Galatians 3:26-29 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
We who are IN CHRIST, clothed with him, are all brothers and sisters, born into the same family of God through faith in Jesus Christ and his works. He alone changes us into the likeness of God by placing himself IN US and we IN HIM. This is the great mystery: we in him and He in us. As Paul wrote, I have become its (the church's) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:24-27) Because of Jesus' work on the cross, our spiritual selves, our souls, can be an abode for the Holy Spirit. Our very beings, not because of who we are but because of who Jesus is, are acceptable to God, bringing pleasure to him. Jesus' substitutionary work on the cross gave us a rightness with God, a holiness, a perfection, that only a heavenly sacrifice could bring. This holy propitiation, the washing away of our sins and cleansing of our lives, does not mean we don't have imperfections in the flesh, for our daily activities and thoughts are not always perfect or without blemish; but it does mean that we have a Savior and a constant advocate interceding on our behalf before the Father. The sinless Son of God, the unblemished Lamb of God, brought a cleansing element to our souls that satisfies the righteous and holy God forever. Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18) Only God can bring this purification to our souls.
Members of a family usually have familial characteristics that can be identified easily by those who know the family. Someone might say, "I see a little of Aunt Harriet in Suzy," or "Harold has the same nose as Uncle George." These hereditary determinants are part of everyone's DNA. We tend to look like the family members around us. As we see in today's scripture, believers take on the nature and characteristics of Jesus Christ. Why? We are sons and daughters of faith because our father of faith is Abraham. As surely as we are biologically determined, we are also determined, molded, by our position of faith in Christ Jesus. We all become like he is. Therefore, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We have his likeness, and we carry his body to the world as we function within the church. We are members of his body. He displays himself through us. That is why we gather together on Sundays to be inspired to function as members of his body. We do not come only to observe; we come to worship, to participate in his body as integral elements in his image on earth. Each of us has faith to give to others. We do this by fellowshipping, praying, caring, loving, and doing in the community of believers. James said, Christians, show me your faith by your works. Show me how much you are like Jesus Christ by your activity in his body, the church. He concluded, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26) Faith is the collateral we have to pass on to each other. Faith is our investment in God's kingdom. Just as we might give a dollar to a friend next to us who is in need, we, in the body of Christ, give faith, manifested by works, to each other to further the activity and health of the church. We show our love and our concern for others through our faith in action.
As individuals and also as members of Christ's body, we are joint heirs with Christ. We are free from the restrictions of the law that condemn us, free to be God's sons and daughters as He leads us to do his will. We are free to express his DNA in us, his likeness, his behavior, his voice. Yet we must walk in that freedom. Paul told the church, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8NKJV) We are in so many ways the ultimate Jew, meaning we are the chosen ones from every race, culture, and society, living to express God to a sick and dying world. As his holy and righteous children, we will live in his intimate presence forever, with eternal life pulsating through our beings, no longer tied to time or space. If heaven and earth pass away, we will still be in the presence of the living God. No place is our eternal abiding place other than God. No inheritance is ours but God. We are like the Old Testament priests, God is our inheritance. Land we do not need, gold and silver we do not covet. We desire only the El Shaddai, the many-breasted God, as our protector, the keeper of our souls forever. We are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise, children of the Most High God. As you go through your daily walking-about life, think on these things. Remember who you are, for you are not one person alone in a weary world: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
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