Because of Jesus (With a List of Words to Describe His Life in Believers)

After His crucifixion and death, Jesus of Nazareth was the first human being to wake up from physical death, fully alive, fully human and Himself, but transformed into a new kind of spiritual body. This caused a paradigm shift on the entire timebound planet. It is impossible to list all the changes this has made in civilization. But every change began by changing people. It began in the hearts and mind of those who knew Him best. (No wonder satan is after our minds and feelings, wanting us to worship this material world and follow ourselves rather than God.)

When Jesus died on Friday, Passover afternoon, most of His friends and followers were shattered and numb with grief. On Sunday, the first day of the week, they began to be filled with joy by His resurrection. After touching His new body, talking with Him and eating with Him, they knew, proof-positive, that He, their friend and leader, was alive. He had miraculously risen from the dead. They realized that every word they’d ever heard Him speak was true. They had no doubt that He alone was God’s Son. He truly had been sent to earth by His Heavenly Father from a spiritual realm outside of our material world, a place called Heaven.

His followers no longer feared death. They saw that their earthly lives were short times of preparation for eternal life. Five hundred eye witnesses watched His leave taking, when, forty days after His resurrection, His feet left the ground, He rose into the sky and disappeared before their eyes. They knew that He was returning to His Father in Heaven and that He was going on ahead of them, to make a place for them there.

Those first believers in Jesus were filled with huge and determined faith and love for Him, for His Father in Heaven and for one another. Before Jesus left them, He’d promised them His Holy Spirit. Following His directions, they met together and prayed for this Holy Spirit of God to come to them. He did! With a great rushing wind and flames of fire. (You can read about it in the Book of Acts.) The same Holy Spirit that had filled Jesus now filled 120 of His followers with power. The Spirit led them, taught them and moved through them to do the things Jesus had done. When they spoke of Jesus, thousands more heard and believed. That was just the beginning. Jesus’ death and resurrection did so much— He changed history and entire civilizations by changing people, one by one.

The Transformation that comes to men and women who believe in Jesus is spiritual and invisible. Jesus said that His followers would be known by their love, not by any outward material sign.

To increase understanding of what Jesus does for believers, I’ve put together a list of words used to describe what His life and death make possible. Many of these words are simple and familiar; others have fallen out of common use and are not well known. All can be difficult to understand with the natural mind— for faith in Jesus is spiritual, not natural. Although definitions may repetitively overlap in meaning, each word is alive with truth.

 

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can receive
Absolution —That means complete pardon, total forgiveness for all our sins, full remission from all guilt and obligation. Sins are the choices, thoughts, attitudes that separate us from God. They’re all that falls short of God’s glory and goodness. If we confess and turn from are sins, they are absolved.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can receive
Acceptance — God accepts us; Jesus accepts us; other believers accepted us. We are accepted as a necessary, integral part of the Body of Christ. 

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can receive
Access — At any time of day or night, in any circumstances, we can talk with God, with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. We can ask for their help, strength, direction and will. We can take any need to them—big or small, with trust that, whether we hear their answer or not, and whether we might like it or not, they always know and want what is best for us.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can receive
Adoption — In turning to Jesus in faith believers become God’s children, born of His Spirit, a part of His family— with all the inheritance, rights and responsibilities of good children

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we have
Assurance —A total confidence and certainty that all unGodly traits, all our ignorance of God’s ways, every rebellion and rejection of God is forgiven. We are welcome to approach God as freely as children can approach a loving father. We know that we will live forever in Heaven as His own dearly beloveds. His loving arms are stretched out to receive us. 1 John 5:11-14

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Atonement for sin—Jesus’ blood sacrifice fully meets God’s legal requirements or price for justice against sin and makes full forgiveness legally possible. His loving sacrifice bridges the gap between us and God and unites us with our Heavenly Father.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can be
Born Again — Jesus died to give us a new life or birth (regeneration) by the Spirit. When we believe in Him and follow His way, we find that our old or original sinful nature (an inherited tendency to unbelief and rebellion against God) passes away. The Holy Spirit implants Himself, a new righteous spiritual nature, deep within our beings. As we yield to God’s Holy Spirit, we grow more like Jesus. With His help, we discipline ourselves to leave old habits and thoughts behind and grow into a character consistent with His humble and merciful faith, hope and love.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Cleansing — On every confession and turning away from sin, Jesus’ blood and His word continue to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If we slip, stumble or fall short of God’s ways (and we all do), all we need to do is tell Him about it, turn away from it and accept His forgiveness and help.

