Sermon
The Revelation of Christ in All - pt. 8
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Before time had a name there was a garden a place
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where heaven and earth Walked as one This is
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the echoes of Eden Where we rediscover ancient
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roots and awaken to our eternal purpose All right
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guys we are back week eight the final week In
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this series called the revelation of Christ in
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all. Yes. I promise you week a is the last in
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this series So next week we will jump into something
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different But this week want to talk about I
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ended week seven with the title born of God kept
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by truth So over the last seven weeks We have
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walked carefully, we have walked slowly, and
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we have walked honestly through scripture. I
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feel like we have really taken our time and dug
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into a lot of different places and really mined
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out some gold, mined out some truth, mined out
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some revelation throughout this teaching. We
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have seen things Christ before Adam, Christ is
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greater than Adam. Christ is holding all things
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together. We have seen holiness as inheritance.
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We have seen darkness as blindness and the truth
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we talked about last week as there is no separation
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in Christ. So now we come to the final question,
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the one people often hold on to as the last anchor
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of separation. And if Christ is in all, what
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does it mean to be born of God? And this is not
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about dismantling scripture. This is about finally
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allowing Holy Spirit to help us to understand
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scripture. So we're gonna kick this week off,
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this final week, kick this week off in 1 John
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chapter 5 verse 18. And it says this, we are
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convinced together the passion that everyone
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fathered by God, Does not make sinning a way
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of life Because the Son of God protects the child
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of God and the evil one cannot touch him Reading
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this verse is Let me say it this way this verse
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is often read as insiders versus outsiders believer
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versus non -believer son of God versus sinner,
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saint versus sinner, protected versus abandoned,
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reconciled versus unreconciled. But John is doing
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something much more profound here. So we're going
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to pump the brakes and we're going to slow this
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down a little bit and actually look at some of
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this. So again, I don't have a Greek. know how
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to speak Greek, but I'm going to do this as best
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as possible. I wish I could find a way, and I'm
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not that skilled yet. This is still new for me.
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I wish I could find a way to put little things
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on the bottom of the screen. Maybe I can do that
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for this video, and I'm speaking prematurely.
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But the word whosoever is posho. P -A -S -H -O.
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It does not mean a select group or a limited
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few are those who qualify correctly. It actually
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means everyone without restriction. So John does
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not narrow the scope here when he says this.
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He intentionally leaves it wide open and that
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matters when you're trying to understand and
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read scripture. Again, whosoever. Not talking
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about a select people Limited for you just us
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four and no more. No, he's this this word would
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actually mean everyone without restriction Then
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we have we have and let me go back and I want
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to read this on the King James 2 It says we know
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that whosoever is born of God sinneth not But
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he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and
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that wicked one toucheth him not So again, we
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have the whosoever figured out Let's look at
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the word born, which is the word gnaio And it
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does not primarily refer to a moment of decision
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It's key It's not talking about you making a
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decision and now you're all of a sudden born
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It's not talking about you repeating a prayer
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It's not coming talking about you going to an
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altar and I'm not coming against any of this
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I'm just trying to help you and I to understand
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the truth of what the scripture is saying. What
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is John saying when he's writing this? So this
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word geneo, it refers to origin, it refers to
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source, it refers to coming forth from. So it
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answers the question, where did this come from?
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So if you look at this verse, John is not talking
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about a religious event. He is speaking to our
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origin. Go back to what we talked about last
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week when he's talking about, when Paul is talking
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to the pagan worshipers. And he's speaking to
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them about this God that you don't know, that
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you're actually worshiping. This is who we live
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and move and have our being in. That we are actually
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his offspring. So John here is talking the same
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as Paul in a sense when he he's talking about
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origin He's talking about your identity and not
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just your identity But the identity of everyone
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that you come in contact with and why is this
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important? Because it helps us see ourselves
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correctly and if we actually understand that
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Everyone is already included in this we can begin
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to be, and I believe this is Paul said it, that
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I know no man after the flesh but after the Spirit.
