In Christ Realities – Part 9 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

In Christ Realities Part 8 with Pastors Lawson and Aaron Perdue. In this episode of Grace For Today you’ll learn how to understand who you are in Christ and how it helps in walking in Christ’s reality.

In Christ Realities Part 8 Transcription

Praise the Lord, friends. I’m so glad that you tuned in with us today. My son, Aaron, has been with me all week, and we’ve been sharing on who we are in Christ and how we walk this out. Praise God. You got to, you know, realize who you are, and then you’ve got to begin to walk it out as you understand who Christ is and understand who you are. You begin to live differently, you begin to live with a purpose, and you begin to make a difference in this world. Friends, it is great to have you with us today. We are talking about who we are in Christ, and we’ve been talking for several days this week about the process of identity. You know, we received a new identity in Jesus the moment that we were born again. Paul says, “If any person is in Christ, the same has become a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things have become new and all things are of God.” He’s really talking about a spiritual reality that took place the moment that you believed on Jesus and were saved. But you know, there’s a lot of people that even though they’ve received that spiritual reality, they haven’t renewed their mind to it. So we talked first of all about the renewal of our mind. And we said renewing your mind is not just, it’s not just spitting out scriptural seeds, right, it’s not just studying scriptural facts, but it’s beginning to see God for who He is, right, beginning to see yourself for who the Bible says you are, beginning to see others the way God sees them, and beginning to see the world from a perspective of who you are and what God has already done in Christ. And when you begin to renew your mind, you just can’t think like you did. I begin to, you know, when I was 14 and was baptized in the Holy Spirit, my parents struggle with poverty. They struggle with a lot of, you know, nervous condition, marriage problems. But I begin to think I can have a good marriage, I begin to think I can drive a nice car, I can live in a good home. I begin to have all those thoughts. And you know what? All those things have come to pass. And you know what I, you know the Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” Proverbs 23:7. So we’ve got to renew our mind, but then how do we walk it out? Well, we’ve got to realize who Jesus is. He’s Lord of heaven, Lord of earth, Lord of the grave. We talked about that in yesterday’s broadcast, but then He’s living in us. Man, when the Lord of heaven, Lord of earth, Lord of the grave lives in you, life can’t just be so bad. And we talked about Colossians 2:6, it says, “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted, built up, established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” But I wanna go on over to Ephesians, the first three chapters of Ephesians talk about who we are and what we have in Christ. And it says this, that we’re seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What are some of the things that we are, Aaron?

We’re accepted in the beloved.

[Pastor Lawson] Amen, we’re accepted.

I think one way a lot of people struggle in just their own identity is they struggle with shame.

[Pastor Lawson] Oh, yes.

God doesn’t shame people. He doesn’t put shame on people. He’s bringing you out of guilt and condemnation. But I think a lot of people are held back in their identity because of shame.

[Pastor Lawson] Right.

And Jesus came to set people free from shame. There are a lot of people that He ministered to that were really in shameful positions. You know, I think about the woman with the issue of blood. At that time and that culture, according to the laws and customs, she wasn’t even allowed to go into the temple to worship because of her physical condition.

To touch Jesus.

But she pressed through the crowd, she pressed through. And other people would probably put shame on her for even daring to come out and be around people when she had this illness, but she pressed through, what, you know, this shame that she might have felt or that she received from other people, you know. For 12 years, she couldn’t even go into congregational worship or congregational, you know-

Another woman that came to Jesus and, you know, began to wash His feet with her tears and wipe Him with her hair, it was at the Pharisee’s house. She probably knew that she would be looked down on and they were thinking in their mind.

But she pressed through that shame as well the other people might be putting on her. Even Zacchaeus.

Right.

You know, people were trying to put shame on him, trying to put shame on Jesus, that He would even go into Zacchaeus’ house and eat with him.

[Pastor Lawson] Right.

So God is not putting shame on you.

[Pastor Lawson] Amen.

That is not your identity. That is not who you are. And some of you need to press through that and just go straight to Jesus.