Because of Jesus’ love through death believers can enter into
Covenant Relationship —A covenant relationship with God means that we intentionally give all we are, all we have and all we do to God. In return, all that He is and has is ours. This depth of relationship is not automatically guaranteed at salvation but becomes real as we fully surrender to God. Often our covenant with God begins with intentional prayer and deeper surrender to His majesty and love.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Community or Fellowship — As believers, we are joined to one another in a fellowship or family of eternal love. With Jesus as our head, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we function as Christ’s Body on earth.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Deliverance — God sets us free from our inborn sin nature. As we seek Him and grow more like Him, He frees us from the demonizing oppressions of satan. This can be a process; at times, because of old habits and family patterns, we must seek deliverance by prayer and by establishing new godly habits and thought patterns.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Discernment — God gives born again believers many gifts of His Holy Spirit. One is the ability, by His Holy Spirit, to grow to know what is of God and what is not.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Dominion — Authority is given to pure, humble believers who, like Jesus, do only what they see the Father doing and participate with His Holy Spirit in bringing His kingdom to earth. This truth is much understood and misused by believers who think they have more authority than they actually do and presume to claim dominion on the basis of their own thoughts rather than on God’s specific revealed will. Jesus warned us that we would know false prophets from true ones by their character, by their fruits of humility and love for God and others.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Expiation — Jesus death cancels and cleanses us from sin and the guilt of it.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Everlasting or Eternal Life — That means we will never be separated from God, ever, in this earthly life or after—think of it! As we enter into fuller and closer union with God, His own love, joy, peace, patience, goodness— all that is His character and nature become ours, now and forever. LIFE!

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Faith — Jesus becomes the author and the finisher of our faith. His faith now lives and grows in us. We don’t have to try to believe or drum it up.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Forgiveness — God pardons our sin and removes our guilt. Through Jesus’ death God forgives all who believe, repent and receive His full pardon.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Freedom — Jesus offers us freedom from sin and death, freedom from fear, freedom from the world, the flesh and the devil. He gives us grace to obey His law of love from a pure heart. He removes all our need to prove ourselves to Him or others. We no longer need to try to be good by doing good works or by jumping through legalistic hoops put on us by others.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Godliness — When the Holy Spirit comes to us, we receive divine power to be Godly. As we obey His leading, we are changed, transformed from our old sinful nature into a character increasingly like our Lord’s.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Government — Believers come under the government of God.  As we begin to live by His laws of love and accept Him as our ruler, we receive the capacity to seek and to find His peace, order, meaning and purpose for our lives.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Grace — Grace is a gift of God that releases His goodness in every area of our lives; it is unearned and undeserved.

Because of Jesus’ love through death believers can be
Healed — Jesus was wounded, Isaiah tells us, so that by His stripes, the lashes on His back, we are healed. Jesus told us that healing is the children’s bread. God does not turn away His hungry children.

Because of Jesus’ love through death believers receive a new
Heart — Jesus gives us new hearts, tender and loving, forgiving yet just.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is a link between us and
Heaven— A place, either in another dimension or outside of all dimensions, where God lives and rules. Jesus went there after death to prepare a place for us.

Because of Jesus’ love through death believers can find
Holiness — A cleansing and separation from sin that increasingly unites us with God

