By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God…” Matthew 4:1-7.  

It is easy to notice that the devil’s main motive was to question and confuse Jesus regarding His true identity. The devil tried to introduce doubt in Christ’s mind as to who He is. So the devil started with his best shot by saying, “if thou be the son the son of God…” Out of the three recorded temptations the devil attacked the Lord with, two were directly about if He was the son of God. On the cross, the devil continued this attack by questioning His identity as king and tried to introduce doubt in the face of what He was passing through. The crowd that witnessed His crucifixion mocked Him with a this comment, “if you are the king of the Jews like you claim, save yourself!” Luke 23:37. Remember the Scripture says He was born king and the government shall be upon His shoulders. Be very mindful, especially when you are going through some challenging times. The devil will take advantage of your challenges and try to confuse your identity. He will try to accuse you of anything he can imagine, he will try to convince you that you are not who God said you are and that God is not faithful and the word of God does not work. DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT LIAR, KILLER, AND DESTROYER. BE CALM AND STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD. YOU WILL SEE THE GLORY OF GOD!!

From the above, we can see that the devil’s main line of attack is to try to confuse your identity as a Christian because everything you do with God is directly related to your new identity as a son of God.

1. BEING A SON OF GOD gives you the right to all the blessings of God.

• • Romans 8:17 “and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together”. The reason many people are begging for what is rightfully theirs is because their sense of identity is confused by the devil.

2. THE LORD SAID THAT HEALING IS THE RIGHT OF THE CHILDREN. 

• •  Mark 7:26 “Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, 27 Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” BEFORE CHRIST’S DEATH ON THE CROSS, GENTILES WERE NOT PART OF THE COVENANT OF ABRAHAM AND WERE NOT CHILDREN OF GOD AND SO HEALING WAS NOT PART OF THEIR FAMILY RIGHT. BUT AFTER THE CROSS, THE BLOOD OF JESUS WASHED ALL BELIEVERS CLEAN AND WE ALL RECEIVED THE NEW LIFE; THE LIFE OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. ALL BELIEVERS ARE SONS OF GOD BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. THIS APPLIES TO BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES. THEREFORE HEALING BECAME THE CHILDREN’S BREAD FOR ALL BELIEVERS ARE NOW CHILDREN  OF GOD IN CHRIST.

• • Ephesians 2: 12 “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”

3. WE ARE NOW MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD AND NOT STRANGERS TO THE FAMILY BLESSINGS. WE CAN COME TO OUR ABBA FATHER BOLDLY.

• • Ephesians 2:19 “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.” CHRIST HAS BROUGHT US INTO THIS PLACE OF UNDESERVED PRIVILEGE. WE ENTER IN WITH BOLDNESS BEFORE GOD AND APPROPRIATE ALL THAT JESUS DIED TO GIVE US AS OUR OWN LEGALLY. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SIMPLY BELIEVE THEY ARE YOURS AND YOU SHALL HAVE THEM!!!  

• • Romans 5:2 “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

4. WE ARE SAINTS OF GOD AND RIGHTEOUS CHILDREN OF GOD, AS JESUS IS SO ARE WE! WE ARE HOLY BRETHREN NOT SINNERS!!!

• • Hebrews 3 :1 “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus” 

• • 1 Thessalonians 5:27 “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” 

• • 2 Corinthians 13:13 “All the saints salute you.”
  • Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.”

5.  WE HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS AND SANCTIFIED BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.

• • Acts 26:18 “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” 

• • Hebrews 10: 10 “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”

6.  YOU REIGN ON EARTH WITH CHRIST JESUS AND ARE GOD’S AMBASSADOR ON EARTH. ALSO, GOD HAS MADE YOU RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST AS THE SCRIPTURE SAYS.

• • Romans 5:17 “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” The devil is under your feet and sin has been dethroned and put under your feet too because the greater one is in you and you are joined to His spirit, and you are one with Him. This elevated you above the demons, sin and the world. Christ in you brought you into a realm of the glory of God. The hope of glory is Christ in you.

• • Romans 6:14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” 

• • Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
  • Don’t ever forget that you are seated where Christ is seated because you are one with Him. You are a member of His body. He has put everything under our feet. Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
  • Ephesians 1:20 “that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

Do not allow the enemy to confuse your God-given identity and privileges in Christ.

The devil’s main line of attack is to confuse your identity. By doing this, he locks you into seeing yourself as the world sees you: from a human point of view. Matthew 16:23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” You will never see who you are with your natural eyes but, only by the revelation of the Holy Spirit through scriptures can you see and begin to believe and live up to who God has made you be in Christ. This is why we do not walk by sight but by faith.

Another weapon the devil uses is to accuse you, make you believe you are a sinner and therefore you do not qualify for anything the Lord Jesus has died to provide free for you. Remember Romans 5: 2 says that Christ has brought us into a place of undeserved privilege. “Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

The answer to the devil’s accusation is to plead the blood. We overcome with the blood and our testimony about the blood. The blood washed away our sins and there is no more condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 9:12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.” This is why we have the confidence to sing this beautiful song that says “I have no other argument. I have no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me”

In conclusion, if you do not believe the Scripture and what God has said about you in Christ. The enemy has confused you already. You need to rise and shine and let the light shine upon you. Fight back and get back into the word and walk in the light of it and not by sight. Do you know that any truth you reject you do not experience it? For it shall be to you according to what you believe. If you believe you are unholy, your life will turn out unholy.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor at Fountain of The Living Word Church, New Jersey.

Excerpts from PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE. Listen to the full message below.