Who’s Jesus? (Part I)
Today I start teaching on a topic that is often overlooked in the Church of Jesus Christ. In some churches in my country we often talk about what we are in Jesus, but we rarely hear about what Jesus is. Most young people in my country can spend the entire year talking about their identity and I realized that many of them hardly speak of Jesus' identity.
This teaching will show us that it is rather the identity of Jesus that makes us what we are, and without Him we can do nothing. That is what Jesus Himself said in John 15: 5 where He says "APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING." In case you have not noticed, this message is very profound, because if you can cast out demons, pray for the sick, help the poor, excel in your work, preach the gospel ... it is ONLY because you are in Jesus. Let us read John 15: 5: " I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. The message of Jesus is very clear because if He is the vine and we are the branches, it is clear that the branch has no life as long as he is not attached to the vine. In fact, it is the vine that is the source of life and strength of the branch. The branch (child of God) gets its life and strength from the vine (Jesus).
Christians today are more interested in the identity of the branch and not the vine but without the vine the branch withers and is thrown out (John 15: 6), but if the branch is connected to the vine, he lives and bears fruits. Jesus said in John 15: 8 " This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples". In other words, the branch carries fruits because of the vine (Jesus) and God the Father is glorified. According to the same verse, if the Father is glorified, the branch (Christian) is in a perfect position to be called "Disciple of Jesus."
If you read the 15th chapter of John, it is the identity of Jesus that counts above all because our identity is totally depending on Him.
One day Jesus was thirsty and asked to drink from a Samaritan woman but the woman underestimated Him by refusing to give Him a drink because she completely ignored Jesus' identity. Here is what Jesus told her in John 4:10: “If you knew the gift of God and WHO IT IS that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water!”
In the second part, we will see that the devil is not afraid of your own identity but it’s the identity of Jesus in you that makes him tremble. If you are the branch (branch) attached to the vine (Jesus), so you have the nature of the vine that repels and shake the enemy. May the Lord help us so that we can know the identity of Jesus and say like Paul “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord” (2 Cor 10:17).
To be continued in Part 2
Chris Ndikumana
Who is Jesus? (Part 2)
In the first part, I finished by saying that let the one who boasts boast in the Lord (2 Cor 10: 17). In other words, it is the identity of the Lord within us that allows us to do all we can do.
Satan knows very well the identity of Jesus and he cannot even stand before him. One day, a powerful demon was in a man and the bible says that having seen Jesus from afar, he prostrated himself before him and cried with a loud voice, saying, "Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of God, do not torment me "(Mark 5: 6-7)
If you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you carry within you the glory and power of Jesus. If the devil sees you from afar, he is scared and bow down before the power of Jesus in you but the problem is that we do not know the power that works in us. If we are aware of the identity of Jesus and Jesus is in us, nothing should worry us because Jesus gave us the authority to defeat the devil and his works but on one condition: It has to be done IN HIS NAME and not in our name.
Why his name? Because it is his identity that shakes the devil. When we invoke the name of Jesus, we proclaim the victory of Jesus on the cross and the devil cannot stand it. All the miracles of the disciples were made in the name of Jesus and not in their names. It is through Jesus' identity and not their identity that miracles were done. I have to insist on this because today we hear famous preachers who say that if we are children of God we no longer need to mention the name of Jesus to see a miracle or to cast out demons. It's like they are saying that what matters is our identity and not Jesus identity.
They say it relying on some biblical verses like 1 John 4: 17 which say that as he is, so are we in this world. If anyone can claim to cast out demons and do miracles without the name of Jesus, he still does not understand who Jesus really is and if miracles do occur anyway, he uses another power but not Jesus power. Remember that Jesus said that many will operate miracles and wonders without him (Matthew 24: 24).
I do not know which country you are in today but some go even further by claiming that they are gods and they always rely on biblical verses (more details in the next part) but the problem is that many are not aware of Satan's trap on this.
In the third part, I will show you why the devil wants Christians to think that they are gods and completely ignore the identity of Jesus. He wants us to appropriate God's gifts and as we keep glorifying about our identity, we end up forgetting or ignoring the role of Jesus identity in our lives. We will also see how the identity of Jesus may be manifested in our lives?
To be continued in Part Three
Chris Ndikumana
Who is Jesus? (Part 3)
Before continuing this teaching, I want you to understand my purpose: I want Christians to be aware of the power and authority that are in them since the day they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Some live a defeated life because they ignore what they have inherited in Jesus. Others do not change because they are blocked by the lack of humility believing able to do everything by themselves. Someone told me that the gifts of God are irrevocable (which is true according to the bible) and that if God gives us a gift, it can be used as one wants without regard to him but I will prove that this is not what Jesus taught us:
According to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25: 14-30), Jesus shows that while God gives us a gift, he will ask the report that shows how we used it and if it was used well, we will receive more. In other words, the gifts that we have, have to be used as God wants and not according to our will as we received them for his interest and the interest of his people.