Because of Jesus’ love through death believers receive the  
Holy Spirit — The third person of the Trinity lives in believers. He alone convicts the world of sin, reveals righteousness, and judges justly. He comes alongside of believers as a comforter, advocate, teacher and guide.  He gives His gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, healing, miracles, discernment and more to strengthen believers in love and unity so that we can function as Jesus’ Body on earth today. As we love one another and function in the flow of the Holy Spirit, He moves to reveal Jesus’ love, His glory and the true nature of God to those who don’t know Him.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Hope — Our hope is not wishful thinking or a longing for anything that’s out of reach but is a real spiritual substance, a solid assurance of things that are not yet seen.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Identification with Christ — How wonderful! To be identified with the Lord Jesus Christ. To be known as one who knows Him, as one He knows and personally loves. To have the opportunity to become more like Jesus, to be one with Him, to live in Him, united with Him.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Illumination — God’s light overcomes all darkness. When we consider Scriptures, circumstances, or anyone or anything in the light of His Holy Spirit, He gives understanding so that we can see.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can know the nature of
Immortality — Because Jesus’ lives, we can live forever. His resurrection confirms our life after death as unique individuals. We know that we will not be reincarnated into another form. We know that our individual consciousness will not be absorbed in some kind of soupy cloud or Nirvana. We also know that unbelievers, those refuse Jesus and who do not learn to love will live on apart from God in a place of torment called Hell. Those believe in Jesus, love God and learn to love others, will live on forever with God in a place of peace called Heaven.

(Note: According to God’s word, He has placed eternity in the hearts of men. There is strong evidence that many come to know God and His ways through His revelation of Himself in Creation. Throughout history, it is most plausible that countless men and women have met Jesus and lived by His law of love without knowing His name or history on earth. That does not excuse those who have heard of Him and reject Him, nor does it absolve His followers from the need to tell others about God’s love for them in Jesus Christ. Honestly searching souls are overjoyed to learn His name. Multitudes have found faith to believe His love and are born again only after hearing the good news of His life, death, resurrection and Word to us.
Jesus lets us know that not everyone who claims to follow Him really does. He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to me. . . Lord, haven’t we prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7: 12, 21—23). Bottom line, His law is a law of love and our pass to Heaven may well rest in how we answer when He asks us, “Did you learn to love?”)

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Impartation — By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus gifts, anointings and character can be given to us.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Imputation — All the guilt of our sin was put on Jesus Christ and all of His righteousness is transferred to us.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Inheritance — As God’s children, we share in Jesus’ inheritance— the exceedingly great and abundant riches of His grace and kindness.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Intercession — Jesus’ death on the cross is intercession for us. He continues to plead for us today in every area of weakness where we need God’s grace, His intervention, to fulfill His purposes. His Holy Spirit prays in us and through us for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Justification — Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, we are freed from guilt, returned to relationship with God, and accepted as righteous in the eyes of God.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we have access to the
Kingdom of God — Jesus’ death makes a way for us to move out of our own small kingdoms of self, stuff and worldliness and begin to live in God’s large Kingdom of love. He taught us and showed us that when Our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom comes and His will is done, a supra-natural love and truth can overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. God’s light and life can set us free from the dark, short-sighted control of satan’s lies, robberies, destruction and death.

By the power of His Holy Spirit, God uses us to bring His Kingdom to earth, to release His truth and mercy to meet human needs. He is interested in all our needs, whatever they might be—salvation, healing, endurance, faith, wisdom, knowledge, direction, grace, provision, protection, deliverance from evil —the list goes on and on. When His rule is welcomed by our human hearts and minds, when we choose to do His will, when His people humble themselves and repent of their sins, His mercy pours out to intervene the personal lives of men and, on a larger scale, to change human history.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we are able to receive the fullness of
Love — Divine, unending love— the immeasurable merciful lovingkindness of Our Creator Father God—the unsurpassed love of Jesus Christ and the love of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As we surrender to God’s love, we become able to love others as God loves us.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Mediation — Jesus’ death for sin mediates between us and God, bringing us into peaceful relationship with Him and with others. In all our needs, we can go to Jesus and ask Him to open the books of Heaven. Upon our confession and repentance, He will gladly be our Advocate. He will plead for us and erase, with His blood, all the accusations the devil has ever made against us through anybody anywhere. (Positionally, the Heavenly Books of accusations and condemnations against us are wiped clean at salvation. In practice, at times, some of us will need to be very specific about asking Jesus to be our advocate and plead His blood between us and condemnation. Then, He may come in with a gallon of sunshine and bleach and by our faith in the forgiveness available through the blood He shed on the cross for us, He will wipe out pages of accusations. Some of us, at times, might need to be very specific, plead guilty and repent of quite specific sins before we sense that He has fully erased the legal right for satan’s continued accusations.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is an outpouring of
Mercy —God is willing to meet our truest needs, whatever they are; His greatest mercy is our salvation, the forgiveness of sins and the capacity to live and move and have our being in Him.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we are anointed into His
Priesthood — We no longer need a priest to go to God for us. As His beloved children, we can approach Him directly for ourselves and for the needs of others.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Propitiation — Jesus’ death takes away God’s wrath at our sin.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Purification — The blood of Jesus Christ, shed at the cross, cleanses us from sin.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Ransom — By His death, Jesus paid the ransom price demanded by satan to set us free from all ungodly claims upon us.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Reconciliation — Jesus’ death on the cross reunited men with their Creator; it dissolved the hostility inevitable between a Holy God and ungrateful, sinful people.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Redemption — To be redeemed is to be set free, to be bought back, to be rescued or delivered from all captivity or oppression. Jesus redeems us from bondage to the spirit of this age, from the fabrications of men and women and the lies of the devil and from all that is inside of our own hearts and souls to block us from receiving the fullness of God’s righteousness, love, joy and peace and from doing His good works of faith.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Regeneration — Because Jesus died, we can be born again by the Holy Spirit into God’s family.  Once our hearts were sleeping, hardened, or deadened by sin, now our hearts are awakened, tender and made fully alive in Christ Jesus.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Repentance — Turning away from sin is always a gift of the Holy Spirit. He helps us to see our sins and wrong doings (even the unintentional ones) in the light of Jesus goodness and God’s holiness. If we welcome Him, He gives us the desire, willingness and strength to turn toward God.

