1 John 4: 6 NKJV
There are things which know are true beyond a reasonable doubt. I know that I alive with each breath that I take. I know that if I were to jump off a cliff that I would not simply float away. These are things I know to be true in my heart. However, there are also things which I know to be true which others might not realize...yet. Such as, I know in my heart how I came into being. I know who it is that I really am inside. These things, to me, are without question. We all know about the things that are accepted without argument. Things such as gravity, air and the atmosphere around us. However, how did all of these things come into being? How was it that they were created? Well, far beyond some big bang theory, there is the reality of our Lords creation. I shy away from referring to it as the "creation story" as some may think that this is all it is...a story. More than just a story is how our heavenly Father brought all that we see into being. I know that He accomplished this in six days' time. I know that He created not only all which I see around me, but myself as well. I know these things because I trust in what He has spoken into my heart. I didn't need a textbook or special class to come to this knowledge. God spoke it, and I trust in it. As the scripture claims, I am of God because I hear Him. It wasn't always this way. There was a time when I only believed what I was taught by a pastor. However, I later realized that there were things that the pulpit pounders left out. I wasn't a sinner after all, as so many pastors were fond of telling me. I did not need to settle for simply "being like" Jesus as I heard many a sermon claim. No, I was never created to live my life as a sinner separated from God by my past behaviors. In fact, despite what modern church theology may tell us, there is no separation from God...period. This I know. There are times where I feel that there is the man which the church sees and the man which God sees in me. Of course, the which He sees in me is the image that I trust in. Who is that man? Well, I am Him in the flesh. That's right, it is His Spirit which lives in me. The apostle Paul assured us of this in Galations {Galations 2:20}. All that Christ is, I am as well. This I know.
"I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
John 17: 23 NKJV
If I were to stick to the centuries old church message, I would still be a lost soul struggling to be like Jesus. For God cannot ever be in the presence of such sinners as we. Therefore, He looks down upon us from His heavenly perch waiting to save us from ourselves yet again. Oh, and that man seated beside Him is none other than Christ Jesus Himself. The trouble with this teaching is that Jesus gave Himself for us that those sins would be erased {John 3:16}. It is by His sacrifice that we are who we are today {2 Corinthians 5:21}. So, if Christ became sin that we would not shoulder our own burden, how is it that we are still sinners? Keep in mind, these continue to be the teachings of the mainstream church. I know differently. Paul also assured us that we are indeed dead to sin {Romans 6:11}. As a child of God I am dead to sin. This I know. As His loved child, I no longer need to struggle in my desire to "be more like Jesus." So great was His love for me that His only Son became the very essence of the man that I am. This I know. I have never been defined as the man who others see me as. It is by His spirit within me where they will see my real identity. This I know.
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
~Scott~
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