Topic: Who Are You?

Click HERE to download the “Who I Am in Christ” Handout

1. I am God’s SON – not a slave.

John 1:12 | AMPC (12) But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name–[Isa 56:5]

Galatians 4:4-7 | TPT (4) But when that era came to an end and the time of fulfillment had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the written law.  (5)  Yet all of this was so that he would redeem and set free all those held hostage to the written law so that we would receive our freedom and a full legal adoption as his children.  (6)  And so that we would know for sure that we are his true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately, “My Father! You’re our true Father!”  (7)  Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs of God through Jesus, the Messiah!

2. I am God’s HEIR – not a second-class have-not.

Acts 26:18 | TPT (18) And you will open their eyes to their true condition, so that they may turn from darkness to the Light and from the power of Satan to the power of God. By placing their faith in me they will receive the total forgiveness of sins and be made holy, taking hold of the inheritance that I give to my children!’

Romans 8:16-17 | TPT (16) For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”  (17)  And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co-glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own.

Colossians 1:12 | TPT (12) Your hearts can soar with joyful gratitude when you think of how God made you worthy to receive the glorious inheritance freely given to us by living in the light. 

3. I am a KING – not a beggar.

Romans 5:17 | TPT (17) Death once held us in its grip, and by the blunder of one man, death reigned as king over humanity. But now, how much more are we held in the grip of grace and continue reigning as kings in life, enjoying our regal freedom through the gift of perfect righteousness in the one and only Jesus, the Messiah!

Revelation 1:5-6 | TPT (5) …and from Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from among the dead and the ruling King, who rules over the kings of the earth! Now to the one who constantly loves us and has loosed us from our sins by his own blood,  (6)  and to the one who has made us to rule as a kingly priesthood to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion throughout the eternity of eternities! Amen!

4. I am MORE THAN A CONQUEROR – not barely getting by.

Romans 8:35,37 | AMPC (35) Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword? (37) Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.

2 Corinthians 2:14 | TPT (14) God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of his endless triumph. Through our yielded lives he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go.

5. I am a NEW CREATION – not a miserable church-goer.

2 Corinthians 5:17 | AMPC (17) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

6. I am RIGHTEOUS – not unworthy.

2 Corinthians 5:21 | TPT (21) For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.

7. I am a SAINT – not a sinner.

Ephesians 1:1 | AMPC (1) PAUL, AN apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), by the divine will (the purpose and the choice of God) to the saints (the consecrated, set-apart ones) at Ephesus who are also faithful and loyal and steadfast in Christ Jesus: 

Colossians 1:2 | AMPC (2) To the saints (the consecrated people of God) and believing and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace (spiritual favor and blessing) to you and [heart] peace from God our Father.

8. I am a PRIEST – not a stranger.

1 Peter 2:9 | TPT (9) But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.

9. I am BLESSED – and cannot be cursed.

Ephesians 1:3 | TPT (3) Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!

Galatians 3:13-14 | TPT (13) Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the curse of the law. He absorbed it completely as he became a curse in our place. For it is written: “Everyone who is hung upon a tree is doubly cursed.”  (14)  Jesus, our Messiah, was cursed in our place and in so doing, dissolved the curse from our lives, so that all the blessings of Abraham can be poured out upon even non-Jewish believers. And now God gives us the promise of the wonderful Holy Spirit who lives within us when we believe in him.

10. I am the HEALED – and not the sick.

Isaiah 53:4-5 | AMPC (4) Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. [Mat 8:17]  (5)  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

1 Peter 2:24 | NKJV (24) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

11. I am DELIVERED – and not a prisoner in bondage.

Colossians 1:13-14 | AMPC (13) [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,  (14)  In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.

12. I am REDEEMED – and not abandoned.

Ephesians 1:7 | TPT (7) Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace.

13. I am RICH – and not poor.

2 Corinthians 8:9 | TPT (9) For you have experienced the extravagant grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was infinitely rich, he impoverished himself for our sake, so that by his poverty, we could become rich beyond measure.

14. I am an OVERCOMER – not a failure.

1 John 5:4-5 | AMPC (4) For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.  (5)  Who is it that is victorious over [that conquers] the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact]?

15. I am SEATED WITH CHRIST – not helpless.

Ephesians 2:5-7 | TPT (5) Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!  (6)  He raised us up with Christ the exalted One, and we ascended with him into the glorious perfection and authority of the heavenly realm, for we are now co-seated as one with Christ!  (7)  Throughout the coming ages we will be the visible display of the infinite, limitless riches of his grace and kindness, which was showered upon us in Jesus Christ.