Because of Jesus’ love through death we can be
Righteous — Our own good works don’t count with God. He says they’re like filthy rags. What counts with Him as good, pure, holy and right is all accomplished by His Holy Spirit. The righteousness of Christ is given to us when we confess our shortcomings, our pride, our failures to put God first and love Him best of all— when we turn from our own ways and accept Christ Jesus as Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we become able to do the good works God has for us, to make choices consistent with God’s laws of love, and to grow in His righteousness.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Salvation — Salvation (or rebirth) is not just for our spirits, not just to escape hell and get to heaven. It’s for our earthly physical bodies and souls as well. It means being saved or rescued from sin, from evil and from our enemies in the here and now. It means being brought under God’s rule and welcomed into God’s family. Salvation begins the process of healing and clean- up that puts our entire beings in right order with God. As we grow in God and yield to His ways and kindness, we are given strength to walk free from the control of compulsions, addictions and physical lusts and the allure of mental and emotional deceptions and false gods.

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Sanctification — We’re sanctified or made holy before God positionally at salvation (or rebirth) by the Holy Spirit. Then, like a new born baby, we begin to grow up in God. We grow in grace, and the knowledge of God by talking with Him, listening to Him, reading and obeying His word, and continuing to agree with His ways. Little by little our moral character matures and we grow in love until we’re no longer conformed to the values of this world but are more like Jesus..

Because of Jesus’ love through death there is
Substitution — Jesus took the death we deserved. He took our place.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we receive a fuller understanding of
Truth — We know that Truth is not relative. Although we come to know truth as subjective individuals, the truth itself is not individual or subjective. We know that Jesus is the truth.  His truth always agrees with objective reality. Truth is an attribute of God, of His mind and character. (Similarly, deception and lies are an attribute of satan.) Jesus came to earth to reveal truth and witness to it. The purpose of our earthly lives is live in His truth, to show forth the truth of His Father God and God’s historical plan just as He did.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can have
Victory — Because Jesus disarmed rulers and authorities and overcame principalities and powers on the cross, we can ask the Lord to withstand the invisible powers of spiritual darkness and overcome them on behalf of ourselves, others and the Kingdom of God. Our Victory is always in Jesus. It is not by any might, power or faith of our own that we overcome, but the battle and the victory are always in Jesus by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Because of Jesus’ love through death, we can
Worship — the one true God in Spirit and in Truth.   

Prayer — Father, I want it all. I want all of You and all of Jesus that is available to me.
Help me live in the fullness of Your love for me.

 

Note: This is only a short specific word list of all that was done for us by the blood Jesus shed upon the cross. Each word is backed by the teaching and testimony of Jesus and His followers as written in the New Testament. Check it out.