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And what does that mean? It means that I already
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recognize everybody's included in this. You have
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the Spirit of Christ within you. And if I can
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see that as a son to another son, or son to daughter,
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whatever, if I can see that, recognize that I
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can begin to inquire of the Holy Spirit to say
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Holy Spirit show me what you see and I can speak
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to the Christ within that individual and then
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again this is not something to be a quick fix
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that I can call out the Christ within then they'll
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just start living right now this is a process
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Maybe you encounter this individual for the first
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time and you plant that little seed because you
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see the Christ within them You speak to that
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within them and maybe six months down the road
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someone else comes along to speaks to it It's
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not about getting people to convert right then
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and there to make a decision. It's about planting
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seed Remember the kingdom is as a seed You're
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planting seeds in people and if we could understand
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the truth of our identity, that you and I did
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nothing, that we did not get to say the right
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prayer to gain this, that this is all because
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of Christ, from Christ, through Christ, in Christ.
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It's all about Christ. Then I begin to see the
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world around me just as clear. We begin to understand
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when, you know, when they're asking Jesus about
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who is my enemy. Who's my neighbor? That's what
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it was. Who is my neighbor? Help me to define
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my neighbor And Jesus starts talking about things
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about loving your enemies Think about these kind
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of conversations these kind of things. It's very
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important for us to understand It's really hard
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to have an enemy when you're busy praying for
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them You don't When you don't like the politicians,
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you don't like the president, your governor,
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whatever, it's really hard to hate them when
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you're praying for them. You don't like the Muslim
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who lives in your neighborhood? It's really hard
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to hate them when you're praying for them. You
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don't like that member of the LGBTQ community?
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It's really hard to hate them when you're busy
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praying for them and when you're busy asking
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the Holy Spirit, help me see this person through
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your eyes. Adjust, I still have it here, adjust
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my lens. Help me to see people the way you see
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people. Understanding, where did they come from?
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Because here's the truth John's talking about
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origin and here's the truth humanity's origin
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is God This echoes Acts chapter 17 that we read
Acts 17 chapter mention
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last week note that we are his offspring It echoes
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Genesis the breath of Yahweh it echoes Colossians
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that Christ holds all things together John is
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not introducing a new idea here, a new thought.
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He is affirming a consistent thought. So what
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is John actually saying? John is not saying that
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only believers are born of God. He is saying
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those that live, those who live from their true
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origin do not live enslaved to deception. I'll
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say that again. John is saying those who live
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from their true origin do not live enslaved to
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deception. Again, it has to do with ignorance
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and blindness, darkness. Darkness is ignorance
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concerning divine things. Darkness is blindness.
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It's not a spiritual threat. Let's get past that.
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Darkness is not a spiritual threat. Light overpowers
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darkness 100 % of the time. If you don't believe
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me, walk into your house, put the lights off,
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and go flip a switch, and you tell me how much
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argument and struggle there was when you flipped
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that switch on. Same concept. But those who live
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from their true origin do not live enslaved to
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deception. A majority of the people around you
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and I, including in the world of church, are
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enslaved to deception and do not know who they
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are. It's all about identity. There is still
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a root of separation in most modern churches
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that we have in the West. There's still this
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this philosophy of it's us versus them That's
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it's in and out Whereas I believe it's as simple
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as awake and asleep Sin here is not framed as
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a moral failure understand what sin is Sin is
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framed as missing the mark of identity the word
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ha martia without form, without your original
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design, without the original blueprint. That
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is what sin is. Sin is a distorted identity,
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plain and simple. Sin is not moral failure. Sin
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is not the actions that you commit. Sin, the
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actions that you see that you would classify
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as sin is simply the fruit of a distorted identity,
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which is sin. That's the sin the sin is the distorted
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identity which will produce the what we would
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classify as sin It produces that fruit in our
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life When we don't understand who we are when
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we don't know that we're included when we don't
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understand that there is zero separation in Christ
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When we don't understand who we are in him through
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him by him for him When we don't understand these
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things, we will manifest the fruit of sin in
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our life in multiple different fashions. So sin
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is not moral failure. It's missing the mark of
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identity. It's distorted identity. When you know
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who you are, lies lose their grip. When you understand,
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here's a perfect thing. That's why I don't believe
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in generational curses anymore. When you actually
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understand, in John chapter three, now I think
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we talked about this, I don't remember to be
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completely honest. I have to go back through
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all my notes and listen to this myself. But in
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John chapter three, when Jesus is conversing
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with Nicodemus and he tells him you must be born
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again, that word again is not a rebirth, it means
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to be born from above. When you and I understand,
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that we are born from above, that we are born
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out of the relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit,
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when we came from that circumstance, when you
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understand where you came from, you begin to
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understand that you may have come through your
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parents, you may have come through that natural
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lineage, but you came from God. The moment you
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understand that, generational curses loses its
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capabilities in your life. It loses its power,
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because then I'm no longer attached to my natural
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bloodline. No, I came from God, so I have as
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much chance of struggling with this generational
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curse as did God, because that's who I came from.
