Embracing your new spectacular identity in Christ

Good morning, friends and family in Christ! 🌞 Sending big hugs your way today.

As Paul writes in **2 Corinthians 5:17** (ESV): "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

So many ministries focus on repairing the old self—preaching intensely to help us strive in forgiveness, faith, hope, and love through our own efforts. But Scripture reveals something far deeper and more liberating: when we immerse ourselves consistently in God's Word (perhaps over a few years), engage in regular deep worship, and love our neighbors as ourselves, real transformation unfolds naturally. The old nature is crucified and dead, and things like forgiveness flow automatically—not from willpower, but from Christ's life in us.

Paul declares it powerfully in **Galatians 2:20** (ESV): "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

The Word itself does the deep work: **Hebrews 4:12** (ESV) says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." It cuts away the old to reveal the glorious new.

In this renewal, love becomes effortless—even in marriage, loving your spouse fully as Christ loves the church, with unity and no lingering divisions, reflecting the oneness of Jesus and the Father (**John 17:21-23**).

You are already this completely new creation—**seated with Him in the heavenly places** in Christ Jesus (**Ephesians 2:6** ESV): "and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

We are **in the world but not of the world**, just as Jesus prayed in **John 17:14-16** (ESV). And take heart from **1 John 4:4** (ESV): "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Since we're not of this world, He who is in us keeps and protects us.

The more we truly embrace that **as He is, so also are we in this world** (**1 John 4:17** ESV), the less power the enemy has to stir up trouble.

Beloved, embrace your identity as this new creation today. Rest in the finished work of Christ—He has done it all!

Have a wonderful morning (or whatever time it is where you are 😊. Drop a 🙏 or ❤️ if this resonates with you!