WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Hey everyone! So today we're going to talk about our identity based off of our 2 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:11.700 oneness with Christ. So our identity, first of all, let's understand that our 3 00:00:11.700 --> 00:00:20.920 identity is actually the unique point at which our spirit unifies with God. That 4 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:27.960 unique juncture is our identity. So our identity can't actually even be 5 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:33.680 described. So a lot of times, you know, whether it be, I don't know, special 6 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:39.760 personality workshops or mindset coaches or whatever, we'll talk about our 7 00:00:39.760 --> 00:00:44.160 identity if it's something that we can actually describe. Well, you know, write 8 00:00:44.160 --> 00:00:47.520 down what are the types of things that you like? What's your personality? What 9 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.400 are your characteristics? But that's actually not our identity, all right? 10 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:57.080 Those are strictly the expressions of the uniqueness of our identity. But 11 00:00:57.080 --> 00:01:04.800 our actual identity is the point at which our spirit unifies with God's 12 00:01:04.800 --> 00:01:09.760 Spirit. It's very unique, very different, sets you apart from everyone else. Even 13 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:15.000 though we are all one in God, even though we are all unified in God, the unique 14 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:21.380 point at which we, our spirit, unifies with His Spirit, that is your identity. So 15 00:01:21.380 --> 00:01:25.440 today we're going to talk about what it means to be unified with Christ and how 16 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:31.000 the Lord reveals all throughout Scripture the depth to which we are 17 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:36.920 actually unified with Christ. We haven't strictly been joined with Him as if we 18 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:42.000 are linking arms together going through life. We're actually 19 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:50.080 unified with Him as completely one, even more unified than the type and shadow 20 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:55.520 that the Lord uses of unity on the earth, such as a man marrying a woman. So 21 00:01:55.520 --> 00:02:00.080 first of all, let's look at Ephesians. Now, Ephesians is a great book of the 22 00:02:00.080 --> 00:02:04.040 Bible that focuses very heavily on our identity. So if that is something that 23 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:08.360 you especially struggle with or you just want to understand more about, the book 24 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:12.720 of Ephesians is a really great one. It goes all throughout it. 25 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:19.600 It goes into great depth. Paul talks about our identity from a variety of 26 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:23.600 different perspectives, comes at it from a variety of different ways 27 00:02:23.600 --> 00:02:27.400 in order to make sure that the Ephesians had a very good solid 28 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:33.080 understanding of who they were. You know, about the uniqueness of the way 29 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:39.760 in which they have been joined by their spirits with the Spirit of Christ. So 30 00:02:39.760 --> 00:02:47.720 Ephesians, one, all throughout Ephesians, but there are some 31 00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:52.280 specific chapters that are especially strong as Ephesians in discussing this 32 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:58.640 topic. Ephesians 1 is one of them. And so I recommend that when you have an 33 00:02:58.640 --> 00:03:02.880 opportunity that you go back and read all of Ephesians, but specifically 34 00:03:02.880 --> 00:03:07.640 Ephesians 1, 3 through 14. Now right now, all that I'm going to do is I'm just 35 00:03:07.640 --> 00:03:14.560 going to focus on verse 4 and verse 11 just for the sake of time. So this is 36 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:20.560 actually where everything started, where our unity with Christ started. And this 37 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:30.160 begins to explain the, again, the depth, the intimacy with which we are one with 38 00:03:30.160 --> 00:03:33.760 Christ and how it all started and came about. So, 39 00:03:33.760 --> 00:03:41.280 for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and 40 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:46.200 blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as sons 41 00:03:46.200 --> 00:03:51.000 through Jesus Christ and according with his pleasure and will. So, for he chose us 42 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:56.560 in him before the creation of the world. So before the creation of the world, 43 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:03.560 before people were born into the earth, he chose us in himself. So in other words, 44 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:13.280 we were birthed out of God. Literally. We were literally birthed out of God. He 45 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:19.360 looked inside himself, chose us in him, and then separated us from himself and 46 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:27.120 made us who it is that we are. Now, there's one more, verse 11 47 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:34.560 references this idea. Also, it says, in him we were also chosen, having 48 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.680 been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in 49 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:45.000 conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we who 50 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.360 were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory. Now, so 51 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:54.640 again, it talks about in him we were also chosen. So it mentions it twice just in 52 00:04:54.760 --> 00:04:58.600 case we didn't get it the first time or just in case we thought, yeah, but maybe I 53 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:01.560 misunderstood that. 54 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.760 he repeats it and he even puts a slightly different spin on the phrase. 55 00:05:03.760 --> 00:05:10.840 So in him we were also chosen for he chose us in him before the creation of 56 00:05:10.840 --> 00:05:18.640 the world. We were originally in God. Originally. It's not just that we've been 57 00:05:18.640 --> 00:05:23.320 reinserted, that we've been inserted back into Christ. We've actually been 58 00:05:23.320 --> 00:05:28.400 reinserted because that's where we came from in the first place. Remember that 59 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:32.040 everything that that Salvation and the Good News talks about is always 60 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:38.360 restoration. It is always bringing everything back to what it was before. 61 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:44.400 Restore. Redeem. So it had to have originally happened first in order for 62 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:51.400 it to be happening yet again. So we were actually taken out of Christ. We were 63 00:05:51.400 --> 00:05:57.400 taken out of God himself. Now how do, what are some other places in 64 00:05:57.400 --> 00:06:03.040 Scripture that talk about this that we can use as, in order to gain again 65 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.880 breadth and depth of understanding about this? Well you know that the Lord always 66 00:06:07.880 --> 00:06:14.680 uses types and shadows all throughout creation as an example of, and as kind 67 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:20.760 of like a crayon children's drawing of what things are actually like in the 68 00:06:20.760 --> 00:06:28.600 heavenly realm. So how, where does it very, very, very first talk about and 69 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:35.000 reference the fact that we actually came out of God? Adam. Adam and Eve. So in 70 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:42.360 Genesis 2, 21 through 24, it talks about the fact that Adam's side was opened. 