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HOW GOD CHANGES PEOPLE’S IDENTITIES

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and 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)

God was working IN CHRIST, but He was working ON US! Mark Hankins

Paul had such an extreme identity change, he said, “It’s not even me living anymore.” That’s a pretty radical change! People are trying to get God to help them deal with their problems, yet He is saying, “As my child, since I am living on the inside of you, just let Me deal with your challenges through you.”

Paul was a Pharisee, a very religious man, and he received a strong revelation of Jesus Christ.  When he was hit with the light of God, he went blind for three days. During that time, he fasted and prayed.

Someone said, “The power of God hit Saul of Tarsus so hard on the road to Damascus that it knocked the ‘S’ off the front of his name and replaced it with a ‘P’ and he became Paul.” His name changed, his identity changed, and his nature changed.

Confession: I am crucified with Christ. I have a new identity and a new nature in Christ. It’s not even me living anymore but Christ living in me!

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BECOMING LIKE CHRIST

Clothe yourselves with that new and better self, which has been created to resemble God in the righteousness and holiness which come from the truth. (Ephesians 4:24 Weymouth)

The greatest reward for obeying God is not what you get, it’s what you become! Mark Hankins

Even though you are born again and a new creature in Christ, you must decide to allow the Holy Spirit to tell you the truth. Why? Because the truth will set you free; then you can be all that God wants you to be. Wrong attitudes, compromise, sin, and disobedience will stop the flow of the life of God so the image of Christ is not working in you and cannot be fully formed in you.

Other people may have never known what your true personality was like because of all the things that have happened and all the trash piled on top of you. Let the Holy Spirit begin to work in your spirit, lead you into all truth, and show you who you are in Christ.

It’s time for change — I’m not talking about moving to another house. I’m talking about a move on the inside of you! Once you find out who you are in Christ and let Him be formed in you, every gift, talent, calling, and purpose of God will begin to take shape in your life.

Confession: I am who God says I am. I have what God says I have. I can do what God says I can do. Christ has redeemed me!

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SEE YOURSELF IN CHRIST

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
(Ephesians 4:23-24)

If you keep looking into the Word, it will save, deliver, and heal your soul.
Mark Hankins

How do you become a doer of the Word? You look into the mirror of the Word, which James calls “the perfect law of liberty.” God can tell you over and over what He has done for you in Christ but as long as you continue to see yourself as a failure, unrighteous, unworthy, defeated, sick, or poor, you will stay in that condition. When you look into the perfect law of liberty, there is a reflection and you see yourself in Christ. You see what God has done for you in Christ and suddenly, you see yourself free!

When you get up in the morning, look up about ten “in Christ” scriptures. Then look in the mirror and acknowledge them. When you have a lunch break, open your Bible. If you have a fifteen-minute break, open your Bible. This is what it takes to be blessed.

Look in the mirror–the perfect law of liberty. When you look into the mirror of the Word, it will make you free. One translation says, “Look and keep on looking!”

Confession: I have been given exceeding great and precious promises in God’s Word. I have His divine nature!

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THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD

The old condition has passed away; a new condition has come.
(2 Corinthians 5:17 Williams)

God would not make an unrighteous new creature because He already had an unrighteous old creature!
Mark Hankins

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Verse 18 begins, “And all things are of God,” which means this is the work of God.

The old condition from which you have been redeemed is the curse of the law, which includes poverty, sickness, confusion, fear, sin, and the devil’s domination of your life. When does the “old condition” pass away and the “new condition” come? It doesn’t happen over a process of ten or twenty years. It happens the moment you are born again because of the grace of God. The moment you are saved, you become a new creation in Christ.

God would never make an unrighteous new creature! The moment you were born again, you are in Christ, and you are a new creature. Old things are passed away and everything has become new.

Confession: I am the workmanship of God. My old condition is gone and a new condition has come. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!

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YOUR IDENTITY IN THE WORD

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
(Luke 2:52)

The greater your Word intake, the more Christ will be manifested
through you. Mark Hankins

I believe when Jesus was ten, eleven, or twelve years old, He found out who He was by reading it in the scriptures. Jesus identified with the Word as He read Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

Many people, not just teenagers, have an identity crisis. They search for it in some psychology book or by trying to mimic a movie star. They comb their hair like someone they see on TV. They watch some cowboy movie and think they are John Wayne, or they see a motorcycle rider and think they need a motorcycle and a bandanna around their head too!

You will find your identity in the same book as Jesus did — the Bible. You do not have to spend your entire life searching for your identity. You are a new creature in Christ — your identity is now In Christ!

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

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