“Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.”—2 Peter 1:4
It is important to know what are the promises we have received in our status as a Christian.
Romans 8:29 says,
“Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.”
In this verse we can see that all Christians are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. This conformation refers to our coming to express Christ, both in our inward nature and in our outward living and walk. Inwardly, through the Spirit’s work in us, God is changing our inward nature and essence until we match the glorified image of Christ! Also, Hebrews 2:11 says,
“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
The Firstborn Son is not ashamed to call us brothers. We are His brothers! Even though we don’t feel qualified to be His brothers, this is a fact clearly stated in the Bible.
We are also members of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 6:15a:
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?”
In this verse, we see that every genuine believer is a member of Christ. The Body of Christ includes every member, of which none can be separated from the Body, because if even one member is missing, the Body cannot function properly. This is seen further in 1 Corinthians 12:12:
“For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.”
All the Christians in the whole universe are one in the one Body, which is the corporate Christ.
In addition to being sons of God and members of Christ, we are also partners of Christ. Being a partner of Christ simply means that we are partakers of heavenly, holy, and spiritual things, and that we share the heavenly calling. Hebrews 3:14 says,
“For we have become partners of Christ.”
Here, partners in Greek actually means “partakers.” 2 Peter 1:4 also says that we are partakers of the divine nature. We Christians, who are members of the Body of Christ, are also partakers of Christ, receiving and enjoying all that our Head is and has. Whatever the Firstborn Son (Jesus) is and has, we the many sons of God, the Body of Christ, partake of the same.
One status I really enjoyed is that we are co-kings of Christ. Romans 5:17 says,
“For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
The Bible shows us that before Christ, death reigned in mankind through Adam; but by our receiving of the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness we can reign in life through Jesus Christ. We used to be under the reign of death, but we have now received the life that enables us to reign in life. It is so hard to change someone, or even change ourselves, but hallelujah! We have this One with the reigning life that can change us from within. Through this reigning life in us, He is transforming us to be co-kings with Him!
Finally, we are heavenly citizens of the kingdom of God. John 3:3 says,
“…Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
How wonderful it is to have been born into God’s kingdom! This is the highest citizenship! Many people struggle to get citizenship in certain countries in order to have the benefits of being a citizen of that country. As fellow citizens of the kingdom of God, we have all the riches, enjoyments and privileges of this kingdom! How exciting it is to know that we do not need to wait a certain amount of time or take an extensive test to get this citizenship. As a Christian, we automatically have this citizenship and can enjoy it!
Today, with these statuses as brothers of Christ, members of Christ, partners of Christ, co-kings with Christ, and heavenly citizens in His kingdom—we can know more of who we are and enjoy our statuses as a Christian.
-AW
Categories: Bible Studies, Our Blog
IRVINE CHRISTIAN STUDENTS 