Jesus’ Partner in Grace || Who Am I? || Week 4

Welcome back to another installment of “Who Am I?”, a series that looks at different names that God calls us his children. Today’s focus, albeit a stretch, so stay with me, are titles that help act alongside Jesus. Today, we focus on being an overcomer, a partaker, an ambassador, and a part of a chosen generation. Again, my grouping may seem like a stretch, but I promise to put all the puzzle pieces together into one glorious image. Let’s dive into it. 

Title #1: I am an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. 

Revelation 12:11 – They defeated him by the blood sacrifice of the Lamb and by the message of God that they told people. They did not love their lives too much. They were not afraid of death.

This shows that no accusation can stand against us, who sin, because we have been forgiven thanks to Christ’s sacrifice. There’s more information that expands on this in Romans 8:33-39. We’re not going to read it, but I will reference some of the stories in my thought journey.

We, as Christians, agree that Jesus died for our sins and rose again three days later. I believe that most Christian denominations/religions agree on that. Paul says to the Romans that No one can say we’re guilty of our sins aside from God. No one has the power to condemn us and convict us except God. There are four reasons that we cannot be found guilty: Christ’s death, his resurrection, his exalted position, and his continual intercession for us. (Romans 8:34). Thanks to Christ’s bloody sacrifice, he overcame sin, and therefore, we are forgiven of our sin. We continue showing that grace, forgiveness, and mercy to others by sharing our Christian journey with all people we encounter. It’s a powerful thing to remember that no matter what battle we face, what darkness we sit in, and what trials we are convicted of. Jesus overcame all of it because of how much he loves us. 

Title #2: I am a partaker of His divine nature. 

2 Peter 1:3-4 – Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With these gifts, you can share in being like God. And so, you will escape the ruin that comes to people in the world because of the evil things they want. 

Jesus’ power is the source of our sufficiency and perseverance. We have always been gifted the salvation of life. We persevere because we have received everything necessary to sustain eternal life through Jesus’ power. Jesus provides us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. This devotion means to live lovingly, loyally, and obediently toward God. Peter says that we shouldn’t ask God for something to become more godly because we already have every spiritual resource to be like God. To know God is the crucial thing here. The word “knowledge” often repeats in 2 Peter. It implies intimate knowledge. The knowledge of Christ emphasized in this scripture isn’t superficial or a mere surface awareness of the facts about Christ, but a genuine, personal sharing of life with Christ, based on our repentance from sin and personal faith in Jesus. Jesus chose us because of his glory and goodness. This is the effectual call to salvation, mentioned through multiple NT epistles. The saving call is based on the sinner’s understanding of Christ’s glory and goodness, evidencing that Jesus is Lord and Savior. This shows Christ’s clear presentation and works as the God-Man in evangelism, which attracts us to his salvation. The cross also shows.

Jesus gave us the very great and rich gifts that were promised to us. The gifts help us share in being like God. This expression surrounds the different interpretations of being “born again.” These promises of salvation result in us becoming God’s children today, thereby sharing in God’s nature by the possession of eternal life. We aren’t little gods in the deity sense, but we are “new creations” and have the Holy Spirit living in us.

Moreover, we partake in the divine nature more significantly when we bear a glorified body like Jesus. We will be about to escape the corruption from the evil desires of people and the world. Corruption has the same context as decomposing or decaying; escaping requires us to picture a successful flight from danger. When we get saved, we escape from the power that the world’s evil has over us through our fallen and sinful nature. 

Title #3 – I am an ambassador for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20 – So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. 

We don’t often hear the term “ambassador” in our daily lives; at least, I don’t. The term “ambassador” is related to the more familiar Greek word often translated as “elder.” It describes an older, more experienced man who served as a representative of a king from one country to another. Paul thus describes the role of believers as a messenger representing Jesus with the gospel, who pleads with the people to be reconciled to God, who is their rightful King. As we present the gospel, God speaks/begs/appeals through us and urges those who don’t believe to come to accept what the gospel says and believe it through faith. This basically means to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus. We now have a better understanding of our job description as ambassadors of Christ. 

Title #4 – I am a part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people.

1 Peter 2:9 – But you are his chosen people, the King’s priests. You are a holy nation, people who belong to God. He chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He brought you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light.

Peter uses a lot of OT concepts to emphasize the privileges of the NT Christians. He emphasized this in contrast to what he said about the disobedient appointed by God to wrath a verse earlier. To be a royal priesthood is a concept drawn from Exodus 19:6. Israel temporarily forfeited this privilege because of its faithlessness and its evil leaders who executed the Messiah. Today, the church was considered a royal priesthood united with the royal priest, Jesus. A royal priesthood is a priesthood that belongs to and serves the King and a priesthood that exercises rule. The is the goal of Christ’s future kingdom. To be a holy nation is again connected to Exodus 19:6. Tragically, Israel temporarily forfeited the privilege of being the unique people of God through unbelief. Until Israel’s future acceptance of its Messiah. God has replaced the nation with the church for Israel’s salvation. To be a purchase, people combine many vocabularies from the following scriptures: Exodus 19:5, Isaiah 43:21, Malachi 3:17, and Titus 2:14. Feel free to read those verses, and let’s continue the conversation in the comments. We will proclaim all the awesome things that God has done for us. “Proclaim” is an unusual word found in no other spot in the NT. It means to tell forth or to say something not otherwise known. These good things include praises, virtues, and the superior qualities of Jesus.

So what did we learn today? We learned that we are an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. We learned that we are a partaker of His divine nature. We learned that we are an ambassador for Christ. We learned that we are a part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people.

Until the next time, folks, stay blessed!