We read this scripture in Colossians 1 in our broadcast yesterday, and I had you read it, but we talked about Jesus as the visible representation of the invisible God in verse 15 to 17. But then in verse 18 to verse 23, we talked about how He’s Lord of the earth and died on the cross, not only Lord of heaven, but Lord of earth died on the cross for our sins. But it says this in verse 22, that He died to present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. And that agrees right here with Ephesians 1:4, it says, “He has chosen us in him.” God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blame before Him in love. holy and blameless. Man, God wants to take away shame. He doesn’t want you to live in shame. And Jesus not only took your sin, He took your shame. When he died on the cross, the cross was a very shameful thing at that point in history. And those who believe on Jesus, we don’t need to be ashamed. And when you understand all these things that it says you are, we’ve studied that in Colossians 1, Colossians 2, now to Ephesians 1, 2, and 3, and these verse 3 through verse 7 of Ephesians 1 are so powerful that you’re blessed, that you’re chosen, that you’re holy, that you’re blameless again without shame, that you’re predestined to the adoption of God, you know, children, that you are made accepted in the beloved. You start it with that. We’re acceptable because God sees us through the eyes of grace, through the eyes of the blood of Jesus. He says we are redeemed from every curse, we’re forgiven for every sin. Man, when you begin to understand that, you know, these first three chapters of Ephesians talk about who we are and what we have and the central verse of Ephesians 2:6 that says we’re seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Man, we’ve received a new position in Christ. He raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he says in verse 7, He might show us the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. It’s amazing, the grace of God. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God. Not by works. It’s not about what you do, it’s about what He did. Lest any man should boast. Then he says, “For we are his workmanship,” Another verse that talks about who we are in verse 10, Ephesians 2:10, “Created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God, before the foundation of the world, ordained that we should walk in them.” And He goes on and talks about, you know, this is who you were. You were strangers. You know, read, Aaron, Ephesians 2:12, talking about who we are before we came to know Jesus.

It says, “That at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

But He goes on in verse 13, “So we were without Jesus, we were alienated from the covenant people, we were estranged from the covenant. We had no hope, we were without God, but now in Christ Jesus. You who are far off are made near by the blood.” And then, read verse 19, it says who we are.

Amen. It says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

So we have a new citizenship and we have a brand new spirit.

[Aaron] Mm-hmm.

Man, we were estranged from the people of God and the covenants of God, and without hope and without God. But now we are no more strangers, we are no more foreigners, we are no more alienated, but we are fellow citizens. We’re citizens of heaven on loan to the earth from God. You know, Philippians 3:20 and 21 says this, it says, “For our citizenship is from heaven, where we look for Christ Jesus the Lord, who when He comes will change our vile bodies to be fashioned according to His body, the working wherewith He’s able to subdue all things to Himself.” Man, Jesus is coming. We’re not trying to get to heaven, we’re citizens of heaven. Praise God the heaven is our home. And so, then he goes on and begins to say this, in verse 3 of chapter 3, he’s talking about this new message that God gave him, “How that by Revelation,” Paul says, “he made known to me the mystery.” What is the mystery, Aaron?

Christ in you the hope of glory.

That’s the mystery that’s been hidden from ages and generations. That’s what we’re talking about. Praise God. Do you know what, if it was not for the resurrection of Jesus, this wouldn’t even be a reality. You know, being born again was not a reality until Jesus was raised from the dead. But now being born again, and so we said we received a new identity when we were born again, when we believed on Jesus, amen, when we were saved. That would not be a reality without Jesus being raised from the dead. But that’s a reality, we’re born again, we’re born of God, and we are completely new creations in the Spirit. And when we understand that, it changes how we live our life. And so, many people don’t understand who they are in the Spirit. It is the spirit of Christ who lives in us. Man, it’s changed us and made us new. He goes on and says, you know, and just talks about that, you know, we’ve received this new life, we’ve received His grace, and it’s changed us. Now, He moves into chapter 4. We’re talking about how do we walk this out. So you got to realize who Christ is, you got to realize who you are. And then, once you realize who Christ is, that He is a resurrected Lord of eternity, that He’s Lord of heaven, Lord of earth, Lord of the grave, and He’s living in you, and you realize that you are righteous, that you are redeemed, that you are forgiven for every sin, that you are blessed, that you’re predestined to succeed, that you’re accepted, that you’re redeemed from every curse, forgiven for every sin. When you understand that, it begins to change how you live, that you are no longer foreigners or alienated, but you’re citizens of heaven. He says, “I therefore,” in Ephesians 4:1, “as the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you’re called.” You walk like a child of God. Walk like, you know, God’s called you to do something and be something.

