Co-identity - Our Single Identity
When Jesus shouted, “TETELESTAI” (IT IS FINISHED) from the cross, it was a cry of complete 100% victory! It was a declaration of finality! He was saying, the old has ended, it's done, it's over!
In Revelation 21:5–6, John heard Jesus declare from the throne: "Behold, I make ALL things new. Write: for these words are faithful and true. It is DONE! I AM the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End."
The word done is ginomai in Greek, which means to emerge, transitioning from one condition or one realm to another. It signifies a change of condition, state, or place.
He had just said in verse 5, “I make ALL new! IT IS DONE! ALL HAS BEEN MADE NEW! IT IS FINISHED!” And ALL humanity was co-seated with Him completely WHOLE — nothing missing, nothing broken in our lives HERE and NOW.
That is the enormity and vast magnitude of grace!
And the good news is that no one can tell us how extreme grace can be in our thinking or how far we apply IT IS FINISHED to our lives. And the bigger it is in your understanding and life application, the more offensive it is to some around you. But don't let that deter you! Jesus asked the disciples in Matthew 16, "Who do men say that I am?" And the disciples answered, "Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets." But Jesus persisted in asking them, "BUT who do YOU say that I am?" And Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" Peter's answer was not the popular opinion of the masses. His revelation from the Father was bigger than that of popular belief. But he believed and said what Abba revealed to Him.
Why is that important? Because as we behold Him, seeing who He truly is, we can know who we are. His life defines ours. Our identity is defined by His life IN us.
Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Paul says that because we were joined with Him in death, we co-raised with Him in the newness of life. His resurrection life is our new life. The truth is that we walk in this newness of life regardless of if we're aware of it or not. And we're talking about ALL mankind. We didn't co-resurrect with Him when we decided to believe it and say a prayer. ALL humanity rose up out of the grave together with Him two thousand years ago as one new man IN Christ. Alive with His resurrection life. This is our newness of life. We've got to grasp this because we've been living life trying to get healed, delivered, set free, etc. AND the truth is that we are ALREADY in this newness of life; we just haven't fully understood what this new life looks like. We haven't understood that ALL humanity has been restored to their original design as sons made in the image and likeness of God.
And if we're going to experience the benefits of this new life, such as divine health, prosperity, peace, etc., then we must understand the SINGLE IDENTITY that has been dispersed into us IN CHRIST, uniting us with Christ, AS Christ.
John said it like this, “As He is, so are we in this world.” AS He is… AS the resurrected Christ. That’s not an easy one for us to immediately grasp because we’ve been taught by religion that we are becoming like Him and one day we will arrive and be like Him. But for now, we are always becoming. Always trying to strive to be more like Jesus. You know the saying, “what would Jesus do?” And then of course you have new age philosophy that removes Jesus out of the equation when they talk about themselves being “Christs.” Neither of those ideas are what I am proclaiming.
I don’t believe we are becoming like Him, nor do I believe that we are Christs apart from Jesus, who is THE Christ, the Son of the Living God.
When I say we have a single identity AS Christ it is only because of Jesus! It is because of His FINISHED work in reconciling us. He took our body into His body and resurrected with ALL humanity as ONE NEW MAN. And the beauty of it is the individuality of the expression of Him in and through us in the world.
This is what I am referring to as our single identity — our co-identity WITH Him, IN Him. The single identity that we share together with Him, AS Him.
Single and co sound like a contradiction. But it is a single identity… His. And it’s ‘co’ because we would not have His identity apart from Him.
Everything Paul teaches is a revelation of this single, co-identity — our shared identity AS Christ in this newness of life that we call our Christ life! It is the revelation of the Gospel. In Galatians 3, he says that because we belong to Christ, because we are His, therefore, we are, or we exist as Abraham's seed. Seed singular, not plural. We are not Abraham's seeds; we are Abraham's Seed. In other words, because we belong to Christ and are joined with Him in union, we exist and share His identity as Christ, the Seed. That's not blasphemous. That's the beautiful fullness of our new life IN Him. What is true of Him is true of us.
Athanasius said that Jesus became what we were so that we would become what He is.
When did we become what He is?
Two thousand years ago when we resurrected with Him. In Galatians 2, Paul defines his new life. He said that he died with Christ and no longer lives, but Christ lives IN him. Our new life is defined by union, by our ONENESS with Christ. We are the full embodiment of Him in the earth.
And so, Paul's mission was that we understand the fullness of what our Christ-life, our new identity AS Him looks like.
And he had only one concern. Not that we would go too far in understanding our co-identity, but that we wouldn't go far enough.
