In 2Corinthians 5:16-17, the Apostle Paul relates what Jesus spoke to him, regarding the Christian of the new covenant. Paul also spoke about the revelation in Galatians 1:11-12 (Amplified) saying, "For I want you to know brethren, that the gospel which was proclaimed and made know by me is not a man's gospel ( a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard). For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, (but it came to me) through a (direct) revelation (given) by Jesus Christ (the Messiah)."
If anyone would know about the truth of this new creation man in the new covenant, then it would the The One Who died to establish it into being. We have a difficult time understanding the new creation, because we look at it from a "purely human point of view." Jesus, however, sees it from the same perspective of the Father Who sent Him. This wasn't about starting a new religion, but bringing God's children back into His Presence.
The new creation that we speak of, isn't simply about the forgiveness of sin, but about abolishing sin and restoring our right standing back with the Father. Of course, sin had to be dealt with in order to do so, but God no longer covers sin, He destroyed it in His new creation. When we speak of a new creation, we speak in terms of the first creation, where God established man in His Own Image and Likeness. Man was in perfect fellowship and pure before God. Sin didn't exist in God's first creation and fellowship was so intimate that God and Adam walked together and spoke as a son with his Father.
This new creation is exactly like that. God said, "Let Us make man in Our Image and Likeness, Let them (man) have dominion over all things in the earth." In the new creation, God had done a new thing, through Jesus Christ. We were born again (we have no past in God's eyes), by God's Own Word. 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm) but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."
God spoke light into being and it now remains by His Word. Only when God spoke this new creation, did this new creation become and it now remains by His Word. When God spoke the new creation into existence, it remains by His Word, just as surely as the heavens abide now by His Word. Even thought some do not believe in His creation, it still remains. Having some who do not believe in the reality of His new creation, doesn't mean that it's truth and reality. For those who believe, it is a liberty from sin and satan, while those who will not believe, it remains true without having effect in their lives.
The things the Father has declared, must be received by faith in His Word. Grace has provided much more than faith has received. Our right standing with the Father is a great part of this new creation, but we must accept this also by faith in His new creation reality. We've struggled over such things as healing, peace, righteousness, fellowship, prayer, authority, and the delegated power through the indwelling Holy Spirit, in God's new creation family. Just because some do not believe it, doesn't make it any less truth.
Unless we renew our minds to the truth of this new creation, we continue walking in the shadow of the old man of sin. When we read the New Testament, we continue reading it with the old sin conscience of the old man, more than reading with the Spirit of God's new man. We still try adjusting our spiritual life more in line with the old covenant, rather than the new one. We identify more with our flesh, rather than with our new creation man of God.
Paul writes the Church in Rome saying in Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified), "Therefore, (there is) no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live (and) walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit." When reading this scripture, do you allow the flesh to dictate your old man's sin to bring you under condemnation? Or, do you allow the Spirit to dictate to you the liberty from condemnation? This is a choice that is made by faith in what God has done in this new creation. Your flesh, which satan had control over from your old, natural birth, will fall in line with your unrenewed mind, but the renewed mind (the mind of the Spirit) will always agree with God's Word of Truth. The next verse explains why there should be "no condemnation" to those who will allow the Spirit to dictate what we believe. Thus, Verse 2 says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life (which is) in Christ Jesus (the Law of our New Being) has freed me from the Law of sin and of death." Which of these Laws do you believe in by faith? What you believe,is how you will conduct your spiritual life on earth. It is true whether or not you believe it, but it will not be effective in your peace of mind or your fellowship with the Father, if we refuse to believe it in your life.
Many believe this sounds prideful and boastful to believe that you are righteous in God's eyes. God, though, hears it as faith in His Word and less what the world or the devil has to say about us. If God declares you righteous, then are we to declare that He lied?
As new creation people, we must now walk by faith in God's Word. The world's point of view doesn't enter into this covenant. Only by faith in His Word can we dare to believe we have access to God's Throne of grace at anytime we choose to enter in. We can now be received into His Very Presence without guilt or condemnation through Jesus' Sacrifice.
Satan would still try holding onto the hold he had of the new creation, but he can only do so through deception. Satan's very first deception over God's first creation came from the beginning in Genesis 3:4-5 (Amplified) which says, "But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity."
Adam and Eve were "already like God, according to Genesis 1:27 (Amplified) which says, "So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him, male and female He created them." God has now made a new creation into His Image and Likeness, with this new birth. The first thing satan tried with this new creation family, was telling us that we are not in "God's Image and Likeness." Satan would have us believing that it's prideful to believe or confess such a thing. God says to believe this, is faith in His Word and His Son.
We've been faced with a decision of what we choose to believe. We can "walk after the dictates of the flesh" or we can choose to walk in the dictates of the Spirit with liberty in Christ Jesus. God has given His people the power of choice. God says in Deuteronomy 30:14&19 (Amplified), "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil." Verse 19 goes on, "I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curses; Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live."
We've been given the same mandate in our lives. Those who believe and are born-again will be saved, while those who do not believe, will be lost. Those who choose to be led by the dictates of the flesh, will continue living in guilt and condemnation. Those who walk in the dictates of the Spirit, will walk in liberty and life. The choice is left up to us. We can choose to believe in God's new creation and walk in dominion over sin and death or we can choose to believe what the deceiver said to Eve and then not enter into God's Presence.
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