Our reality in Christ is that we are forgiven from our sins (past, present, and future) by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross;
however, we need to receive His sacrifice as our own and realize that we are dead to
this world and its ways.
This is where water baptism comes in to view; water baptism is
testifying to God, and to those we are accountable to, that we are making a clean break from sin and putting to death our old sinful nature (or old-man) that
the new man may emerge in our lives.
It is true that after water baptism that
we can reckon the (old-man /nature) to be dead and
buried, but it is a constant reckoning as we recognize that we are dead to sin
and alive unto Christ.
“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed
to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer
at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in
Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving
resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal
of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When
Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From
now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to
you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to
sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.”
Romans 6:6-11 (MSG)
Our identity has changed, we are no longer a slave to sin
and serving its desires, we are now servants of the living God. We are known as
we were meant to be known as God’s sons and daughters.
Fear and shame are also
crucified with Christ, so we have a clear conscience; our identity as a child
of God is complete in Jesus.
“But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high
calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do
his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference
he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.”
1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG)
The amazing part of being in Christ is if and when we do
sin, we have one who stands on our behalf before the Father; it is Jesus who is the
righteous one.
Jesus constantly intercedes for us and prays for us that we will
stand in His righteousness before the Father. The Father sees Christ in us, and
we are pardoned.
“Now that we are set right with God by means of
this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a
question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst,
we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now
that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by
means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing
friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding
prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!”
Romans 5:9-11 (MSG)
Jesus is our salvation; He didn’t die to bring it. He
died to become it. That is the greatness of our Lord. I am so grateful that His
sacrifice means that we have been given access to our loving heavenly Father.
It is wonderful to have a Father who receives us and loves us unconditionally
with open arms, especially those of us who have lost our natural father.
I now have such an appreciation for the life of my
natural father, even though he has passed on. I look at how Jesus has redeemed
all of my father’s mistakes and failures he had made during his lifetime and healed
the memories I have of him with affection and love.
Jesus entered into many of those hurtful
memories to redeem (or reclaim) the past hurts and expectations with
love and understanding.
I have such an affection for my natural father's memories which now stem from the love of Christ. This is how Jesus works in our
lives to redeem our past as well as our present and give us such bright hope for
our future that it is overwhelming to consider.
Jesus becomes our everything (our all in all) because He is the exact reflection of our
heavenly Father. His love for us exceeds our expectations in every possible way.
“In this new creation life, your
nationality makes no difference, or your ethnicity, education, or economic
status—they matter nothing. For it is Christ that means everything as he lives
in every one of us!”
Colossians 3:11
(TPT)
If you haven’t yet come to Jesus to experience the fullness of His ability to redeem your past hurts, I implore you to seek him
out and have Him walk with you through those memories that He may heal and
restore you, that He may be your strength and your defender through your painful memories.
If you need to talk out those memories, please seek out a counselor who can help walk you through this process, you are never alone when it comes to receiving God's mercy. He can redeem even the most painful hurts with His unfailing love for you, He will never leave or forsake you.
Jesus is Lord, which means that He has the power of God
to heal, that is a promise.
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett
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