71 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:49.080 Adam's side was opened and Eve was removed from Adam. She was the very 72 00:06:49.080 --> 00:06:54.680 essence of Adam. You remember what Adam talked about? He said, he woke up, he 73 00:06:54.680 --> 00:07:02.160 saw her and he said, you are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. You are of me. 74 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:08.160 You have my very DNA. You have my very nature. You have my very essence. It was 75 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:14.720 literally taken out of Adam. Adam's side was opened if we would have, you know, if 76 00:07:14.760 --> 00:07:19.120 we would have had any doubt whatsoever that Eve came out of Adam. Adam's side 77 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:24.960 had to be opened in order for Eve to actually be removed out of him as an 78 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:29.480 aspect of his very essence. So it's a type and shadow of the fact that we were 79 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:35.240 taken out of God. We were taken out of God because remember, Eve was Adam's 80 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.720 bride. It said right after that, you know, that a man will leave his father and 81 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:46.760 mother and cleave to his wife. You know, she was separated from him only to be 82 00:07:46.760 --> 00:07:52.880 reunified with him. But see, now she was able to be reunified with him in a very 83 00:07:52.880 --> 00:07:58.040 unique and special way because she was now separate, joined back together as one 84 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:03.040 as opposed to having never been separated. So there's an added 85 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:08.760 benefit, an added blessing. There's an additional enrichment in being 86 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:13.920 separated first and then reunified because then there can be 87 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:21.160 fellowship between the aspects as opposed to it's never been 88 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:27.840 separated and therefore it's just one. Now it's two. Reunified is one 89 00:08:27.840 --> 00:08:34.159 which allows for an aspect of each one to feed off of and invest in the other. 90 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:40.120 There's an enrichment circle. Again, the reason why God took us out of 91 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:45.520 him. If we were already in him and he was already unified with us, why on 92 00:08:45.520 --> 00:08:51.320 earth take us out of him only to reinsert us back into him and make us 93 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:57.880 make us as one? There was something unique and enriching about taking us out 94 00:08:57.880 --> 00:09:03.360 of him and then to only to separate us and then to put us back 95 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:10.360 into him that now with that reinsertion after making the two 96 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:19.360 separate, you can actually have a relationship. Again, it's one not two and 97 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:24.880 yet there's a different aspect of relationship than you had before the two 98 00:09:24.880 --> 00:09:31.000 were separated. So just know that there was a reason God 99 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:35.280 desired to have that fellowship with us. Otherwise, he would have just left us in 100 00:09:35.280 --> 00:09:40.760 him. He desired there to be this feedback, this way that we affected 101 00:09:40.760 --> 00:09:46.280 one another, this give, this take, this feeding in and investing in and being 102 00:09:46.280 --> 00:09:52.760 enriched by each other that he desired to actually put on 103 00:09:52.760 --> 00:09:59.840 display and to bless himself and us by. He desired relationship. Remember what he 104 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.040 when he when he created Adam. It's not good for man to be alone. Well God was 105 00:10:06.040 --> 00:10:11.320 alone and God wasn't missing anything and Adam is the type in shadow. So and 106 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:15.900 this is before Adam sinned so in other words there's nothing wrong so but God 107 00:10:15.900 --> 00:10:21.440 still said there's something more it can be better so let's separate an 108 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:26.960 aspect out of Adam rejoin it back to Adam and now there's a different aspect 109 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:33.840 an element of a relationship that actually makes the two when they come 110 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.820 back together something unique and something different than strictly the 111 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:45.920 sum of the sum of the parts being being connected. So remember that just like Eve 112 00:10:45.920 --> 00:10:52.920 was taken out of Adam and she was of his very nature and essence so we are of the 113 00:10:52.920 --> 00:11:01.720 very nature and essence of God. We were taken out of him we have his very DNA we 114 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:07.560 have again his very nature anything if God is love we are love if God is 115 00:11:07.560 --> 00:11:11.560 righteousness we are righteousness if God is holiness then we are holiness. 116 00:11:11.560 --> 00:11:16.840 Now it doesn't we're not saying that we are the creator we're not saying that 117 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:21.040 we're the creator who created us we're not saying that we are God the Father 118 00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:28.080 we're not saying that we are exactly equal with Christ because why because he 119 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:32.480 always has the preeminence Christ always has the preeminence and everything was 120 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:38.040 placed under Christ except what God the Father and we're in Christ we've been 121 00:11:38.040 --> 00:11:42.440 reinserted back into Christ it says which are some verses we're gonna look 122 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:48.960 at in a minute says we were we were reinserted back into Christ but Christ 123 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:53.800 always has the preeminence Christ is always described as the head of the body 124 00:11:53.800 --> 00:12:00.200 he's the bridegroom of the bride and yet we've been rejoined and reunited with 125 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:07.520 him as one it's it's quite it's quite a mystery so where do we see that we have 126 00:12:07.520 --> 00:12:12.200 been reunited with Christ so we see how the type and shadow that God showed of 127 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:17.960 in in scripture where the first Adam was a type and shadow of the fact that we 128 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:24.080 have been taken out of Christ that we were taken out of Christ so where does 129 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:30.040 it show as a type and shadow to prove that we were actually reinserted back 130 00:12:30.040 --> 00:12:36.560 into Christ so that is going to be