timothy when he told him to fight the good fight and take hold of the eternal life to which he was called. We so easily run from the love of God, being urged on by the sinful nature within. But in his love, in his great love, we are wooed and subdued. If we must fall, let us fall in love with our joyful God.
FORGIVEN
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” – 1 Peter 2:24
Speaking of running, Jesus never ran. He had many chances to run from his calling, the calling to be our scapegoat, our replacement for the cup of wrath, but, he never did. He offered up his body for you, with gratefulness and trust in his father’s love. He bore our pain for us to be healed. With confidence, Peter quotes the word, saying “you have been healed”, not ignoring, but trusting that the path of sanctification is a done deal with our faithful lord directing it.
His love is so mighty. Never would he leave us or forsake us, instead, he would rather die that we might die. He didn’t do it on the basis that everyone would die to sins and live for righteousness, no, he knows us too well. Instead, he did it that we might die- this was his aim, death, and resurrection for us all. But he didn’t think about the potential of us not following, but the love and direction of his father. He lived the life he died for us to have. And by his death, I am alive.
It’s been said, that those who have Christ have life, while those who don’t have him do not have life. Life and death have been laid out(hung on the cross) before us. What do you choose?
A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” – 1 Corinthians 6:19
How can one believe that lust, porn, sex, masturbation, all the filth that this world has to offer is worth all that is afforded in Christ? To believe that is to say, “all that trash that led to Jesus’ death is just so amazing man, I can’t live without it. All that stuff that makes me feel dirty, soulless, like consistently saying, ” I feel like my soul just got took”, yeah that stuff that makes me feel cold and dead inside, that stuff is more valuable than Jesus who died for me, dying to show me, true love.”
That’s what Satan would like us to believe. But we must know that we have a God cultivated body, mind, soul. A God forgiven, redeemed, regenerated eternal life, and a God-given holy spirit dwelling within us . This is all packaged into the God-given gift of the Lord Jesus on the cross. How can one ever weigh this as inferior to the former things?
To keep this temple clean is like keeping a house clean- it takes strain and effort. Paul said it himself. My computer’s monitor was terribly dusty until I cleaned it. That was a week ago. I see dust accumulating again now. We have to stay on top of our temple like all other things in life, or more filth will just pile up.
Monitoring thoughts, reading the word, praising and praying and repenting, meditating daily- this is the only way to stay clean. May the Holy spirit help because this is the most important task of all.
ADOPTED INTO GOD’S FAMILY
“The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him, we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'” – Romans 8:15
The Holy spirit gets neglected by many a saint on a consistent basis. But because of him, we can clearly see that w have a father, a maker who calls us his own.
CO-HEIR WITH CHRIST
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” – Romans 8:17
What he gets, we get. What the Father has to pass down, we are worthy of- due to the finished work of Jesus on the Cross.
RIGHTEOUS
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
We see in the Old Testament, Adam’s representation of humanity and then, Abraham’s failure to cut the Dove leading to the enslavement of his offspring, and then the sin of Achan. What is this? The theme of unity in God’s eyes- came out 3 times. And what is the Jesus, he represented the broken, the widows and the orphans who killed their father, left their husband, and could not ever return to him.
There is a story of the man who was lowered by his friends to Jesus. We didn’t do anything for salvation. We alone, we could not do a thing. We are confined in a position like a man paralyzed, paralyzed in sin, while Jesus, healthy as can be, freely moved in righteousness. God, took his own son, who perfectly followed his will- sincere, from the heart- and subjected him to the horrid death he took on our behalf, so that as we accept him, his gift of life, we would be represented by him, not looked at as ourselves, but as him.
FREE
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1
And all in all, we are free. If the son has set you free, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Yes! You are free indeed.