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Living By Faith
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START DRILLING

The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

When you drill into the phrase, “in Christ,” it swallows up your past, your failures, and your old identity.
Mark Hankins

There is a story about a strange happening in South Louisiana at Lake Peigneur. Texaco was drilling for oil in the Lake and the drill got stuck at 1250 feet. It began to list badly so they abandoned it. From the shore, they watched it sink from sight. Meanwhile, men working in a salt mine under the lake noticed it was beginning to flood, so they also escaped. On the surface, a whirlpool threatened some fishermen, eventually pulling in some barges and a tug associated with the drilling. The whirlpool grew in size until it pulled in 65 acres of land. An oil rig, a salt mine, an entire lake, and 65 acres of land disappeared!

What God did for you through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ will swallow up who you used to be. Get the drill out and start drilling. Drill in Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6, Ephesians 2:4-5, and Galatians 6:14. Drill until you hit something in the realm of the Spirit that will swallow up your past!

Confession: My old man was crucified with Christ. I am no longer a slave to sin! (Romans 6:6)

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OFFICIAL IDENTIFICATION

Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? (Acts 19:15 NKJV)

We carry the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit as official identification.
Mark Hankins

Have you ever checked in for a flight and been asked for proof of identification? You can say, “Here I am. Can’t you see — this is me; I can prove that I exist. Just look.” The authorities want to see a passport or driver’s license. You cannot prove who you are without official identification.

Acts 19:13-16 tells the story of the seven sons of Sceva who tried to cast out devils in the name of Jesus “whom Paul preaches.” The demons said, “Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?” Jesus had official identification in heaven and hell, and so did Paul. You and I can also know who we are and the authority that is ours in Christ.

Spiritually speaking, all of us must carry some identification to do business in the realm of the Spirit. The Word of God must be engrafted into our inner man so we know who we are in Christ. We must also carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee that we are who God says we are and we have what God says we have.

Confession: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20)

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THE HOPE OF MANKIND

For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. (2 Corinthians 5:14)

When you see what God has done for you in Christ, the reality of redemption will swallow up your old identity.
Mark Hankins

How could Jesus Christ, one man, die on the cross and His death be for every man? It is simply a law of identification. We were all identified with one man, Adam, and affected by him. God simply took the same law that allowed one man to mess up everyone, and allowed one man, Jesus Christ, to die for everyone.

There is no hope for man outside of the blood of Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection. A person has to be born again if he is going to get out of Adam. This changes your identity. No longer can you identify with defeat because you are identified with the triumph of Christ. No longer can you identify with failure, sickness, and bondage because you are identified with Christ. His victory is your victory! His life is your life! His blessing is your blessing! Everything that God put in Him now comes into you. You were identified with Adam before, but you are not in Adam now – you are in Christ!

Confession: I am born again! The blood of Jesus and the power of the Gospel has changed my life! I identify with the triumph and blessing of Christ!

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FIRST ADAM, LAST ADAM

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)

The mystery of how you got here as damaged goods is solved in the Bible.
Mark Hankins

Your identification with Christ is based on several spiritual laws. One of those laws is simply this: your first birth identified you with Adam. The whole Bible is really about two men – the first Adam and the last Adam. The old man is from Adam. The new man is Christ, who is called the last Adam.

The same law that allowed one man, Adam, to affect every man is also the same law that allowed Jesus Christ, the last Adam, to take the condition of sin, the curse, shame, and death. In His resurrection, God deposited everything in Christ that He wanted in man. God put in Christ what He wanted in you.

The power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ identifies you with a whole new humanity — a whole new creation. You are not the same person anymore! You can no longer identify only with your natural family. You are now identified with Christ!

Confession: I am a new creature in Christ! Old things are passed away. I am not the same person anymore! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

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REVELATION KNOWLEDGE

Christ took me to the cross with Him, and I died there with Him.
(Galatians 2:20 Laubach)

Christianity does not begin with something you do; it begins with something God has done for you in Christ.
Mark Hankins

Theologians ask, “How could Paul say he was crucified with Christ when Paul was not even in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified?” Some believe Paul is talking about a spiritual state he has somehow attained after thirty years of serving God. When you think this way, somehow you are trying to be identified with Christ. This way of thinking places you right back in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where there is neither life nor glory.

When Paul said, “I died there with Him,” he was saying “Through revelation knowledge I know when Jesus died, I died. When He was made alive, I was made alive. When He was raised, I was raised with Him. When He sat down, I sat down with Him. God saw me there. Everything Jesus did, He did it for me.”

When you get in the Spirit, instead of seeing your death, shame, guilt, sorrow, sickness, and poverty, you can see your condition in Christ and the fact that you were crucified with Him.

Confession: The mystery of the Gospel and the glory of the Gospel is Christ in me! (Colossians 1:26-27)

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