John 1934 131 00:12:36.560 --> 00:12:56.240 here John 1934 okay now so Jesus is hanging on the cross and it says well 132 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:00.720 let's start in 33 so Jesus is hanging on the cross and remember they're trying to 133 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:07.400 take all of the all of the crucified men off of the crosses before Sabbath 134 00:13:07.400 --> 00:13:11.640 because it's about to it's coming close to six o'clock and they need time to 135 00:13:11.640 --> 00:13:17.760 remove him off the cross and then quickly quickly bury him it is as best 136 00:13:17.760 --> 00:13:23.440 as they can and prepare him and to make sure that there's enough time to that 137 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:28.120 they're not touching a dead body and everything else and nothing and no dead 138 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:32.800 bodies are hanging on the cross during the Sabbath so but the thing is they 139 00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:38.360 they had to break the legs of the criminals beside Jesus because they 140 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:41.800 weren't dead yet and they had to make sure that they and that they died very 141 00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:48.480 quickly however see the first time you've been 142 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.520 christened in those either but okay so let's start with verse 33 but when they 143 00:13:52.520 --> 00:13:56.720 came to Jesus and found that he was already dead they did not break his legs 144 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:03.320 instead one of the soldiers pierced Jesus's side with the spear bringing a 145 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:09.400 sudden flow of blood and water the man who saw it has given testimony and 146 00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:15.200 testimony is true so so they're just talking about the fact that that that 147 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:21.400 actually proves that Jesus was dead that is why the centurion drove the spear up 148 00:14:21.400 --> 00:14:25.600 through the side of Jesus is because when you drove that when he drives the 149 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.320 spear at the side of Jesus it comes up into his heart and when he removes the 150 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:34.640 spear if outflows blood and water they actually knew that the body was dead so 151 00:14:34.640 --> 00:14:39.440 that's why he did it but see why is this significant with what we're talking 152 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:44.880 about Jesus who is the second Adam who came to restore everything that the 153 00:14:44.880 --> 00:14:52.640 first Adam lost Jesus who is the second Adam had his side opened again in order 154 00:14:52.640 --> 00:14:58.960 to after he died after he died for the sins of man in order as a type and 155 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.800 shadow and picture 156 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:07.540 the fact that now the bride had been reinserted back into Christ. So the second 157 00:15:07.540 --> 00:15:13.620 Adam's side was opened just like the first Adam's side was opened. And when 158 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:18.660 the first Adam's side was opened, the bride was removed. When the second Adam's 159 00:15:18.660 --> 00:15:22.920 side was opened, it was a type and shadow of the fact that the bride 160 00:15:22.920 --> 00:15:28.660 had been reinserted back into Christ. So those are the pictures that the Lord 161 00:15:28.660 --> 00:15:33.340 used of the fact that we were taken out of Christ and that we have been 162 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:38.420 reinserted back into Christ. In other words, we had to have been there in the 163 00:15:38.420 --> 00:15:43.700 first place in order for us to be reinserted. So if we look at Ephesians 164 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:49.060 again, because Ephesians is such a great reference to anything about talking 165 00:15:49.060 --> 00:15:57.580 about our unity with Christ and which, as we know, is our identity. Let's see, if we 166 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:10.300 look at Ephesians 5, let's look at 31 through 32. So for this reason, a man 167 00:16:10.300 --> 00:16:14.660 will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will 168 00:16:14.660 --> 00:16:20.940 become one flesh. Interesting. It doesn't talk about one spirit. It talks about one 169 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:27.060 flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ in the church. 170 00:16:27.660 --> 00:16:37.580 So what Paul is referencing here is he's referencing the fact that it was a 171 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:45.740 mystery hidden in God from the beginning of the world that he always intended us 172 00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:52.380 to be unified with him. A man will leave his father and mother and be united to 173 00:16:52.420 --> 00:16:57.540 his wife and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I 174 00:16:57.540 --> 00:17:03.260 am talking about Christ and the church. So this was a mystery that God hid in 175 00:17:03.260 --> 00:17:09.780 himself. Can we think of a bigger mystery? Can we think of a 176 00:17:09.780 --> 00:17:16.020 bigger one? This is even a bigger one than Christ dying on 177 00:17:16.020 --> 00:17:21.260 the cross and saving us from our sins. This is a bigger mystery. The fact 178 00:17:21.300 --> 00:17:31.900 that the God of the universe would allow himself to receive into himself as one, 179 00:17:31.900 --> 00:17:39.220 not as two, not us jumping in him like a Joey would into a 180 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:45.380 kangaroo pouch or something, but actually uniting with the God of the universe as 181 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:54.580 one. Can we think of a more profound mystery than that? I don't know 182 00:17:54.580 --> 00:17:59.500 about you, but it sounds easier to me to believe that Jesus would die on the 183 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.980 cross, save us from our sins, so that we could we could talk with God and have 184 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:10.180 fellowship with God than the fact that he would allow himself to be made one 185 00:18:10.260 --> 00:18:18.980 with us. One. Completely. Not married, not linking arms, not hanging out. Completely 186 00:18:18.980 --> 00:18:26.940 one. Now we're gonna talk in just a second about how exactly one we are and 187 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:31.380 how there is a complete lack of separation. But first of all, let's also 188 00:18:31.380 --> 00:18:38.960 look at Revelation 13. This ties a bit in with, as everything does, with the 189 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:44.920 fact that we've been talking about love in the past few sessions. So let's check 190 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:54.040 out Romans another description of the extent of God's love for us. I've got all 191 00:18:54.040 --> 00:19:01.760 of these little notes here. So I like I like a little stickies that 192 00:19:01.760 --> 00:19:07.720 hold a lot of a lot of notes. I like to put sticky notes in my Bible because 193 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.320 sometimes I run out of room. I write so many things here in the 194 00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:17.000 margins that I run out of room. And so then you have to start 195 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:23.040 putting in stickies in order to continue making notes. So looking at Revelation 13 196 00:19:23.040 --> 00:19:29.680 8, it says, all inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast, all whose names 197 