I want to share with you just a few things about our identity in Christ. One of the things that the Word says in Hosea 4:6 is that “my people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge.”
As I was praying over what the Lord would have me share on this podcast, He put on my heart that many people say the salvation prayer in a service or because there's an altar call, but they don't necessarily know what all that entails for them other than going to heaven. So we will spend the next several episodes talking about who we are and how we become a new creation in Christ.
Today, I want to start by emphasizing the importance of understanding what Jesus did at the cross and in the resurrection. What was the completed work? Because it goes so much beyond salvation.
Salvation is just like fire insurance, guaranteeing us a place in heaven. However, it doesn't mean that we're walking in the fruit of Jesus in our life on this earth. Take a look at 2 Corinthians 5—specifically verses 17-21.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NKJV
This is a passage that many believers are familiar with if they have been in the church for some time. Let me read it first, and then I want to highlight a few points and discuss them to lay the foundation for our future podcasts.
Listen to the full episode:
Our Identity Through Christ - Part 1