2 Corinthians 11:3 says, “I fear lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds (your perceptions) may be corrupted from the simplicity (the singleness, or oneness) that is in Christ.” What's he talking about? That we might lose the understanding of our singleness, our oneness, which is our identity IN Christ. This is what the whole Gospel is about — the revelation of who we are now because of what Christ has done. Because of what He FINISHED for us and as us. It's about who we've been resurrected AS… NOT who we've been resurrected to BECOME
1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with HIM.”
I told you in earlier chapters that it doesn't say one spirit WITH Him as most translations say. The word with was added by translators. It sounds like maybe they had trouble with wrapping their heads around this single identity that we share with Christ. It says he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Paul’s talking about a single identity. We are one spirit — Him. It’s not two separate spirits… ours and Him. It’s one spirit… His. We're not with but IN. And because we are IN Him and He is IN us, we are fused together as ONE spirit. A shared single identity with Him. What a beautiful mystical truth.
Our new identity IN Christ is His identity IN us. One single identity — it is His life IN us and AS us.
So, if we're going to experience the fullness of our inheritance IN us, such as restored health, wholeness, prosperity, etc., we're going to have to embrace this single identity as Him. And not just in our spirit only. Our soul is fully redeemed and has a single shared identity AS Him. We have the mind of Christ. The Amplified Bible says that we have the thoughts, feelings, and purposes of His heart or His mind. It doesn’t say that we are to learn and emulate His thoughts, feelings, and purposes of His heart. It says we HAVE the mind of Christ.
And our body is also fully redeemed. It is a single identity AS Him. We are the embodiment of Him — He lives IN us.
Ephesians 5:30 says that we are members (limbs and parts) of His body. And then Paul tells us something incredible so that we won't miss the significance of it! He says we are OF HIS FLESH AND OF HIS BONES. Jesus, in Luke 24:39, spoke to the disciples, "Touch me for a spirit hath NOT flesh and bones." The Mirror Bible says in its notes that the resurrection of Jesus did not compromise the incarnation. Resurrection life is packaged in skin and bones. Ezekiel said it like this, “there's a Man on the throne!”
Our flesh and bone body co-resurrected the same AS His… immortal, incorruptible, and ageless! Not apart from His… but resurrected AS ONE body… His. His life IN us is our identity… it defines our physical body.
Romans 7:4 says, “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another. To Him who was raised from the dead that you should bear fruit to God.”
The word married is ginomai, and means become, cause to be, emerged. It signifies a change of condition, state of being, or place. We are married to Another. We became or emerged as Another. And who is the Another? HIM, who was raised from the dead.
We emerged or became Him who was raised from the dead. WOW!
John said it like this, “AS He is so, are we in this world.” Not as He was in the gospels. But as He is resurrected from the dead. It was the physical body of Jesus that was raised from the dead. 1 Peter 3:8-10 tells us that Jesus was made alive in the spirit when He went and preached to the spirits in prison. BUT He was made alive physically when He was raised. And the declaration here in Romans 7:4 is that when we emerged from our co-death with Him, we resurrected AS Him who was raised from the dead. We are His flesh and His bones. The old man had died in all of its corruption.
The new man is alive with His life, AS HIM…. a reflection of Him in the earth… incorruptible, immortal, sinless, the perfect image and likeness of Abba.
Let's take this a step further. Romans 6:9 says, “Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over Him.” WOW! Let's read this the way Holy Spirit intended us to read this. Because we tend to read these verses seeing all the wonderful things that happened to Jesus because of His death and resurrection. But Jesus didn't need any of those things! We did! He had all of that before He emptied Himself of it and came to give it to us. He died and resurrected for us and as us. Because we needed these glorious things. This verse starts with, “Knowing that Christ.” Who have we become according to Romans 7:4? We became Another, Him who was raised from the dead. We need to start inserting our name in these verses. So, knowing that Christ (that includes us because we are AS Christ, sharing His identity) has been raised from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion.
Death is not just physical death. It includes sickness, disease, accidents, poverty, affliction, fear, etc. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
This isn't just excellent news about Him. This is excellent news about us!
Death (and all of its effects) NO LONGER have dominion over us. So, what should be our expectation in life? The expectations of our physical body? We were raised from the dead! We are free from death and ALL its effects… sickness, disease, poverty, addiction, etc. This is our identity. His identity is our identity. We are IN Him, and He is IN us… single identity!
He is Christ. We are Christ. How? BECAUSE we are His and in complete union with Him — ONE!
1 Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular.” Make it personal not corporate… “now, I am the body of Christ and members individually. I am the physical body of Christ, His flesh, and His bones.” We're not just talking about the corporate body of Christ as the church. This is an individual personal identity.
The Mirror Bible says it this way, “You are the body of Christ, individually as much as you are his body corporately. Every one of you mirrors him. He defines your form.”