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.800 have not been written in the book of life, belonging to the land that 198 00:19:33.800 --> 00:19:42.960 was slain from the creation of the world. That is how important it was to 199 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:47.800 God that we be reinserted back into him. He wanted to make sure that there was no 200 00:19:47.800 --> 00:19:53.360 way at all that we could ever be permanently separated from him, that he 201 00:19:53.360 --> 00:20:02.160 would ever be without us, where we would not be reunited and reinserted back 202 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:05.420 into him as one. He made such provision that he made sure that the lamb was 203 00:20:05.420 --> 00:20:16.960 slain from before the creation of the world not not you know back in what was 204 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:21.920 that I think that they figured out it's somewhere around like 27 AD because they 205 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:28.440 believe that the original Jesus was born I think about like was it 4 BC I 206 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:42.200 believe something like that so it is so the Lord was that serious about making 207 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:48.480 sure that we that he provided he made provision for himself and for us that he 208 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:53.040 would never be without us and that we could be assured that we would never be 209 00:20:53.040 --> 00:20:58.100 separated from him that he made sure that the lamb wasn't only slain for our 210 00:20:58.100 --> 00:21:03.020 sins but that he was slain before anyone was ever put onto the earth before he 211 00:21:03.020 --> 00:21:06.380 even created it because you know that he didn't even create man until the sixth 212 00:21:06.380 --> 00:21:14.220 day that he before anything was created he made sure that the lamb was slain so 213 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.860 he could be assured that he would never be separated from us it is extremely 214 00:21:17.860 --> 00:21:22.220 important to him so we again we can begin to understand not only a greater 215 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:27.780 depth of our identity but a greater depth of his love for us so let's look 216 00:21:27.780 --> 00:21:37.460 at 1st Corinthians 617 we are going all over because in this one it is talking 217 00:21:37.460 --> 00:21:54.700 about our oneness with Christ 617 but he who unites himself with the Lord is one 218 00:21:54.700 --> 00:22:03.820 with him in spirit not connected not joined together like conjoined twins or 219 00:22:03.820 --> 00:22:16.060 something like that one with him in spirit one single single unit now let's 220 00:22:16.060 --> 00:22:19.980 look at another example and this is probably my favorite description that 221 00:22:19.980 --> 00:22:26.420 the Lord gives of the extent to which we can understand we are actually one 222 00:22:26.420 --> 00:22:33.020 and not simply two that exist in the same being almost as if there were two 223 00:22:33.020 --> 00:22:39.180 different entities in the same being we're actually one and that is Galatians 224 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:46.740 Galatians is another really good really good book to to study for regarding this 225 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:51.140 topic so we're going to look at I've got a lot of scripture verses here so 226 00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:57.260 Galatians 3 I want to make sure that y'all understand the foundation that God 227 00:22:57.260 --> 00:23:03.780 has given us of this revelation that this isn't new this is this is 228 00:23:03.780 --> 00:23:10.100 entrenched all throughout scripture and God repeats it over and over and over 229 00:23:10.100 --> 00:23:14.380 again so let's look at Galatians 3 where do I 230 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:22.620 want to start let's start in certain 16 and then we're gonna jump to 26 so I 231 00:23:22.620 --> 00:23:28.100 recommend in that you all of these all of these passages that I am recommending 232 00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:37.020 that you actually expand your reading on and one of them is Galatians 3 reading 233 00:23:37.020 --> 00:23:45.460 15 go to through 15 through 25 talking about the law and the promise talking 234 00:23:45.460 --> 00:23:50.380 about Abraham so we're just going to focus on a few here so we're gonna jump 235 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:57.860 to 16 the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed the scriptures 236 00:23:57.860 --> 00:24:05.940 the scripture does not say and to seeds meaning many people but but instead it 237 00:24:05.940 --> 00:24:13.900 says into your seed meaning one person who is Christ so Paul is making very 238 00:24:13.900 --> 00:24:19.820 very clear here it's like when he says okay what does scripture say scripture 239 00:24:19.820 --> 00:24:25.940 said that the promises were spoken to Abraham into his seed singular and he 240 00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:32.660 says very specifically not plural he's referencing that scripture referenced 241 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:39.220 it to be a singular seed not a plural seed and what we would think of is well 242 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:43.900 Abraham was supposed to be the father of many nations so surely it was meant to 243 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:49.980 be plural surely seed was just well that seed housed the multitudes and so 244 00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:54.860 therefore it was actually many no he's saying it's very serious very specific 245 00:24:54.860 --> 00:25:01.980 here it was a singular word now going to Galatians 3 246 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:09.240 Staying in chapter 3, but now going to 26 through 29. It says, 247 00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:14.520 You were all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were 248 00:25:14.520 --> 00:25:18.920 baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. I'm just gonna stop 249 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:23.040 there just for a second. Notice there, all of you who were baptized into Christ 250 00:25:23.040 --> 00:25:28.760 have clothed yourself with Christ. Remember what we talked about in the 251 00:25:28.760 --> 00:25:34.120 last session. We were talking about the importance of clothing in Scripture to 252 00:25:34.120 --> 00:25:41.680 reference identity, that we're clothed in Christ. Christ is our identity. It is a 253 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:48.280 declaration of who we are, of our pricelessness, etc. So there is neither 254 00:25:48.280 --> 00:25:53.920 Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus 255 00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:01.360 Christ, Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and 256 00:26:01.360 --> 00:26:08.160 heirs according to the promise. So this is the same chapter, just a few verses 257 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:18.600 later from Galatians 3 16 to now Galatians 3 29 specifically, where 258 00:26:18.600 --> 00:26:23.640 originally in 16 he was saying, hey look, the Scriptures say, you remember, that 259 00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:31.160 that this promise was given to Abraham and to his seed, singular, not seeds plural. 260 00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:38.960 And that seed, Paul said, that seed is Christ. So we think, okay, seed, singular, so 261 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:43.040 therefore he couldn't be talking to the multitudes. He's therefore only talking 262 00:26:43.040 --> 00:26:51.040 about one, Christ. We can kind of get the connection. But then he goes on in 26 263 00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:58.200 29, but specifically in 29, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed 264 00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:08.320 and heirs according to the promise. Again, seed, singular, one spirit, one, not two, 265 00:27:08.320 --> 00:27:16.200 not seeds, not seeds that are born of the same womb. No one seed, no separation. 