Beloved, now we are children of God, and it was not yet manifested what we shall be. We are aware that, if He should be manifested, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him according as He is.
First Epistle of John 3: 2, Concordant New Testament
The other night I was streaming through a few scenes of The Chosen series, trying to relate the episode to life in general. In this episode, the woman Lilith is confronted by the Pharisee Nicodemus. It seems that the woman was all too eager to forget the circumstances by which Nicodemus had originally come into her life, when she was known as Mary. As Lilith described it, "I was one way, and I'm not that way anymore." Indeed, for on that day Mary was freed of the spirit which possessed her, something the Pharisee Nicodemus had been unable to accomplish. Lilith was well aware of the way she used to be, yet it had been revealed to her that she was not defined by her illness. It began to make sense, this message for our life today. I am well aware of the things I used to engage in. Some of which I am not so proud of. But I can say with confidence that I am not that way anymore. What has changed? I'll tell you. What has changed in me from that time until today is my own realization of who it is that I am in Christ. The other night I watched a video of a priest lamenting the fact that God would curse us with the desires of the flesh to do bad things. God has not cursed us with anything! Did God curse me with the desire to frequent strip clubs back in the day? Or did I, not knowing who I was in Him, choose to do what I did? I would say that the latter is more probable. We are all created in the likeness of the Father {Genesis 1:27}. Yet, even though some might be aware of this truth, they do not realize the full extent of who it is that they are in God. We know that God formed our flesh from the dust of the ground {Genesis 2:7}. Our flesh was not a part of His original creation, but was created as a container which holds His spirit. Would God place His spirit into something evil? I'm more inclined to believe that we are the ones who have forgotten who it is we are meant to be.
Now he who joins the Lord is one spirit.
Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6: 17, Concordant New Testament
I have listened to far too many believers lament the fact that they are but sinners saved by the grace of God. God did not create us to be sinners! God did not create His children to be in bondage to sin. What He HAS accomplished through His Son on the cross is the death of sin in us {Paul to the Romans 6:11}. This is the truth of who we are in Him! This truth does not fit the preachers narrative that God has cursed us with the desires of sin. What we ourselves have done is to choose sin over God {Genesis 5:5-6}. Through the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden, all were born into sin {Paul to the Romans 3:23-24}. Yet, through the obedience of Christ Jesus on the cross, all are justified {Paul to the Romans 5:19}. This is who we are in Christ Jesus. No longer condemned {Paul to the Romans 8:1}. This is why I can say with confidence that I am not that way any longer. Or, more accurately, I was NEVER that way. I simply had forgotten who it is that I am in the Father. Perhaps this is the answer that the Pharisee Nicodemus was searching for.
~Scott~
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