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