266 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:24.000 They share everything. They're one essence, one being. We're that 267 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:31.480 unified. So God gets very, very deep in his explanation, and Paul greatly helps 268 00:27:31.480 --> 00:27:38.880 be able to explain this, that God is very deep in his 269 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:45.240 explanation and his description of where it just leaves no shadow of a doubt 270 00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:52.480 the extent to which we're one. We're one more than in the way that a man and 271 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:58.400 woman are one together. Now in John 14 20, it talks about the fact that Father 272 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:05.160 Christ and we are all one, which I would actually really like to read. So let's do 273 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:11.920 that. I don't know if you can hear that cat. There's a cat out there that likes 274 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:20.040 to make a lot of noise at night. I don't know what the deal is. Let's see here. 275 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:28.960 Okay, so John 14 starting in verse or just in verse 20. On that day you will 276 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:36.400 realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. So we're all 277 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:44.680 one. The Father, Christ, and us. And of course the Holy Spirit is there, you 278 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:50.240 know, flowing between all three. You know, it's his spirit. The essence is flowing 279 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:55.960 between all of us. So in other words, it's like we're the fourth 280 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:01.120 part of the Trinity. We're an element of the Trinity. We would say we were the 281 00:29:01.120 --> 00:29:05.720 fourth part except for the fact that we are one with Christ and therefore 282 00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:11.080 there's no separation. Therefore there is Father, there's Christ, which is us, 283 00:29:11.080 --> 00:29:17.480 which we're in, and then there's the Holy Spirit. So Christ, again, he always 284 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:23.240 has the preeminence. So we're not saying that we are equal with 285 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:28.840 Christ or Lord over Christ. We're equal in a way, but he always has the 286 00:29:28.840 --> 00:29:36.560 preeminence as the firstborn, etc. But we are part of the Trinity. We are that 287 00:29:36.560 --> 00:29:51.600 much one. Now looking at Psalm 82.6 is very interesting. Let's see here. This is 288 00:29:51.600 --> 00:29:57.680 actually a very unique passage. 289 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:08.720 If I can get there a little faster. Psalm 83, 82, 6. This can actually shock most people, 290 00:30:09.280 --> 00:30:16.400 but this is actually a, 82, 6, so this is actually, 291 00:30:19.360 --> 00:30:26.000 here we are, um, does it go to the next page? No, it does not. Okay, this is actually the 292 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:33.760 scripture that we'll find in the New Testament that Jesus uses to prove to the Pharisees, 293 00:30:33.760 --> 00:30:41.120 to prove to the Jews, that he is the son of God. This is absolutely fascinating. So Psalm 82, 6, 294 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:47.120 I said, this is God, by the way, I'm talking, God the Father, because if you read the beginning of 295 00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:53.040 the Psalm, it's, God presides in the great assembly, he gives judgment among the gods, 296 00:30:53.040 --> 00:30:57.680 and then quote, so in other words, this is God talking in the assembly of the gods, 297 00:30:58.800 --> 00:31:04.080 how long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked, etc. So going down 298 00:31:04.080 --> 00:31:14.400 to verse 6, it says, I said, meaning, this is God talking, I said, you are gods, you are all sons 299 00:31:15.280 --> 00:31:24.480 of the Most High. God is saying, God is calling us gods. How is he able to do that? 300 00:31:25.360 --> 00:31:32.800 Because we are of him, we are of his essence, we are of his nature. Now we're not the God who 301 00:31:32.800 --> 00:31:42.160 created us, we are not God the Father, but God himself declared, I said, you are gods, you are 302 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:50.720 all sons of the Most High. Now, should there be any doubt that God is talking about humans, 303 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:56.480 maybe people think, oh, well, that's not talking about humans, he's actually referring to angels, 304 00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:00.880 or he's referring to some other, maybe he's talking about the 24 elders, or maybe he's 305 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:09.120 talking about whatever. No, this is the passage that Jesus uses to prove to the Jews that he is 306 00:32:09.120 --> 00:32:17.200 the Son of God. So let's actually look at that. So let's look at John 10, 22 through 38. 307 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:32.640 Okay, so, when came the feast of dedication at, then came the feast of dedication at Jerusalem? 308 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:38.800 It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's colonnade. The Jews gathered 309 00:32:38.800 --> 00:32:44.880 around him saying, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. 310 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:53.280 Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you did not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name 311 00:32:53.280 --> 00:33:00.000 speak for me, but you do not believe because you're not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, 312 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:05.120 I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. 313 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:12.000 No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. 314 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:20.080 No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Again, the Jews picked up 315 00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:25.680 stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. 316 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:32.080 For which of these do you stone me? We're not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, 317 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:42.560 but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, claim to be God. So this is what Jesus is addressing, 318 00:33:42.560 --> 00:33:52.880 the fact that the Jews said you, a mere man, claim to be God. So Jesus, a very typical 319 00:33:53.440 --> 00:34:01.440 debate-style rebuttal, addresses exactly what they asked. Their issue is the fact, Jesus, 320 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:06.960 you're a man, you're claiming to be God. So Jesus is going to address the fact, yes, I am a man. 321 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:13.360 And let me show you that, let me prove by the scriptures that that proves that I am God. 322 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:19.520 Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? In other words, he's like, hey, look, 323 00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:24.800 I am referencing your scripture that you already know, that you already preach, 324 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:28.880 that you already understand, that you already agree with, that you already believe. 