If a saint is ONE WITH and IN God and Christ, and if God and Christ are ONE WITH and IN each other, and if They are ONE WITH and IN the saint, then the saint is living spiritually in the presence of  and in a family relationship with Father and Son and is a recipient of both Their holiness and Their power– NOW. Father, Son and saint are joined together into a united “trinity.” Therefore, every promise the Godhead made to the true saint must be manifested in the earthly life of the saint. The Almighty tells us in Romans 8:14 that: “They who are led by the Spirit of God, THEY (AND ONLY THEY) ARE THE SONS OF GOD.” We must understand that AT THIS TIME the flesh-bodied man who obeys God’s Holy Spirit (is a true son/saint) has the same relationship with the Father as does spirit-bodied Jesus of Nazareth and therefore has been “quickened (made alive) … together with Christ … and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly place IN Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5,6). This is brought out again in John 20:17 where the born again, risen Jesus instructs Mary to tell the disciples that He had not yet ascended to “… My Father and your Father, My God and your God.” Having been born again (changed from flesh to spirit) Jesus was still a man after His resurrection, is still a man today (1 Tim. 2:5) and will always be a man–a man who became a God–a God-man. Note in Acts 22:8 that when Saul of Tarsus asked Him who He was, He replied, “I am JESUS OF NAZARETH ….” Note it: Jesus called Himself by His earthly, human name. Though He had been living in heaven with the Father for several years, HE CALLED HIMSELF BY HIS EARTHLY, HUMAN NAME, even noting that He was from Nazareth.

The true saint’s God and Father IS NOW God. Jesus of Nazareth’s God and Father IS NOW God. Jesus and the saint are ONE WITH and IN God in exactly the same way–NOW. So what is the difference between Jesus and the Saint? Status–family position. The man Jesus is now a God, having been born again (changed from flesh to spirit). The saint has not yet achieved that status, and is therefore subservient to God and Jesus and will always be subject to Them. The human saint does, however, share God’s righteousness and power as does the man Jesus Who is exactly what the saint will one day be–a fellow god with the Father and the Son, only in a lesser position. As a man, the saint follows in the footsteps of his fellow man–Jesus of Nazareth–and, following rebirth, will sit on His throne with Him in God’s kingdom as a fellow god and fellow ruler of the universe (Rev. 3:21). At present, the saint and Jesus are joint-heirs (Rom. 8:17) of God’s entire creation. The universe has not yet been placed under man’s feet. See God’s Very Elect–Future Caretakers of the Universe.

In the meantime the saint lives his earthly human life in the flesh, though he is a member of a spiritual family in heaven. Having, by God’s grace, been allowed to partake of His righteousness and power, the saint has his marching orders which, in my opinion, will begin to be carried out soon. Remember that with God everything has a “season.” What I am describing will take place in “due season.”

Let us now search the holy, infallible, eternal Word of God–His Truth (Jn. 17:17) to introduce ourselves to a few general promises Father and Son have made to the lesser member of the family–the obedient saint (son). Bearing in mind that faith (belief) that is not acted upon (worked) is dead faith (Jam. 2:14,17,18,20), let us begin our search. “ALL THINGS are possible to him that believes” (Mk. 9:23); “… with God, ALL THINGS are possible” (Mk. 10:27); “He who believes in Me the THINGS I DO He will do also, and GREATER THINGS than these will he do” (Jn. 14:12). With these passages in mind, we will begin in the next posting to learn about the power that God has graciously bestowed upon those who believe and obey Him. We will examine what Jesus did as an earthly human being and apply them to His John 14:12 promise. We will also study His “walk” in order to determine exactly why God used Him in such miraculous ways. As we will see, God promises His faithful and obedient ministers that they will do even greater things than Jesus did IF they “walk as Jesus walked” (1 Jn. 2:6). L.J.