OUR TRUE IDENTITY

OUR TRUE IDENTITY

He saw the best in me

When everyone else around

 Could only see the worst in me

See he’s mine and I am his

It doesn’t matter what I did

He only sees me for who I AM

{Song: The Best In Me By Marvin Sapp}

^{……………….} because as he is, so are we in this world. {I john 4:17c}

It is of utmost importance that the Church understands her True Identity because upon this knowledge lies her strength to run the race until the appointed time of the marriage supper. She must take cognizance of the fact that the father now sees the groom and his bride as one. She is the exact representation of Christ on earth as Christ represents her in Heaven before the father. ”As He Is in Heaven So Are We in This world”

Now we are Born of God and must of necessity look like our Groom who is also our elder brother and advocate. This is a great mystery.

² Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. {1John 3:2}

When He appears on the wedding day we shall be like Him. Therefore our true Identity is Christ. Christ is holy and so are we. Christ is not more righteous than us because we both are one. We live, move and have our being in Him. We are one body with Christ forever united.

¹⁷ But if you give yourself to the Lord, you and Christ are joined together as one person. {1Cor 6:17 TLB}

 WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER LET NO MAN SEPARATE.REMOVE EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS.LET NOT SIN NOR RELIGION GET IN THE WAY. Our life is hid with Christ in God.

³ For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.⁴ When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.{Colossians 3:3-4}

Note that Christ is our life… That is our true identity. We no longer live but Christ lives in us. I wish we will understand this and allow Christ live our lives for us. We must submit completely to our Groom for we have been loved extravagantly by Him

²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. {Galatians 2:20-21}

No longer should we struggle else we will frustrate the Grace of God and make void the death of Christ, our bride price. He loves us and gave himself for us so that we should no longer live by ourselves but through him.

The depth of his love for us is intensified by the truth that we are him, he couldn’t hate himself. He is incomplete without us and we are incomplete without him. To try to live without us would make him a head without a body and to try to live without him will make us a body without a head.

He is our head and we are his body. We are his flesh and bones.

²¹ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

²⁸ So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

²⁹ For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

³³ Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.{Ephesians 5:21-32}

You might want to read the above passage again with a deeper understanding for therein lies the mystery of God and His Church. Christ cannot become unholy so he cleanses us daily by the washing of water by the word. He must be spotless and so should we because we are one body. He purifies us daily removing every sin, wrinkles and blemishes so he could present us to himself a glorious church.

Take note that it is His job to purify us and present us holy.

The groom purifies his bride

 The head preserves the body.

The head nourishes the body

The head cherishes the body

The head must love his own body.

The Church must be ignorant of these truths for if she knew she would have submitted herself to her groom and not try to work out her own righteousness which is even as a filthy rag before his eyes.

² For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.³ For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.{Romans 10:2-4}

We are the temple, the building of God. God dwells in us and we are one flesh in union with Christ who is the foundation and the head of the bride, the church. Not only are we the temple, we are also the priest and the sacrifice. We are always accepted in the beloved and through the beloved, Christ, we can access God whenever we want without the feeling of fear or guilt.

⁴ Come to Christ, who is the living Foundation of Rock upon which God builds; though men have spurned him, he is very precious to God who has chosen him above all others.

⁵ And now you have become living building-stones for God’s use in building his house. What’s more, you are his holy priests; so come to him—you who are acceptable to him because of Jesus Christ^[a]—and offer to God those things that please him. ⁶ As the Scriptures express it, “See, I am sending Christ to be the carefully chosen, precious Cornerstone of my church, and I will never disappoint those who trust in him.”{1Peter 2:4-6 TLB}

Listen up people of God, you are not your shortcomings

You are not your struggles

You are not that habit you are fighting with

You are not your temptations

You are not even that sin you fell into

You are not who people say you are

You are not who Satan says you are

Let the whole world see your faults but God sees the best in you

He accepts you because of Christ

He sees you for who you truly are

He has not beheld iniquity in you neither has He seen perversion in you

As He {Christ} is in heaven, so are you in this world.

Your true identity is Christ…that’s your real life.

The church is Christ and Christ is the church. The bible recorded that Paul was persecuting the church, killing every Christian who believed in Jesus Christ.

That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, mourning for him with loud cries.

³ But Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers, both men and women, and threw them into jail. {Acts 8:1-3 GNT}

Did you notice that the bible verses above didn’t say Paul was persecuting Jesus? It says Paul was persecuting the Church. Jesus was already in heaven at the right hand of the father. Now let’s see who Paul was actually persecuting.

 On his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians and bring them bound to Jerusalem, he had an encounter with the Lord. Listen to what Jesus said to Him:

 In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest ² and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

³ As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said. ⁶ “But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do.”{Acts 9:1-6 GNT}

Now notice what Jesus said “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?” He didn’t say “why do you persecute the church”. In other words, He puts himself in place of the church. He said I am Jesus (the church) whom you persecute. This shows that Jesus is the church and the church is Jesus. The groom and His bride are one flesh. This also shows that though Jesus Christ is in heaven, He is also here on earth as the church. The church is the Jesus Christ that rules here on earth .As He is in heaven so are we in this world. Our life in this world is the same as Christ’s.

¹⁵ If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us. ¹⁶ And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us.

God is love, and those who live in love live in union with God and God lives in union with them. ¹⁷ Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment. {1John 4:15-18 GNT}

We must now submit fully and know that our union with the Groom is the end of all our struggles with the law. We have been loved with perfect love. Nothing to fear. No punishment but love. Does it mean nothing is required of us by our Groom? To answer that question follow me as we look at how to please Him……..NEXT ARTICLE

                   

NOTES FROM CHAPTER 5

(1}The true identity of the church is Christ

(2) Christ and the church is one and inseparable.

(3) Christ is the head and the church is His body

(4) To try to live without Christ is to become a body without a head

(5) To try to live without the church will make Christ a head without a body.

(6) He purifies the Church daily because He cannot be unholy

(7) He presents her to himself a glorious church without spot nor wrinkles.

(8) All the church needs to do is to submit to Him because He loves her much

(9) We must not struggle to be righteous but allow Christ to live through us. We must depend on Him alone and not on ourselves.