School of Tyrannus online Course 1:The message of the Gospel Class 8: Identifying with Jesus

By R.S. Neaville All rights reserved 2012

School of Tyrannus online Course 1:The message of the Gospel Class 8: Identifying with Jesus
We have already talked about how Jesus identified himself with us in how he lived his life as a man dependent upon God. He Identified himself with sinners in his baptism, in his answers to those who called him good by saying no one is good but the father. He answered as a man would have to. He who had no sin suffered the death of a transgressor of the Law. He lived his life in faith of his father. He not only set an example for us but shared in the struggles that all of us face as human beings. Now we must learn what it means to identify with him. We must learn to share in his sufferings that we also may share in his glory. In order to share with him in his triumph over the flesh you must share with Jesus in his death. Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation This is the key to Christian life. We must learn that a servant is not greater than his master. We cannot expect any more or less blessings in this life than Jesus received. Many Christians think that because they are a Christian that they will be successful in material ways and escape suffering. Material success is not a given for Christians. Christians have suffered and died for their faith since the beginning of the Church. God blesses us in many ways. He provides for us our needs but also submits us to to trials. We must learn as Jesus did through what we suffer. In this we become strong in our faith in God instead of our own abilities. Jesus learned obedience this way and so will we. John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Mark 10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. 2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; Remember your hope in all of this. In the end you want to be revealed as a child of God. Your hope is not in material success. Your hope is not in this life but rather your hope is to share in the resurrection of the dead as with all the saints. We count our lives in this world as loss and our lives in Christ and his sacrifice gain! This is our fellowship with Jesus. Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. This calls for an eternal perspective. We like Jesus forsake this life for the life on the other side of the cross. The life we live here we live unto God in obedience. We give up the dreams and hope of the flesh as Jesus himself did. Jesus did not marry or have children, he did not build a retirement plan, he did not live his life for himself, but for God and for us. Jesus counted his true life as beginning in the resurrection and this life as the test. Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. He lived as a stranger and an alien in this world and considered heaven as his true home. All of those who share in the Hope of Christ view it the same way. Even those of faith from the old covenant saw themselves as strangers to this world. John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. John 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

All of this is part of identifying with Jesus. This shows us that our Christian life is more than just a prayer of repentance we mumbled one day. This kind of identity requires a life time of obedience, sacrifice, suffering, and faith. Your life was purchased with the blood of God's dear son. It is not your own. A believer is a disciple. It is a lifetime commitment of faith. 1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Jesus took on the burdens of our nature and did so his whole life as a man. Now we must share in his nature as those born of God, those who lay down their lives to their father's will. To this we are all called. It is a lifetime not just an event. With these understandings it will be much easier to grasp the truth of the reconciliation and the redemption in the next class. Review Questions 1. How did Jesus Identify with us? 2. What glory do we seek to share with Christ? 3. What is the key to Christian life? 4. Will all Christians be materially successful? 5. Name some things that you share in with Christ. 6. Are Christians promised an easy life here? 7. What is the true Christian's hope? 8. Can identifying with Jesus be accomplished through one prayer of faith? 9. Can you expect to be persecuted as a Christian? 10. What is the eternal perspective? Discuss this with the class.