In the second part I talked about the new teachings that say that we are gods, and therefore we have the same identity as Jesus Christ. Where does this teaching which says that we are gods come from? The first reference is found in John 10: 34 where Jesus said, "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? ". Jesus was referring to Psalm 82: 1-6, where God gives instructions to judges calling them gods as they made decisions in the stead of God and had the power of death and life of God's people. But in verse 7 (Psalm 82: 7) He said, "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes."
The bible says that we are ambassadors for Christ on earth (2 Corinthians 5: 20). An ambassador has the power and authority of the person he represents. The Ambassador of the United States in Burundi has the cover and the power of the US president. He does not say what he thinks or find reasonable but he says everything the American president wants him to say. In other words, his identity TOTALLY depends on the identity of the US president. Whoever attacks the US ambassador attacks the US president but the ambassador should be aware that his authority is not from him but from the president that he represents. Similarly, Christians must be aware that their authority comes not from them but from Jesus.
So it is Jesus' identity that values the Christian and all the glory should go to back Jesus.
In the fourth part, I will teach about how we can allow Jesus to manifest his power.
Chris Ndikumana
Who is Jesus? (Part 4)
To better understand how best to allow Jesus to manifest in our lives, read in Galatians 2: 20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and if I live, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me "
In this verse Paul speaks of the crucifixion of two people: Him and Christ. He says that when Christ was crucified, he (Paul) too was crucified with Him on the cross. His message is very clear because it shows us that he lost his own identity on the cross as he goes on to say that it is no longer him who lives but rather Christ lives in him.
What does he mean by that? If someone is crucified, he is dead and no longer lives. But in the same verse he says, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." This means that it is Jesus' identity that is manifested in Paul, and he no longer lives for himself but for Jesus. He seeks only the interests of Jesus. When Paul wrote to Philemon, he introduced himself as a “PRISONER of Christ Jesus”.(Philemon 1:1). The word “Prisoner” is translated from the Greek word “Desmios” which means “Captive”
Once saved, we are aware of our crucifixion with Christ and the desires of our flesh must be crucified on the cross. The more we try to satisfy the desires of our flesh, the more we are alive. If you want Jesus to be powerfully manifested in your life, you have to be crucified i.e to give up the desires of the flesh.
Our identity should normally reflect the identity of Jesus. Those who see us should see the glory of Christ and if we are really crucified with Christ on the cross, demons tremble before our presence because they no longer see our identity but they will see the identity of Christ in us.
The enemy wants to encourage us to protect our identity and without realizing it we come to forget that our identity depends on of Jesus’ identity. May the Lord help us to get the revelation of John the Baptist when he said: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3: 30).
If you want Jesus to increase in you, you must decrease. The more you decrease; the greater will be His presence and His manifestation in your life. There are things that Jesus cannot do in our lives because we are full of ourselves. You cannot pour water into a glass filled but the glass has to be empty in order to have some room. Many Christians are filled and Jesus has no room in them.
In the fifth part, I will openly talk about the true identity of Jesus. Jesus is not only the Son of God but He is also God.
To be continued ...
Chris Ndikumana
Who is Jesus? (Part 5)
Today I finish this teaching by talking about the identity of Jesus as God. I heard a lot of arguments about the divinity of Jesus, and I am suprised when I hear people comparing themselves to Jesus by saying that they are equal because they are co-heirs.
If you read the first chapter of John, you will understand that God is the Word, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and his glory was like the glory of the Son from the Father (John 1: 14). It is therefore clear that it is God (The Word) that became flesh (Jesus). I know this is a still difficult topic to understand for some, but I will refer to some biblical verses:
More than six centuries before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah foretold the coming of Jesus on earth and it is interesting to see how he described it: " For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty GOD, EVERLASTIN FATHER, Prince of Peace "(Isaiah 9: 6).
This is the true identity of Jesus and it should clear all doubts for those who did not believe in his divinity and Paul describes Him as the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1: 15) to finally conclude by saying: "Everything was created BY HIM and for him "(Colossians 1: 16).
If the Bible says that all things were created by Jesus, then we can understand why the demons trembled before him. Therefore nothing could resist Him: storms were ceased, trees were drying on his order, dead were resurrected, and He has promised us that if we believe in Him, we can do the same things and even bigger but it must be done IN HIS NAME which means that it is Him who will do it through us.
Here is the end of the teaching and I hope that you understand that our identity depends on Jesus’ identity and that Jesus is not only our teacher but He is God for Paul wrote, saying: " For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form "(Colossians 2: 9).
I cannot end without mentioning that we have the authority of Jesus, but we do not have all the rights of Jesus.
He can be worshiped by angels and men, but we do not have the right to be worshiped.
He is the creator of all things but we are the creation.
He is God and we are not.
He who has ears hears what the Spirit of God says
God bless you
Chris Ndikumana
