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CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

Yes, I have shared Messiah’s crucifixion. I am living indeed, but it is not I that live, it is Messiah whose life is in me. (Galatians 2:20; Arthur S. Way)

There is only one escape from sin, and that is an empty tomb!
Mark Hankins

You inherited sin through your genetics. The psalmist David said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” This is why everyone has to be born again.

The only way you can get out of Adam and into Christ is to receive Him. Salvation comes through the death and resurrection of Christ. Your old man (or your old genetic self) was crucified with Christ.

Crucifixion was common punishment for criminals in the Roman Empire in New Testament times. How could you be crucified as a criminal in the Roman Empire? The answer is this: you have to get rid of “I” and let Christ live in you. It can be quite difficult to get little “I” to move out because he really likes to run things. But when “I” moves out and Christ moves in, sin will no longer dominate you! There is only one escape from sin, and that is an empty tomb!

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

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SUBSTITUTION AND IDENTIFICATION

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:5)

Identification with Christ is really the center of all theology.
Mark Hankins

What does it mean to identify with Christ? We are instructed to practice two ordinances in the Church today. One of them is water baptism, and the other one is the Lord’s Supper.

Water baptism is a picture of your identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. (Romans 6:3-6) The Lord’s Supper is to be regularly practiced.

Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of me…this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25) When you partake of the bread and the cup in the Lord’s Supper, you are enforcing the fact that you are one with Him.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are types of your union and your identification with Christ. Paul shared his revelation in Colossians 1:26-27, “This mystery was hidden for ages and generations, but I am going to tell you what the secret is. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” You are swallowed up “in Christ.” You are in Him. You are buried with Him, and you are raised with Him.

Confession: I am swallowed up in Christ! In Him I died, I was buried, and I was raised up with Him!

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I LIKE THAT “I AM” BUSINESS

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is… (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I am not trying to be, needing to be, hoping to be, or someday going to be. Right now, I am in Christ!
Mark Hankins

When I was a senior in high school, I found 130 “in Christ” scriptures, wrote them down, and began to confess them. I put them on a cassette tape. Every morning when I woke up, I heard myself saying, “I am a new creation in Christ, old things are passed away, everything has become new.”

I like that “I am” business. The world is full of people who are trying to be and used to be. Have you ever heard somebody say, “He’s a wanna be”?

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he IS a new creature.” This is present tense — right now. I am a new creation. I am the righteousness of God. I am triumphant. I am in “I AM” and so I am!

It is not something I am trying to get or something I am trying to do. It is something in my genes. I have been born again, and God’s life and nature is in me. It is in my genes; it runs in my family. I am in union with the Champion. I am in union with the righteousness of God. I am in Christ!

Confession: I am not trying to be, needing to be, hoping to be, or someday going to be. Right now, I am in Christ!

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ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR UNION WITH CHRIST

But he who is in union with the Master is one with Him in spirit.
(1 Corinthians 6:17 Weymouth)

A fly will not land on a hot stove!
Mark Hankins

When you get born again, you get “in Christ-ed.” Your spirit joined to Christ. However, your faith will not be effectual until you start to acknowledge, confess, and declare your identity in Christ. You have to acknowledge it.

I encourage you to make a daily confession and acknowledge who you are in Christ. To “acknowledge” means more than just talking about it — to acknowledge means to go ahead and act like it. This is why people need to run, laugh, dance, shout, and daily rejoice by faith. This demonstrates our victory in Christ.

The moment you step out of the natural and out of circumstances, you step right over into who you are in Christ. Your spirit man begins to respond by taking ascendancy over your flesh, your mind, and the circumstances of your faith. The devil will mess with you all day long until you rise up in the Spirit.

Confession: I am in union with the Master and one with Him in spirit. I confess, acknowledge, and declare who I am in Christ!

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CONTEND FOR THE GLORY

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:8)

Unspeakable joy is a container of the glory of God.
Mark Hankins

The glory of God will increase for those who believe. The glory of the Lord is God’s manifested presence. In His presence is fullness of joy so there must be some extraordinary joy in the glory.

The first thing we should do is believe it and declare it. Expect it and it shall come to pass! We are living in the last days. The promises and prophecies are being fulfilled faster and faster. The atmosphere of Heaven and the aroma of praise are filling the church. Be strengthened in your faith and position yourself for “Heaven on Earth!”

Jesus said if you believed, you would see the glory of God. Jesus was not talking about someday far into the future –He was speaking of a manifestation of God’s goodness and power, now! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Go ahead and rejoice as if your dream is coming to pass! Let the good times roll!

Confession: The glory of God is manifesting in my life because I believe. (John 11:40) God’s promises are being fulfilled in my life and my dreams are coming to pass!

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