325 00:34:30.080 --> 00:34:34.880 So in other words, he's calling on something that they already believe to be true, 326 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:40.960 and he's using that as proof that their, in other words, their belief in scripture, 327 00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:46.159 and the way that they interpret scripture, is proof that they are God. 328 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:59.840 That he is the son of God. So, is it not written in your law, I have said you are God? 329 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:06.480 So he's referencing the fact that God in Psalm 82, God the Father in Psalm 82, 6, 330 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:12.360 said, I have said you are God's. Why does he bring this up? Because he knows that 331 00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:20.080 the Jews know that in there God is addressing mankind and calling them 332 00:35:20.080 --> 00:35:26.760 God's, sons of the Most High God. And he's addressing the fact that they had 333 00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:31.640 just said that they wanted to stone him because they found it a problem that 334 00:35:31.640 --> 00:35:37.780 Jesus was a mere man claiming himself to be God. Jesus is saying, but even you 335 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:45.240 yourself know from Psalm 82, 6, that God the Father is the one that called man 336 00:35:45.240 --> 00:35:55.160 God's. If he called them God's, to whom the Word of God came, again, proof that 337 00:35:55.160 --> 00:36:01.640 God's is referring to mankind. God's, if he, God the Father, called them 338 00:36:01.640 --> 00:36:07.880 God's, who's them, them God's, those to whom the Word of God came, the Word of 339 00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:13.200 God came to humanity, right? The Word of God came to us. Called them God's, to whom 340 00:36:13.200 --> 00:36:18.400 the Word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken. What about the one whom 341 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:26.040 the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you 342 00:36:26.040 --> 00:36:33.920 accuse me of blasphemy? Because I said I am God's Son. So he's doing a 343 00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:40.400 variety of things here, but just to make it succinct, he's saying, look, in that 344 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:49.520 passage, God the Father declared that men were 345 00:36:49.520 --> 00:36:55.880 God's and men were sons. So he's saying, so why are you having a problem with the 346 00:36:55.880 --> 00:37:00.560 fact that I'm declaring that I am one with God if God the Father is the one 347 00:37:00.560 --> 00:37:08.400 who first declared me to be God and to be a God? Because men are God's, it says. 348 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:15.880 And then the fact that I am declaring that I am God's Son, 349 00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:23.080 because that's the second half of Psalm 82, 6, where it says, you are sons of the 350 00:37:23.080 --> 00:37:29.400 Most High. Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does, but if I do it, even 351 00:37:29.400 --> 00:37:33.800 though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and 352 00:37:33.800 --> 00:37:43.120 understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. So Jesus 353 00:37:43.120 --> 00:37:51.320 continues to repeat the fact that, yes, I am God, meaning I'm God's Son, I'm from 354 00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:55.160 God, and God the Father declared it first because he declared it over mankind. 355 00:37:55.160 --> 00:37:59.480 He declared that they were that they were God's, declared that they were sons. 356 00:37:59.520 --> 00:38:04.000 Why did God the Father do it? It's like, well, it's their nature. They're born of 357 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:08.840 me. They're my children. If my children aren't God's, what are they? They came out 358 00:38:08.840 --> 00:38:14.720 of me. I didn't create them like a giraffe or like a rhinoceros. I created 359 00:38:14.720 --> 00:38:20.160 them of my very essence. So they're natural, that is their natural DNA. 360 00:38:20.160 --> 00:38:24.160 I'm declaring to themselves and to the world that that's their natural DNA to be 361 00:38:24.160 --> 00:38:31.000 not only God's, but also sons of the Most High because I bore them. And so 362 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:36.360 Jesus is referencing that. He's also constantly and continually referencing 363 00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:41.520 the fact I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The oneness, that unity, 364 00:38:41.520 --> 00:38:46.840 because that's what God's, again, anything that is born of God and is the very 365 00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:50.400 nature and essence of him, as well as anything that is born of God and 366 00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:57.880 therefore is his son. I am in the Father and the Father is in me. This continual 367 00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:04.360 theme of oneness and unity with God is extremely deep throughout scripture. 368 00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:10.440 And in fact, Psalm 82 6, that is referencing man, is the very scripture 369 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:16.800 that Jesus uses to prove to the Jews that he had the right to be declared by 370 00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:28.680 God the Father first to say that he was God's son. So remember that union with 371 00:39:28.680 --> 00:39:35.680 Christ means that no separation is possible. We can't be separated from him 372 00:39:35.680 --> 00:39:43.280 anymore. There's no way for you to be divided if you're not a 373 00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:51.640 separate being. We're completely unified. You can't separate something 374 00:39:51.640 --> 00:39:58.240 that's one at all. It's just one. It's just one thing. Like you can't 375 00:39:58.240 --> 00:40:01.920 separate this hand 376 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.440 into two different beings, or two different aspects, 377 00:40:04.440 --> 00:40:08.280 because it's one thing, you can't, 378 00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:10.840 if you were to divide it, it would be itself divided. 379 00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:13.840 It's not two, it wouldn't be able to be 380 00:40:13.840 --> 00:40:14.920 two different things. 381 00:40:14.920 --> 00:40:17.680 There's no way to separate, 382 00:40:17.680 --> 00:40:20.040 there's no way to separate a one. 383 00:40:20.040 --> 00:40:22.080 So remember that we're of this very nature 384 00:40:22.080 --> 00:40:24.040 and of this very substance, 385 00:40:24.040 --> 00:40:26.680 meaning that nothing that can be, 386 00:40:26.680 --> 00:40:30.320 that can't be, nothing that can be said, 387 00:40:31.340 --> 00:40:35.100 or what is said, I should say, of Christ's nature 388 00:40:35.100 --> 00:40:38.720 is what can be said of us, because we're one with him. 389 00:40:38.720 --> 00:40:42.220 One, one seed, Abraham's seed. 390 00:40:42.220 --> 00:40:44.800 Anything that can be said of Christ's nature 391 00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:48.560 can be said of us, and anything that can't be said 392 00:40:48.560 --> 00:40:51.180 of Christ's nature cannot be said of us. 393 00:40:52.180 --> 00:40:57.180 Then, the last thing I wanted to just give y'all is, 394 00:40:57.860 --> 00:41:00.500 oh, before I do that, just wanted to jump back 395 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:05.340 just really quick, just as an interesting side note 396 00:41:05.340 --> 00:41:08.820 about when we were taken out of, 397 00:41:08.820 --> 00:41:11.460 when the bride was reinserted back into Christ, 398 00:41:11.460 --> 00:41:13.460 as, or, you know, we have that type and shadow 399 00:41:13.460 --> 00:41:16.060 of Jesus's side being re-opened, 400 00:41:16.060 --> 00:41:17.880 and the spirit going in, 401 00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:23.200 and the fact that it was blood and water coming out. 402 00:41:23.200 --> 00:41:24.560 Why is that significant? 