“Any of us who are in Him...” - Hebrews 3 says that: “God placed Him as the Son over His house”. The ‘Son over our House’ is the firstborn! God placed Him as the “Son over His house” - whose house we are in, as long as we continue to believe in Him.
If Jesus is your firstborn - that means you're the second born - which means He takes the Justice; and you get the Mercy.
It also answers the question of: can we continue to sin, and grace will cover it?
Jesus said: “every sin a man commits will be forgiven him”.
Paul said: “wherever sin abounds, grace abounds more”.
In Hebrews it says: if you continue to sin, after you've come into a knowledge of Him - it's like you crucify Him over and over and over again.
Somebody still has to pay for your sin. You do get the mercy - but somebody's taking the justice; and if you love your firstborn, you don't want to do that to Him - because He gets the justice, you get the mercy.
What's true of the firstborn is true of the whole family. What's true of Jesus is now true of you. It's actually fused to you - He actually put Himself in you; because you get the mercy and He gets the justice.
If He's anointed - you're anointed. If He's righteous - you're righteous. That's why the Bible says: “you've been recreated in righteousness and true holiness”. That's
1 Corinthians 6:17 – “Christ has fused Himself to your spirit”.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 - “If any man be in Christ - he is a new creature. The old is gone and the new is come”. For we have been given this ministry of reconciliation - that God is reconciling the world to Himself, through Christ, by choosing not to count men's sins against them.
Are you born again?
Nicademus was a Pharisee - and all Pharisees were firstborns. That's why He said to Nicademus – “you've got to be born again”. You can't be a firstborn and make it into heaven. You can't be responsible for your own sins. Somebody has to be responsible for you.
Remember how excited Nicademus was? He's like: ooh! Just tell me! How can I get back up in my mum's womb, and be born again? Now that's an excited person! Quite over-zealous!
Jesus said: no, no, no - you can be born of water; and of spirit - and that counts as a second birth.
The message of Jesus is that: you're in a position of mercy, not of justice. He's offering to take you out of a position of justice and into a position of mercy.
The Bible says that when you get born again - there's a covenant between you and God.
In Hebrew culture, to make a covenant, we would: declare before you this day our intention to make a covenant. You need to have witnesses to make a covenant.
First we would trade coats. In New Zealand culture - this is to keep you warm okay. In Hebrew culture - this represents everything you are.
Remember when Elijah chose Elisha - he came behind him, and he threw his coat on him? In Hebrew culture, to give somebody your mantle meant: I give you everything I am; and you give me everything you are - in front of witnesses.
Everything I am I would put on him; and everything he is he would put on me.
So when you get born again - you give everything you are to Christ, everything - all of your unrighteousness; every place you've never measured up; every place you feel insecure; every depression, every rejection, every abandonment.
You give that to Christ; and you also give to Christ all of your righteousness, which is His ‘filthy rags’. In heaven, there are two lists on the audit form: sin; and filthy rags. We give Him all of our unrighteousness, and we also give Him all of our righteousness.