Weekly Bulletins

The Weekly Bulletin from CMI -- March 1, 2006

Our Identity Crisis

In America, people are finding gain in stealing the identity of another. People will use the personal information of another; drivers license number, social security number, or other personal information and then pose as the person. The identity imposter will then open charge accounts under the false identity, or access financial records or accounts to withdraw funds from another. There is an identity crisis in our land, and people are taking extra precautionary measures to protect themselves. These things are also happening on an international level, as people from other nations will obtain banking information of another and fraudulently use funds in these accounts for their own gain.

There is also an identity crisis in the spiritual realm. The Bible says we were created by God to be in His image and likeness. We were created by God to know Him. We were created by God for His plan and purposes. We were created by God to be in unity with Him, with His character, with His nature, with His likes and dislikes. We were created to show forth His blessedness through our humanity by ruling and reigning with Him over His creation.

When man fell into sin, he lost his true identity. God is perfect, man became sinful. Man in his fallen nature sought his identity in what he did, he no longer could find his identity in what he was because deep within him was the desire to sin and to live in rebellion to the holy and righteous nature of His creator. Man sought his identity in his profession, in his athletic ability, in his raising children, in his accumulating wealth, in his being accepted and recognized by others and other self fulfillment or self pleasing ideals. These objectives or identities are not evil in themselves. However they come from our finding our identity in what we do rather in who we are.

God does what is good because He desires what is good. He desires what is good because He is good. His very nature is good. He does not have to live under rules and regulations in order to do what is good. He is good. Man must be motivated to do what is good, because within him is the desire to do what is not good. That is why we have rules and regulations. Man's basic nature is not pure and good like the nature of God. Man in his fallen state could not even know or appreciate or want to glorify the holy and good nature of God. He thought that doing some unholy and unrighteous things would give him the most pleasure. He would do things that were right because of the bad consequences of doing evil or because of the rewards of doing what is right. If the laws were removed or the rewards diminished man often did things outside the will of God. Man would then often pretend to be good by doing good even though his whole being was not wanting to continually do good.

God offers man a new identity. He sent His Son to show humans the blessedness of continually doing good. Jesus, His Son, continually lived in the will of God. He let God develop His sinless human nature into one which was filled with the nature and Spirit of God. He perfected a holy and righteous human nature which always did the will of God even when it meant suffering at the hands of men, when it meant allowing Satan's wrath to be wrongfully vent on Him, and even when it meant being separated from His Father as our sin bearer.

The nature of Jesus loved and still loves the nature of God. The nature of Jesus loves to exalt and worship the nature and character of God. The nature of Jesus seeks to have men freed from the ways of the fallen nature that men were born with because of the sin of their ancestors. The nature of Jesus seeks to have sin removed from the earth and to have Satan's kingdom destroyed. The nature of Jesus lives in unity and close continual communion with His Father. Jesus lived this way when He lived on the earth. Now He lives in heaven, reigning over the spiritual realm and over the world. He lives to impart this nature into those who come to Him.

Living in the nature of Jesus imparts into my being the desire to love God. Having the nature of Jesus in me gives me the ability to love the holy nature of God that Jesus brings to me. The nature of God in Jesus in me makes me into a new being. I now begin to do good because I want to do good. I want to do good because I am good. I am good because my inner nature is good because my inner nature is of God who is good.

My identity is now one of being a God lover. My desire is to let God know I love and appreciate Him because of who He is, and for what He has brought into me. My identity is now one of loving what God loves and becoming one with Him through being united with His nature and character. The Spirit of God is uniting my spirit with Himself. The Spirit of God is helping me to see and rid myself of attitudes and desires that are not of God. The Spirit replaces these with the attitudes of Jesus as I agree with Him and confess my sins and receive the righteousness of Jesus. I am being united with God. This is the prayer and desire of Jesus for me. He wants this for me. This is a good thing that Jesus wants for me. Because He wants it and because the Spirit of God reveals this to me, I can want what is good for me. I can want what is good for others. I can want others to want what is good because I have the good nature of Jesus in me. This is who I am. I am a worshipper and follower of God. That is who I am. I do what I do because of who I am. This is the identity God has for us all.

We are all given different talents and abilities. However my identity is not based on my talents and abilities. I will function differently than others because of my unique talents and abilities, but my identity is in worshiping the God who created me. My identity is in loving Him and His ways. My identity is in knowing and doing His will because of who I am. God is uniting me with Himself, by imparting Himself into my being. As I become more like Him I want to honor and worship Him more because I appreciate more and more His very nature and character. As I appreciate Him more, I worship Him more and I realize that in worshipping Him I am doing a very good thing because I am appreciating the being who is the very best being in all the world. I am doing what is a good thing because I am becoming good as He is good. That is my identity. I can love myself not because of always doing what is good, but because I am becoming good by wanting what is not good removed so only that which is good will remain. This is who I am, because it is who He is, and I am of Him.

[The above text was in the March 2006 Almond Branch Newsletter; what follows completes the teaching.]

God the Father loves His Son. The Father affirmed His love and respect for His Son supernaturally to others. He spoke this at the Baptism of Jesus. He spoke this when Jesus manifested the glory of God in His human body on the Mount of Transfiguration. He told His disciples that He could love others because He knew He was loved by His Father. He lived in the love of His Father. He lived in His Father's bosom. (John 1:18) Jesus knew that He was loved by His Father before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)

Jesus wants us to have the love of His Father for Himself in us. He said, "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:26 (NKJV) The Father loves the Son and desires to do what His Son desires Him to do. God therefore puts His love of His Son into my being because Jesus asked Him to do this for us. Because I have the love of the Father for Jesus in me, I can love others. I have a deep passion within me for others because I have the love of God for Jesus in me and the Father is conforming me into the likeness and character of Jesus. I therefore am able to love others with the love of God. When I have the love of God in me, I also have a deep love for God. This is because God loves what is pure and just and holy and there is nothing more pure and just and holy that God Himself. I am therefore a lover of God and love to do His will, which is to love His Son and to love others. This is who I am. I am a lover of God. I am one who is loved by God. I am one who loves others with the love of God. I am one who is not overly attached to the things of this world because I have a love of things which are eternal, and I am a lover of the things that God loves which are people.

God is releasing His love for His Son into the world. The Song of Songs book of the Bible portrays the maturing of the Bride of Christ into loving the Bridegroom with a mature love. The book begins with the bride asking the Father to send the Bridegroom to her for she wants to develop a close relationship with Him. The bride goes through many good times with the bridegroom and she also has several difficult times as their relationships develops and matures. The book ends with the bride expressing the truth that the love relationship with the bridegroom surpasses all. When we have the love of God for God and for the things of God, including ourselves, we have the achieved the greatest accomplishment.

Rich-in-Christ

Cyrus Ministries International (CMI)

Serving God as He Unites Heaven and Earth in Christ