403 00:41:24.560 --> 00:41:27.120 Okay, scientifically, we see why that was significant. 404 00:41:27.120 --> 00:41:30.920 We understand why the soldiers needed to see 405 00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:34.120 blood and water, because it proved physical death, 406 00:41:34.120 --> 00:41:38.560 but there was a type and shadow going on 407 00:41:38.560 --> 00:41:41.440 with, symbolically, with this picture, 408 00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:43.680 the fact that Jesus's side, his second Adam, 409 00:41:43.680 --> 00:41:45.400 was opened, the fact that the bride 410 00:41:45.400 --> 00:41:47.920 was now being reinserted back into Christ, 411 00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:51.320 but what also was going on, blood and water. 412 00:41:52.640 --> 00:41:57.640 Blood, which was for the purchase of the bride. 413 00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:03.600 That's what the, that's why the blood was important, 414 00:42:03.600 --> 00:42:06.480 you know, spiritually, to be able to see. 415 00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:09.080 The blood was for the purchase of the bride, 416 00:42:09.080 --> 00:42:12.360 and the water was to represent the fact 417 00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:17.360 that the husband, the bridegroom, Christ, 418 00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:22.960 was washing his bride with the water of the word. 419 00:42:24.120 --> 00:42:27.000 You remember that Jesus is word. 420 00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:30.520 So, if you look at Ephesians 5.26, 421 00:42:30.520 --> 00:42:34.620 so y'all may have noticed the passage 422 00:42:34.620 --> 00:42:35.920 that I was just now referencing, 423 00:42:35.920 --> 00:42:39.780 but let's look at the actual passage, let's see. 424 00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:47.440 So, Ephesians 5, going back to Ephesians 5, 425 00:42:47.880 --> 00:42:50.720 looking at verse 26. 426 00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:55.840 Okay, so, well, let's go back it to 25 427 00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:56.920 so that we can actually start 428 00:42:56.920 --> 00:42:58.520 at the beginning of the sentence. 429 00:42:58.520 --> 00:43:01.240 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church 430 00:43:01.240 --> 00:43:05.400 and gave himself up for her to make her holy, 431 00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:09.400 cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. 432 00:43:10.240 --> 00:43:13.600 So, when Christ's eye was open, 433 00:43:13.600 --> 00:43:17.000 blood came out proving the purchase of the bride, 434 00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:19.360 blood had to be shed for the purchase of the bride, 435 00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:21.080 and the water flowed out, 436 00:43:21.080 --> 00:43:25.320 symbolizing the fact that Christ was washing his bride 437 00:43:25.320 --> 00:43:29.640 to cleanse her by the word, he's the word, 438 00:43:29.640 --> 00:43:33.320 cleansing her by the water of the word. 439 00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:35.600 The water was coming out of word 440 00:43:35.600 --> 00:43:38.560 with the capital W of Christ. 441 00:43:38.560 --> 00:43:40.160 I just wanted to point that out really quick 442 00:43:40.160 --> 00:43:44.160 because that's a very unique aspect 443 00:43:44.160 --> 00:43:49.080 of how Ephesians 5 was talking about husbands and wives, 444 00:43:49.080 --> 00:43:50.480 and it's talking about the fact 445 00:43:50.480 --> 00:43:54.720 that this is a profound mystery of Christ and the church, 446 00:43:54.720 --> 00:43:59.120 how that was symbolized in the crucifixion 447 00:43:59.120 --> 00:44:02.320 when the spirit entered the side of Jesus. 448 00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:04.560 So, the last thing that I wanted to cover really quick 449 00:44:04.560 --> 00:44:09.000 is what I do, this is something that the Lord, 450 00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:11.600 that the Holy Spirit just kind of impressed on my heart, 451 00:44:11.600 --> 00:44:15.280 and that I just began to declare 452 00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:18.160 in order to help give my soul something 453 00:44:18.160 --> 00:44:22.440 to kind of latch onto so that I could begin to shift 454 00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:27.440 into remembering my identity in Christ 455 00:44:27.600 --> 00:44:29.960 in a particular moment when I needed it, 456 00:44:29.960 --> 00:44:33.240 because we have to understand our identity in Christ 457 00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:36.640 and be standing in that identity in Christ 458 00:44:36.640 --> 00:44:39.120 in order to operate from a place of rest, 459 00:44:39.120 --> 00:44:41.040 in order to be able to hear the spirit, 460 00:44:41.040 --> 00:44:44.200 in order to be able to operate in the spirit. 461 00:44:44.200 --> 00:44:48.840 Our identity is crucial, absolutely vital. 462 00:44:48.840 --> 00:44:52.760 Nothing else can be understood without it. 463 00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:54.360 We can't stand in the promises, 464 00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:56.400 we can't receive the promises, 465 00:44:56.400 --> 00:45:00.240 we can't stand in our rightful power and authority. 466 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:07.520 We can't grow and mature without understanding our identity in Christ, the 467 00:45:07.520 --> 00:45:12.440 unique point at which we have been unified with Christ, where our 468 00:45:12.440 --> 00:45:20.080 spirit and his spirit have been unified. So when I'm about to do something and I 469 00:45:20.080 --> 00:45:26.640 feel suddenly inadequate, I'm somehow struggling with my identity at a very 470 00:45:26.720 --> 00:45:33.360 root level and I might just be struggling with what it is that I'm 471 00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:38.320 about to do. I might feel fearful, like I said, I might feel inadequate. I might 472 00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:42.720 feel like I don't fully understand what it is that I need to do. I know that I'm 473 00:45:42.720 --> 00:45:46.640 going to need to lean on the Spirit to know how to handle a situation or 474 00:45:46.640 --> 00:45:51.360 what to even say in a situation because perhaps I don't feel prepared. Perhaps I 475 00:45:51.360 --> 00:45:55.280 feel like I'm about to walk into a situation within a relationship where 476 00:45:55.280 --> 00:46:00.800 I'm concerned that triggers are going to come up, that I am 477 00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:04.560 going to forget who I am, that I am going to approach the situation in a 478 00:46:04.560 --> 00:46:14.640 victim mentality. In order to shift my understanding from 479 00:46:14.640 --> 00:46:20.600 believing that I am flesh and blood and I'm a soul, switching it from that to an 480 00:46:20.600 --> 00:46:29.560 understanding, no, I am spirit. I am one with Christ. I am seated in heavenly 481 00:46:29.560 --> 00:46:36.120 places with Christ. I'm unified with him. I am, as the Bible symbolizes, a type and 482 00:46:36.120 --> 00:46:42.040 shadow with husbands and wives. I am one with him. They were one with 483 00:46:42.040 --> 00:46:48.880 him in flesh. I am one with him in spirit. So to make that shift, this is what I say. 484 00:46:48.880 --> 00:46:58.120 It used