Greetings!
Well, it’s taken us two weeks to get through the first three words in this letter to Timothy. Today we will take on three more words. So, here’s where we are, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus…” Last week we began to look at the giftings God has given us, and it’s important to know who we are in Christ, but it’s just as important to know whose we are in Christ and who whose we are really is.
Who is Jesus Christ? I mean, He’s the who in whose we are. Well, this is a huge topic that can’t be fully dealt with in a one page letter. The important thing to know is that Jesus is God. (Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Jn 8:58) Jesus is God come in the flesh. (If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Jn 14:7) Jesus is the exact image and revelation of God. (Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power Hebrews 1:1-3) And we need to understand that God came in the flesh, set aside His privilege to rule and reign as God in this life and lived this live just like you and I have to live this life. And Jesus went to the cross for our sins and to rescue our lives. (Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Phi 2:5-8) And it’s important to understand that God exalted Jesus, after His obedient service, to a place and position of authority to rule and reign over all creation in and through us. (Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phi 2:9-13) That’s just a start in dealing with this subject but remember this. We cannot reveal Jesus in and through our lives if we don’t know who Jesus is. In fact, beginning to know who God is begins with knowing who Jesus is. By the way, our enemy knows who Jesus is and thrives on our ignorance of who Jesus is.
But there is a second point to this lesson; we must know who we are in Christ. Our enemy will thrive on that ignorance also. We are not necessarily who others say we are, what life’s experiences say we are or even who we say we are. We are who God says we are and that is so critical to living in the giftings that God has created and blessed us with in this life. God says we are:
LOVED (We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19)
BLESSED (Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Eph 1:3)
FORGIVEN (In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, Eph 1:7)
SAVED (In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:11-12)
SEALED (In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13-14)
SEATED WITH CHRIST (But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Eph 2:4-7)
Again, this is just a beginning, but it’s a start. It’s important to our witness and our work and every false religion and every demonic spirit is focused on diminishing our concept and confidence in Jesus because He is Lord and at His name every knee will bow. It’s who He is, what He did and what He says that matters. Here’s your assignment for this week. Who do you say Jesus is?
Be Blessed!
From the Kitchen Table 