Your Incredible Future as God

Evil is not the problem we face. Not knowing our worth, feeling worthless, is the problem. Evil behavior stops when we are convinced of our self-worth and have a positive view of who we really are, and thus which laws of living we must follow.

WE ARE TO BECOME LIKE JESUS CHRIST. So, to help convict you that you have an incredibly wonderful future beyond anything you can imagine, alongside Jesus Christ at the Father’s right hand, here are some identities of the saints with Jesus Christ, to show that our destinies are parallel.

1. WE HAVE AN ETERNAL NATURE.

— PAST EXISTENCE—

Jesus Christ. (John 1:1-3, 14; 3:13; 17:5).

The Elect. (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Hebrews 2:13-14; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-5, 10-11).

— FLESHLY EXISTENCE ON EARTH —

Jesus Christ. (John 1:14; Romans 8:3).

The Elect. Man is a “nephesh,” a “living soul” (Strong 5315) as stated in Genesis 2:7. (Hebrews 2:14).

— FUTURE ETERNAL EXISTENCE —

Jesus Christ. (John 17:5; Acts 2:33-34; 5:31; 7:55-56; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; I Peter 3:22; Revelation 11:15).

The Elect. (Revelation 3:21; 22:3, 5; I Corinthians 15:51-52; I Thessalonians 5:16-17; John 17:22).

2. WE ARE DESTINED TO RECEIVE RULERSHIP OVER THE NATIONS AS SPIRITS.

Jesus Christ. (Revelation 1:5; 2:26-27; 19:14-16; John 18:37).

The Elect. (Isaiah 60:1-3; Revelation 2:26-27; 5:9-10).

3. WE ARE TO INHERIT ALL THINGS.

Jesus Christ. (Haggai 2:8; John 1:3, 10; 13:3; Psalm 102:25; Isaiah 45:12; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:15-17)

The Elect. (Revelation 21:7; Matthew 5,3, 5).

4. WE RECEIVE GOD’S SPIRIT BY BAPTISM AND THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.

Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:16; see also Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:21-22). Jesus was baptized along with a number of other people; see Luke 3:21. Like the elect, God’s holy spirit was given at baptism, for it is pictured descending as a dove, a dramatic demonstration of the Father’s spirit-impregnating power. Such signs seldom accompany the baptism of the saints, but God’s spirit is granted nonetheless.

The Elect. (Acts 2:38; 9:17-18; 18:8; 19:5-6; I Timothy 4:14).

5. WE ARE SPIRITUAL BROTHERS, WITH THE SAME FATHER, FAMILY, AND POTENTIAL.

Jesus Christ. (Matthew 12:47-49; Romans 8:29; John 16:28; Revelation 1:5). As an Elder Brother whose mission it was to live a sinless life, and pay the penalty for men’s sins as the pioneer or forerunner of the saints’ salvation, Jesus Christ is the mediator between the elect and the Father (I Timothy 2:5).

The Elect. (John 17:21; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 2:11, 13).

6. WE ARE SENT TO EARTH BY THE FATHER.

Jesus Christ. (John 6:44; John 16:28; John 13:3).

The Elect. (John 6:45; Hebrews 2:13-14).

7. WE WILL REIGN WITH THE FATHER ON HIS THRONE.

Jesus Christ. (Revelation 21:22; Hebrews 8:1).

The Elect. (Revelation 3:21).

8. WE WILL BE WORSHIPED [ONLY GODS ARE WORTHY OF WORSHIP].

Jesus Christ. (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10; Matthew 28:9; John 9:37-38).

The Elect. (Revelation 3:9; Isaiah 49:23; 60:14).

9. WE PRAY DIRECTLY TO THE FATHER.

Jesus Christ. (John 17:1; Matthew 26:39).

The Elect. (Matthew 6:6,9).

10. THE FATHER SPEAKS DIRECTLY TO US.

Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5).

The Elect. God the Father speaks to the elect through the Word, the Scriptures (II Timothy 3:16; Ephesians 6:17).

11. WE ENDURE TRIALS, SUFFER, AND OVERCOME AS LIVING SACRIFICES.

Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:15; Revelation 4:21; Leviticus 1:3, and similar references elsewhere; Isaiah 53:3-5; see also I Peter 2:21-24; Matthew 27:26, 28-29, 35).

The Elect. (Romans 8:17-18; 12;1; Peter 1:6-7Revelation 21:7; Galatians 2:20).

12. WE ARE MINISTERED TO BY ANGELS.

Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:11; Luke 22:42-43).

The Elect. (Hebrews 1:13-14; Hebrews 13:2).

13. WE FORGIVE THE SINS OF OTHERS.

Jesus Christ. (Matthew 9:2-6; also in Mark 2:3-12 and Luke 5:18-26; Luke 23:34; Acts 2:38; I John 1:9; 2:12; Numbers 30:5; Psalm 86:5).

The Elect. (Matthew 6:12, 14-15; Matthew 18:35; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 6:37; 17:3-4; II Corinthians 2:7,10).

