Living By Faith

GOD’S GENETIC ENGINEERING

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Your problem is in your genes.
Mark Hankins

One of the things that determine what you are and your potential in life is genetic determinism. Genetic determinism simply means that your parents made you what you are. Your problem is in your genes.

However, if you have been born again, you have a whole new genetic structure. God has placed a new gene in you! Y ou have been regenerated. God connected your genetic structure to the Lord Jesus Christ. The same qualities He put in Christ, He put in you.

When you get born again, the devil has no evidence against you. He tries to bring his evidence before the throne of God and says, “I have this to prove that person did this and that.” God says, “Let’s check the DNA. No, that is not the same person. That person is dead and gone.” You are literally a brand-new creation in Christ Jesus!

Confession: I have been born again therefore I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old things in my life are passed away and everything has become new! The devil has no evidence against me. God has placed the same qualities in me as He placed in Christ!

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JESUS IN YOUR JERSEY

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

We look a lot better in Christ than we do outside of Him.
Mark Hankins

If you have ever watched a football game on TV, you might have heard the announcers giving a commentary about the game. Let’s say they were talking about a particular player, say number 65 (my number in high school) that is being pounded by the other team.

Then the coach says, “I’ve got a plan.” He pulls number 65 out and replaces him with the strongest man on the team.

That’s what God did for us when He sent Jesus to die in our place. God put Jesus in number 65’s (mankind’s) jersey. Number 65 was then put back on the field, and the whole picture changed. The announcer then would say, “You know, something has happened to number 65. He’s moving the ball all over the field now.”

Before man was identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, he had been whipped all over by depression, discouragement, fear, failure, shame, and guilt. But now, number 65 is winning and he’s dominating!

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

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FINDING YOURSELF IN THE GROUP PICTURE

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

At the cross, God was working “in” Christ, but He was working “on” us.
Mark Hankins

When looking at a group picture, the first thing you look for is yourself. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is a “group picture.” You need to look for yourself in the group picture of redemption. You were included on the cross and were there in His resurrection and triumph.

The greatest of all revelations in the Bible is in Paul’s New Testament letters. James Stalker said, “Paul’s letters contain the thoughts that Jesus carried away from this world unuttered. They are the advanced teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Paul gives us the great facts of redemption. He explains what happened in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything Jesus did, He did for us and has set it to the credit of our account as though we did it. We were identified with Him.

Confession: Even when I was dead in sins, God quickened me together with Christ. By His grace I am saved. He has raised me up and made me to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:5-6)

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THE LAW OF SUBSTITUTION

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)

Jesus was not a martyr; He was a substitute, one man who died for every man. Mark Hankins

Jesus took our place.  He took our curse and died our death.  He took our condition so that we could have His condition.  He was identified with us.  We were there in His death and resurrection, because He died for us, we died with Him. Because He was raised for us, we were raised with Him. Everything Jesus did, He did for us and it is credited to our account as if we did it. Substitution progresses to identification and union with Christ.

In the four Gospels, a disproportionate amount of space is given to the actual events of the death and resurrection of Christ. Every sermon in the book of Acts and all of Paul’s epistles center on what happened in the death and resurrection of Christ. You can get anything you need from this event. Healing, prosperity, joy, victory — whatever you need — you can get from the fact that,“I was crucified with Christ. He took my place because He was my substitute. He took my condition.”

Confession: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.  (2 Corinthians 5:21)

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A FINISHED WORK

O Lord our God, masters besides You have had dominion over us …Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. (Isaiah 26:13-14 NKJV)

Once you get a revelation of your redemption, the only way the devil can defeat you is to deceive you. Mark Hankins

I remember when our troops first went to war with Iraq after 9-11. Newscasters reported that American troops had secured control of the Baghdad Airport and were in control of the city. Simultaneously, however, Iraqi networks aired video footage saying that Sadaam Hussein was still in control. Sadaam Hussein had been overthrown, but he was still sending out propaganda influencing people’s lives. In reality, this former tyrant master had fled the city and was hiding in a spider hole!

Our redemption is a complete, finished work. However, the devil likes to air his propaganda and make us think that he is still in control. Isaiah tells us that the devil may have ruled over us at one time in our lives, but because of our redemption in Christ, he no longer has control of our lives.

Confession: They [the former tyrant masters] are dead, they shall not live and reappear; they are powerless ghosts, they shall not rise and come back. (Isaiah 26:14 AMP)

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