The Death And Resurrection Of Christ

Mark: God produced that. He did that through the death and resurrection of Christ. He produced that righteousness for us.  I laugh because I heard a funny story years ago about a guy who went to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist asked “what’s your problem?” he’s suffering with a low self-esteem and low self-image. The psychiatrist asked “what’s your problem?” he said, “I think I’m a dog.” the psychiatrist asked “how long have you had that problem?” he said “since I was a puppy.” he said “get up on the couch and let’s talk about it.” he said “I’m not allowed.” so, a lot of times we have such a low self-esteem that began when we were a puppy. In other words, Jesus said you must be born again and when you make Jesus the lord of your life, one translation says you’re born of God and one translation says you’ve been re-fathered by god. So, god has re-fathered you and you’ve been born again with a new heart, a new spirit, you’re a partaker of the divine nature and the same life that raised Christ from the dead is literally in every believer. We were identified with him.

Joyce: When we’re born again, he comes to live in us, so you might say the divine seed of god is in us and I like to get practical with it and say we are pregnant with everything that God is. Just like when a man plants his seed in the womb of his wife and she becomes pregnant, that seed has to be nurtured and cared for, but at the right time we will give birth to everything that god is if we just keep watering that seed with the word, letting the Holy Spirit work in our lives, changing the way we talk about ourselves, changing the way we think about ourselves because really, the fact is no matter what you have in the bank, if you don’t know you have it you’re not gonna spend it. So, no matter what we have in Christ, if we don’t know it, we’re not gonna benefit from it and the devil loves ignorance.

Mark: You have Colossians 2:9-10 where it says what’s in Christ, “for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”  but he doesn’t stop there and he says “and you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power.”  so what god did in Christ, I like to say it this way, whatever god did in Christ is what he wanted to do in everybody, so god was literally not working on Christ, he was working in Christ and he was working on us.  In God’s mind, he deposits everything he has, his life, his divine nature, his ability into Christ and then he put us in union with Christ.  We walked right into the treasury.  Everything God has, we’re heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ but sometimes as Christians, we almost like to talk about how we’re nothing and we can’t do anything, but god has a funny way of dealing with people. Even in the old testament the angel came to Gideon and said, “hey, Gideon! The lord is with you and you’re a mighty man of valor!” it literally means you’re a champion!  And Gideon says, “how could that be true? I come from the worst tribe, I come from the worst family, I’m the worst child in the family and I’m living in a hole in the ground.”  yet, god comes and says: you are a champion! Notice the angel didn’t bring the message and say, “Gideon, someday you might be alright if we keep working with you.” no, God speaks in the present tense; he says: you are.

Joyce Meyer Ministries: I got to the point where I actually did not even want to go outside anymore because if I did not give every human being that I came near a tract, I felt guilty.