In the first experience of sanctification we lose altogether the consciousness of our own identity, we are absorbed in God; but that is not the final place, it is merely the introduction to a totally new life. We lose our natural identity and consciously gain the identity that Jesus had, and it is when God begins to deal with sanctified souls on that line that darkness sometimes comes and the strange misunderstanding of God’s ways.
~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised… From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 2 Corinthians 5
Oh beloved, it is true.
We have been living in a dreamworld. Everything we thought we understood, or could understand – we didn’t, and we can’t. We have been thinking we could process what we sense through the through the processes we have used before.
We can’t. Not even close.
And it is Jesus death that shows us the path through this conundrum.
Jesus, in His life here on this earth, became 100% man. And in doing so, He gave up 0% of His Deity. While theologians have struggled with this concept for centuries, it really is not that hard to understand. G_d became what we were all Designed to be, in Jesus.
Humans were Designed to live on the very breath of The Spirit. We were never Designed to call our simple respiration of oxygen and carbon dioxide, breathing.
Humans were Designed to see with the very eyes of The Almighty. Our physical eyes are a vital item on the instrument panel of our frame, but they are just instruments.
Humans were Designed to feel with the very Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our fingertips and emotions are wonderful at helping us connect, and keeping us from dropping things. But, our senses are just senses.
Can we see it?
To be truly human is not to default back to our base and basic backup systems. No, to be truly human is to become like G_d. And Jesus Christ is the Form of this for us. It is not just what He did. It is Who Jesus was, and is, and will be.
And now, comes the most astounding part of the whole story. Jesus is still Man. He never stopped. He did not shed His skin when He went back to Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of The Father. He is already what we are becoming.
Oh, have no doubt, there is nothing we can do on our own to become this. But, Jesus is, after all – G_d. And so, His work on our behalf is a work so thorough as to make us completely, totally and utterly new. So again, we don’t even really breathe the same air that we used to.
So, are you struggling with your identity as a Christian? Perhaps it is time for you to understand just who you are. The Antiochians threw out the term as a “cutdown” for these strange believers in the King of The Universe. But, they got it exactly right. “Christian” means “little Christ.”
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe exactly who you are in Him. Take in the first breath of eternal Air. And keep breathing. Jesus has done it all. Relax. And just breathe!
May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!
~ The cry of The Moravian Missionaries