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actually my origin, that is actually my starting
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point. I may have come through this natural lineage,
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but I am not bound to the same logic that's happening
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here. I'm not bound to the same sicknesses, I'm
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not bound to the same addictions, I'm not bound
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to the same whatever, you name it, I'm not bound
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to this any longer, because I came from God.
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I know who I am, and when I know who I am in
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Christ, Every line begins to lose its grip Again
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I talk about my own story being addicted to pornography
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for many years And now you know to be honest
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and at first it was fun But then it becomes a
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bondage and you won't now and can't won't out
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enough. I Ran to the altar. I did the whole rededicate
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my life. I did everything that I knew to do It
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did not work But the moment that I just began
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to show up for the walk with Holy Spirit and
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Say here it is Eventually the more that I walked
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with Holy Spirit eventually this stuff just began
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to fall away why because I was understanding
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who I was as a son of God and When you understand
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who you are as a son and daughter of God the
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lies begin to lose their power If in Colossians
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2, Jesus stripped the power of the enemy from
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him, how does he still have power unless it's
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you and I giving it to him in our own individual
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life? Stop paying attention to him running his
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mouth and whispering to you about who you are
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not. Then we have verse 19. that we are God's
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children and that the whole world lies under
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the measuring influence of the evil one. King
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James says this way, we know that we are of God
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and the whole world lies in wickedness. Notice
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what John does not say. John does not say that
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the world is abandoned by God. John does not
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say that the world is separated from God. John
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does not say that the world is outside of Christ.
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He said the world is under deception The entire
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world is under the influence of the evil one
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Listen influence is not ownership Blindness is
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not absence If you and your kids gather in the
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same room and shut all the lights off to where
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you can't see each other Just because you can't
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see The other people in the room does not mean
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that they are absent from the room It just means
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you can't see them So again John is trying to
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explain the world is under deception Influence
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does not equal ownership blindness does not equal
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absence throughout scripture darkness equals
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blindness evil equals deception sin means a distorted
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identity some would say missing the mark i think
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that's a side effect of not of a distorted identity
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i think that's a consequence i think you missing
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the mark is because you have a distorted identity
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So while some say that sin is missing the mark
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I say sin is distorted identity which causes
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you of course to miss the mark But I don't think
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it's the I don't think it goes deep enough in
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the definition But throughout scripture Never
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does God withdraw presents never does Christ
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leave humanity John chapter 1 talks about it.
John 1 chapter mention
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The word became flesh and dwelt among us. If
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you look at the Greek word of the word that's
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translated as among is the word en and it can
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also mean within and in. So you could say it
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this way, the word became flesh and dwelt within
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you. I think among is a fine translation. I just
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don't think it goes deep enough Yes, the word
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became flesh and dwelt among us But he also came
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to dwell within you and I we you and I are now
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the temple of the Lord The Holy Spirit has come
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to dwell with it within you and I My friend.
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It's a big deal John maintains the same thread
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that we followed all series long The problem
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is not being The problem is seeing if you do
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not see correctly You will live beneath who you
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have been called and created to be And now we
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10 Let me see if I can get there real quick.
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I don't know that I'm gonna read it, but I like
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to have it there as a reference in case I want
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to read it all. Acts chapter 10, Peter has a
Acts 10 chapter mention
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vision. You can see this in Acts chapter 10 starting
Acts 10 chapter mention
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around verse 9. Peter has a vision. It's not
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about food. It's not about rules. It's about
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people. God tells people, and this is fascinating.
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This is really important if you and I grasp it.
