Search This Blog

Monday, August 5, 2019

Who I Am


"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Jesus asked. Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
—Matthew 16:15-16 (NIV)

If God revealed to Simon Peter that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, don't you believe that God shall reveal to you who Jesus is in your life? Jesus told Peter, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 16:17, NIV). And so your identity in Jesus Christ is not revealed to you by flesh and blood but revealed to you by the Holy Spirit. 

As the disciples walked with Jesus toward Gethsemane, He spoke words to encourage them. "When the Advocate (Holy Spirit) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me" (John 15:26, NIV). "He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you" (John 16:13-15, NIV).

Do you know who you are in Jesus? The person of the Holy Spirit reveals to you your identity in Jesus. He shows it through Scripture and through revelation that draws from Scripture. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit from His Father to testify to His identity. The Holy Spirit will guide you—not into just partial truth—but all truth. He does not speak on his own. He is one with God, the Father, and Jesus. What the Holy Spirit reveals is from Jesus and the truth of what Jesus has done for you. He promises to make that truth known to you.

When you know your identity in Jesus, everything in your life changes. Jesus gives you not only peace with God but peace with life. You know He is in control no matter what happens. Fear dissolves. You have the liberty not to see wrong in others. Freedom from judging others means that you do not feel judged. You can breathe His unconditional love! Jesus died to take your sinful life and to meet God's judgment for your sin. You have nothing to pay. He died so that you might have new life and receive His righteousness. 

"Now if the ministry that brought death (the law), which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit (grace) be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness" (2 Corinthians 3:7-9, NIV)!

Do you know the law reveals standards that are impossible to meet? There are actually over 600 laws in the Old Testament, and to be perfect by the rule of law, you must meet each one. Because of that inability, we strive to meet standards that only the righteousness of God can satisfy. And it took Jesus, the perfect son of God, to fulfill the law and give us the righteousness that God requires. 

"God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV). Yes, it is only in Jesus we can stop striving on our own strength to be righteous. He alone makes us righteous. If you have fear and worry, this is not the ministry of the Spirit! This is not the freedom of the Spirit. Do you know that you are no longer under the ministry of condemnation? Jesus did not come into the world to condemn you, but to save you! He met the requirements of the law. You are not under the law. You are under Grace. 

Do you understand the message of Calvary through your human mind, or do you allow its message to take you places you have never been before? His Word, rendered through the power of Holy Spirit, is life-changing! There is nothing worse than having something and not receiving the full benefit from it. Know who Jesus is in you, and receive the whole benefit of His gift of undeserved Grace!

The Holy Spirit wishes to guide each one of us into His truth. Ask Him to show you in His Word your identity in Jesus.
© Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2019/08/who-i-am.html

No comments:

Post a Comment

Trust in the Lord

    Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give yo...