WHERE IS YOUR IDENTITY?

When I was a young Christian, it took me many years to understand true repentance.  I was taught to confess my sins, because I was a sinner and that Jesus had forgiven me. But, why did I still feel like I was going around and around in a circles and never free? It seemed like the same sins were always rearing their ugly head. Where was the FREEDOM and POWER of the cross to change me more and more into the image of Christ? (Romans 8:29) Something was missing

It wasn't until I understood this truth.  I SINNED because I was a SINNER. Sin was natural for me.  I had to identify with Adam's sin before I could identify with Christ resurrection. ADAM'S SIN was MY OWN ALSO. It was called the Original Sin.  Without true repentance of the the Original Sin of Adam (including Eve), I was like a dog chasing his own tail, Satan loved me confessing sin over and over again, but he sure did not want me to know the power of the cross that crucified Adam!  As I continued to ask God for more revelation of Adam's sin as my own, He gave me analogy to helped me to understand the POWER OF THE CROSS and what happened when I was born again.

"I was living in a house all alone, back in the hills of West Virginia.  Down in my basement was a machine making 'moonshine' by the gallons,and I was storing it in quart bottles, hiding them in closets, drawers and under beds throughout my house. No one would ever have known that I was making and selling moonshine, so I thought.  Then one morning the door bell rang.  I answered it. It was the law.  The officer entered, rushed by me and headed  for the basement.door. He went down the cellar stairs and quickly went right  to the distillery. He took a huge sledge hammer and totally smashed  it to pieces," It is finished." He declared. " That machine will never produce an ounce of alcohol  again.  I know that you have bottles hidden away, but the choice is now yours to drink or not to drink. As you hand  bottles over to me, I will smash each one of them and will continue to smash every bottle, because I know you have a many hidden .  This house has been sold and it has a new owner.  He said that you can still live here, but first he has to destroy the distillery. He said that He would help you to get rid of the bottles and replace them with a healthier drink."

For the first time I understood salvation.  The house was me, and the distillery was my Adamic sin nature. The bottles were my hidden SINS (plural) that I was trying to keep hidden to look religious. I was supposed to be a Christian, but it was so hard.  For the first time I realized that I needed to repent of the sin of Adam as my very own sin.  It was the Adamic nature that was producing all the sins in me and now I was beginning to understand the POWER OF THE CROSS.  The cross was the sledge hammer that crushed the Adamic nature. I was free from  the  power of sin and I knew what I had to repent of!  It was my identity in Adam.  I was conceived in sin in my mother's womb  (Psalm 51:7) and born into this world a sinner.  Then I was BORN AGAIN by faith into Christ became a saint. (One set apart to God)

I am forever grateful for Jesus, I now have a new identity. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus and all things have become new. Positionally,  I am no longer in Adam,(1 Cor 5:17) . The only difference is that when I sin as a believer, and I still do,  I DON'T WANT TO SIN.  Now I can go to Calvary and by faith receive God's unconditional forgiveness without any condemnation.  What wonderful grace and mercy has been extended to me and to whosoever will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They too will be saved and made new.