Called in Love || Who Am I? || Week 6

Welcome back to another installment of “Who Am I?”. This series has taken a look at a variety of titles that God calls us as his children. If you’ve missed the last five parts, I suggest you go back and either read or listen to them because we get called many incredible names. Let’s dive into it.

Title #1: I am redeemed from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty.

Galatians 3:13 – The law says we are under a curse for not always obeying it. But Christ took away that curse. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. The Scriptures say, “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under a curse.”

Christ redeemed us from the curse that comes from the law. The Greek word for “redeemed” was often used to refer to buying a slave’s or debtor’s freedom. Christ’s death acted as this redemption because his death paid for all of our sins. Jesus’ death satisfied God’s justice which essentially purchased believers from slavery to sin and from the sentence of eternal death. By taking our place and paying the price for our sin, Christ took the curse given to those who violated the law. 

Jesus released us from sin because of His sacrifice. This sacrifice frees us from the eternal punishment of sin, the spiritual sickness that comes with managing our sin, and the poverty of needing to repay our sin. This freedom isn’t to say that we are COMPLETLY free of it. We will still need to pay the earthly price for our sin by dealing with the consequences of our actions, but Jesus paid the eternal price that allows God to forgive us for acting in a sin-like manner.

Title #2: I am called of God to obey the voice of His Praise

Psalm 66:8 – People, praise our God. Sing loud songs of praise to him.

2 Timothy 1:9 – God saved us and chose us to be his holy people, but not because of anything we ourselves did. God saved us and made us his people because that was what he wanted and because of his grace. That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began.

The 2 Timothy passage starts as most New Testament Epistles did by referring to God’s call of us believers to salvation. This call results in holiness, justified and sanctified, and finally, glorification. This concept that God chose us not because of what we did is the foundation of the gospel. Salvation is by grace through faith, apart from works. Grace is also the basis for God’s life-giving work in us. Jesus made God’s salvation plan possible because he was the substitute sacrifice for our sins. 

This title reminds me, and hopefully reminds you, to give glory to God in all situations. God chose us mainly. God chose our generation to further the completion of his plan here on earth. God didn’t save us because of anything we did; God saved us because of the plans he has for each one of us to help merge the realms of heaven and earth.

Title #3: I am healed by the stripes of Jesus

Isaiah 53:5 – But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain.

1 Peter 1:24 – The Scriptures say, “Our lives are like the grass of spring, and any glory we enjoy is like the beauty of a wildflower. The grass dries up and dies, and the flower falls to the ground.

As we’ve learned, Jesus was the substitute for us to pay the price of sin. The emphasis in Isaiah is that Christ is the one to receive God’s punishment for sin. He didn’t receive for his sin because Jesus was sinless. Jesus was the sacrifice to pay the price for our sin. In Peter’s passage, he’s reinforcing the power of Scripture to regenerate our spirit. Peter’s passage comes from Isaiah 40:6-8, which talks about how transitory humanity is. Isaiah talks about how each day we take breath make be taken from us in a moment. We could be here today but gone tomorrow. Isaiah’s imagery in Isaiah 40:6-8 talks about humans can wither like plants under a hot, humid wind. Peter took illustration to show the passing nature of everything related to humanity. It’s just a wise thing to remember throughout our lives and throughout our Christian journey the sacrifice Jesus made for you and me and what that truly means for our lives today. 

Title #4: I am raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places. 

Ephesians 2:6 – Yes, it is because we are part of Christ Jesus that God raised from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly place. 

Colossians 2:12 – When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him because of your faith in God’s power. God’s power was shown when he raised Christ from death.

The terms “raised” and “seated” used in Ephesians 2:6 show us that they are immediate and direct results of salvation. Not only are we dead to sin and alive to righteousness through Christ’s resurrection, but we also enjoy God’s joy and share in his preeminent glory. The heavenly places refer to the realm where God reigns and Satan temporarily rules. This realm is where our blessings are, our inheritance is, our affections should be, and where we enjoy fellowship with God. It’s the realm where our prayers and life-altering changes go. The heavenly places are a way more significant thing than we realize. I encourage you to listen to the BibleProject’s series on “Spiritual Beings” because it dissects the heavenly realm and the divine council. I finished taking a class on Genesis 1 and 2, and my brain exploded with how much revelation took place. I could do a whole series on the Spiritual Beings later on (hint hint).

We also need to look at everything the Colossians 2 passage mentions. We get baptized, meaning (in my terms, which may not be relevant to Methodism teachings, so forgive me, but it’s how I understand it.) that our sins as a pre-Christian get washed away from us. We are essentially “born again” with God’s mercy and grace connected to us, and our relationship with Jesus begins. We were buried with Christ, signifying that our earthly beings and sinful nature go in the tomb with Jesus as he was the sacrifice that paid the price for our sin. We were raised with Jesus because we become resurrected with a new spiritual life and principles guiding us. Glory to God because it’s through his power that we get to experience all these things as Christian. 

So, what did we learn today? We learned that Jesus had redeemed us from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty. We learned that God calls us to obey the voice of His praise. The stripes of Jesus heal us. We are raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places.

We have just one more part in this series, so stay tuned for the FINALE coming very soon. Until then, stay blessed!