You have been Changed
You have been Changed
Have you ever just watched a small child? It is not difficult for children to act like children. Little children do not worry about whether they grew enough this week, or where their next meal is coming from, or whether they are actually your child or not. They just go around being themselves.
Karl Kakadelis says, “We are not the product of our environment. Our behavior does not define us. Nurture does not define what a thing is. Who we are is determined by our birth. The cross is not just the place where Jesus died for my sins; it is also the vehicle He used to change people’s identity.”
1 John 3:1 (NIV84) agrees. It says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, we are new creations, new creatures. We are in Christ and we are different now, who we are has been redefined. It can be challenging for us to understand the ramifications of this, however.
Ephesians 1:5 (NIV) reads, “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” Ephesians 5:8 (NIV) puts it this way, “8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
We have been made children of God. This change is not simply that we were created in His image, as we probably remember reading in Genesis. This change is something that happened when we were raised with Christ to newness of life. (see Romans 6:4) This is something that happened when we were born again. In fact, I see this as the reason scripture talks about being born again so often. In Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV) we find this: “26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” We are children of God through faith (we are saved by grace through faith, see Ephesians 2:8-9) and this change happened when we were immersed into Christ. Do you see that? We are in Him, just like we are in our clothing.
In Ephesians 4, Paul reminds the believers in Ephesus how they came to Christ. In verses twenty through twenty-four he says that they had been taught that they needed to put off their old self and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. The properties of this new self are astonishing--like God truly righteous, holy.
Make no mistake, we are not what we were. Our relationship with God is that of child to parent.
Like little children, we can simply trust that He is working for good and taking care of us. (see Romans 8:28)
We can trust that He is teaching us to deny ungodliness and live upright godly lives in this world. (see Titus 2:11-12)
We can trust that He is producing fruit for us to bear. (see Ephesians 5:9 & Galatians 5:22)
When we rest in His finished work, we are not tired from self-effort. We are like children simply relying upon our Father. The accuser whispers lies and instills doubts. Father has seen to that problem too. The shield of faith extinguishes all the flaming arrows of the accuser. (see Ephesians 6:16) When we believe what Abba says about Himself and about us we naturally walk according to the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16) and the lies of the enemy are overcome by the Truth.
We are one with Jesus Christ just as He and the Father are one. (see John 17:11 & 22) We are His beloved children, each one of us is a unique expression of His wonderful and indestructible life. He wanted this exact us at this place and time. You take after your Father, so of course you have His mannerisms, traits, and a family resemblance. Do not be afraid to put on display all the wonderful new traits you have inherited from your Father.
