LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS: The Significance of Living a New Life in Christ Jesus

By Temitayo Oyediran

"Life in Christ Jesus" is a book inspired by the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is to guide and enlighten individuals within the body of Christ, helping them understand how to live the abundant life given to us by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Reading this book can provide you with valuable insights and guidance on how to live a fulfilling life as a follower of Jesus Christ. This book is filled with wisdom and illumination that could help you understand the importance of reflecting Jesus Christ's life and teachings in your everyday activities. By doing so, you can enjoy the freedom and abundant blessings that come with living a new life in Christ Jesus. This is an excellent resource for those looking to deepen their faith and understanding of Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jun 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823080859

Temitayo Oyediran

Self-Identification Management (SIM) was written by Temitayo Oyediran, who is an experienced project manager, IT consultant, and a service manager for many years; he has also been trained as a business analyst with a master’s degree in software engineering. Furthermore, Temitayo is a facilitator and motivational speaker who can simply engage his clients or audience with insightful tips that’ll transform their lives, businesses, and professions through coaching and mentoring.

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© 2023 Temitayo Oyediran. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  06/27/2023

ISBN: 979-8-8230-8086-6 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-8085-9 (e)

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this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Conclusion

Bibliography

Foreword

Life in Christ Jesus is founded upon the work of God in the new birth, justification, the gift of the Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, and our union to Christ. The goal of the Christian life is to be conformed into the image of Christ and, as a result, to share in God’s rule on the earth to the glory of God. Living a life of obedience and using various means of grace, such as scripture, prayer, and so on, God conforms the Christian into the image of Christ by the Spirit.

In Ephesians 4:12–13, the scripture says that the body of Christ would continue to grow strong until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. It goes further to say that we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like Him. Therefore, understanding life in Jesus Christ is taking that journey of growth and maturity in Christ.

The psalmist says in Psalm 119:104 that understanding is received from the precepts of the Lord, the result of which is hatred for all false ways. Therefore, understanding of the life we have in Christ and, of course, living it is important and necessary for the growth of the believer and his or her empowerment to eschew evil.

Also, the book of Proverbs is full of reasons why we must get understanding in everything that we do, including our lives in Christ. It says, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver (Proverbs 16:16b), and, He who keeps understanding will find good (Proverbs 19:8b). And in the fourth chapter of the book of Proverbs and seventh verse, it says that in all your getting, get understanding. There is no better life to live than the life in Christ, and the author considers this in his amazing subject of Understanding Life in Christ Jesus as he presents a clear understanding under thirty-one characteristics and benefits.

This very powerful book brings an exposition of the meaning of life from the Christian perspective and uses the attributes of Christ to show what life we are to live in Christ as we allow Him to influence our lives by His Spirit. It is indeed a fantastic piece of work, and I pray every reader will find it impactful and life transforming, and that believers who acquire understanding will grow steadily in their faith and be drawn closer to God.

Toyin Taiwo

Senior Pastor @Grace Chapel Chesterfield

Founder of Encounter Prayerline and

Global Prayer Cells and author

Preface

Many people alive in this world today are not living. This is not because they are not interested in living, rather, they do not understand how to live life to the fullest. There is an understanding behind why we are alive and what exactly are we living for.

Questions about why we are living are some of the topics in people’s minds for which this book has been prepared to answer. Understanding Life in Christ Jesus gives us a clear understanding that as Christians, we are not living lives that are our own; the old life has been swapped to the new life that Jesus Christ gives when we surrender our lives to Him. It’s with this understanding that I embrace the truth that if Jesus lived a perfect life while here on earth, I too deserve to live a perfect life as long as I’m still here on earth. And when I finally get to heaven, I will continue to spend eternity with Jesus Christ and the host of heavens.

To understand the concept of this book, I request that you read with an open mind. Expect that the Spirit of God will interpret the text for you in a way that gives light and clarity to you as regarding how to significantly enjoy the new life Jesus Christ gives to those who surrender their lives to Him and take upon themselves the new life that Jesus Christ gave us when He went to the cross on Calvary. Death could not hold Him down, and He was resurrected. The Bible records that the last enemy is death, so if Jesus Christ defeated the last enemy, and I have His new life in me, therefore I have also overcome all the enemies, including death.

The book provides information about the different kinds of lives that exist and the benefits of the life that we have in Christ Jesus. You will notice while reading that the characteristics and benefits of life in Christ Jesus helps us to understand how many of our experiences have spiritual expressions and connections to our Lord, Jesus Christ. For instance, Aroma of Life tells us about how the aroma/fragrance of Jesus Christ is what makes us know that we have been with Jesus when we can smell Him in and through us, and by how we behave around people which portrays Jesus Christ. In our day-to-day experiences, we engage in so many things without knowing that Jesus can be felt and seen in those simple or less-important things. We need to begin to see things from the perspective of spiritual people. We must ensure that Jesus is seen in and through us.