I like that it says you have a calling. You know, I think a lot of people don’t really walk the way they should because they don’t realize the calling, they don’t realize the purpose, they don’t realize the destiny that God has for them. Well, if you know that God has called you to do something specific for Him, for His kingdom, like, He wants to do something in you and through you, it’s gonna affect how you live.

[Pastor Lawson] Amen.

Some people are just bored. They just don’t have any sense of direction, any sense of purpose. And when that’s your outlook on life, that you’re just floating through life, you’re not gonna live-

With a purpose.

[Aaron] Yeah.

And you know, we walk differently because we do have a purpose. I love that. And you know, He really begins, He talks about five things. He says walk worthy of your vocation, He says don’t walk like the rest of the Gentiles walk, the rest of the world walks, renew your mind. He says walk in love. He says walk in the light. And then, He says this in Ephesians 5:15, He says, walk circumspectly not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil.” Now, the Jews, when they were circumcised, it said some things to them. It said, number one, I have a covenant with God. It said, number two, I’m chosen by God. And then it said, number three, I’m marked out for destiny. And so, that’s tying back into what you’re saying. You’re called for a purpose.

[Aaron] Mm-hmm.

And when you begin to understand that you’re marked out by God, that there’s a purpose for your life, that God has a plan, I mean, you can’t just live like the rest of the world is. You can, but you don’t want to.

Well, you’re not going to get where God wants you to go if you-

Man, I live this way because I want to, I give because I want to, I love people because I want to. Praise God. I go to church because I want to. It’s just… Man, it’s not that I have to do this. I want to do this. Man, I sin all I want to, I just don’t want to. I’m talking about the spiritual reality of a new covenant believer. Man, I just don’t wanna live like I did before I got saved.

Praise God.

Amen. God has a great purpose for your life.

Praise the Lord. Well, we’re gonna take a very short break and we’re gonna be back, and we’re gonna continue to talk about how we walk this out in life and how we walk into victory that Jesus already won. God has a plan for you. It’s good. Praise God. If you knew how good it was, you wouldn’t want to serve the devil for one more day. Hallelujah. God bless you. We’ll be right back. Blessings. Friends, I’m so glad you’ve been watching. Today, we’ve been teaching on the subject of redemption and who we are in Christ. This is some of my best teaching. In fact, I got a revelation of this over 40 years ago in Andrew Wommack’s meetings when I was just a child, and it revolutionized my life. And I believe if you get a revelation of who you are in Christ and what happened in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, it will literally transform your life. And so, we have a lot of great teaching on Redemption, what Jesus did for us in His death, burial, and resurrection, and who we are in Christ. I encourage you to get this teaching. I believe just like it transformed my life, it will transform your life. So get on the internet, give us a call, we’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much and God bless you richly as you by His word first place. Friends, I’m glad you stayed with us. We’re right here in Ephesians 4. It says, “Endeavor,” He says, “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you’re called.” Live like you’ve got a job to do. Man, you’re called to do. Every one of us are called. We’re called to tell people about Jesus. We’re called to make a difference in the world. We’re called that God has an amazing plan. I literally believe that most believers never even find out what their God-given purpose is and they’re just kind of stuck, and God doesn’t want you to be stuck. Man, He wants you to make a difference. Praise God. The next thing he talks about walking out is in verse 17, Ephesians 4:17. He says, “This, I say therefore, and testify in the Lord that you don’t walk as other Gentiles or unbelievers walk, in the vanity of their mind.” We read in yesterday’s broadcast, Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man cheat you,” in the New King James, “or spoil you,” in the King James, being lifted up in the vain after vain, after empty deceit.” So the unbelievers walk in the vanity of their mind. Don’t walk like that. They have their under… Now, this is a really good definition of spiritual death, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God. They’re alienated from God’s life through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. You know, people are a lot of times ignorant and they’re blind, spiritually blind. The God of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe. Listen, anytime the light of the glorious gospels, Christ should shine to them. Paul talks about that in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4. And so he goes on, and so he says, “Don’t walk like the world walks, but renew your mind in the word of God.” That’s where we started this week. Praise God. We’re talking about how to walk it out. Number one, you must be born again, the process of identity. Number two, you’ve got to renew your mind. You’ve got to change the way you think. You got to let the word form and shape how you see God, and how you see yourself, how you see other people, how you see the world, you see opportunity and obstacles. Man, you talk often, Aaron, about optimist and pessimist. Tell us about that.