16. I am GOD’S TEMPLE – not an empty vessel. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 | AMPC (19) Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,  (20)  You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

17. I am THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD – not insignificant.

Matthew 5:14-16 | TPT (14) “Your lives light up the world. Let others see your light from a distance, for how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop?  (15)  And who would light a lamp and then hide it in an obscure place? Instead, it’s placed where everyone in the house can benefit from its light.  (16)  So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.”

18. I am CHRIST’S AMBASSADOR – not a nobody.

2 Corinthians 5:20 | AMPC (20) So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.

19. I am GOD’S WORKMANSHIP – not junk.

Ephesians 2:10 | NLT (10) For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

20. I am COMPLETE IN CHRIST JESUS – not lacking any good thing.

Colossians 2:10 | TPT (10) And our own completeness is now found in him. We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows within us. He is the Head of every kingdom and authority in the universe!

Click HERE to download the “Who I Am in Christ” Handout

For many believers, the simple problem is a case of inactive faith.

Faith that is dormant will not work for you.

Activate Your Faith!

Philemon 1:6 | KJV (6) That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

• “…your faith may become effectual (activated)…”

(Greek: energeo – energized or activated) Paul’s words could be rendered, “That … your faith may become energized and activated.”

Let me give you an example to help you understand what this word energeo means in the context of this verse. An automobile may be filled with enough fuel to drive a long distance, but it won’t go anywhere until someone puts the key into the ignition and then turns the key. The moment that key is turned, the spark plugs are sparked, which fires up the engine. Once the engine has been activated, the potential in that car is ready to be unleashed.

The car always has the capability of moving, but if it is never activated, it sits silently in the driveway. No matter how much fuel is in the tank or how much horsepower that car possesses, its power and potential will never be realized until someone turns the key in the ignition.

• “…acknowledging …”

(Greek: epignosis – a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts, more than a surface knowledge)

The word epignosis pictures a person who knows his facts like a professional. This is a person so sure of his information that when he speaks, he does so with confidence and boldness. He has no reason to be ashamed or to fear that others may accuse him of being incorrect because he is well instructed and has an intensive, deep knowledge of the facts.

But how did he obtain such knowledge of the facts? No one becomes this knowledgeable accidentally.

John 8:31-32 | NKJV (31) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. (32) And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Think of it — He saved you, healed you, redeemed you, and protected you. He has given you a sound mind; He has given you the mind of Christ; He has imparted gifts and talents to you; and He has planned a future for your life that is simply glorious. You are loaded with phenomenal potential that is just waiting to be activated!

You may say, “Yes, well, I know that the Bible says I’ve been given all those good things, but I don’t feel like any of that is true about me! I feel so defeated. Even though the Word says I’m healed, the reality is that I feel sick. Even though God’s Word says I have a sound mind, I continually feel like I don’t have control of my thought life. And in spite of the fact the Bible says God has blessed me with gifts and talents, I feel like a dope who has nothing to offer to this world. There is a big gap between what the Bible says about me and what I feel about me!”

Because the word (acknowledging) epignosis depicts a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts, Paul is letting you know that it is essential for you to possess a knowledge of the facts.

What are the Facts?

• a knowledge of exactly who you are in Jesus Christ.
• a knowledge of what Jesus has purchased in your redemption.
• a knowledge of every good thing that God has placed in you by Jesus Christ.
• a knowledge of all these truths that is so concrete and so unshakable that you are immovable in what you think and believe.

If you don’t know the facts of who you are in Jesus Christ, it’s time for you to get serious about digging into the Bible until you know these truths like a professional. The truth about who you are in Jesus Christ is the key to your victory. You should study, read, listen to teaching material — in other words, you should use every available resource to discover what God’s Word says you’ve been given in Jesus Christ. This knowledge is the key that will set you free.

However, merely possessing the key won’t activate these realities in your life. You must put the key into the ignition and turn it, sparking these truths into manifestation in your life!

A key in the ignition switch does no good unless it is turned. Likewise, the truth in your life does no good until it is spoken! The moment you open your mouth and start confessing the good things that are in you by Jesus Christ, a supernatural connection is made between your faith and all that Jesus has deposited inside you. At that moment, the gifts and treasures God has placed inside you become supernaturally activated. The confession of your mouth — your acknowledgement of the truth — is what sparks these spiritual blessings and causes them to become operative, activated, and manifested realities.

There are approximately 136 expressions in the New Testament, that tell us who we are and what we have because we are in Christ.

Let me give you some examples:

2 Corinthians 5:17 | NKJV (17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

All of sins spiritual scars have been removed from us!

Ephesians 1:3 | NKJV (3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Ephesians 1:3 | GW (3) Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer.

Ephesians 1:4 | AMPC (4) Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

To make these truths real in your life, you must put the key in the ignition switch.

