You have supernatural DNA

Paul says that— in light of the bigger reality of Jesus’ work on our behalf, everything we’ve been included in— we should no longer “regard” anyone according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16 ESV):

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. 

Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer.

That is, we shouldn’t value people based on what they look like in their mortal bodies (i.e., judging them as a Simon when God declares them to be a Peter).

How could we— there’s obviously so much more that’s true that we can’t see?!

People wrongly judged Jesus by the flesh— or their perception of it. And, as we saw in the previous chapter, they made a slew of wrong assessments about Him. One of the biggest blunders was they assumed He was being punished by God for something He did wrong (see Isaiah 53:4f.).

In the same way the ancients made assessments about Jesus based on the flesh, we wrongly assess ourselves and others. If we were walking with Peter during the days of Jesus, we probably would have noticed the shifty-sand more than the rock, too.

Jesus continues calling us to look at the things which are eternal, to the places in each of us where He’s already done that greatest work. He intends to infuse all of our lives, every bit of reality, with that…

You see, our physical bodies are simply our containers, the temples that carry around the Spirit-beings we truly are, the more-real-than-real versions of ourselves that transcended time and participated in everything Jesus did.

The too-good-to-be-true exchange

The Great Reformer Martin Luther taught that Jesus walked among us and lived as a man from birth all the way to age 33 in order to capture the essence of being a truly alive human, one who lives fully to the glory of God. He lived a lifetime of obedience that neither you or I have.

Then, at the Cross, He doesn’t just give us His death, sacrificing His blood for ours. No, He gives us His life, too— the resurrected life. 

Further, He doesn’t only gift us that resurrected life, He offers us full credit for all of His obedience, thereby taking all of our sin on Himself in the process. 

This, Luther concluded, is what Paul meant when he penned, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).

Yes, we’ve been included in His life, too!

The lives we live now

In a previous video I observed that many Christians identity with Peter— with the version of Peter we see in the four Gospels. However, the Peter with whom we need to identify is the man we see standing firm in the Book of Acts and throughout the prose of his two epistles. 

Notice what Peter himself writes about us:

1. We have been reborn of perfect seed.
2. We now partake in the divine nature. 

First, Peter says that  we have been reborn of a perfect seed. 1 Peter 1:23 describes us as “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (KJV).

How so? 

Well, the old you was crucified, died, and was buried. You were included in Christ such that it’s a totally new you that’s come to life now.

Second, Peter adds that we now partake of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4 says (NLT, emphasis added), 

And because of his glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

As a Christian, you live in the new humanity of Jesus— not the old humanity of Adam. Look at Paul’s conclusion in 1 Corinthians 15:48-49 (AMP):

Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven, so also [are those] who are of heaven (heavenly-minded). And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the image [of the Man] of heaven.

Like Paul, Peter reminds us that we used to be in the line of Adam (a sinner). Now, we stand in the line of Jesus (the ultimate saint). 

LifeLift helps you find and fulfill your purpose. 

For an easy on-ramp, claim your free book at www.Jenkins.tv/purpose — and get introduced to the entire LifeLift framework. 

This video clip comes from the LifeLift workshop— available at https://www.jenkins.tv/lifelift 

It’s in the first part of the framework, Identity, where you learn who you are— www.Jenkins.tv/identity