In Galatians 6:17, Paul says, “From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus.” Religion will tell you that this refers to all the bruising and the beating Paul took in his persecution. But go deeper into this. Paul had a deep revelation of his co-identity with Christ. Everything he speaks comes from his own understanding and revelation of his true identity “as Him, who was raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4). And he is saying that it is because of this co-identity, that he knows he bears the marks of the Lord Jesus in his body. This isn't just because he took a beating. This was Paul's revelation of who he was. He said… “From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body.” The word no one is médeis in Greek and can be translated as either no one or nothing. Make it personal. Don't just read it as Paul's persecutions and beatings. Insert yourself in these truths… see your own co-identity with Christ, AS Christ.
In other words, from now on, NOTHING gives me trouble, for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus. Cancer can't trouble us! Heart disease can't trouble us! Addiction and manic depression can't trouble us! Why? Because we bear in our body the marks of Jesus. His marks are our co-marks. His suffering was our co-suffering.
Our identity with Him, as Him is a co-identity — a single shared identity.
So, we've become Him who raised from the dead (Romans 7:4) and we bear in our body the marks of Jesus (Galatians 6:17). Therefore, any difference between your physical body and His physical body is indistinguishable. We are members of His body, of His flesh, and His bones. This is our co-identity. We have become, we emerged AS Him who was raised from the dead.
So, any difference between your body and His body is ONLY distinguishable in our perception.
Because, in truth, we were raised in newness of life. So why is our perception distorted? Could it be that the two most unreliable, deceived, corrupt information systems (the world and religion) have determined our health and life expectancy for us? We have listened to their definitions of what our life should look like; instead of understanding that His life is our life. And whatever is true of Him is equally true of us.
What is true of Him? He is immortal, incorruptible, and ageless.
But the church first started telling people that their age expectancy should be 70 or 80 years, basing it on Psalm 90. But Moses was about 120 when he prayed this in Psalm 90. He was lamenting over the fact people around him were dying around 70 or 80 years old. He was having to bury "kids" in the wilderness that were 50 years younger than him. And then, the church changed it and began to teach that God's will for man's lifespan is 120 years based on Genesis 6:3. But that wasn't the will of God. This verse is talking about the flood. And Noah lived 500 plus years AFTER the flood. And the world's understanding of our lifespan is no different. Their numbers are constantly changing based on natural conditions and circumstances. So, we've allowed the world and religion to create and define for us our health and life expectancy. Instead of understanding that AS He is, so are we in this world… immortal, incorruptible, and ageless. The church and the world don't get to determine our quality of life.
No one and nothing gets to decide what our life span is. Why? Because death has no dominion over us.
Romans 12:1–2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Paul said, “present your bodies.” This is the same Paul who told us that we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones in Galatians. And the same Paul that just said earlier in Romans that we have become Him who was raised from the dead. And now Paul says… present your bodies a living sacrifice. Religion tells us we must do something sacrificial in order to actually BECOME. But there is only ONE Living Sacrifice, Jesus. What's Paul saying here? To present yourself AS Him. The word present is paristémi and literally means to stand beside, to show, and substantiate.
In other words, what he's saying is stand beside your body and recognize it to be the same body of Christ, the Living Sacrifice who took our bodies into His body.
The same word is used in Colossians 1, “Him we preach that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
Paul's saying, stand beside yourself; you've forgotten who you are. You've forgotten what you look like. Stand beside yourself so you can get a good view of yourself and realize who you are… whatever defines His body now defines yours. His identity is your identity. You've become Another. You emerged from death, co-resurrected AS Him who was raised from the dead. This is not blasphemy. This is not heresy. It is way outside the box that religion and the world have placed us in. But it's not blasphemous. It is hard for people to understand, but this is who we are.
This is not new-age cosmic teaching. This is the beautiful FINISHED work of being joined, of our co-union! It is our co-identity, our single identity that we share with Christ!
Paul said, it's no longer I who live but Christ. And he said for me to live IS Christ. Paul’s life was Christ. His identity was Christ. Was Paul exalting himself above Christ? Was he denying the supremacy of Jesus Christ? NO absolutely not. Paul simply understood that he was baptized IN Christ. He was immersed IN Christ.
The word baptize is baptizo meaning to immerse. But it also meant more than simply dunking an object in water or liquid. In the cloth industry, it meant to immerse cloth into a vat of dye and the cloth took on the characteristics of the dye liquid. In other words, the cloth absorbed the colored dye, and so it became that same color. So, when used in the religious realm, when Jews walked into the Mikveh (the ritual cleansing bath), the understanding was that they took on the qualities of the Living Water they were immersed in becoming pure and clean.
That’s single identity… that’s understanding we are AS HIM.
