Paul said, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". I must have read that statement a thousand times before I by the Holy Spirit, found my life in Christ, as to identification and position. Before I knew, in my Christian experience, that there was a way to apprehend my new birth outside of the old nature I had no other choice. Now however I find in the knowledge of Christ, learned by the word of God, I occupy a place far superior than the world/flesh religious place I once held. I now find myself by the will of my faith sanctified in Christ in Heaven. This new life must have an object to be perceived and the Father has given us one who is not here,not of this world. Being Sanctified in Heaven is our connection with the Lord Jesus Christ, our life in glory. Everything is now new, our life our character are all found in the object[Christ], we are separated by the Holy Spirit, outside of this world entirely. By this faith understanding I am learning to be a Biblical Christian. Now lets look at that high road of our new citizenship in Heaven.
We as Christians now are, constituted citizens of Heaven, phil. 3:20, "For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" Note the use of the words FROM WHICH, that should alert us to our current spiritual position.. It is the lack of apprehension of this which keeps us bound up in a worldly walk. Ill admit a difficult concept, only attained by self searching, struggle, and faith.
Much of the following was inspired by my reading the writing's of C. H. Mackintosh,highly recommended! Paul whose Epistles convey most all of what we know as Christianity wrote," I through the law have died to the law ,that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me". The I in no longer is the old man Adam ,who is now crucified. The new I is Christ ,position /identification," and the life I NOW live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God[ heavenly position], who loved me and gave Himself for me: Gal.2:19,20. My friends this is true Christianity. It is not our old man being religious or following rules for living. These words display the death and burial of our old nature, The old I, and show us recreated in the spirit in Christ in Heaven. We have passed from the old to the new. The Bible says " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, BUT a new creation, Gal. 6:15. In other words our form and function, religious works etc. are of no value in light of the new creation place we dwell in the Heavenly position in Christ.
Christianity is something totally new, heavenly, spiritual,divine. It is based upon the Cross, where who we are in the first Adam is completely dead, and all sin is put away, no more judgment, our old nature crucified, no longer in the sight of the Father, so far as we may be concerned. The history of the first man is closed forever, for we in our spirit have been raised with Christ, the second Adam, our new nature reveled by the Holy Spirit to our renewed minds. This sets us in our faith in Heaven where"all things are of God" hence nothing of the worldly first Adam ,our flesh!
This my friends is the lofty position you as Christians hold. There can be no other standing for a Christian to hold. We cannot enter our heavenly position by the first man ,unconverted to this truth, at least as to experience. To live this fact found in identification with Christ we must find it by the faith of our presence in the New Adam , the second man. If we are in Him we are as He is before the Father and " as He is so are we in this world". Not as He was, but as He is! We are viewed by our Heavenly Father as one with His Son,as all His favor and Love is toward the second Man. Of course He is Divine, and we are created, but never the less we are fully accepted in the Beloved; thank God.
Jesus bore all our sins, died our death, paid the judicial demand of a perfect judge, He took all our quilt, represented us in every respect in all that pertained to the Adam human nature, which by its very nature, did and will always turn from God to go its own way.. He rose from the dead and is now the federal representative and the ONLY true definition of the believer before the Father. You will find much of the evidence for this in Romans 6.
In Romans, we will find that we have died, we are buried with Him, and in Christ, raised. Our old man is totally dead by the cross and if we are dead with Christ ,sin can no longer rule in the belief system/faith of the Christian. Can we perceive the application of these truths in ourselves? We must search our heart. There is a multitude I am convinced who can profess belief in the atoning virtue of the death of the Saviour in our stead, but are held in there flesh, and have never gone beyond enjoying forgiveness of there sin. Not finding in their mind a concept of position and identification and then living in Christ as their life.
Many in my experience, never see the crucifixion, death and burial of Christ as applied to the Old man. The entire setting aside in death of the old system [Adam life, human natural understanding], there perfect identification with a dead and risen Lord." If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your MIND on the things that are above[heavenly position] NOT on the things of the earth[ Adamic man].. For you have died and you life is hidden in Christ IN God" Col. 2:20-23. Are we living in the world or in Heaven[as to conscious awareness]; by these words? What have we to do with this present evil world? For we are like Christ in the Fathers eyes." we who were once far off are made close to God by the Blood of Christ" Eph. 2:13.
We as believers are members of the citizenship of Heaven. We are Heavenly men walking the earth. As to function and form , we fulfill all the responsibilities in which the hand of the Father has placed us. We are guided in our family , church , and civic duties by His Spirit. We are heavenly spiritual people in the world , but NOT of it! As we understand our true spiritual position our condition as dwellers of the earth will be forever changed. We will be like foreigners, as to our residence here. We are now in this body, as a fact of condition, but not in the flesh as to the principal of position. We are men and women IN Christ. If this important blog work touched you, and you wish a deeper understand of Biblical position, please order a copy of William R. Newells, Romans Verse by Verse. Go directly to Romans 6 and very slowly read thru Romans 8.
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