Last week we saw that restoration begins with a relationship with God, and everything else we receive from Him flows from that position (Ephesians 1:3-5). After humanity lost a relationship with God in the Garden of Eden, God, the Father, initiated His plan of salvation to redeem humanity back to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ and restore us to our rightful place as His sons and daughters (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 6:18).
Becoming a son or daughter of God, the Father is the beginning of restoration. Everything comes from our identity in Him as sons or daughters. We become His son or daughter by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior by grace through faith (Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8, 9). The Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us, leads us, and confirms that God is our Father, we are children of God, and have come into His kingdom (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:6, 7; Colossians 1:13).
God loves us and accepts us in the Beloved, His Son Jesus (John 3:22; Ephesians 1:6). We are fully known and fully loved (Romans 5:5, 8; Song of Solomon 6:3)!
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. 1 John 4:16 (NKJV)
In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells a parable about two brothers and their father. The younger son wanted his inheritance early. So the father divided the inheritance to both sons. The younger son left home and squandered all of his inheritance on extravagant living. When he woke up to his destitute circumstances, he decided to go home because he would at least have what his father’s servants had because he felt that he no longer deserved to be called a son. But the father had been waiting and looking for him to come home and ran to meet him. The father’s actions and words revealed his heart. He put a robe, ring, and sandals on his son, re-establishing sonship and authority. He kissed him, indicating forgiveness. He made an animal sacrifice and celebrated the return and restoration of his son to his proper place in the family.
This story reveals that the heart of the father is to restore sonship. Our heavenly Father loves us and has made a way to restore and return us to our rightful place in God’s family through what Jesus did on the cross.
We need to know who we are in Christ, i.e., our identity, position, and inheritance in Him to be victorious and live the abundant life! It is an essential first step that we realize we have been established in the righteousness of Christ once we have received Him as our Savior.
We have been made righteous through Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21), but we also walk in righteousness by choosing to obey God. What we speak and the choices we make by following His Word will bring righteousness to the world where we have influence. We can’t minister effectively to those around us if we don’t know who we are and what Christ has done for us. We may need healing and deliverance for ourselves!
Secondly, we must know our position and authority in Him, so that we can know, understand, and walk in our inheritance. He has given us His authority and power because we are His sons and daughters (Luke 10:19). We stand before Him holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:22).
In the movie “Overcomer” (2019), the new believer was told to read and meditate on Ephesians chapters 1 and 2, and write down everything that Paul the Apostle recorded about our identity in Christ. I have written some things that I see in these verses. We are blessed, chosen, holy and without blame before Him in love, predestined to adoption as sons, accepted in the Beloved, redeemed, forgiven, we have obtained an inheritance, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, made alive, raised and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, we are His workmanship and created in Christ for good works, reconciled to God, making peace with Him, and we are a holy temple which is a dwelling place for the Spirit of God.
Wow! We, too, should meditate on these scriptures and find others while asking the Holy Spirit to bring revelation to us and show us how to apply these truths about our identity and position in Christ to our lives. When we learn to hear the Lord’s voice and receive revelation from Him, it connects us to God’s heart, and it helps us to understand what God wants to do in our lives and the world around us.
Check out this previous post for declarations and decrees that speaks to our identity and that we can speak over ourselves: https://alexiscarucci.com/2019/05/06/our-identity-and-inheritance-in-christ/
We also have an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11 – 14; Hebrews 9:15). What have we inherited? Eternal life in Christ and heaven is the fullness of what God has promised us in salvation (1 Peter 1:3 -5). We are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). The Blessings of Abraham to inherit the world belong to us because of Christ (Galatians 3:29; Acts 3:25; Romans 4:13 -16).
Jesus is the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, the firstborn or preeminent (Hebrews 5:5; Colossians 1:15). As God’s adopted children, we inherit and share in the inheritance of Jesus (Galatians 4:7). What belongs to Him, also belongs to us. Christ has given us His glory (John 17:22), His riches (2 Corinthians 8:9), and all things according to Hebrews 1:2! Through His death and resurrection, Christ has obtained for our salvation the forgiveness of sins, healing and health, provision and prosperity, preservation and long life, protection, and more.
Everything we have flows through the covenant we have with God through the blood of Jesus. Our identity and anointing (God’s power, ability) are not based on performance but by identity in Him by His grace. Do you know who God created you to be? We are not what we do, but whose we are!
Ask the Lord to send people into your life to help prepare, equip, and develop you for your position in the kingdom. We are sons of the light and sons of the day (1 Thessalonians 5:5). We must awaken to our destiny and embrace it with passion! Ask Him to bring a deeper revelation of His love for you. We need to know that we are loved by God so that we can love others. We are to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39).
2020 is a year of vision and to see the world around us as God sees it. That means seeing with His heart of love, mercy, and grace. We need to ask the Lord to anoint our eyes to see in the spiritual realm, and not just look with our physical eyes (Revelation 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:18). As we spend time meditating on His Word and in worship and prayer, the Holy Spirit will bring revelation of the Father’s heart and give us eyes to see (Matthew 6:22; 13:16; 2 Kings 6:17; Psalm 119:18; Ephesians 1:18).
We are not orphans! We need to know the Father’s love and His heart. We need to stay planted in the house of our Heavenly Father. It is there that we will flourish and bear fruit (Psalm 92:12 – 15). We need to know how to be loved by Him. We are in His family. He has restored us and reconciled us to Himself and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). As a son or daughter of God, we are also a prince or princess because Jesus is our King. He has given us kingdom authority to act on His behalf, bring heaven to earth, and to enforce His victory over the enemy, bringing healing, deliverance, and provision.
We may speak a word of prophecy to someone, which is a word of encouragement, exhortation, or comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). Many people have had negative words spoken to them and have believed them and even spoken these over themselves. A spirit of rejection, fear of rejection, and self-rejection may be at work in their lives. We need to come to the Father’s heart and come against the spirit of rejection by believing what God has said about us, replacing the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s Words. God created us in His image, and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 139:13 – 18). Our identity is not based on performance but by identity in Him.
Every believer can prophesy through the spirit of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 19:10). The Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh in these last days (Acts 2:17-18). Every time you share a scripture verse or what the Lord has done for you, it is the spirit of prophecy because He can do it again! Also, any believer that has received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16; 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8) can minister in the gifts of the Spirit. The gift of prophecy is one of His gifts (1 Corinthians 14:10; 31).
“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy.’” Joel 2:16-18 (NKJV)
I agree with what Kris Vallotton of Bethel Church in Redding, California, says that the world needs our prophetic voice today so that we can release the restorative power of God! God wants to heal and restore hearts. We need to love people, not condemn them. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17). It isn’t people we are contending with but the enemy who is working behind and through them.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)
A prophetic word can be transformative and provide a glimpse into what they can become. It is a process! We need to co-labor with God to do our part by speaking His Words and doing what He asks us to do!
The Lord says –
I have called you by name. You are Mine, and I am yours. You are My beloved, and I am pleased with you. My banner over you is love. My love is everlasting. There is nothing that you can do or not do that will change My love for you. My love remains. Look to My Son Jesus and be rooted and grounded in His love that you may be filled with all of My fullness. Everything that I AM. Fill up with My love for you. You are My child, and I will never leave you nor forsake you. You are My heart’s desire! The apple of My eye!
Let the Lord lavish His love on you this week as His child! He wants us to be whole in spirit, soul, and body. He has called us to walk in love and to release His healing touch to those around us. Join me next week as we look at the restoring power of God to heal!
Living the Abundant Life 