Yeah, it’s actually a… I love this quote from Winston Churchill. He said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, but an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” And I believe when you’re a person of faith, you’re gonna be an optimistic person and God is gonna bring you opportunities.

[Pastor Lawson] Amen.

There are great opportunities. If you’re a person of faith, you understand that you have a purpose, that you have a destiny, that God is shaping you, directing your life. He has a purpose for your life.

[Pastor Lawson] Amen.

And He’s gonna bring opportunities your way.

[Pastor Lawson] Great opportunities.

And success happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Oh, I love that one. You said your teacher taught you that in college.

Mm-hmm.

Amen. And I thank God for-

Opportunities will happen.

Praise God.

You just keep doing what you’re called to do and keep doing it with excellence. Keep being prepared.

Amen.

That’s what happened with this church. You know, when we moved into this building, we were prepared, and there is opportunity.

And we’re making more preparations for the future.

Yeah.

We’re not done yet. Praise God.

Keep having purpose.

Hallelujah. You know, so number one, He says walk worthy of the vocation with your call. Then He says walk, you know, not like the rest of the world walks, but renew your mind. Renew your mind in the word of God. Begin to think about God the way He says He is, begin to think about yourself the way God says you are, begin to see others the way God sees them, and begin to see opportunities in the world by God says there are.

I saw someone ministering and he was at a big conference with a lot of younger people, and he said, “You know what the number one problem with a lot of young people, many people my age or a little younger is that you elevate your thoughts too high.” And a lot of people are taught, if you think something, then it’s true. If you feel something, then it’s true. But really, God says, “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. My ways are higher than your ways.”

And we need to elevate the word of God. We need to elevate the promises of God. We need to elevate the Holy Spirit in Jesus. Now, he goes on. So He says, number one, walk worthy of your vocation. Number two, don’t walk like the world, but renew your mind. The number three thing He says here in Ephesians 5:1, He says, “Be therefore imitators of God, followers of God, as little children.” You know, I see little Ada putting on her mama’s boots or putting on her mama’s shoes, and she’s walking around in them and she’s so happy. That’s Aaron’s little, you know, two-year-old daughter. She’s mimicking, she’s imitating her mother. But he says, as you imitate God, “Walk in love as Christ has loved us and given Himself for an offering, a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” Man, walk in love. Let the love of God rule your heart. Let the love of God rule your mind, rule your life. Walk in love.

Amen.

