In my last post titled Ephesians 1: Your Identity in Christ-Part 1, I started a mini-series on knowing and walking in the reality of who we are in Christ and I stated that it is extremely vital for Christians to understand the phrase ‘in Christ.’
The word of God will not make a difference in your life until you study and meditate on it long enough for it to change your thinking. By studying and meditating on scriptures on this subject, I have learnt to base my identity on who I am in Christ; i.e. on my personal, intimate relationship with him.
When I take my eyes off Jesus, I lose my identity. But when I fix my gaze on him, I find myself.
It is ONLY in Christ that I find myself.
I ended last post by encouraging you to meditate on the truth of God’s word that you are a blessed and chosen saint in Christ Jesus. We will pick up today’s study by looking at two profound words from Ephesians 1: 4b. Grab your bibles and study with me.
God loves you
In love…. Ephesians 1:4b
It is because of God’s love that He lavishes His grace, favor and kindness on us. It is because of His love that He gave His Son and blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. All the privileges bestowed on us by God because of Jesus are ours simply because of His love and not by our merit. His love for us is based fully on His character and not on our conduct or whether we are deserving or not. It is an unconditional love.
GOD LOVES YOU!!
His love for you runs much deeper than the fact that He loves the whole world. He does love the whole world but He didn’t misplace or forget you. He is with you at every moment, He knows you by name and He even numbered the hairs on your head (think about that).
The love of God is much too high and wide and long and deep for me to possibly condense into a brief paragraph (Ephesians 3:18).
I will strongly encourage you to renew your minds with scriptures regarding His love (see 1 John 4:10, Romans 5:8, Psalm 63:3, Lamentations 3:22 etc etc) so that next time you are tempted to despair because you feel alone and unloved you will rejoice instead and speak life to yourself.
Say out loud: I am a blessed, chosen and loved saint in Christ Jesus.
You have been adopted by God
In love, He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:5
Motivated by His love for us and because it pleased Him to do so, God determined to adopt us as His sons. Again, we see that His choice was not based on us or our conduct but simply on His love. An act of grace, which becomes a reality in our lives through our faith in Christ Jesus.
What does it mean to be adopted by God?
Before we believed in Christ, we were in Adam, spiritually dead because of sin (read Romans 5: 12-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:22). By adopting us, God took us out of Adam and put us in Christ Jesus. He secured our eternal future, made us His sons and daughters and co-heirs with Christ Jesus of everything He owns (Romans 8:17, Galatians 3:29).
YOU ARE A JOINT-HEIR WITH CHRIST JESUS!
He gave us full rights to be called His children through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). Therefore, we can freely exercise our rights as His children by having an intimate relationship with Him and calling Him Abba Father (Romans 8:15). What a privilege!
THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE IS YOUR FATHER!!
In the natural realm, imagine a baby born into a very poor family who is subsequently abandoned and left to die. Now imagine that the baby gets rescued and is adopted into a rich royal family. The baby will bear the same last name as the natural born children in the royal family. When he grows up, he will be a joint-heir with them of his father’s rich estate. That is what God has done for us and so much more.
Confession: I am a blessed, chosen, loved and adopted saint in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion
It is imperative that we see ourselves the way God sees us and that our thoughts and attitudes line up with who God says we are according to the scriptures. Failing to do so will impede our spiritual growth and hamper us from living the life God planned for us.
My prayer for you is that you begin to walk daily in the knowledge that you have been blessed, chosen, loved and adopted in Christ, knowing that your circumstances whether good or difficult do not change these truths. I pray that you will instead rise up in difficult situations, having a genuine understanding of who you are in Christ, to overcome and be victorious! AMEN.
NOTE:
These blessings belong to all Christians. Those who are in Christ Jesus. If you are not a Christian, it is so simple to become one. Make a decision and a commitment for Christ. Invite him into your heart to become the Lord of your life. Declare with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Feel free to contact me with any questions. God bless you.
This Ephesians chapter 1 study will be continued in my next blog post. Stay tuned.
Except indicated, all Scriptures are from the New International Version (NIV).
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Thank you so much for the reminder on just how much God loves each one of us. I love it when He blesses me in the little ways that no one else notices. It makes me realize that he sees little me in this gigantic universe. I am a work in progress when it comes to seeing myself the way God sees me but I am so glad He adopted me! Your friend at Grace & Truth.
Thank you so much Melinda for stopping by.
The unconditional nature of God’s love for us never loses its sense of awe and wonder to me.
I am a work in progress also but I thank Him for loving us both all the way.
You are blessed.
Our identity in Christ is so important to understand and integrate into our thinking, Chizobam. Thanks for sharing these transformational truths, my friend. It’s probably the first time I’ve visited your blog, so it’s nice to meet ya! I’m your neighbor at Faith ‘n Friends. 🙂
Hello Beth,
Thanks so much for visiting.
You are absolutely right. The more we understand and integrate the truth of God’s Word regarding our identity into our thinking, the more it will become a reality to us in our daily lives.
I will hopping over to your blog right now.
You are blessed.
That post was a real blessing,W.o.G,
I was so blessed. It rattled somethings and brought in some growing conviction!
Hello Akintunde,
I am encouraged that the post was a blessing to you.
The Word of God is alive and powerful and has the ability to pierce our souls and bring conviction which results in spiritual growth.
I pray that as you study the Word, God will continue to reveal Himself to you in a powerful way.
You are blessed.
Thanks a lot infact I clearly know now who I am in this kingdom,thank you lord for loving me.
Amen!
Isaiah, God loves you deeply and affectionately. He cares for you and He is keenly interested in everything you do.
I pray that you will continue to grasp and understand His love for you through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
You are blessed.
Our identity in Christ hits at the root of so many of our earthly struggles, and if we can get this, it opens up the floodgates to freedom and peace. I have really enjoyed this 2 part study Chizobam, and looking forward to more. Love that you are joining Fresh Market Friday and sharing your heart and your message! Blessings, Crystal~
Hi Crystal,
It’s a joy to be a part of Fresh Market Friday.
Personally, my work with God has deepened and my usefulness to His Kingdom has been enhanced since I started walking in the truth of who I am in Him.
Thank you once more Crystal. You are blessed.
Wow! That was such a refreshing truth. God’s love is indeed the victory over sin. Thank you.