Identification reveals what God has done for us through Christ Jesus.
- Everything that Jesus did for us from time and eternity is included in this.
- He identified with our fallen condition, our sorrows and our griefs.
- It includes everything we were told that God would accomplish by sending a Savior.
- It includes our redemption from the curse of sin through the fulfillment of His promise to bring us unto Himself in glory.
Identification with Christ involves everything that connects us with the substitutionary work of Christ.
- In Christ, we have died to sin and have been resurrected to newness of life.
- In Christ, we are crucified and resurrected.
- In Christ, we are made righteous and victorious.
- Jesus became like us, so that we might become like Him.
- He died so that we might live.
- He became weak so that we might be made strong.
- He suffered shame and death so that we might experience His glory.
The Psalmist had a prophetic word about the blessings we have in Christ.
Psalm 103:1-5 NKJV Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Throughout the Bible we are told to never forget what God has done for us.
Specific benefits are gained by remembering and not forgetting what Jesus did for us when He identified with us. In the beginning of His ministry, Jesus proclaimed that He was anointed to declare good news to the poor. He was sent to proclaim freedom to prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus identified with us by coming down to bring us the benefit of His victory, power, and life to us.
Psalms 103 gives insight into some of the benefits that we should never forget. All of these benefits are personal for you.
- Jesus identified with what you face.
- He identified with your iniquities.
- He identified with your diseases.
- He identified with your destruction.
- His victory crowns you with His lovingkindness and tender mercies.
- His suffering, death, and resurrection identifies with your conditions in life.
- He did all of this so that you may experience His good things and enjoy the renewed and abundant life in Him.
We make the most of all His benefits when we remember what they are and that Jesus identified with us.
It will help you with all that you experience to know what kind of things Jesus did.
- When Jesus passed by the blind man, He gave him sight.
- When Jesus passed by a lame man, He made him walk again.
- When Jesus passed by the sick, He gave them health.
- Jesus passed by the hungry and gave them food.
- Jesus came saw the dead, He had compassion and raised them to life.
- Jesus confronted demons that held men captive, and cast them out.
Walk with Jesus through the Gospels and you will see what He did.
There is serious danger in not remembering.
In the Old Testament, God’s children forgot and rebelled against God.
Isaiah 1:2 NIV84 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
The Lord’s children forgot God.
We need to say that another way. They failed to stay in fellowship with the Son of God. God had identified them as His special people, but they turned away. When they walked under the cloud of His presence, they were identified as an unbeatable people. Under the pillar of fire and the cloud, they experienced His covenant blessing and providential care. Nations and peoples who were stronger and greater in number feared the people who were identified with God.
In one of Jesus’ parables, He told about a man who had two sons.
One of his sons was faithful in all that he did. His younger son became rebellious even though he enjoyed all of his father’s benefits and blessings. The rebellious son walked away and was no longer identified with his father. While he was away, he became deeply involved in the world and fell into great ruin. The temptations, trials, and ways of the world robbed him of almost every advantage he had been given. He walked away from the covering, blessing, and favor of his father and plunged into the activities and attitudes of the world. After he hit the bottom, he realized what he lost and was ready to go back home. In the pigpen he said: “The least in my father’s house are rich.”
We are looking at our identity with Christ Jesus.
Jesus has made abundant provision for us to remain in His Father’s blessing and favor. We do not have to lose our joy, righteousness, and peace. We do not have to lose our covering and blessing.
Ephesians 1:22-23 NLT God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.
Even if we fail to understand this, Jesus has identified with us and has claimed us as His very own.
John 1:16 NLT “From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.”
John 1:16 NKJV “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”
The Greek word for “fullness” is plērōma. Strong’s Lexicon says the word: plērōma – means both what is filled and what fills. When we are identified with Christ, we receive all of His fullness. Everything that Jesus is belongs to us. Being identified by Christ as His very own, we are filled with all of His benefits. We have the double blessing of receiving the fullness of Christ and the fullness of His benefits.
John 15:7-8 NIV Jesus said, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”
This is a pivotal point in our lives. Your completeness, fullness, and perfection are a result of your continued identification and fellowship with Christ Jesus. When we remain in Him, we are destined for His triumph.
2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
Right now, in this world, we have this triumphant victory in Christ Jesus.
This is the hallelujah chorus of the New Creation. In Christ Jesus, we have a new position of liberty, triumph and victory. We have been pulled up and out of the mire and muck of the world and sin. We have been clothed in His righteousness and made clean. God takes so much pleasure in Christ Jesus our Lord, that He fills everyone who identifies with Him with the aroma of Jesus Christ.
The Prodigal son failed in this area.
Although he was a son and was rich, he did not walk worthy of his position. He walked away from the blessing and favor into ruin and hurt.
Colossians 1:10-12 AMP “…walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition]. …be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy, Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light.”
When the Prodigal Son lost his identity, he fell into a downward spiral that robbed him.
When he was not identified with his father, he stopped living in his father’s covering, blessing, and favor.
We must never forget what Jesus Christ has done for us.
Ephesians 1:3-4 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
Ephesians 1:5-7 NIV In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
Do you see great benefit that we are granted by being identified with Jesus Christ?
Through Jesus Christ, God has opened the door for us to enter into His family and blessing. Through Jesus Christ, we can stand in His presence. Through Jesus Christ, we can live without guilt or condemnation. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing that was purchased by Jesus Christ. We have been adopted as His sons through Christ. His blood has redeemed us. Through His blood we are forgiven. Through Jesus Christ, we are heirs to the riches of God’s grace.
It is amazing to watch what happened when the Prodigal Son came home.
The young man came home defeated and broken. He knew that he did not deserve compassion or grace. Jesus said that his father saw him, had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Luke 15:22-24 NLT “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
Ephesians 2:6 NIV And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
- God has raised us up in Christ and we need to believe it.
- God has defeated every principality, power and ruler of darkness and we need to receive it.
- God has given us the position of the Conqueror Jesus Christ.
- We have been made to sit with Christ in Heavenly places.
- We are assured through the name of Jesus Christ that He hears our prayer.
- By the blood of Jesus Christ we are redeemed and accepted.
- He has washed us and renewed us and has given new life.
- He has covered us with the righteousness of Christ.
- He has prepared a feast of heaven’s richness and Holy Ghost power.
- What Satan has tried to kill, steal and destroy has been restored.
- By faith through the Word of God we are given bold access to the Father.
- Trust Him with your life, He gave it to you…out of love.
- Trust Him with your future, because He chose you.
- Trust Him in every circumstance, because what others meant for evil, God will make it good.
- Trust Him to free you from your chains, because God has promised to deliver you from bondage, and set you free.
- Trust Him to bring you home, because you belong to Him, and He will be your God.
- Trust Him, because He is full of grace and truth.
- You can trust Him to forgive all your iniquities and heal all your diseases, because He bore stripes for your healing.
- You can trust Him to redeem your life from destruction, because He conquered death and hell.
- You can trust Him to crown you with loving-kindness and tender mercies, because He is King and Lord.
- You can trust Him to satisfy your mouth with good things.