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God tells Peter, do not call unclean what I have
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cleansed. Stop right there. Don't check your
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brain at the door. Stop right here. And I want
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you to ask yourself, what person that you come
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in contact with has God not cleansed? What person,
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if we can answer this, what person did Christ
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fail? What individual did he not reach? Do not
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call unclean what I have cleansed Trying to find
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that in Acts 10 15 out of the passion translates
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it this way the voice book again. Nothing is
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unclean if God declares it to be clean purified
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the meaning this is dr. Simmons notes for this
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verse the meaning of the spiritual vision is
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this God has declared every human being to be
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of special worth and dignity understand every
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every human being every human being every every
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human being the Muslim, the Democrat, the Republican,
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the LGBTQ, the atheist, every human being, God
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has declared to be of special worth and dignity.
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The entire world needs the gospel. This encounter
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helped Peter understand that God was about to
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send him off with the men who were at the door
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of the house Even though their religion had labeled
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had been labeled unclean Religion allows us to
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label many different categories and groups of
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people as unclean but the truth of the gospel
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is God has declared every human being to be of
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special worth and dignity. This is not future
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tense. This is already done. Then Peter meets
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Cornelius, a Gentile. He's an outsider. He's
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a non -believer. And Peter's revelation is not,
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God has now decided to accept you. It is God
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shows no partiality. Peter realizes in this moment
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that God was already present. God was already
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at work. God was already involved. Peter did
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not bring Christ to Cornelius. He recognized
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Christ in Cornelius. Man if we would get this
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If we could ever grab hold If we could ever grab
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hold of the revelation that every single Human
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being that we come in contact with is not meant
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for us to degrade and spit upon like they're
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worth worth less than us. And if we could actually
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see that it's not about me trying to bring Christ
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to you because somehow you are without, then
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no, it is recognizing the Christ inside of them.
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This has so much more to do With how we see other
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people that we would classify as out there on
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the outside What does it mean to be born of God
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It means to be living from your true source it
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means to awaken to your origin It means to no
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longer being ruled by lies and deception. Being
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born of God is not about exclusion. No, this
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is about alignment. It's the difference between
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existing and living awake. Let's think about
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this why this does not mean everyone lives, right?
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Truth does not override consciousness People
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can still live blind to truth even in the church
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world People can resist awakening People can
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continuously believe lies But lies do not change
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reality They distort experience. If one of my
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children were to wake up tomorrow and believe
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the lie, they are not my child. They can certainly
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believe that lie, but that lie does not change
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the truth and the reality of who they are. But
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what it will do is it will distort their experience.
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and they will miss out on things by being my
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child. The gospel does not force awakening. The
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gospel invites awakening. The gospel has not
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got as far, but you can get close. The gospel
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has got as near. So just wake up to the truth
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of it. The gospel is not you are separated, but
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you can be reunited. That sounds really good.
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That sounds like good news. But better news is
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the gospel that says you are always included.
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See it. Our role moving forward. We don't carry
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fear. We carry light. We don't preach distance.
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We reveal nearness. We don't divide humanity.
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We call humanity to awake. Sons and daughters
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do not manage separation. No sons and daughters
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live from union. Just think about this as we
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close out this series. You are born of God. God
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is your source. Christ is your life. You do not
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live from separation. You live from the place
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of union. You are awakening to what has always
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been true. Christ is not trying to get into people.
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Christ is revealing himself through people. My
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friend darkness is not winning. Truth is awakening.
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And the revelation of Christ in all is not dangerous.
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The revelation of Christ in all is actually liberating.
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Think about it. It's actually more freeing when
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you understand it's Christ in all. You can stop
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being the sin police. You can stop pointing the
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fingers. And now you and I have the invitation
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to see the world, the people around us, as Christ
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sees them. Father, I thank you for these listeners.
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For each person who may listen to this on a podcast
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or listen to this via YouTube I Pray that you
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would allow this as you deal with Saul as he
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was converted to Paul Allow the scales to fall
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from their eyes. May they see the world around
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them As you do May they see people as you see
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them unveil the Christ within each person that
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we come in contact with. Whether that be the
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cashier, the bank attendant, our next door neighbor,
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the person we classify as an enemy. May we see
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the Christ within them. May we begin to see them
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as you see them. and begin to speak to that revelation.
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Help us to awaken to truth and live from the
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place of union. In Christ's name. Amen. I hope
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this eight -week series has helped you, has blessed
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you, has helped to bring some truth to some things.
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I hope that's what's happened. I will see you
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next week as we dive into whatever the spirit
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will lead us next. Be blessed, my friend. See
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Christ in the world around you.