• The key is the Word of God.
• The ignition is your mouth.
• The key is turned in the ignition when you open your mouth and start to speak the truth.
• The good things in you are activated the moment you start confessing the truth.
• The way to make these blessings real in your life is to: 1) thoroughly know them through diligent study; 2) put these truths into your mouth; and 3) speak them out loud!
• That is how you turn the key in your ignition and energize these truths until they begin to manifest in you!

So quit talking negatively about yourself, and begin to bring the words of your mouth into agreement with the truths God has deposited in your life.

• God’s Word says you’re healed, so begin to say you’re healed.
• God’s Word says you have the mind of Christ, so begin to say you have the mind of Christ.
• God’s Word says you’re blessed, so begin to say you’re blessed.

A key in the ignition switch does no good unless it is turned. Likewise, the truth in your life does no good until it is spoken! The moment you open your mouth and start confessing the good things that are in you by Jesus Christ, a supernatural connection is made between your faith and all that Jesus has deposited inside you.

At that moment, the gifts and treasures God has placed inside you become supernaturally activated. The confession of your mouth — your acknowledgement of the truth — is what sparks these spiritual blessings and causes them to become operative, activated, and manifested realities

• When you believe a thing in your heart and say it with your mouth, it becomes real to you!
• Faith’s confessions bring about heaven’s realities in our lives.

Click HERE to download the “Who I Am in Christ” Handout

Romans 10:17 | NKJV (17) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If there is a lack of faith in any area of our lives then it can be found in a lack of understanding from the Word of God or we could say, a lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6a | NKJV (6) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6a | MSG (6) My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true.

If we will receive knowledge, then we can have faith.

Our faith grows with our understanding of God’s Word:

• Understanding the New Birth
• Understanding our Redemption
• Understanding our Righteousness
• Understanding our place in Him
• Understanding how to act upon God’s Word
• Understanding our right to the use of the Name of Jesus
• Understanding what the Word says about the power of our words and our confession of God’s Word

If you are going to understand who you are in Christ, you must understand the Doctrine of Identification.

In this doctrine, believers see that not only Jesus paid the price as our SUBSTITUTE, but that He identified WITH us and we can identify WITH Him.

• When Jesus came to the earth, He identified with us in that He became flesh and blood like we are.

John 1:1-3 | NKJV (1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 1:14 | NLT (14) So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

• When He hung on the Cross and God laid our sin upon Him as our substitute, is when we identified with Him.

Galatians 2:20 | NKJV (20) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

So, our “in Christ” began when He was on the Cross.

Some “In Him” Realities

• We were “in Him” when sin was laid up on Him at the Cross, because it was our sin that put Him there.

2 Corinthians 5:21 | NKJV (21) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

• We were “in Him” during those awful hours when He was separated from God and under condemnation, when the judgment for our sins fell heavily upon Him.

Matthew 27:46 | AMPC (46) And about the ninth hour… Jesus cried with a loud voice…My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]?

• We were “in Him” when He went down to the place of suffering and torment.

Psalms 16:10 | KJV (10) For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Ephesians 4:8-10 | NKJV (8) Therefore He says: “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” (9) (Now this, “HE ASCENDED”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? (10) He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

• We were “in Him” when He had paid the price and God legally justified Him and raised Him up from the dead.

1 Peter 3:18 | NLT (18) Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but He was raised to life in the Spirit.

• We were “in Him” when He conquered Satan and the host of hell and took from him the keys of death and hell.

Revelation 1:18 | NKJV (18) I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Colossians 2:15 | NKJV (15) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

• We were “in Him” when He rose triumphantly and defeated the grave.

Romans 6:8-9 | NKJV (8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (9) knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

• We were “in Him” when He took His blood into the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

Hebrews 9:12 | AMPC (12) He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).

• We were “in Him” when He ascended and sat down in the highest place in the universe.

Hebrews 10:12 | NLT (12) But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

(Ephesians 2:6 AMPC) And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Jesus is still identifying with us!

Hebrews 4:14-16 | NKJV (14) Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Confession (Greek: Homo-logeo) – means “saying the same thing.”

• We need to be saying the same thing about us that Jesus is saying about us!

What is He saying about us?

• He became as we were, so that we might become as He is.
• He died to make us alive.
• He was made sin to make us righteous.
• He became weak to make us strong.
• He suffered shame to give us glory.
• He went to hell in order to take us to Heaven.
• He was condemned in order to justify us.
• He bore our sickness that healing might be ours.
• He was cast out of the presence of God to make us welcome there.
• He became one with us in death, that we might be one with Him in life.
• There is a two-fold oneness: first His oneness with our sin on the cross; second, our oneness with Him in His glory on the throne.