Man, God loved us. We need to love one another. And we need to walk like… You know, when you love God, it changes and understand the love of God. He says, “Fornication, uncleanliness, covetousness, all these,” He says, “don’t let it be named once among you. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient.” You know, don’t have filthy dirty jokes like the world. It’s all right to joke, but just don’t have filthy dirty ones like the world. “But rather giving of thanks. For this you know, no whoremonger or unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. Do not be partakers with them.” So He says walk in worthy of your vocation, don’t walk like the world walks, renew your mind, and He says, walk in love. Love is what… You know, the Bible says this in Colossians 3:14, “Put on charity, put on the God kind of love, love that is not earned. Put on charity, which is the bond of maturity, perfection, maturity, completeness.” And then, He says this in Ephesians 5:8, “For you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light.” Man, when you understand that you are light in the Lord, that your children are the light, that you’re born of God, you walk in a different way. But if you don’t understand that, you just live like the rest of the world. If you don’t understand that God has a purpose for your life, you just live like the rest of the world. But when you understand God’s got a purpose for me, praise God, I’m walking worthy of that purpose, of that calling, I don’t need to live like the world, I renew my mind in the word, I walk in love, and then you begin to walk in light. God is love, God is light. We’ll be in a walk like who God says we are. Hallelujah. Then he says this in Ephesians 5:15, yeah, he says this, “See then that you walk circumspectly, exactly and accurately, diligently, not as fools, but as wise.” I like to say like the Jews, their circumcision, it’s a mark of the covenant. I’m a covenant person of God. I have a destiny. Praise God. I need to live like a covenant person, like I have a destiny, like I’m marked out by God. He says, “Not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time.” Buy up the time. You got to use the time for what’s good and buy it up, or you’ll do stuff you don’t need to do.

When you understand that you’re a person of value, you’re gonna realize that your time is valuable as well.

[Pastor Lawson] Amen.

A lot of people that don’t have purpose, they just waste a lot of time on things. But if you understand who you are in Christ, that you’re a person of value, that you’re a person of purpose, that your time here on this earth has purpose, it’s going shape how you see your time. Your time is valuable.

Amen. I often pray, you know, early in the morning, “God help me today to do what I need to do, to get done what I need to get done. I have so much to do, and I’m a person of purpose. And help me, you know, accomplish what You’ve called me to do.”

Yeah, and that’s really important too, is to know what God has called you to do and accomplish that. You know, it’s not just, it’d be a tragedy to spend your whole life doing something that doesn’t really matter, that you weren’t really called to do.

Right. In eternity. You know, I believe there are visionary people in the world that do great things, but it’s not necessarily what God called them to do. And I believe those things, as 1 Corinthians 3 says, are wood, hay, and stubble. They’re gonna all burn in eternity. But when we operate in the purpose and the plan of God for life, I believe those things are gold and silver and precious stones, and those things remain. We’ll use those things to honor Jesus in eternity. And He says, “Wherefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of God is.” God has a will for your life, and it is a good one. Man, if you ever know, for just a period in time, how much God loves you, how good His plan is for you, you’re gonna be done serving the devil. You won’t want to serve the devil for one more day. Man, Jesus is my Lord and He loves me. He’s got a good plan for my life.

Amen.

But a lot of people just don’t know what God’s plan and purpose is for their life. And if you don’t know that, I believe you can know that the beginning is when you get to know Jesus as your personal savior and Lord. And if you not receive Jesus as your Lord, I want you to pray today to receive Jesus. Amen. Pray this with me. Say, “Heavenly Father, I believe in Jesus. I believe that He is your Son. I believe that He died for my sins and you raised Him from the dead. And Jesus, right now, I surrender my life to You, and I ask You to forgive me for my sins and come and live Your life in me. And Jesus, I will live for You as You give me the strength.” If you prayed that prayer in a minute, Jesus has taken up residence on the inside of you, and He wants to live His life through you. That’s what we’ve been really talking about. Let the one who’s living in you, live His life through you. And if you want to pray with my prayer ministers, give us a call today and we would love to minister to you. If you’re watching and, you know, you want to tell your friends about this broadcast, they can watch it free on our website at charischristiancenter.com. You can also get our app, it’s downloadable for free. Just look for Charis Christian Center. And if you need prayer or you want product, we have a special offer. Or if you want to become a partner and help us share this message of God’s grace and love, just call us today. Blessings. Thank you so much.

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