The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person. ~ Genesis 2:7, TLB
When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him! And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels (or Elohim, in Hebrew) and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head. ~ Psalm 8:3-5, TLB; the inserted parenthetical words are this blogger’s emphasis
He told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.’ ~ Matthew 28:18-20, TLB
that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead…and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did. And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ. Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. ~ Ephesians 2:5a&b, 6-8, TLB
In the blog entry, Being Changed from the Inside Out, the main point is that, even though there can be no doubt that God certainly saves everybody just as he or she is, it is evident in His Word that God never intended to leave anybody the way He finds him or her. For sure, the second a believer in Christ Jesus is born again in his or her spirit/heart, God Himself deposits in that believer’s heart or spirit His DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to His Power and His Will, the Source of which is His Holy Spirit). Therefore, it should be obvious that God’s intent always was, and still is, to begin His Holy Spirit’s sanctification process, which is what changes from the inside out each born-again believer who has received God’s Gift of Salvation.
This Divine Truth also is touched on in the blog entry, Working God’s Perfect Will Out of Us. In this blog entry, the main point is that the ultimate goal of every believer is NOT to make it into Heaven. Without doubt, the central purpose of God’s Salvation Plan is to have every one of His sons and daughters achieve Christlikeness, while he or she is living on this Earth. Now, the only way to achieve this Christlikeness objective is to work OUT of every believer in Christ Jesus everything God Himself already has worked INTO each believer’s born-again heart or spirit—for example, to work God’s Perfect Will out. It is important to note here that the Holy Spirit not only is every believer’s Source of godly Power, Authority, spiritual gifts, practical sanctification, and so forth, but also the Source of God’s Perfect Will in each believer’s born-again heart or spirit is His Holy Spirit!
This working OUT of believers what God Himself has put inside them also is addressed in the blog entry, Your Old Man Is Dead. The main point that is made in this blog entry is that through the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy or metaphor, believers are shown that just like the Jewish wife, whose first husband’s death releases her from the marriage part of the Law, believers’ new-man nature, which is married to the Lord, also has been released from the Law. In other words, the one point of Divine Truth in the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy or metaphor is this: Death removes a person from the bondage of the Law. Put differently, the reason why every born-again spirit (heart) within each believer is no longer under the Law is because every believer’s old man or sin nature no longer exists! The believer’s spiritually DEAD heart (spirit), in which the old man used to live, has become a New Creation (see Romans 6:4,6; Ephesians 2:5-6; and Colossians 2:12-13). Thus, because of God’s Grace, each believer in Christ Jesus now has new life—is a new man with a sinless nature.
Having said all that, it now is important to mention that from the beginning of mankind God’s plan has been to put Himself inside of human beings. This Divine Truth is documented in Genesis 2:7. Furthermore, the only way that the dust God formed Adam from was able to become the structure in which the living, moving, breathing person (Adam) could exist was because the eternal Creator God filled Adam full of Himself—God breathed His Spirit into Adam. As a result, the original purpose of Adam’s body was to house his true self, which was his spirit.
Scripture says that Adam’s spirit, which is who ‘man’ is—NOT the dust God breathed His Spirit into—was created to be a little lower than the Triune God who made him (see Psalm 8:5a). For this reason, beginning with Adam, it is clear that once human beings have inside of them God’s spiritual DNA (the God-breathed Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to God’s Power and His Will) their individual identity (true self) is then determined by that spiritual DNA that is in their own spirit, instead of by the DNA from their ethnic, cultural, or other known physical roots.
Thus, before Adam sinned, his spiritual DNA made him the highest kind of created being. Indeed, once God had filled Adam full of Himself, Adam had become spiritually bountiful, wealthy—he was holy, righteous, healthy, spiritually gifted, and etc., as well as spiritually royal and majestic; in essence, Adam was crowned with glory and honor; see Psalm 8:5b. This Divine Truth means when Adam was created, he lacked nothing!
Now the reason God filled Adam full of Himself was so that in this Earth Adam would be a visible being who was created after God’s Likeness, in His Image, and having His Nature. Then too, God also filled Adam full of Himself so that Adam would multiply God’s Likeness, Image, and Nature in this Earth—so that Adam would pass God’s Nature, Likeness, and Image (the Creator’s Holiness, Righteousness, Royalty, Majesty, Power, Will, Health, Wealth, and so forth) on to his offspring.
However, once Adam sinned, he immediately became spiritually dead. As a result, God’s DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which includes but is not limited to His Power and His Will)—God’s Holiness, Righteousness, Majesty, Royalty, Power, and so forth—left Adam.
While there can be no doubt that Adam was born to rule, born to have dominion over Satan, Adam lost control of this Earth the second he rebelled against God—the moment he sinned. Thus, because Adam spiritually lost EVERYTHING God originally had breathed into him, and because it always was God’s intent for mankind to be filled up with Him, centuries later God made the Sovereign decision to send His beloved Son, Jesus the Christ, to the Earth to be the second, and last, Adam. It is through Christ Jesus that everything God initially had given to the first Adam now had been restored.
