The Goal is Whole: Who am I? W6: The Overcoming Life

Only if we align with the expectation of triumph will we be able to live in true union with Jesus.

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FULL STUDY:

Understanding who we are in the new creation is an essential prerequisite to activating all that Jesus wants to do in and through us.  From a clear understanding of our true identity, we will be able to recalibrate our lives to become His new creation people together. These brief studies are just an introduction to this topic. As we walk with Jesus, we will continue to discover new aspects of all we have in Him. This is an awesome adventure!

Today we will explore one more vital characteristic of our new creation identity – the overcoming life.

The Overcoming Life

The new creation is formed out of the triumphant victory of Jesus. He defeated sin, death and the devil and emerged triumphant in the throne room of heaven, to become fully glorified and take the highest place and highest name. In the book of Revelation, John saw Him in that glorified state:

“In the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters….17 …He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” (Revelation 1:12-17).

Jesus passed through agony and suffering, into death, and into encounters with the devil. But death couldn’t hold Him. The devil could not withstand Him. Jesus emerged victorious, alive forevermore, carrying “the keys of death and of Hades” (hell).

In the first study in this unit we saw how the new creation is IN CHRIST. In Him means in His victorious state. Victory is our identity in Him! We cannot claim to be in Him and yet be content with a defeated life. All the time, our identity in Him draws us towards expressions of His great victory!

We are no longer to be held by sin, be at the mercy of the devil and his demons, or be bound by fears, failures, and lack. Jesus overcame, and in Him He calls us into an overcoming life.

When Jesus appeared to John, as we just read, He gave him letters for His church in seven cities at that time. These are written out for us in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. They cover varied content, but there is one phrase that repeats over and over in those letters, “to him who overcomes”.

Overcoming is our identity in the new creation.

Paul told the Corinthians:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (2 Corinthians 2:15)

As His people, one of our strongest desires is to be led by God. Well, from Paul’s statement, if God leads us, He will always lead us in triumph! The new creation life is not a defeated life, but a victorious one, and we need to adopt that mindset as part of our identity.

Only if we align with the expectation of triumph will we be able to live in true union with Jesus.

Alignment with Victory

Taking the exchanges at the cross that we explored earlier in this unit, and a few more key truths, this means that we should align with:

• Forgiveness not bitterness
• Healing not sickness
• Righteousness not sin
• Life not death
• Blessing not cursing
• Abundance not lack
• Glory not shame
• Acceptance not rejection
• Faith not fear
• Joy not depression
• Hope not defeatism
• Love not selfishness
• Confidence not insecurity

The list could go on and on, but hopefully this gives us a good start! In summary, we are to align with the victory of Jesus, not the fall of man. We are the new creation!

Faith Activation

In unit 3 we will study in detail how we activate this overcoming life, so that our identity becomes our experience. But let us close today with a brief look at this. Engaging our new identity is not something we do just once and then it’s set. It is a day-by-day lifestyle issue. This is the lifestyle of faith. Faith is how we engage with all that Jesus has done. Faith is the “obedience life” of the new creation. No longer are there lists of commandments to follow, but instead just the “obedience of faith”. Activating faith allows us to draw out of our new identity in Jesus, as the Holy Spirit manifests all He is, in and through us. Paul identified this “obedience of faith” as his goal in the letter to the Romans, in both his opening and closing statements:

“Through whom (Christ) we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.” (Romans 1:5)

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.” (Romans 16:25-26)

If faith is an obedience issue, then Faith must be a choice. It begins with agreeing and aligning with the truth of the new creation life, as revealed in the Scriptures. Through that alignment, the Holy Spirit can manifest the reality of the new creation in us. John identifies faith as the key to a truly overcoming life

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

The life of faith is not passive, but an active engagement with all that we have become in the new creation. Let us hold fast to our true identity and no longer be bound by the failures and insufficiencies of the fallen race! We are overcomers!