to take me longer to shift into my understanding that I 485 00:46:58.120 --> 00:47:04.640 was a spirit and that I was one with Christ and that I had that position and 486 00:47:04.640 --> 00:47:10.040 the power and the authority of being, of having that identity of oneness with 487 00:47:10.040 --> 00:47:15.840 Christ, but now I can actually shift very quickly. But before, it would take me 488 00:47:15.840 --> 00:47:20.800 sometimes repeating this for about two, three times before I actually got my 489 00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:25.720 soul to be able to shift, my soul to choose to believe this. So what I would 490 00:47:25.720 --> 00:47:31.760 do, what I do, what I still do sometimes is I say, okay Christ, I believe I was 491 00:47:31.760 --> 00:47:37.120 taken out of you. Christ, I believe I was taken out of you, that I've been 492 00:47:37.120 --> 00:47:44.600 reinserted back into you and that I abide in you as you abide in me and we 493 00:47:44.600 --> 00:47:51.560 abide in the Father and as the Father abides in us. Therefore, I am always about 494 00:47:51.560 --> 00:47:59.320 my Father's business because we're all one. I'm in Christ. Christ and I are in 495 00:47:59.320 --> 00:48:05.560 the Father. The Father is in us. Therefore, I am always about my Father's 496 00:48:05.560 --> 00:48:11.680 business. I'm never separate from him. I'm never, I'm never alienated. I'm never 497 00:48:11.800 --> 00:48:17.720 abandoned. And by residing in that place, residing in that understanding of my 498 00:48:17.720 --> 00:48:25.880 identity, residing in that unity, residing in that connection, then I'm all, God is 499 00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:32.320 always flowing through me. I'm always uniquely united with him, which is my 500 00:48:32.320 --> 00:48:38.400 identity. And then from that place, I always can operate out of the Father's 501 00:48:38.440 --> 00:48:43.880 heart. Understanding I am in that place, acknowledging it and believing it and 502 00:48:43.880 --> 00:48:50.000 operating from that position, I always operate according to the Father's heart 503 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:57.600 because I'm in it and it's in me. It's when I'm believing I'm outside it that I 504 00:48:57.600 --> 00:49:02.000 begin to do things that aren't always according to the Father's heart. But when 505 00:49:02.040 --> 00:49:09.440 I acknowledge and understand and receive and believe the fact and reshift my 506 00:49:09.440 --> 00:49:15.080 consciousness to the fact that I am spirit and I am one in Christ, I am in 507 00:49:15.080 --> 00:49:21.800 the Father. I am in his heart. Therefore, I am always about the Father's heart, the 508 00:49:21.800 --> 00:49:26.760 Father's business, and everything it is that he wants to do. So that's what it is 509 00:49:26.840 --> 00:49:34.400 that I repeat to myself. So hopefully that is helpful and you can put 510 00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:38.040 your own tweaks on it. There might be something else that you want to repeat 511 00:49:38.040 --> 00:49:42.920 to yourself in times where and in moments where you need to make that 512 00:49:42.920 --> 00:49:47.600 shift to remind yourself, nope, this is what I am choosing to believe. Because I 513 00:49:47.600 --> 00:49:54.360 said it, I didn't say, Lord, please help me to believe. I declared it. I repeated 514 00:49:54.360 --> 00:50:00.000 God's words back to him and said, Christ. In fact, it was almost as if that it 515 00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:02.080 I wasn't just repeating his words back to him. 516 00:50:02.080 --> 00:50:03.280 It was even more than that. 517 00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:05.160 I was making a declaration. 518 00:50:05.160 --> 00:50:08.000 But I was making a declaration after he already said it. 519 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:10.920 Christ, I believe I was taken out of you. 520 00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:13.280 I've been reinserted back into you. 521 00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:16.840 And I abide in you as you abide in me. 522 00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:20.660 And we abide in the Father as the Father abides in us. 523 00:50:20.660 --> 00:50:23.960 Therefore, I am always about my Father's business. 524 00:50:23.960 --> 00:50:28.960 I am telling my, I am making an intentional shift 525 00:50:29.600 --> 00:50:33.840 in my soul that that is what I believe 526 00:50:33.840 --> 00:50:36.520 and I am turning myself towards it. 527 00:50:37.560 --> 00:50:39.640 It's very intentional. 528 00:50:39.640 --> 00:50:43.600 And walking myself through that and declaring that 529 00:50:43.600 --> 00:50:45.840 to Christ, this is what I believe 530 00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:48.160 and I am declaring that this is true. 531 00:50:48.160 --> 00:50:50.360 As opposed to telling my soul that, 532 00:50:50.360 --> 00:50:52.600 well, okay, you need to believe this 533 00:50:52.600 --> 00:50:54.680 and I need to believe this, I need to believe this, 534 00:50:54.680 --> 00:50:55.920 I need to believe this. 535 00:50:55.920 --> 00:50:58.160 That I have found personally for me 536 00:50:58.160 --> 00:51:03.160 to be a bit more difficult to latch onto. 537 00:51:04.680 --> 00:51:07.840 But if I make that soul shift and I decide, 538 00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:11.120 no, this is what I am choosing to believe is true 539 00:51:11.120 --> 00:51:14.280 in reality, I'm simply declaring God's words after him. 540 00:51:14.280 --> 00:51:16.200 He's already said it was true. 541 00:51:16.200 --> 00:51:18.560 Christ, here's how it is. 542 00:51:18.560 --> 00:51:21.000 I believe that I was taken out of you. 543 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:24.680 Believe that I've been reinserted back into you. 544 00:51:24.680 --> 00:51:28.200 That I abide in you as you abide in me 545 00:51:28.200 --> 00:51:31.880 and we abide in the father as the father abides in us 546 00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:35.160 and therefore I am always about my father's business. 547 00:51:35.160 --> 00:51:38.640 I am always residing in my father's heart. 548 00:51:38.640 --> 00:51:41.800 I am always operating according to 549 00:51:41.800 --> 00:51:44.860 and in agreement with my father's heart. 550 00:51:44.860 --> 00:51:49.860 So I hope this is helpful in understanding 551 00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:51.600 to a greater depth and a degree 552 00:51:51.600 --> 00:51:53.480 about your identity in Christ. 553 00:51:53.480 --> 00:51:55.440 If you would like, I highly recommend 554 00:51:55.440 --> 00:51:57.680 that you read Ephesians. 555 00:51:57.680 --> 00:51:59.580 Read it in a whole new light. 556 00:51:59.580 --> 00:52:04.580 Look at it in terms of your oneness with Christ 557 00:52:05.560 --> 00:52:10.560 and the fact that, as it mentions even in Ephesians 5, 558 00:52:11.160 --> 00:52:12.880 talking about husbands and wives, 559 00:52:12.880 --> 00:52:14.920 the degree to which we are unified 560 00:52:14.920 --> 00:52:19.000 and how each of the parts lovingly 561 00:52:19.480 --> 00:52:23.720 is either submissive to the other or protects the other 562 00:52:23.720 --> 00:52:26.720 and how the two work in conjunction. 563 00:52:26.720 --> 00:52:31.720 How, just as it talks about the fact that 564 00:52:32.840 --> 00:52:36.040 when husbands and wives get married, 565 00:52:36.040 --> 00:52:37.240 and I think that we mentioned this 566 00:52:37.240 --> 00:52:39.120 in a previous session as well, 567 00:52:39.120 --> 00:52:44.120 that each one of their bodies belongs to the other. 568 00:52:44.560 --> 00:52:46.440 The husband's body is no longer his. 569 00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:47.420 It belongs to the wife. 570 00:52:47.500 --> 00:52:49.020 The wife's body is no longer hers. 571 00:52:49.020 --> 00:52:51.100 It belongs to the husband. 572 00:52:51.100 --> 00:52:56.100 Think about that in terms of your specific unity with Christ.