This restored spiritual DNA is why Jesus the Christ taught the Kingdom of God was within believers, and why He stressed how important being born again was. These Divine Truths mean that the only place God not only Planned but also Willed for His Kingdom to be set up is in believers’ hearts (born-again spirits). In other words, God’s Kingdom rule begins in the heart or spirit of born-again believers. For this reason, as much as believers allow Him to rule in their individual heart or spirit is the degree to which God also is able to rule in their individual day-to-day life.
For sure, because of Christ Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, since the Day of Pentecost, after the Lord ascended from Earth to Heaven, the Lord’s centuries of disciples’ bodies have housed their true selves or born-again spirits, just like the first Adam’s body used to house his true self or spirit, before he sinned. Moreover, through Christ Jesus, God now is able to call human beings back to their true identity—back to that initial “new thing” God first did in Adam, which was to make a “man” who had God’s Spirit and His Mind housed in flesh. As a result, God’s spiritually born-again children supernaturally are able to live, move, and breathe in His presence, as well as supernaturally communicate with and worship God, spirit to Spirit, just like Adam once was able to do.
Furthermore, since God not only has given the Lord’s disciples His Likeness and Image but also His Nature, having His Nature means that being like God will come naturally. That is to say, those parts of His “Nature” that God put inside of believers in Christ Jesus will establish their “natural” response to His Nature. In other words, just like the first Adam didn’t need to be taught how to live, move, think, or speak like God, the same is true for the Lord’s centuries of disciples. In fact, having God’s Nature also means that He should see His children’s born again new nature (spirit), their being sanctified soul (mind, will, emotions, etc.), and their being sanctified body doing what they are naturally expected to do, which is living and behaving totally Christ-like (holy, righteously, lovingly, friendly, compassionately, and so forth).
However, until the majority of today’s believers in Christ Jesus see themselves the way God sees them, the Body of Christ members never will be able to manifest in this Earth what God has put inside of each believer, which is His Kingdom—these believers never will be ready to see His Kingdom come and His Will be done on Earth the way they are in Heaven. In other words, until this 21st century’s countless believers in Christ Jesus see themselves the way God sees them, His Kingdom on Earth, which is inside each one of them, never will manifest in the ways that resemble His Kingdom in Heaven.
Now the apostle Paul says that when God resurrected and lifted Christ Jesus up to Heaven, He also did the same for the Lord’s believers. That means that we, in our born-again spirit, right now are sitting in heavenly places with Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:5-6), even though we physically are living on this Earth. Therefore, until we stop treating our outward appearance, our body in which our spirit is housed, as if that is who we truly are, we will continue to live way below our true identity. Once again, our true identity in God is His children who have been filled with God’s spiritual DNA (His Splendor, Glory, and Honor—His crowned royal, majestic kings or queens, who spiritually have abundance/wealth and the authority and power of God on the inside).
In the Kingdom of God on this Earth, we who are truly born again, saved, and being sanctified by the Holy Spirit are the only ones who have been given God’s spiritual DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to His Power and His Will), which will manifest, for example, as God’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the Earth. The people who profess to be born again, saved, and being sanctified believers in Christ Jesus yet do not manifest righteousness, peace, and joy in the Earth either do not know about (or have not accepted) their true identity’s spiritual DNA, which only can be found in their born-again heart or spirit.
Ultimately it is by the Holy Spirit, who both lives in and infills true believers with God’s spiritual DNA, that true believers in Christ Jesus literally are being changed from the inside out! Because the Holy Spirit is the only One who has been given to believers to work out of them EVERYTHING God has put inside them (to get them to manifest Christlikeness, righteousness, peace, and joy in this Earth), there is no other way for God’s circle of divine life in mankind to be perfected.
The Creator began His circle of divine life in mankind with the first Adam, intending that Adam pass on to his offspring God’s Likeness, Image, and Nature. When Adam failed, because of sin, God sent His only begotten Son to restore in mankind EVERYTHING Adam had lost, which was God’s spiritual DNA (Divine Nature and Authority, which include but are not limited to His Power and His Will). These Divine Truths are why it is only by way of the Holy Spirit that God’s Kingdom on Earth is able to manifest righteousness, peace, and joy, and this manifestation happens only when those individuals who have God’s spiritual DNA are functioning as the holy, righteous, and spiritually wealthy royal kings and queens God has raised them in Christ Jesus to be.
The bottom line is that any believer in Christ Jesus who doesn’t naturally know about (or hasn’t willingly accepted) his or her true identity in God never will have the Kingdom of God worked out of him or her so that he or she can see the Kingdom of God manifested in this Earth. A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen!
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