Look at What You've Been Given In Jesus Christ

You have been given so much in Jesus Christ! You have no legitimate reason for failing to be an awesome success in life, because you have so much going for you! In fact, you have much more going for you than you could possibly imagine. Today let me encourage you with just a few of the things you've been given in Jesus Christ!

John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." This verse reveals that you received divine power the day you became a child of God. The word "power" is the Greek word exousia. It describes delegated authority or influence. The day you chose to make Jesus your Lord and Savior is the day He delegated to you the power and authority to become a child of God. Think of it—at that moment of decision, all the power, authority, and divine influence that is resident within the mighty name of Jesus Christ came to live on the inside of you!

So rather than complain that you're weak and nothing special, it's time to start laying claim to what is stored up inside you! The same explosive, dynamic, phenomenal authority and power that resides within Jesus has now been delegated to reside in you!

As if that wasn't already enough, Second Corinthians 5:17 declares, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." This verse says you're a brand-new creature if you are in Christ Jesus. The word "new" is from the Greek word kainos, and it describes something that is brand new or recently made. It also carries the idea of something that is superior. This means when Jesus Christ came into your life, you were made brand, spanking new! The new you is superior to the old you! In fact, you are so new that this verse calls you a new "creature."

The word "creature" is the Greek word ktisis. It is the same word used to describe the creation of the world. When God created the universe, he used no existing materials or old elements to make it. Everything in creation was newly made. Now that same word is used to describe what happened to you the day you got saved. Everything about you is new! You're not an amended, corrected, improved version of what you used to be. You are an absolutely brand-new creation! You are completely detached from the person you once were before Christ.

Psalm 103:12 tells you how far your old ways have been removed from you: "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." When Jesus Christ came into your life, He created you to be free from the past, free from the negative effects of your family, and liberated from all former hang-ups—in short, a brand-new creature!

So stop laying claim to your family's genetic problems, inheritable sicknesses, dysfunctional behavior, disorders, hang-ups, curses, or any other negative thing that was a part of your life before Christ. That old person no longer exists. He is dead. You are brand new.

But wait—there's so much more that you've been given in Jesus Christ! For instance, Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

The first part of this verse says that you and I are God's "workmanship." This comes from the Greek word poiema. The word poiema carries the idea of something that is artfully created. The Greek word for a poet, poietes, comes from this same word. In reference to a poet, this Greek word would denote one who has the extraordinary ability to write or create a literary masterpiece.

Because Paul uses the word poiema to explain what happened when you became a child of God, it emphatically means that on the day you got saved, God put forth His most powerful and creative effort to make you new. Once God was finished making you new, you became a masterpiece, skillfully and artfully created in Christ Jesus. There's nothing cheap about you at all! God's creative, artistic, intelligent genius went into your making.

Look how much you've been given in Jesus Christ! Don't you think it's time to stop moaning about how dumb, stupid, ugly, or untalented you "feel" compared to others? Those "feelings" are all lies. Some of that may have been true before you were born again, but none of it is true of you now that you are in Christ. God turned you into something spectacular. That's who you are now! So lay claim to your new identity Adjust your thinking and talking to reflect who you really are!