Paul isn't just talking about us being one spirit AS Christ. He was speaking out of an understanding and a revelation that we are also of His flesh and His bones. Jesus gave Himself AS us so that we could be raised AS Him who was raised from the dead. Paul said when you stand beside yourself and recognize your body to be the body of Christ the Living Sacrifice, understanding that His resurrection was your resurrection, THEN you will give substance to His claims. In other words, you will give substance to the tangible experience of this newness of life… your Christ life. Present yourself, stand beside yourself and give substance to this co-identity. Look in the mirror and say, "Wow, that's the risen Christ looking back at me!" Paul's not telling you to do something sacrificial to become. He's saying this is who you are NOW because of the mercies of the living God.
We co-identify with Christ — sharing His identity. We are AS Christ. What is true of Him is equally true of us! We are baptized INto Him
This is a revelation that is going out by the grace of God into all the earth. The knowledge of our co-identity is coming up in the hearts of those who are genuinely dissatisfied with the religious experience they've had. And they are truly desiring and seeking the Lord's wisdom and revelation. They are beholding Him, and in beholding Him, they are seeing themselves as they really are.
2 Corinthians 4:3 says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are perishing.” The good news of our Christ-life is hidden to those who are perishing.
Paul's not talking an "us and them" language in the sense of "church and world." In other words, those perishing are not who religion has deemed as those perishing… i.e., the prostitute, the drug addict, the person who blasphemes God, the Muslim, etc. That's a religious "us and them" mentality. That's a language that God doesn't speak.
The word perishing is apollumi and means to lose, destroy, or die. It is to wander and live a life of non-existence. In other words, not participating in the life God had designed for us. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He came to seek and save that which was perishing. What did Jesus come to seek and save? Our lost identity. The Mirror Bible says it like this, “I have come to their rescue and will help them rediscover their authentic identity and redeemed innocence!”
Perishing is walking in the distorted, false identity.
Paul goes on in verse 4 and says that the god of this world (i.e., the religious systems of this world) has blinded people's minds in unbelief. Why? For fear that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, would shine on them. In other words, the world's religious systems blinded people's minds in unbelief so that they would not recognize and experience the life of Christ IN them.
The Mirror Bible says, “The veil of unbelief obstructs a person's view and keeps them from seeing what the light of the gospel so clearly reveals: the glory of God in the image and likeness of our Maker redeemed in human form; this is what the gospel of Christ is all about.”
Did Paul say that it was sickness, disease, old age, cancer, Alzheimer's, etc., causing men to perish? No, he said it was ONE THING and one thing only — blinded perception. In other words, religion has blinded minds with unbelief regarding their co-identity with Christ. He said their perception has been blinded lest the revelation of the good news, glory, presence, and power of Christ, the image of God should dawn on them. Is he just talking about us getting a revelation of the fact that Christ is the image of God? No, unbelieving religious systems will even tell you Christ is the image of God. That doesn't require any tremendous heavy-duty revelation.
The emphasis here is on this truth dawning on you… that you realize that you are the glorious image of God IN Christ.
And then he goes on in verse 6, and the Mirror Bible says it so well. It says, “The light source is founded in the same God who said, ‘Light, be!’ And light shone out of darkness! He lit the lamp in our understanding so that we may clearly recognize the features of his likeness in the face of Jesus Christ reflected within us.” And then IMMEDIATELY after that, he says in verse 7, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” What is the treasure? The identity of Christ, the glory of God. And glory is the view and opinion and manifested presence of God. And where is this treasure, this image, and likeness of Christ? In our physical bodies! We have this treasure in earthen vessels, in our physical bodies. And in verse 10, Paul says, “Always bearing about the dying of the Lord Jesus in the body.” Why? He says so that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Not in heaven someday. No, he said the LIFE of Jesus, the One who lives and dies no more, the One who defeated death and is incorruptible and immortal is made manifest in our physical bodies!
Athanasius said, “through death deathlessness has been made known to us.”
Glory to God! This is good news… the almost too good to be true news that makes a man jump for joy!
So, just how blinded has our perception been? Knowing all this, what should be the life and health expectation of Him who was raised from the dead? In other words, what would you say the health and life expectancy of Jesus should be? Well, He lives forever, never defeated, never sick, always victorious, everything He says comes to pass, etc. And the beautiful truth of our co-identity with Christ is that WE have been caused to be Him who was raised from the dead.
So, now what should be OUR life and health expectancy? I think it should start with these words, “death no longer has dominion over me.”
And then write down EVERYTHING that qualifies as death, destruction, losing, perishing, sickness, disease, financial ruin or loss, addiction, fear, etc., knowing that those things have no dominion over you. IT IS FINISHED!
And now that's your new expectation — a FINISHED Life !!
