How you see yourself and others attests to what you believe God believes about you. You are His beloved child, and He has fully redeemed and restored your original Innocence and Righteousness in His Son, Jesus Christ…without your help or permission. A reconciliation of outrageous Grace.
If you do not believe the Truth about who you are, you cannot, then, believe the Truth of who everyone else is. First comes a revelation, an awakening to whom the Triune God says you are and knows you to be. As we have shared before, it was Father’s eternal plan to include you in the Trinitarian Life He shares with His Son and Holy Spirit, and has from all eternity. You are His child created in Their very Image and Likeness, for Intimate Pleasurable Communion and Joyful Fellowship. Family was the reason and purpose of creation itself.
When we realise this astounding Grace, we awaken to the Truth of who we are. If you recall, Jesus came to introduce you to you! Father is unshaken in what He believes about you and He is continually persuading you of the real you. When Truth resonates, we can rest, assured and free to believe what He believes. He is Truth and He is Reality. What He says about you is equally so. Our believing is simply our agreeing with Him, with what He declares as Truth and Reality! Truth does not become Truth when you believe it. Your faith does not make it true, it is simply agreeing with what is already True, with what has already taken place! As Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, our hearts ignite as the Truth of our being is revealed: the mystery hidden from all ages past; Christ in you the Hope of Glory.
This was Paul’s astounding revelation which was to shape his life and undergird his entire ministry: God’s love revealing Christ in him (not to him), allowing Paul to declare, “one died for all, therefore all died: and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” 2 Cor. 5:15.
Paul’s conclusion?
“Therefore, from now on we recognise no one according to the flesh…Therefore, if (more accurately since, being an affirmation following ‘therefore’) anyone is in Christ he is a new creature; old things have passed away: behold new things have come.” 2 Cor. 5:16 (bold and bracket mine)
We are to behold the new: our focus is not that which has been crucified: or, what we think still has to be! We are to behold the new, seeing ourselves co-crucified, co-resurrected, co-ascended and co-seated in Christ. Furthermore, Paul declares we are to see all in the same manner. You, me and well…all. Everyone. Anyone. Truth is true whether someone believes it or not; whether they understand it or not; whether they are experiencing it or not, or are living like it or not.
Unfortunately, western church thinking, being so heavily infiltrated and influenced by Greek pagan philosophy and Roman legalism, has a real problem with that little word, all: except perhaps when it comes to Adam’s sin in making all sinful. But those verses in Romans 5 go on to say, that Grace and Righteousness abounded to the same all in Christ! Why we tend to overlook that for some reason and see Adam’s offence as greater than Christ’s Finished Work is religious nonsense! Sin consciousness will do that to you though.
But throw the “all” out and you have no Gospel! No Finished work. No Salvation or Redemption. Such renders the Cross meaningless. The Gospel is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the Good News of what He accomplished. Of whom He is and what became of Him. It’s not the Gospel of One Day Maybe, or the Gospel of What Might Be. Most certainly, it’s not the Gospel of Me! Jesus is not to be relegated to some guru or some great teacher, a mere example for us of what we could or should be if only we blah blah blah…
Father’s Eternally Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, is the creator and sustainer of all and in Him all is sustained and upheld by the Word of His power: mankind, the earth and all the created order of the entire cosmos. There is no separation! Creation was not an act external to who God is, like a stone thrown into the sea of time, left to affect its own destiny and make its way home. Creation is bound up in Him alone! In. That’s another wee word we struggle with, reducing it to mere poetic balm to encourage a tired soul. It actually means ‘in‘, funny enough; in any language. The incarnation testifies to our Union in Christ! Therefore, if (since) Jesus died for you and me, He died for all.
Here’s the staggering beauty: What happened to Him, happened to you and me: to all mankind and all creation. That’s why Paul used co-language. It is a Beautiful Gospel. Once, He died and once only. And that was for all. Not some. Not just for those who believe! He died for all and all were fully included. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, predestined as sons. Paul saw it…it blew his mind and baptised his heart with resonant truth. We cannot miss this: we do so at our peril. If we do, we fail to see Christ as He Truly is, to see Father and Holy Spirit as They Truly are. We fail to see ourselves and others as Father sees us. We miss Reality, the only Reality that matters. We miss Truth.
Awaken us, Holy Spirit!
We will come back to this in other posts I am sure, but for now be assured, all means all. If we still need to be awakened and see this for ourselves, maybe we can ask Holy Spirit. Ours is a lifelong unveiling and discovery of an Eternal Truth. Remember, transformation comes about from a mind renewed: true metanoia…a lifestyle of true “repentance”. Ask Christ to reveal Himself in You. And ask Him how He did that. That’s a fun question…stay there for a few years…
…I am still awakening from a deep slumber, believe me, but loving the dawn of a new day!
How this Truth of our True Identity impacts our life and relationships we will discuss in our next post. It will be another meaty one! I look forward to your joining us!
As He Is
Ger
If this post blessed you or even challenged you, I would love to hear from you! It is so wonderful to journey with you and have our minds blown as our hearts ignite! Please email me, leave a comment or share on your favourite social media so all may know. Bless ya!
What I do know is that this man Gerry Barton is onto something. He’s connected to something bigger than himself. He’s not just regurgitating stuff he’s read, it’s coming from an awareness that he is experiencing. He is bold in his belief that we are included in the Trinitarian life where God has his being, and that this has always been his intention from the conception of the universe. The realisation (perhaps cognitively initially) that we are actually caught up in the eternal fellowship of the Trinity and still experience our humanity in a corrupt and broken world. But to begin to experience the euphoria of this loving communion… that is a very different kind of realisation, from which flows living water. Anyone thirsty?
Thank you Richard! It is great to drink deep with you and celebrate our communion in Christ. I look forward to reading more of your words someday, for you have a gift for sure! Bless you!
The truth is the truth before you believe it..so awesomely true. I’ve been waiting for a post on this! Thank you so much!
There’s a song in there! Thank you Malana!