I came across some thought provoking material by Ted Dekker in his training material titled, “The Forgotten Way.” The following is a short piece he wrote. I would challenge you to read it slowly several times thinking about the concepts he is sharing. This may be for some people an opportunity to enter into a whole new area of relationship with God. For others a chance to remember and renew some very powerful aspects of who we truly are and can be “in Christ” because Christ is in us.
Ted Dekker writes, “‘Who am I in Christ?’ The greater question, however, might be, “Who is Christ, in me?” Because until you get a revelation of who He is, everything you think about who you are is merely a guess. When you get a revelation that the One from whom all faith originates believes in you, then that belief holds you. It is in that place that you are at rest and secure. Pure doctrine and authentic belief is simply saying yes to what God believes about you. God believes some amazing things about you, and what God believes about you is what reveals who you truly are. Being ‘in Him’ is the Divine reality that empowers the awakening of your true identity.
Here’s why this matters. What you believe becomes the reality that you experience. We are created in the likeness of our creator to manifest that which we believe to be true. This is the power of faith. What we believe, we behold, and what we behold becomes our experience. If you believe you are separated from your Father as a Christian, you will interpret the Bible through that lens of a broken or fragile relationship.
However, if you accept that you are in Him and that there is no distance, no separation, between you and your Father right now, and that you can’t stop the endless flood of His mercy for you, then the Bible stops being a confusing book of conflicting commandments and becomes a beautiful revelation of Love Himself. Being in Him doesn’t make you God, just as being in you doesn’t make Him you. However, you are one, together. This is a great mystery, but as with many of God’s wonders, your heart can know and delight in what your mind may not yet fully understand.
All of Scripture, all relationship, all of life, all identity, all of time, every mystery is illuminated in the light of this basic revelation. You are one with God in Christ by the power of the Spirit. Your Father, God (who is Love, Peace, Joy, Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is one within you right now by His desire and design.”
Matthew records for us the words of Jesus in His Gospel in 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus gave to His disciples His power and authority, in other words empowerment, to influence and impact both what transpires in the physical realm of this earth and in the spiritual realm. If you are a child of God, you have this empowerment and authority and in fact you are accountable to use it.
Notice the words of Jesus as recorded in John 14:12-14, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. {13} And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. {14} You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” What stops this from becoming a reality in our life? Doubt, or focus on the lack, rather than on the authority and power of Christ in us.
Do we truly believe what the Apostle Paul declares in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, {21} to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Peter walked on water, but what happened to put an end to his water walking adventure? He placed his focus on the wind and the waves and stopped believing what he was already doing was really possible. When this happened he began to sink. Understanding the power of faith and applying that understanding in our lives is important. Seeking to eliminate limiting beliefs in our subconscious mind which hold us back is an important process to enhancing our faith.
To live life to its full potential we must seek to discover who we truly are in Christ and all we can do about it through the power of “Christ in us.”