This also serves as opportunities for Christians to share the gospel with unbelievers. You can use the aspect of the conversation to bring it back to the new life in Jesus Christ. For example, if you are having a conversation with an unbeliever who is eating bread, you can find a way to move the conversation in the direction of the bread of life. You continue with the ingredients necessary to making bread and then conclude with how Jesus Christ is our bread of life and how He wants to give the person new life. But the conversation started from the fact that the person was eating bread. As Christians, we are not called into a life of mediocrity. We are called into the fullness of life in Christ Jesus. How we see ourselves living that fullness of life is very important. We do not want to limit ourselves by not allowing our lights to shine so that the world may see the good work of our Father, God, which is in us, and give glory to Him alone.

This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand the benefits of living the new life that comes with being a Christian and for unbelievers who want to understand what it means for them when they decide to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, and how do they logically understand the things even though they are currently not spiritual. At least everyone—believers and unbelievers—can relate to the words that characterise some of the benefits of a new life in Jesus Christ, including aroma, bread, breath, crown, book, and prince.

Chapter 1

Jesus Christ Is the Way, the

Truth, and the Life

(John 14:6)

It is with intense pleasure and gladness that I write this book, introducing you to a revelation on how to understand and live the fullness of life in Jesus Christ. I don’t mean to say that I know how you can receive a better life, but the Bible has revealed to me what it takes to receive and to live the abundant life that Jesus Christ gives to those who accept Him as Lord and Saviour. With this level of understanding that I’ve received from the Bible and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I feel I should write a few things about how anyone can receive and enjoy the fullness of life that comes with a new life in Jesus Christ. It’s possible to have life and not know how to live it to fullness. Still, it’s impossible to live to fullness without life, so we need to know and understand how to live to the fullness the new life in Jesus Christ.

Before we dive into discussing this topic, let’s quickly examine the most important question in finding out what it means to live life to the fullest.

What Is Life?

Do you know that the most important thing in this world is life? Because without life, you cannot be alive, and therefore, you can do nothing.

Are you also aware that life is supposed to be lived and not to be managed? Because life was given, we do not own it, and it will surely be taken back from us. So we don’t seem to have control over life. But while we have it, we must learn to live life to the fullest.

Many of these kinds of questions will be answered in this book as we address the issue of understanding life in Jesus Christ. When you think of the way people deal with life nowadays, you will agree with me that some people act as if they don’t value their lives anymore. Others act as if they have control over it, such that they can either switch their lives on or off depending on their moods. Many of these ideologies are not true. Some of the preconceptions people have about life make them treat it the way they do. For example, some people take their own lives through suicide due to difficulties that seem or appear to have no solutions in sight.

In facing difficulties, we must always remind ourselves that we are not the first people to live on this earth. And we are not going to be the last people to live here. So it is crucial that we look to solve our problems rather than give in to difficulties. After all, the challenges we may be facing today might have been faced by someone previously. We should learn one or two lessons from how they’ve resolved their problems. I say that because if you’re able to solve your problem today, it should be on record that you’ve been able to find a solution to such a problem. As a result, someone who is born from generations after you may read and see what happened and can use your experience to encourage themselves to find similar solutions for their problems.

Life is no joke, and it is possible for some people not to understand this. It may be too late to understand when they’ve lost the life they should have enjoyed. Life is not forever, and we need to understand it so that we may enjoy it while we have it.

I’ll quickly provide my definition of life as follows: Life is the existence of a being, both human beings and animals. Life is what you experience when you’re living. That means you’re still alive.

I asked a question earlier: Do you know that the most important thing in this life is life itself? Let me explain further by providing a few points why I think life is very important.

• To a sick person about to die, his or her prayer will constantly be that he or she may get well and to stay alive.

• To a wealthy person, his or her constant prayer will be that he or she lives long enough to continue spending money and enjoying life.

• To an ambitious person looking forward to the day his or her dream will come to fruition, he or she is constantly praying to stay alive to see his or her dream come alive.

• To the parents who are labouring so hard for their children, their constant prayer will be that they will still be alive when their children are prosperous, so they can also enjoy the fruits of their labours.

• To an investor who has put a lot of money into a business, he or she will constantly be praying that the investment yields good returns which can make him or her richer.

• To the person facing difficulties—who may not agree with this statement because he or she is feeling pain—the most important desire on the mind at that moment is to have a fulfilled life.

Can I just quickly hit you with the secret that there’s no life without problems? But our attitudes and responses to these problems make a significant difference.

There are many important things about life that we will explore more while we check the essence of life. For example, Life can be full, and life can be less. What do I mean by this? Life can be lived to the fullest, and life can be lived less than what’s necessary or required.

Also, when you have a lifeless body, that means you’re either dead or life is gradually leaving you, mostly when you’re on your sickbed and about to die. But when you have a life-full body, it simply means that you live life to the fullest. It means you have good health, prosperity, and an abundance of God’s blessings without hassle or sorrow.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2 NKJV)

I’d like to mention that ‘life’ is a noun while the verb word is ‘live’. When you have a life and do not know how to live, it makes life look so meaningless, which is why it’s critical to know where