14. CHRIST AND THE ELECT ARE EQUIVALENT AT THE RESURRECTION.

Jesus Christ made no distinction between Himself and Mary — and all of His ecclesia — at His resurrection. He stated, “I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (John 20:17). A special point was made to emphasize that He considered Himself no greater than one of the brethren in terms of the true Parent for each of us. He considered Himself, in fact, a part of the brethren by this declaration. Besides, He acknowledged that the true Parent of each of us is the Father, and the only wellspring of hope we have — just as He had — is the resurrection from the dead to eternal life.

The Greek words used in John 20:17 for Father and God are as follows:

Father (Strong 3962) = pater, a father (lit. or fig., near or more remote).

God (Strong 2316) = theos, a deity, esp. the supreme Divinity, fig. a magistrate.

We will appear like Him in the resurrection (I Thessalonians 4:14; I John 3:2; Philippians 3:21; Romans 8:29; I Corinthians 15:49; Colossians 3:4; II Peter 1:4).

15. THE LAW IS WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS, WE DO THE FATHER’S WILL, AND WE HAVE HIS MIND.

Jesus Christ. (John 5:19; 17:21; Isaiah 42:21; Matthew 5:17-18; Jeremiah 31:33).

The commandments and fruits of the spirit codify for God’s way of love to the Father and love to one’s neighbor (Exodus 20:2-17; Galatians 5:22-23; Matthew 22:3;6-40).

The Elect. (Matthew 6:10; I Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10; Acts 2:17-18; Romans 8:24; righteousness is defined as keeping the commandments in Psalm 119:172).

16. WE ARE GIVEN A NAME THAT NO ONE ELSE KNOWS.

Jesus Christ. (Revelation 19:12).

The Elect. (Revelation 2:17).

17. WE ARE TO BE EXAMPLES OF GODLY LIVING TO THE WORLD.

Jesus Christ. (John 4:31; 5:19, 30; 9:4; 12:49; 14:10).

The Elect. (I Peter 2:21-23; I John 2:6, 15-17; Matthew 11:28-30; John 7:18; 13:15).

18. THERE IS HOPE OF GREAT GLORY IN THE SPIRIT REALM AFTER PHYSICAL DEATH

Jesus Christ. “… looking unto Jesus the Beginner and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the stake, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Joy (Strong 5479) = chara, “cheerfulness, i.e. calm delight.”

The Elect. (Romans 8:18; I Corinthians 2:9).

19. WE HAVE BEEN SENT INTO THE WORLD

Jesus Christ and The Elect. (John 17:18).

20. WE ARE NOT OF THE WORLD

Jesus Christ and The Elect. (John 17:14, 16).

21. WE ARE TEMPTED WITH EVIL

Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:15).

The Elect. (James 1:12, 14).

There are many more identities of Jesus Christ with the elect which one could explore. Note some comprehensive scriptures that clearly denote the same pathway which Jesus Christ and the saints walk.

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:17-18).

“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (I John 2:6).

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. and the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have love Me” (John 17:20-23).

“But all of us who are Christians have no veils on our faces, but reflect like mirrors the glory of the Lord. We are transfigured in ever-increasing splendor into his own image, and the transformation comes from the Lord who is the spirit” (II Corinthians 3:18, Phillips translation).

22. WE WERE ORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD TO BE SONS OF GOD

Jesus Christ

“He [Jesus Christ] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (I Peter 1:20).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1-2, 14).

The Elect

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to HImself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6 ).

“For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined these He also called; whom He called these He also justified; and whom He justified these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

“Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed [tasso = ‘to place in order, appoint’] to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

23. WE WERE MADE A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS

Jesus Christ

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little [while] lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9).

The Elect

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little [while] lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet …” (Psalm 8:3-6).

“For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him? You have made him a little [while] lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.” (Hebrews 2:5-8).

Here we see that both Jesus and the elect have been made lower than the spirit plane for “a little while,” meaning that they are on equal terms in this sense, both flesh and blood which can die. Jesus Christ came from the spirit realm, where he preexisted, and lived as a human being in the image of Elohim just as the physical descendants of Adam have been doing for about 6,000 years. Jesus has been raised from the dead, the “firstborn of many brethren” (Romans 8:29), and the elect will be raised at the resurrection and likewise be given eternal life (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). Please refer to point 1 to review the fact that humans, made in Elohim’s image, also prexisted in the heavenly realm as did Jesus Christ.

24. WE WILL BE RAISED BY THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER IN US

Jesus Christ and The Elect

“But if the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit which dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

We are well aware that we, as saints, will be raised to eternal life at the resurrection, and be with the Father and Jesus Christ forever (I Thessalonians 4:13-17 Revelation 20:4). This is the same promise given to Jesus Christ, who is presently atthe Father’s right hand (Acts 2:33; Romans 8:34; Luke 22:69; O Peter 3:22), where the saints will also be after being raised (Revelation 3:21).

25. WE ARE JOINT HEIRS OF SALVATION

Jesus Christ and The Elect

“The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, thatwe may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:16-17).

“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (I John 2:6).

Of special interest is II Corinthians 3:18: