Lesson 99 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) into Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     Many believe that what distinguishes Christians from the world, is their attending Sunday service or the denomination they're affiliated with.  We've observed the tradition of our faith and have tried living moral lifestyles.  We attend church fairly regularly and give in the offerings.  We believed that if we lived uprightly and did good to others, then God would reward us in Heaven.
     All the above things are good and should be part of our Christian lives, but they aren't what being a new creation is all about.  We've done the best we know how and that is rightly commendable, but we've never learned who we are in Christ Jesus.  Our new creation identity reaches far greater than we have ever pursued in God's Word.
     Usually, if our denomination disagrees with something, then we also disagree with it.  We do this without studying on our own, to see whether or not it's correct.  We've mostly left it to our pastor's knowing whether that something was right, according to the Word of God, whether it's "passed away" or whether or not we should blindly follow him.  Because of this traditional teaching, we haven't entered into the truth of what our Heavenly Father actually did in us and for us.  We simply continued on with our life as usual.
     God has far more for us to become and accomplish on His behalf, but instead we struggle with not feeling righteous or in right standing before God.  We continue believing God punishes us every time we fail or falter.  We never voice it, but we feel like God wasn't doing such things as moving in our lives, like He used to do.  Prayer has become a religious ritual, that we had very little faith of it ever coming to pass (we call it a miracle if it did happen).
     Little did we know, God so wanted to be a part of every single part of our lives and the only thing restraining Him was our unbelief.  After many years of partaking in religious traditions and teachings, we've given up on anything bigger occurring in our walk with God, other than our going to Heaven when we die.  Finally, the religious part of the Church just went along with the world, adapting to the world's philosophies.  We accepted things in the Church as truth, according to the world's point-of-view.

     When we begin to see from His Word, who we are and Who God made us to be, we dismiss it as false teaching because it sounds so strange to our "ears without hearing."  This has resulted in the Super-natural Presence of God to seem like fantasy and foolishness, to the average Christian.  God is moving in these last days to re-establish His full Presence and truth to His people.  We see and hear the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who are reaching out in faith again.  James says, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near unto you."  We now have people who are searching God's Word, His face and His hands.  God is revealing Himself, like He did in the days of old and even greater.  

     People are hungry for the knowledge of the Truth and God is feeding them by "Every Word that proceeds from His mouth."  The time for the Gifts of the Spirit is once again flowing at an increase.  The demonstration of the power of the Gospel is being revealed again, by His Presence in His Word.  This is the most glorious time for the Church of the Living God this planet has ever seen and we're blessed above all people on earth, to be part of it.  Many are looking at (and to) the world, to have their needs met.  The new creation people have learned where their help is coming from.  Finally, God will demonstrate to the world, through the Church, that He loves them and will meet all their needs and be their Help in time of need.  We've entering the place of "God with us," like the Word tells us.  

     As the Church grows in faith of the Ever Present God, Who is their Ever Present Help in our time of need, we will no longer just be  a "referral station," telling the addicts or sickly where to go for help.  But, we will show them the power of God is available in abundance to set them free.  It's always been available to those who would "seek His Face," but now it's overflowing, not only in the Church, but from the Church.

     The Holy Spirit is being poured out again on congregations in the Church.  The Baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't theory or speculation any longer, but He is Fact and Truth.  We are witnessing this great Truth of God being rained down upon His people, just like on the Day of Pentecost, where Acts 1:8 (Amplified) says," Receiving power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you."  This is the age of deliverance and the time of His coming.  I don't only want to see it, but I want to be a part of it.

     The world bombards us with what we "should think and say," to the point of it's being our source of knowledge, even in the Church.  God has things going on, that you will never hear or see until you shut off the world and listen to the Word.  Don't just believe something because someone else does.  Only believe what the Word tells you.  Don't be fearful of the things you see in the world, but be revived by what you see in His Word concerning these times.  Shut down your "ever buzzing" cell phone, remove your "ever present" head phones and incline your ear and heart to the Voice of the Shepherd once more.  Jesus said that, "His sheep know His Voice."  Allow the Holy Spirit to show you what to do and what is going on, instead of Facebook, Youtube, television or the person on the other end of your phone.  NBC, CBS, Fox News or any other news broadcast, has no idea about what God is doing (I'm not talking about the Christian channels).
     We are a new creation and the world or the heavenlies has never seen a people like what our Father has created in Christ Jesus.  Even the angels are stunned by what He has done in us, by our new creation life in Jesus.  The devil thinks he has put a lid on the Church, using his same old tactics.  But, the Lord says differently.
     We're not living the life of the early Church, like so many have thought, but we're writing the Last Chapter of the Book of Acts.  It's the only book in the Bible that hasn't been completed.  We must keep our hearts and minds open to the Voice of the Spirit and allow Him to lead us into things our natural minds would say have "passed away."  The only thing that has "passed away" in the new creation, is what 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Behold, the fresh and new have come."  All things have become new! 
   

Lesson 98 The New Creation

     Let's read what Paul say in 2Corinthians 5:15-17 (Amplified), "And He (Jesus) died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). (No) even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, Yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh). Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     The truth of the new creation man is that we actually died with Jesus and were raised with Him, when He rose from the dead.  In the natural, a dead man doesn't exist here any longer, only the memory of them is left.  The spirit is eternal and is now one with God's Spirit and has become the "lord" over the body of flesh it now indwells.  The house or body of flesh look the same.  The One Who lives in this house of flesh, is a new creation, a new Tenant, God Himself.  2Corinthians 6:16 (Amplified) says, "What agreement (can there be between) a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the Living God; Even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
     Because we've never seen ourselves by the truth of this new creation, we continue to see ourselves (and others) after the flesh.  We read about how "God will live in us," just like He did in Jesus.  But, then we fail to understand that, just like Jesus said, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me, Who does the work."  The same Father Who lived and walked in Jesus, now live and walks in us, as His new creation and living temple.  Our lack of revelation concerning this, has held back His desire to flow through us for the deliverance of others.
     2Corinthians 6:1 (Amplified) tells us, "Laboring together (as God's fellow workers) with Him then, we beg you not to receive the grace of God in vain (that merciful kindness by which God exerts His Holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ; keeping and strengthening them-do not receive it to no purpose)."
     We, the Church, are laboring together with God as "fellow workers."  We're the laborers Jesus said to pray to come bring in the harvest.  We're still praying for God to send the laborers, not understanding that He already has answered those prayers and that we are the laborers for Christ.  The early Church understood some things about their being the new creation, that we don't yet understand.
     The Super-natural power of God flowed through the early Church, the new creation people.  They  walked in and through the Holy Spirit.  We can read the Epistles and follow the Acts of the Apostles to see how God was actually living through them and not just living in them.  They understood what Jesus said about, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the works."  We confess that God lives in us, somehow though, God doesn't seem to live through us like He did then.
     In these last days before Christ returns for His Church, we are returning to the Super-natural  Presence of God here on earth.  We were always told the miracles Jesus and the early Church did, "Have passed away" or "Were only for special people."  We were never taught or told how we were "special people," as a new creation.  God is completing what He intended from the beginning and that is to have a family of people just like Himself.  Jesus is the First-Born.  He isn't the only One the Father has created.  Jesus is the Seed sown in death and resurrection, that now brings forth after Kind, a Body of believers like unto THE SEED.
     We wouldn't find it strange that an acorn brings forth an Oak Tree or that an apple seed brings forth an apple tree.  Why then, would we find if strange that God's Word (His Seed) would produce anything other than what it was created for?  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."
     It would be strange for a human being to produce a rabbit or for a rabbit to produce a human.  This is because we know that each has a seed that produces "after kind."  Why then, would it seem strange to think that God's Seed (Sperm), the Word would produce anything but what the Seed itself is?  Jesus was the Seed, He died, He was placed in the ground and rose a new creation.  In kind, we died, were buried and have also been raised new creations just like Jesus.
     Jesus is the Head of the Body of this new creation people and we are His body.  You are not "the Lord" over this Body, but a part of this new body.  The body is instructed by the Head, but it has the full ability of the Head, since we are now one in Him.  We are instructed to do (like He was instructed to do) what we see and hear our Father (Who lives in us) tells us to do.  I don't believe the Father has changed His mind about the things He instructed Jesus to do and what He instructs His body to do, because we have been made one with Him.  Remember, it's not you, but the Father in you Who does the work (just like it was with Jesus).  This isn't being boastful, but simply being what He created us to be.
     Today, there are multitudes of people needing healed, delivered, made whole, and set free.  Jesus didn't stop in His ministry when He returned to the Father, but expanded His Own ministry into His Body after He left to become it's Head.  The same things He did on earth, are the same things He is doing now (or at least desires to do now).  Hebrews 13:8 (Amplified) says, "Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is (always) the same, yesterday, today, (yes) and forever (to the ages)."  We must listen for and to the voice of the Father and then do whatever the Father tells us to do.  Jesus said, "I only do what the Father tells Me to do."  He still works this way in us.    

Lesson 97 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual) condition has passed away. Behold, the new has come."
     The new creation is not like any other being that has ever been on this planet.  We've operated and  tried to fashion our lives after previous generations, but we haven't been right in our operating.  We are truly a new creation and are as unique as the earth and stars were before God commanded them to come forth.  There never was a creation like us, before the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the Truth of God living in our temple of flesh.
     We operate from a completely new aspect and position, than any other being in the existence of mankind altogether.  Jesus was the Only human being on the planet Who had at that time, "Life Again" by the Spirit of God Himself.  All those at that time, were dead in trespass and sin, according to Ephesians 2:1(Amplified) which says, "And you (He made alive) when you were dead (slain) by (your) trespasses and sins."
     Read further in Ephesians 2:5 (Amplified) which says, "Even when we were dead (slain) by (our own) shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; (He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him)."  The Father has made the new creation people to be His family and Temple, in which to live in and among.  There's never been a people like the Church.  When we witness those who came before us in the Word, we try patterning ourselves after them.  We see ourselves after the Old Covenant and envision God as the One Who chastises us in the flesh, like in the days of old.  We fail to understand that in the eyes and mind of God, our body is dead by the same death that crucified Jesus.  God now deals with us completely by our new creation spirit man.
    The new spirit man is trained and corrected by his spirit and not his flesh.  2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified) says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, (and) for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action)."  This scripture tells us how the new creation man is to function now.  Our living spirit operates by the indwelling of God's Spirit and the Word (which is Spirit).  Romans 8:14 (Amplified) says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
     We've had difficulty seeing ourselves like God sees us, mostly because we have been taught how to in recent history.  I truly believe that when Paul preached this Gospel to the people, they received more than just the "go to heave" salvation message.  They also received the Shalom that Jesus preached.  I believe that when the early Church heard the Words of salvation, it brought healing and deliverance to them, just like it did when Jesus preached it.
     Satan has labored to discredit the Gospel, until we've nearly lost sight of what Jesus actually preached to the people.  Mark 16:19-20 (Amplified) says, "So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoke to them, was taken up into Heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the Message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied (it) Amen (so be it)."
     When Jesus' followers preached the Message they heard, signs and miracles closely accompanied it.  This is the inheritance of the new creation people...the very Presence of the Father is inside us, like He was in Jesus.  This is what has made us a new creation.  Never before has there been a people who actually "housed and tabernacled" the very Presence of God Himself.  The Spirit of God used to come upon the people or the Spirit of God Himself would actually speak to men, but not from within them. 
     We have God's Own Spirit and Life flowing out of us from withing, according to Ephesians 3:17-19 (Amplified) which says, "May Christ through your faith (actually) dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love. That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints (God's devoted people, the experience of that love) what is the breath and length and height and depth (of it) (that you may really come) to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience) that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)."
     The new creation is the light of the world and the salt of the earth.  We are to walk in this earth with signs and wonders produced by "the Father in us, does the work."  This is so the world can see the very glory of God through this new creation body of believers, by His Light in us.  If we are to :pattern ourselves" after anything, then we are to pattern ourselves after the First of the New Creation Man, the Last Adam Who is Jesus Christ Himself.  He is the Firstborn among many brethren and He is the Example for God's new creation family.

Lesson 96 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the new has come."
     In the revelation scripture above,  given to Paul by the Holy Spirit, we get a view of what God has done for us by Jesus.  We are not simply sinners who have been forgiven, but we are new creation.  In order to be a new creation, it must be something that has never previously existed before.  We've been taught and trained throughout the years, to view ourselves as just "old sinners who were forgiven by God when we got saved."
     It's true that Jesus destroyed and completely removed even the existence and every trace of our sin, but God (through Jesus) declared us clean before Him and righteous with Jesus' Own righteousness.  Paul stated in 2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified) that we have missed, saying, "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making his appeal as it were through us. W (as Christ's personal representatives) beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor (now offered you) and be reconciled to God."
     God has shown His grace and favor toward us through Jesus and has declared that He holds no malice or ill will toward us who are in Christ Jesus.  Even though He has opened the way into His Throne of Grace, many are reluctant to enter in and be reconciled with Him.  He has made to us the reconciliation from His point of view and has already declared our reconciliation through Jesus.  Many of us have never considered being reconciled to Him.
     One might wonder whether or not these are the same thing.  The answer is "No."  Have you ever tried being friends with someone who won't be your friend?  It doesn't matter how well you treat them or how friendly you are towards that person, he still refuses to be reconciled to you.  You can do everything you know how, but that person refuses to enter into friendship with you.  God has done everything He can to demonstrate His acceptance and Love His heart holds for men, but many still stand offish and distrust His Word of reconciliation.  We've been reluctant to enter into His Throne Room of His grace.
     Jesus said in Luke 2:14 (Amplified), "Glory to God in the Highest (Heaven), and on earth peace among men with Whom He is well pleased (men of good will, of His favor)."  John 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ."  These scriptures tell us that God's favor and peace toward mankind has already been offered to all who will reconcile themselves to Him.  From the grossest of sinners, to those who have already received Jesus, this reconciliation has been offered to all who will believe
      Many of us have received His offer of being forgiven, but have never reconciled ourselves unto His Presence.  We still stand in the Outer courts of His Presence like the old covenant people, and never understand we are now God's Temple.  We seen afraid to truth the Truth of His Word concerning our old life and allow that fear to hold us back from being reconciled to God.  Reconciliation must come from both parties, in order to be made complete.  Even though God has reconciled Himself with mankind through Jesus, many (including Christians), have never reconciled themselves unto Him.
     We continue to find ourselves standing afar from and trying to find the favor God has already offered us through Jesus.  Were we all sinners?  Of course, we were.  Did we deserve to be made righteous?  Of course not.  However, by His divine favor, He has made this possible through Jesus.  We're not to arrogant about entering His Presence, but we are to be comfortable in His Presence, by faith in what He Himself has made available to us.
     I wonder how many of speak and act like friends and family in the Presence of our Father.  Do we come to Him as though we are "right" in His eyes?  Or, do we distrust His offer of righteousness and stand aloof not daring to reconcile ourselves to Him?  I never thought of my children as being arrogant for calling me, "Dad."  Nor did I consider them being boastful for believing I would always accept them into my presence.  Even when they were wrong, they could come to me and together we would make things right again.  This is how we reconcile ourselves to God.  Even though He's done everything He can to reconcile Himself to us, we must accept His gift of reconciliation and reconcile ourselves to Him.
     It seems strange that as children of God, we still distrust Him to do what He promised, when He could swear by no Higher, He swore to Himself.  We confess we believe God's Word and refer to ourselves as being the same as before being saved, instead of about who God has made us to be.  Do we really believe we are a new creation or do we see ourselves like we were and never reconcile ourselves to the One Who has promised reconciliation to us?
     We are always welcome to God's Throne of Grace and even better, His Very Presence has come to dwell in us as the Temple He has chosen to reside in.  The Feast of Tabernacles has come to pass in this new creation, according to John 14:23 (Amplified) where Jesus said, "If a person (really) loves Me, he will keep My Word (obey My teachings) and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (above, special dwelling place) with him."  When we don't understand what the Father has done to reconcile Himself to us, we remain reluctant to reconcile ourselves unto Him.  This always keeps us from being able to have complete faith in His desire to do for us, everything He wants to do.
     Having the "Fear of the Lord" doesn't mean we have a cringing fear or dread of His Presence, but rather having reverence and respect for Him and believing His Word of reconciliation unto us and being reconciled to Him.  The truth of the new creation brings boldness to approach Him on His Own terms and not on our terms.  We've spent two-thousand years trying to find way of being acceptable to God, instead of placing faith and receiving what He has already done and reconciling ourselves to Him.  We must reconcile ourselves to Him by faith and put faith in His way of doing and being right.
     All of God's promises work by faith in what He has already said and done.  When we try finding our own way to receive from God, we are actually living by unbelief in His Word.  The only way to approach Him, is by His Own standards of faith in what He has done through Jesus.  Any other way is by the flesh and is useless in God's New Covenant.  We can never be "good enough" in our own righteousness to approach Him.  This is why faith is so important to the new creation.
     God has already made the Way for us to enter into Him at any time.  Jesus said in John 6:29 (Amplified), "This is the work (service) that God asks of you; That you believe in the One Whom He has sent (that you cleave tom, trust in, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger)."  Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) tells us, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him, For whoever would come near to God must (necessarily) believe that God exist and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him.
     God has a prescribed way for us to obtain the promises and rewards of Grace and Covenant.  All of these way require faith to obtain.  From being saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8) to being found righteous in His eyes (Romans 1:17) which says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith."
     2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified) says, "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us, We (as Christ's personal representatives) beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor (now offered you) AND BE RECONCILED TO GOD.

Lesson 95 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) is passed away. Behold! The fresh and new has come."
     I've had several persons approach me saying, "You never deal with the real problems of life, but you always teach about the spiritual life."  The entire reason for my teachings about the new creation, is so we can be capable of applying the Truth of what God has done, to what so many refer to as "the real problems of life."  so many Christians have taken the "real world" problems and exalted them above the real truth of this new creation.
     What we call "the real world" isn't something God has never thought of, because He has thought of everything.  On the other hand, though,we have separated the real world from the plan of God.  Can you even imagine God not knowing about the things occurring on earth?  Or, that He has left us in a place where He is unable to reach us?  The problem isn't that God doesn't care or cannot do anything to help us, but that we have never learned how to apply the Laws governing Heaven to this realm of life.
     Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, (there is) now 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. 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."
     There are spiritual laws that function all of the time.  The Law of sin and death still functions on this earth at all times.  The new creation man must know he is no longer under this Law, but under a new Law, which is the Law of Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.  The new creation's new Law is operated by the Holy Spirit to lift the new creation above the old Law of sin and death.  If we remain carnally minded and believe God's laws only apply to when we die and go to Heaven.  This new Law doesn't operate in our lives, like is should, because we fail to apply it in our lives in this "real world."
     Those who don't understand like they should, this isn't the "real world."  The real world where Jesus is, has created this real world we now live in our fleshly body.  The Creator is always Greater than the creation.  When we learn how to function by the Higher Laws God has given us in Christ Jesus, then we can walk above the lower laws that previously governed us.  Heaven has laws that operate above all else and we have simply never learned how to function in them in this realm.
     Jesus came as an Example of how a new creation Man can walk here on earth, by operating in the Higher Laws of God.  We've always been taught that Jesus could only do the things He did in His earthly ministry, because He was Jesus.  But, this isn't true.  We watched as mere not born-again men, walked in these laws by simply faith in what He told them to do.  We see another view into the new creation man and how he is to be led now by his renewed mind and not by our carnal mind, in Romans 8:4-5 (Amplified) which says, "So that the righteousness and just requirements of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh, but in the ways of the Spirit (our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh [this doesn't mean sin, but simply fleshly things] but those who are according to the Spirit, and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit, set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit."
     The above scripture tells us it's a choice whether we renew our minds and seek after spiritual things or we continue thinking of this as the real world and believe spiritual things are for "someday in Heaven."  We are called to live in two different worlds simultaneously.  We have a natural body to live and govern here and we have a new creation body body to govern heavenly laws in this earth.  God never intended us to just live like we always have until we go to Heaven.  He intended us to "bring Heaven" and the Laws that He governs by, into this earthly realm.  This is why God left us in our natural bodies, when He created this new creation man.  He gave dominion to man, when He created this natural realm and He still intends for man to rule it.  He created this new creation man to live through Him and govern here, by Heaven's Law of rule.  Now, through the new creation man, God has a new creation that can be filled with God Himself to have Heavenly rule through a natural body of a man, like He did with Jesus.
     Jesus taught us to pray that God's "will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."  Jesus intended this new creation being that He was going to bring into existence, would do like He did and not His Own will, but the will of the Father.  We've remained carnally minded and have believed that everything happening on earth was God's will.  If this was true, then Jesus wouldn't have needed to heal, restore of change anything, but He would have left things like they were.  Jesus did God's will, which was to restore this realm to the Heavenly Image God had intended before man's fall. 
     Obviously, the way things happen on earth aren't how Heaven functions.  As new creation people, we are supposed to seek the things of the Spirit and not get side-tracked by the real world things.  When we do this real world thing, we're being controlled and governed by the flesh and are under the lower law of sin and death, instead of the Higher Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus.  We are in Him and the Law of Heaven is supposed to operate and govern us, as well as governing the lower law of sin and death that has held the world captivated, until now.
     As new creation people, we're called to learn the Higher Las that govern all things and then apply them here.  We're faced with a spiritual outlaw (satan) who refuses to turn loose, until someone forces him.  He knows that what he's doing is unlawful according to spiritual laws, but until we enforce the laws, he will continue on like he has.  We know that here on earth (at least in America), it's unlawful to manufacture and sell harmful drugs, but we still have criminals doing it.  They will continue doing these things, until someone enforces the law and stops them.  We can't blame the President for the flow of drugs into our country, he has determined that it's unlawful and has delegated authority to the Law Enforcement agencies to stop it.  We cannot blame God for satan's unlawful actions here, because God delegated and gave us the authority to stop satan's unlawful works of sin and death that operate against Heaven's laws here.  Ephesians 6:12 (Amplified) says, "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents) but against the despotisms, against the power, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the Heavenly (super-natural) sphere."
     These forces can't be controlled by mere natural man, but by the new creation man God has set forth into this earth, by the new birth.  God has made laws that satan refuses to obey.  Unless God's people enforce those laws, then this is the real world.  Only God's new creation people can act on these laws, because one must be born-again to be able to do so.  For man to establish laws on this earth and expect satan to accept them, is foolishness.  He will only obey the commands of laws, when they are enforce and only God's new creation people have the authority to enforce them.
     There is so much more for this new creation, than just going to Heaven when we die.  In order to bring Heaven to this earth, we must allow the Father to work because Jesus said, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me that does the work."  The Same Father is now living in His new creation people, to do the same work the He did in Jesus and restore things to the Laws that govern Heaven.  We are simply "tools and vessels," in the Hands of the Master.  Tools left in the toolbox, don't do the mechanic much good while he is working.  Tools that don't want to get dirty don't do much good for the Father either.  We must be there, when He needs us to do the job.
    

Lesson 94 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away."
     When our Heavenly Father created the flesh and blood body for the spirit to dwell in, He made a man in His Likeness and Image who could (and would) function in two realms simultaneously.  Genesis 1:27 (Amplified) 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."  In Genesis 2:7 (Amplified) God formed a body for the spirit man to dwell in and function in the natural realm of the earth.  Thus, it says,"Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of spirit of life, and man became a living being."
     God also made a "counterpart" for the male species of man, and Adam declared in Genesis 2:23 (Amplified), "This (creature) is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man."  Both Adam and Eve were capable of living in two realms of life at the same time.  Their spirits were made in God's Image and Likeness.  Jesus said in John 4:24 (Amplified) that, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)."  Adam and Eve were spirit beings, who were given earthly bodies to dwell in, that were able to operate by their spirit while still operating in authority in the natural realm of the earth.
     God gave this "God-man" dominion over the earthly realm, to govern by the spirit (which is to be subordinate to the very Spirit of God Himself).  Man was never intended to be a rogue being, but was an offspring of God Himself and was supposed to be taught and raised into being kings and queens over the work of the Father's hands.  Now man was able to bring forth children in his image and also the Image of God simultaneously.  Man now had the best of both worlds.
     The new creation being who has now come from the Resurrected Christ, has once more been placed into this realm and the dominion that was always the heart of the Father.  Like Jesus, we were created to once again have dominion in both realms at one time.  We were to rule the very elements of this earthly realm, while maintaining authority of spirit beings, according to Ephesians 6:10-18 (Amplified).  Verse 10 is probably the most important one in this entire chapter, because it is the part that Adam failed in from the beginning.  Thus, Paul says, "In conclusion, be strong in the Lord (be empowered through your union with Him); draw your strength from Him (that strength which His boundless might provides)."
     God would never put us in a place that was beyond His provision and strength to care for us.  Adam made the mistake of trying to operate in his own authority, not realizing that all authority comes from the Lord.  Aside from the delegated authority given by the Lord, there is no authority at all.  The only authority satan operated in, was that which was given by God to Adam.  The devil usurped Adam's authority for his own perverted use.
     God had given man authority to rule and govern this earthly realm and it became legal for satan to use man's authority (even though it wasn't meant for him to use).  As long as man had dominion, satan could deceive man into giving that dominion over to him and satan could now, by legal use, rule man by his own dominion.  Man had been legally given dominion by God.  God was left to devise a way to transfer the dominion and authority He gave to man (and man gave to satan), back to man legally.
     In this new creation being, God, Who made man in His Image from the beginning, (however strange it may sound to the carnal thinking) had to be made in man's image, in order to restore balance to where it should be.  To dethrone satan and put things back in order, God needed to take upon Himself the image and likeness of man.
     We see a portrait of what we've been discussing, in Philippians 2:6-7 (Amplified), which says, "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God (possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God) did not think this equality with God was a things to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself (of all privileges and rightful dignity) so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being."
     To the religious mind and by human reasoning, the above scripture is beyond anything we've ever been taught, heard or learned.  Thinking about man's being made in God's Image and then God being made in man's image to restore the authority and dominion He had initially given man, is difficult for the carnal mind to grasp.  Now you can see how we are a new creation people, who have become one one with God like Jesus said in John 17:22 (Amplified), "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one (even) as We are One."

Lesson 93 The New Creation

     Our faith hasn't really grown into much more than believing we'll go to heaven when we die.  How many Christians truly believe that our God can still do mighty exploits here on earth?  When asked that question, do we answer, "Well, maybe" or emphatically answer, "Yes!"  Sometimes, we miss His exploits or dismiss them, because we failed to see God in them.  We were willing to accept what the news media says, rather than a divine intervention in things.  We must become aware of our God at work on behalf of mankind and not the destruction of mankind.
     It's astounding how we've confused the things of God with the things of the enemy who came to "steal, kill and destroy."  Sickness, disease, hard times and poverty have now become the normal for God's people.  Tongues, healing, miracles and prosperity have somehow, now become the work of the devil.  It's so alarming to hear this message preached in the congregations of God's Own family.  The Word says that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."  Faith in anything comes by hearing.  It's a spiritual law and principle.  There's an old saying about this that says, "They have told that lie so long, they have come to believe it."  It's time to come back from the compromised message and believe the truth of God's Word again.
     There is an awakening to God's Presence and the truth of God's Word happening, not only in our Land, but throughout the earth.  The unsaved are become awake to God's Presence and the Church is undergoing revival.  The word "revival" means to "revive the Church from its slumber and sleep and awaken from tradition to truth."
     God said in 2Chronicles 7:14 (Amplified) that, "If My people would awake and pray and come back to Me, then I will hear their prayers and heal our land."  If we cannot see the sickness that has crept into our land, then we are blind and will not see.  America has become sick because of not observing God's Word and by allowing things to occur that we (the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ) should never have tolerated.  We've allowed this sickness to permeate our whole land, either from our not knowing or not seeing or not recognizing it.
     We must put our denomination differences aside and realize that we are one body.  If one part of the body doesn't function properly, then the whole body is dysfunctional.  Standing together in faith isn't that hard, if we'll all return to faith in God's Word.  We've used His Word for individual strength, but now we must come together for corporate strength.  The Church are the ones Jesus gave the authority to.  We need to use that authority over the principalities and powers controlling our nation.  We need to lift up the Name of Jesus over it all, once again.
     Jesus gave His authority to the believer and without its being used like He instructed, nothing changes.  There are currently laws concerning the making and selling of illegal drugs established in our country, but even though the law forbids it, if the law isn't enforced, then the illegal distribution continues.  There are certain things occurring on earth that are against the laws of Heaven, but if the Church doesn't enforce these laws, then the enemy continues destroying those Jesus came to save.
     The Church has become subject to laws that are unGodly, because we refuse to stand united in faith and prayer, to stop satan's maneuvering in our lives.  Jesus gave us some guidelines on how to use the authority He gave us,  in Matthew 18:19 (Amplified) saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in Heaven; and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in Heaven."
     This was given for the future time, when the new creation people would be given this authority to hold as His representatives on earth.  Jesus told us what things Heaven would and wouldn't permit to be just and acceptable on earth.  There shouldn't be a great debate about some of the things that we have allowed to happen here.  Can you imagine things being run and happening in Heaven, like they're being done here?  I hear Christians say, "Whatever is being done, is God's will."  Jesus, though, taught us to pray that, "God's will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven."  Do we truly believe that what's currently transpiring on earth are the things occurring in Heaven?  Who, then, is responsible for "Doing His will here on earth?"  Jesus said that, "He came not to do his will, but the will of the Father."  The way to have God's will done on earth like it is in Heaven, is to have somebody to His will here.  Jesus said in John 6:38 (Amplified), "For I have come down from Heaven not to do My Own will and purpose but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me."
     Jesus also said in John 14:12-13 (Amplified), "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and He will do even greater things than these because I go to the Father. And I will do (I Myself will grant) whatever you ask in My Name (as presenting all that I Am), so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son."
     When we take Jesus at His Word and do the very things He did, then the Father is glorified ion the Son, through us.  This isn't some work of the flesh to lift up man, but is the work of the Spirit to lift up Jesus.  The "greater work" Jesus spoke about, is getting people born-again, through His resurrection.  Jesus couldn't get anyone born-again until His death and resurrection.  This was a privilege left for the Church, by the Holy Spirit.
     No father worth his salt, brings children into this life without providing for them and raising and teaching them into adulthood (and sometimes beyond that).  I've discovered that you never stop being a father.  My kids are middle-aged adults, but I'm still their father.  They still look to me for help and advice from time to time.  I didn't orphan my children or leave them as babies.  I raised them into adulthood, and enables them with the tools to remain at liberty.
     Our Heavenly Father never intended for His children to remain babies for the remainder of their time here on earth.  As sons of God, we're expected to "train up" His children and bring them into maturity and into His Kingdom.  This goes beyond teaching them to walk in the natural, but also in the super-natural.  I enjoy my life here on earth with the things my Father has created and provided for me.  I live in a rural area that is both peaceful and quiet, where I raise horses and beef cattle.  I love what my Heavenly Father created for us here.  I simultaneously, can walk in the Spirit with Him and do the things that please Him.
     The Word admonishes us to, "Not love the things of the world," not the things of the earth.  The world or the world system, is run by darkness, while "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."  I can enjoy what God crated for me and change the things the enemy has perverted, at the same time.  When I observe the earth's beauty (even under the curse), I can see the heart of a loving Father Who created this whole world for the enjoyment of His children.  I partook of the blessing that has come on me through Christ Jesus and broke the curse from off the land God has given me.  God has blessed me with enough hay to keep the horses and cattle well fed.  The things that were cursed through Adam's fall, have been blessed by the power of the new creation, in Christ Jesus.  Where there was only proof of the curse, there is now a Garden of Eden.
     I was once told that because I'm in the ministry, I shouldn't have horses and cattle anymore.  What a shame someone would think that way.  My most precious times with my Heavenly Father are spent when I'm in the tractor, cutting and bailing the hay.  The quiet and beauty of that time spent with Him, in the restored beauty of His creation, is prayer and worship that some never achieve.  The balance of enjoying what God has given me here and the inheritance I received into His new creation, is a balance that Jesus and Adam shared.  They both walked with God in the Spirit, while still having a natural body.
     This is a great things about this new creation.  I can have the glory of both worlds, living in both placed simultaneously, while walking naturally super-natural. 

Lesson 92 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     Our natural body still mostly controls our new creation body.  We continue living by Law, rather than by grace.  We listen more to the unrenewed mind, rather than the mind of Christ.  "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," but we've primarily been taught only a small portion of the Truth of the Gospel.  Our faith cannot rise above our hearing.
     We all acknowledge the sins of the flesh are wrong, even under grace.  But, we haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to guide us into the place where our spiritual actually dominates our natural body.  In Numbers 13, we see people respond by faith in what they've heard and it kept them in the Promised Land for more than forty years.  Only ten of the preachers telling the Israelites that, "We cannot take the Land" had ever even seen it.  The others placed faith in what they heard from those saying, "We cannot take the Land."  Joshua and Caleb agreed with what the Lord had told them, while the majority placed their faith in, "We cannot take the Land."
     Because we've only preached certain things from the Word about the new creation, the faith of the people has never risen above what they've heard.  Most of our preaching has been more about what God has done in the past and what He will do in the future.  We've failed to preach much about what God can and will do in the here and now.  When we hear the "Now Word of faith," then our faith in the true and Living God can do what He is ready to do now.
     Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith) As it is written, the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
     Our faith is a living thing through the Word of God, that should grow from day to day,as we come to understand who we are now in the Gospel.  Paul said that, "In the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed by faith."  When faith understands righteousness, faith will grow into the life of faith, that reaches into the realm of understanding.  Until we begin to understand (by hearings and studying) what God has done for us in the Gospel, we can't actually walk in it by faith.
     Even after reading from 2Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified) that, "Christ was made to be sin with our sin, so that we, in and through Him, might become (endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of) the righteousness of God," we still just quote from Romans 3:10 (Amplified) which says, "As it is written. None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no not one."  We didn't have the understanding that now, through Jesus, God has made us to be righteous with His righteousness.  And, because not much has been preached on it, we operated more in Romans 10:3 (Amplified), "For being ignorant of the righteousness that God ascribes (which makes one acceptable to Him in word, thought, and deed) and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation) of our own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness."
     This might be the greatest starting point of what Paul was saying in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), "Until we, by faith, can understand righteousness by grace, our faith cannot rise into the place of understanding living by faith."  Those of us who have been saved and born-again, are already living by faith, according to Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) which says, "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion) it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on, and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
     So, whether or not we understand it, we (the new creation people) are already living by faith.  We sometimes have a difficult time putting our faith in this, because it hasn't been preached much.  e continue trying to establish our own righteousness, instead of going "from faith to faith."  We find our faith "stuck" in one place, as we try to grow into Him.
     Many of us were taught that we will be new creations, after we arrive in Heaven to spend eternity with Him.  And, this prevents our taking our rightful place here on earth.  Growing up into faith with our Father, is simply believing what He says, more than what our senses and others say about us.  Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified) tells us, "But solid food is for full grown men, For those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to distinguish evil and contrary either to divine or human law."
     We continue being swayed by the world's idea of what "morally good and evil and what is divine or human law."  What man thinks about divine law and what God thinks about divine law is spiritually discerned.  In the eyes and thoughts of the world, all things are acceptable.  Because we haven't "trained by practice" what the Word says, we find ourselves being drawn into the world's way of thinking.  This is establishing our own righteousness in the Word of God.  We are called to not only do differently, but to think differently.

 

Lesson 91 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, any person who is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) is passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     We became a new creation, the moment we were born-again.  This doesn't mean that things won't be different when we leave this body, but it does mean that the spirit man who lives in this body, is alive unto God now and can (and should) walk in a different realm than we have been walking in.  To what degree we are to walk, seems to vary from person to person.  Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:31,33 (Amplified) to, "Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right) and then all of these things (what we are to eat, what we are going to drink and what we are going to wear Vs. 31) taken together will be given you besides."
     Jesus indicated that God wants to meet our natural needs, as well as our spiritual needs.  We've never learned how to obtain this kind of relationship with the Father.  God's way of doing and being right, means that the Kingdom has another way of functioning that we've never reached into.  Obviously, God's way of being right (His righteousness) is a gift of grace given when we receive Jesus as our righteousness.  Romans 3:24 (Amplified) says, "(All) are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the redemption which is (provided) in Christ Jesus."  In order to seek His righteousness, we must by faith, believe that Jesus is our righteousness.  If we believe what Jesus told instructed in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first of all His righteousness," then we will by faith, cease trying to obtain our own righteousness by works.
     His way of doing and being right, is something we've not understood.  Religion says that, "In order to do His way of being right, we must simply change our way of living and stop allowing sin to operated in our natural body."  It's very true, that we should bring our natural body into subjection to the Word and the new creation spirit, but is this all there is to "doing and being right?"
     In the life of Jesus and those we read about in the Word, we see how they didn't just stop at simply not sinning anymore.  His way of doing right, extended into reaching the masses of people who had things which didn't comply with His Kingdom.  His way in the Kingdom, also deals with the natural position of mankind, as well as their spiritual lives.  Seeking first of all His way of doing and being right, means bringing them closer to God's Kingdom, through our works of the Spirit in this new creation.
     We were created in Jesus, in order to bring about God's will here on earth again.  Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."  In order for God to express His will here on earth, He needs for His new creation to operate in the Laws that govern Heaven, to function again on earth, through His very Presence in His new creation.
     This isn't a condemnation to those who are simply "living right," here on earth, but to challenge us to reach farther into Who our Father has created us to be, how to operate in His Kingdom instead of the kingdom of darkness that we'd previously been raised in.  What we have been doing isn't wrong, it's just short of "His way of doing and being right."  He has so much more for us to operate in, we haven't seen yet, because we haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to teach us His ways.
     The Church has reached the age of maturity, where God will raise up such leaders as Moses, Joshua, Jesus, Paul and those who stepped out of the ordinary into the super-natural Kingdom of God.  This is for us today. 
     "Seeking and doing the things of His Kingdom" also means that everything that was out-of-order in the Kingdom, was to be restored to God's original plan for man.  Jesus stood in the Synagogue, reading from Isaiah 61:1-2, in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified) saying, "The Spirit of the Lord (is) upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are trodden down, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity) To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord (the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound)."
     His way of doing and being right, is for the time when righteousness was restored again to mankind.  His way of doing right, was for the new creation people, to restore His way back to the earth.  Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:8-9 (Amplified), "Whenever you go into a town and they receive and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God has come close to you.'"  Is this His way of doing and being right, in the Kingdom?
     If it were different, then Jesus would have done it differently.  Is this then, as it was then "For us to seek first of all His way of doing and being right?"  Is this what brings us close to the Kingdom of God by our works of the Spirit in this new creation?
    
    

Lesson 90 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether) the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away, Behold, the fresh and new HAS come."
     We've mostly thought that the new creation is for after we go to Heaven, because we've been taught and heard that it won't happen while we're here on earth.  God's Word tells us, though, that we become new creation the moment we are born-again and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
    God works through men to accomplish His work on this earth, it's the new creation man living in his old natural body.  When the natural body dies, we leave this earth and we're no longer any use here.  God has reserved the new body for His new creation people to receive this new body simultaneously.
     God gave dominion over the earth and everything in it, to man in Genesis 1:26 (Amplified), "God said, LET US (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image, after Our Likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air; the (tame) beasts, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth."
     This mandate has never been recalled or change, according to the commission of God.  After the fall of Adam, satan used this same mandate to usurp man's authority for his own kingdom of darkness.  Man left the Life of God and stepped into the realm of spiritual death.  He was no longer able to walk in the place of the spirit realm, where he was created to be.  Satan now uses the authority God had placed with mankind, to govern the whole earth.
     Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness with this authority and dominion.  Luke 4:6 (Amplified) says, "And he said to Him (satan to Jesus), To You will I give all this power and authority and all their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace) for it has been turned over to me, and I will give it to whomever I will."
     When Jesus came into this world, He came as "The Son of man," as well as the Son of God.  He came as a Man, in order to take back the authority and dominion that Adam has given away to the devil.  At Jesus' resurrection, he transferred this authority and dominion back into the hands of God's new creation Man, to carry out God's mandate of Genesis 1:26.
     God had given man the dominion and authority, man gave it to satan, God worked through the Man Jesus (His Son) to take that authority and dominion back.  Now God could work again through man and restore His creation to was He planned at the beginning.  Adam was supposed to expand the Garden of Eden to cover the planet,but satan used this blessing or power that God gave to Adam in reverse, and the power of this blessing became a curse to steal, kill, and destroy.  Life became death, blessing became a curse, thorns replaced vegetation, darkness replaced light and mankind became captives to an outlaw spirit.  The reversal of blessing had come.
     Through Jesus, God once again restored this blessing and authority into the hands of mankind.  God has taken up resident in the very body of this new creation.  By the power of the new creation, God has taken resident in the very body of the new creation, like it was with Jesus.  Jesus said in John 17:22-23 (Amplified), "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one (even) as We are One; I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and (definitely) recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them (even) as You have loved Me."  Jesus reiterated this many times saying, "It is not Me, but the Father in Me, that does the work."
     The "mystery" of the new creation was that God Himself would now take up residence within the born-again spirit of man and man would be restored to what the Father created him to be, which was His son made in His Image and Likeness.  Paul says in 1Corinthians 6:19-20 (Amplified), "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received (as a Gift) from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a Price (purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His Own) So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body."
     The new creation man has this glory in an earthen vessel, in order to show forth God into the earth, like Jesus did in His earthen Body.  This is the new creation's mission, to show the Glory within, while we're here on earth.  When we are caught up and the graves are opened and we enter God's fullness, the glorious beauty of this new creation will be transformed into a new and glorious body, from the inside out, with God's Own glory. 
     2Corinthians 4:6-7 (Amplified) tells us, "For God Who said, Let Light shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts so as to (beam forth) the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God (as it is manifest in the Person and revealed) in the Face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). However, we possess this precious treasure (the divine Light of the Gospel) in (frail, human) vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves."
     Notice how Verse 6 didn't say that, "The God Who said Let Light shine in Our hearts," but that, "The God Who said for Light to shine, has shone in our hearts."  It's not only the Light, but the "God Who commanded Light, has shined in our hearts."  Now this Light and the God Who spoke this Light to shine, are both in the earthen vessel (the new creation).  The Creator and the new creation are now one.
     When my sons were born, they were a part of me from that very moment.  They bear my name, my blood and my inheritance.  They are "one with me" and I am "one with them."  Even though they are two separate bodies, we are still linked together by blood, to be in more than one place and still not be separated in spirit.  How much more so are we one with our Heavenly Father, Who said, "I will never leave you or forsake you" and "I will be with you until the end of the age." 

Lesson 89 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether) the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) is passed away, Behold! the fresh and new HAS come."
     For most of our Christian walk, we've believed that we would become the new creation, after we go to heaven.  We've been taught that and have come to believe that way.  It's true that we won't have our glorified body until Jesus returns, but we became a new creation the moment we were born-again.  We were created brand new in Jesus.
     1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are (even here and) now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be (here after), but we know that when He comes and is manifest, we shall (as God's children) resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He (really) is."  1Thessalonians 4:15-18 (Amplified) says, "For this we declare to you by the Lord's Own Word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede (into His Presence) or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep (in Him at death) For the Lord Himself will decend from Heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first."  Verses 17-18 go on, "Then we, the living ones who remain (on the earth) shall simultaneously be caught up along with (the resurrected dead) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of eternities) we shall be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these Wrods."
     Paul also writes about our new body being made "as He is now," in 1Corinthians 15:42-52 (Amplified) saying, "So it is with the resurrection of the dead (the body) that is sown is perishable and decays, but (the body) that is resurrected is imperishable (immune to decay, immortal). It is sown in dishonor and humiliation; but it is raised in honor and glory. It is sown in infirmity and weakness; it is resurrected in strength and endued with power. It is sown a natural (physical) body; it is raised a supernatural (a spiritual) body, (as surely as) there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); The Last Adam (Christ) became a Life-giving Spirit (restoring the dead to life)."  Verses 46-52 continue, But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man (was) from out of eart, made of dust (earthly-minded); the Second Man (is) the Lord from out of Heaven. Now those who are made of dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded) And is (the Man) from Heaven, so also (are those) who are of Heaven (Heavenly-minded) And just as we have borne the image (of the man) of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the Image (of the Man) of Heaven. But I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot (become partakers of eternal salvation and) inherit or share in the Kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (that which is decarying) inherit or share in the imperishable (the immortal) Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or councel of God). We shall not all fall asleep (in death), but we shall all be changed (transformed) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the (sound of) the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead (in Christ) will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay) and we shall be changed (transformed)."
     When the coming of the Lord happens, the new creation (us) will also have a body like unto His body.  We still mostly see Jesus as the Man from Bethlehem and as flesh and blood.  The Body Jesus now has (the resurrected Lord) isn't something that we really have a clear picture of, but whatever Jesus looks like, we will also look like.  The new creation spirit man we became at being born-again in Christ Jesus, will put on the new, spiritual, glorified Body that our Lord Jesus now has.
     We were made "in His Image and in His Likeness," at the new birth.  2Corinthians 5:1-4 (Amplified) says, "For we know that if the tent which is now our earthly hom is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. Here indeed, in this (present abode, body), we sigh and groan inwardl, because we yearn to be clothed over (we yearn to put on our celestial body like a garment to be filled out) with our Heavenly dwelling. So that by putting it on we may not be found naked (without a body) For while we are still in this tent, we groan under the burden and sigh deeply (weighed down, depressed, oppressed)-not that we want to put off the body (the clothing of the spirit), but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life (after the resurrection)."
     The new creation spirit man will have a new creation body to dwell in after the resurrection.  For now, though, as new creation people, we are confined to this flesh and blood house, in order to show forth the glory of our Lord through.

Lesson 88 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (moral and spiritual condition) is passed away, Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     Yesterday, I presided over a grave service for a dear friend and Brother in Christ.  Although he was ninety-three years old, I still feel like Ken went Home too early.  If it was possible, then we would hold onto our loved ones and never let them leave.  Even though I knew he was far better off with the Father than when he was here (especially over the last few weeks), I was being selfish and prayed for him to stay here.
     Standing at the grave, I began thinking about the new creation we've become after being born-again years ago.  Ken walked in the Word to the best of his knowledge and spent many, many hours in prayer, but there was still so much that he didn't know.  I began thinking about Ken's new creation being who is now in God's Presence, was the same new creation man who lived here in a flesh and blood body.  The only thing that changed was Ken's location.  Everything he is now, he always was.  The only difference is the lack of influence and tradition of this world in his life.
     As I stood by his grave, 1Corinthians 13:12 (Amplified) kept running through my spirit, saying, "For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection (of reality as in a riddle or enigma) but then (when perfection comes) we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly) but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood (by God)."
     Finally, the image began to clear in my mind, as to what the Spirit was saying.  Everything my friend now had, was what he already had, but we never knew the extent of it from here.  The Holy Spirit said to me, "Ken would be able to know the Father now, as the Father had known him."  What an awesome truth and revelation this was to see now.  The above scripture means to many of us, for "when Jesus comes."  To my friend, it was true when he went into God's Presence.
     I couldn't help but think, "If we only could understand more fully what the Father has already done, while we are here, then what a change it would make in the world around us."  We have put these things off for a time in the future when we meet Christ, but it is already ours now.  The same new creation being that left Ken's body, was the same new creation spirit that was already here in his body.  Nothing changed for him ,as far as who he was, except the understanding.
     When Ken left his natural body and fully entered into God's Presence, he could understand what he already had while residing in this world.  The same authority, power, anointing, ability and understanding was only only "blurred," according to Paul who said, "We now only see it like through a blurred window," but it was always there.  Satan's lies, along with the influence of the world, kept it hidden while he was here.
     I began seeing more clearly why the enemy uses everything he has to keep us in darkness.  If I knew and could see here and now, what Ken is now seeing, then I would and could walk in such a place with the Lord, that it would startle the world like Jesus did.  Jesus came down from the Father and knew what was His.  We, however, have to learn from the Word and the Holy Spirit, what is our inheritance from God.
     When we arrive into God's Presence, like Ken has done, we can see what the Father intended us to be here on earth.  No unbelief would cloud our thinking and satan couldn't influence us or hold us back.  The things Ken had here, are no longer of any use to the world, because without his body to hold him here in this world, he cannot engage in this realm.  He is no more a song of God or a new creation, than he was when living in his body on earth.  Now, though, he doesn't hold any influence to use on earth.
     I can hear what Paul said in my spirit.  Paul told the Ephesians in Ephesians 4:22-24 (Amplified), "Strip yourselves of your former nature (put off and discard your old unrenewed self) which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lust and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude) And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's Image (God Like) in true righteousness and holiness."
     By the Holy Spirit, Paul simply said that we must, "Understand now, who you really are and don't allow the world and the flesh cause us to become disillusioned."  He also simply said, "Do not quit in our commission and assignment in this earth."  The enemy and his kingdom would like to keep us blinded by the things around us, so we don't truly see who we are (until it's too late to be of any use in this earthly realm). 
     When we leave this body and come into the fullness of God's Presence, then what profit will my understanding of who I am as a new creation be to anyone on earth?  We've looked at ourselves and have accepted the world and satan has said about us, rather than listening to the Holy Spirit's revelations about who we are.  Why would we only need the ability of our new creation man when we leave this earth?  The Father left us here as His representatives in this realm.  He left us with the Super-natural, God-given, new creation ability, in order to function here and not when we go home.
     If my friend knew everything he now knows in Heaven, while he was here, then signs, wonders and miracles would have been part of everything he did here on earth.  Ken wouldn't have left anything undone, if he had only known everything his new creation was and is.  There's nothing functioning in his spirit (new creation being) that couldn't and wouldn't, have functioned while in his earthly body.  Our new creation man (born-again spirit) is fashioned by God, to work in and through our fleshly body, just like it would function in a glorified body.  Jesus proved this, in His earthly ministry and walk.
     Let's not wait to leave this earth, in order to discover our ministry and purpose is in this earth.  God mad our new creation being to work now, not when we get home.  No one in Heaven needs to see the power and glory of God, because they are living in it.  It is for here and this is where we need to know. 

Lesson 87 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether) the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     We've greatly discussed the new creation we've become, but still seem to mentally block and struggle to accept the full significance of what the Holy Spirit is saying to today's Church.  For many years, religion has dictated what the world's ideas of what a Christian really is, to both us and the world.  Even though, the teachers and preachers were doing the best they knew how, they taught from the world's viewpoint and not from the Spirit.
     The Holy Spirit very plainly states that we are "No longer to know anyone after the flesh, but after the spirit," in 2Corinthians 5:16.  We can still recognize someone after the flesh, but realize that the "real" person is the one (that spirit) that actually lives in his flesh and blood body.  We even give our body greater recognition and rule, when saying we're a body, soul and spirit.
     And, because we were taught this pattern, we placed our new creation spirit in a lower place than our bodies.  Most of the Church's teachings were directed to the flesh and soul of the Christian, and not the new creature (the spirit man who was the true identity).  We've learned certain thins about how to train our flesh, but most of them didn't work well.  We've had a difficult time holding the flesh in tow, because we weren't feeding our spirit man.
     Galatians 5:16 (Amplified) says, "But I say, walk and live (habitually) in the (Holy) Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit); then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God)."  This isn't saying that you are not born-again and the Spirit of God lives inside you, but that we've simply tried to tame the flesh, by the flesh.  That makes it "human nature without God."
     Satan has worked long and hard, to hold onto authority he gained from Adam.  He held this world by a grip of sin and death, for thousands of years and he's not going to simply deliver that hold into another's hands without a fight.  Satan's greatest fear is that the Church will get the revelation of who this new creation man is and then simply walk in that knowledge.  When this happens (and it is now coming), then his days of ruling will come to a definitive end.
     Imagine the panic that the Day of Pentecost must have brought satan.  He fought a losing battle with this One Man (Jesus Christ), Who was a new creation Man.  Jesus was a Man Who knew Who He was and walked in that knowledge.  Satan had no control over this Man at all.  He tried the usual tests and trials, but every one of them failed.  He tried having Jesus killed, but this Man simply walked away.  Satan tried killing Jesus with a storm, but this Man simply instructed the storm to, "Stop!"  Then, he stirred the crowd up, in order to have Jesus killed, but death didn't stop Him.  Jesus stripped satan of all authority that had been given by Adam and then received it back to Himself.
     Satan listened attentively when Jesus told the people in Acts 1:8 (Amplified), "But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."  Satan witnessed what a Single Man (Jesus) Who was filled with the Holy Spirit could do and now Jesus promised this power to many people.  Acts 2:1-4 (Amplified) says, "And when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place When suddenly there came a sound from Heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire; which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them. And they were all filled (diffused, throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in (different, foreign) languages (tongues) as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression (in each tongue in appropriate words)."
     Satan knew what had happened, probably better than the ones who received the power from the Holy Spirit.  Remember, satan had one time been with God, he knew the Holy Spirit, he knew the return of the blessing and the authority God had given mankind and he knew had had no defense for it.  Satan watched while One Man rose from the Jordan River in this power and now one hundred and twenty more received this power too.  Panic must have set in, while satan's diabolical and devious mind devised the only way he had of combating this power.  Satan knew the only weapon in his arsenal was the ability to deceive mankind, the way he deceived Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden.
     Initially, satan didn't have a great number of men to deal with, but that number was rapidly growing.  He tried keeping them under the Law to control them, but once more a man came speaking Words of wisdom.  Satan encountered a man, filled with the Holy Spirit, who had a new revelation in 2Corinthians 12:1-4.  This man, Paul, taught that salvation didn't come about by the Law and wasn't only for just the Jews.  Paul said that salvation came by grace and was for the entire world, if only they believed.
     Satan must have been desperate to stop this man from preaching the revelation the Holy Spirit gave to him.  He set out to try destroying and killing Paul, by the same standards he used against Jesus.  This man wasn't only teaching that salvation came from the Law, but he was an entirely new creation from the Kingdom of Heaven itself.  This man taught about authority, blessing, dominion and how God had began residing in man again, just like the Last Adam had said would happen.  Satan's entire hold of mankind could be destroyed, if he didn't immediately stop this revelation.
     By the Holy Spirit, Paul was now teaching people's spirits and showing them by the demonstration of the Holy Spirit, the same things Jesus had done.  This preacher revealed to the people, how they were now sons and daughters of God Himself, by the new birth.  He taught the people that they were created in God's Image and Likeness again and that the Presence of God Himself would indwell inside them.  Paul taught them how the power, ability and might that had been in Jesus through the Holy Spirit, was available to them.  Jesus said in  Mark 16:17-20 (Amplified), "And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe; in My Name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new languages, they will pick up serpents; and (even) if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied (it) Amen (so be it)."
     The only thing satan could take comfort in, was that Jesus said, "These attesting signs will accompany those who believe."  The deceiver must now make sure that he stopped them from preaching or stop what they preached.  The Lord would confirm only His Word that they preached, so if satan could water down the message, then he could stop the power of this new creation.  The attesting sign would only come for "those who believed it," so satan simply needed to make them believe something different.  After all, if it worked in the Garden of Eden, then satan only needed to question, "Is that really what God said?"
     The deceiver (satan) went about his routine, using the same lie and quietly denying God's Word before the eyes and hearts, saying, "God's Word doesn't work for anyone today."  He never said that God's Word isn't true, because religious people would never accept that.  So, we were once again deceived by the same liar, believing that "We're only forgiven sinners with no hold on Heaven and little hope for life here on earth."  We were deceived into believing we'd go to Heaven when we die, but we didn't have God's ear here on earth.  The lie continues.
     The Church believes his lie still.  They could believe that Jesus spoke the truth, but that truth was for a different time and people.  As long as we thought it wasn't for now, we would never step into the place of the new creation.  It's like trying to cage a lion.  You'd better make sure that cage is locked, before trying to cage him.  If you don't and he discovers that he's free, then that lion would be very dangerous.  In order to satisfy both us and himself, satan needed to keep us "locked up" as non-believing believers.  We'd believe portions, but not the parts dangerous to him.  We could stll be born-again, but remain immature, babies in Christ.
     Hebrews 5:13-14 (Amplified) says, "For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action); for he is a mere infant (not able to talk yet) But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law."

     

See Ya Soon, Ken

     I sat to write this, almost saying, "We lost a great Brother on Friday."  But, then I stopped, recognizing how Ken isn't lost."  We know exactly where he is.  He's in Heaven with Jesus.
     For the past thirty years, Ken shook hands, greeting every person who entered our church with, "Welcome. Praise the Lord. It's good to have you here."
     I know Jesus was waiting at Heaven's Gate for Ken.  I know Jesus shook his hand saying, "Welcome, Thou good and faithful servant."  I'm sure Ken fell to His Lord's feet and wept for a few moments, before seeing the love of his life, Ginny, running to them.
     They were only married for seventy years, before Ginny went to Heaven four months ago.  They'll spend an eternity together in Heaven.
     We miss you, Ken, but we'll be joining you very soon, Brother, Friend, Father, Pa, Grandfather and Great Grandfather. 
     

Lesson 86 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation (a new creature altogether). The old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     In order to understand this new creation being that we've become after being born-again, we must first study Jesus.  He is not only our Lord and Savior, but He is also the Head of the Church and we are His Body.  He is also the "Firstborn among many brethren," according to Romans 8:29 (Amplified) which says, "For those whom He foreknew (of those HE was aware and loved beforehand) He also destined from the beginning (foreordained them) to be molded into the Image of His Son (and share inwardly His Likeness) that He might become the Firstborn among many brethren."
     Because Jesus was the Firstborn and we, as God's new creation sons and daughters, must be like He is.  No Father ever sires many different types of children, from the same seed.  The Law of Genesis has set a precedence about this already, in Genesis 1:12 (Amplified) which says, "The earth brought forth vegetation; plants yielding seed according to its own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was (suitable, admirable) and He approved it."  In John 15:1-2,3(Amplified) Jesus said, "I Am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vine dresser. Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit (that stops bearing) He cuts away (trims off, takes away) And He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit."  I also wish to include Verse 3, which describes how He prunes and cleanses, saying, "You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the Word which I have given you (the teachings I have discussed with you)."  I included this verse, because of the false teachings in the Church.  Many have been taught that God "prunes and cleanses" by sickness and hardship.  Jesus said, though, that we are "cleansed and pruned by the Word."
     Paul writes about the relationship between the husband and wife, in Ephesians 5:32,25-26 (Amplified), saying, "This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning (the relationship of) Christ and the Church."  He also speaks about this relationship in Ephesians 5:25-26 (Amplified), "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word."
     The pruning and cleansing is done by the Word.  Do not let anyone subject you to the wiles of satan into believing otherwise.  Remembering that every seed produces after its kind, let's read 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) which 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."  Since every seed produces after kind, we are of the same Seed and the Same Origin as Jesus.  The Word cannot produce any other kind.
     God's new creation family is after the same Likeness, as the One Who brought us into His family.  Religion hasn't dared to believe this and has by false humility, kept the Church under bondage with it's lack of faith in the Truth.  It's impossible to the carnal mind, that man could ever truly be made in the Image and Likeness of God.  Those with renewed minds of the new creation, can never fathom anything but the Truth.  Ephesians 4:23-24 (Amplified) tells us, "Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude) And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's Image (God Like) in true righteousness and holiness."
     It's become easy to see why Paul instructed us to "renew our minds," in Romans 12:2-4 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its new attitude) so that you may prove (for yourselves) what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect (in His sight for you)."  When we continue thinking in the carnal and religious way of thinking, we will never know what His "perfect good and acceptable will for us" is.  We then, find ourselves living in confusion, instead of faith.
     Our entire covenant with the Father is based on faith, according to Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And this (salvation) is not of through your own striving) but it is the Gift of God."  Romans 5:1-4 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith; let us (grasp the fact that we) have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) through Him also we have (our) access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we (firmly and safely) stand. And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God. Moreover (let us also be full of joy now) let us exalt and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and hardship produces patient and unswerving endurance and endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity and character (of this sort) produces (the integrity) and character (of this sort) produces (the habit of) joyful and confident hop of eternal salvation."
     Romans 4:16 (Amplified) also says that all the promises come by faith, "Therefore, (inheriting) the promise is the outcome of faith and depends (entirely) on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all His descendants."  We can better understand Romans 1:7 (Amplified) better, after reading the above scripture.  Thus, it says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes  is revealed both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith as it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live, and shall live by faith."
     It is through faith that we are "declared and justified and made righteous."  As the new creation people, living by faith, we were once dead in sin and trespass, and have now been made alive by faith in Jesus.  We are now living by faith in Him.  This is what the new creation is all about.  Those who live, are righteous, are justified, are reconciled, are enjoying access and entry into God's Presence by faith in Jesus, are the new creation.
     We're born of the Same Seed as the "Firstborn of many brethren" and we've been created in His Likeness and Image.  We are filled with His Spirit and we are the very branches of the Vine, Who is our Life.  This earth has never seen such people as God has created.  Satan's biggest fear is that this new creation will discover who they truly are and then we'll turn his kingdom upside down.  Alleluia!!!
     Do not let the world's idea of what "faith people" are, hold you back.  It's simply a way of keeping us from finding out and walking in, what the Father has sired us to be.  Allow your faith to grow, even like the small mustard seed, into a large herb that covers and into a Garden of Eden that expands until God's Kingdom covers this earth.