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. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
If God says that born-again people are a "new creation," then that is exactly what we are. We are a species of being who never existed before, in all of eternity. We live by the very Spirit of Life, Who is not just a spirit, but THE HOLY SPIRIT. Every person who has been on this planet, is a spirit. But, only the Church is born of God's Spirit.
We are different than the old covenant persons, because they were still separated from God in their spirit. These were natural men, who still had the sentence of sin and death operating in their spirit. The Church is no longer subject to this Law of sin and death, according to Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) which 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 and Life (which is) in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being) has freed us from the Law of sin and of death."
People who are not yet born-again, like the old covenant people, are still "subject to the Law of sin and death." Everyone who has received God's offer of grace and salvation, has had the requirement for this Law paid in full by Jesus' Sacrifice.
Because the Law of sin and death is a law, there must be a fulfilling of this Law to make it legal and just, before the Judge of the Universe. God doesn't ignore the Laws governing everything. He must, by His Own righteousness, judge everything that violates His Law of Creation. God first put this Law into motion in Genesis 2:17 (Amplified) which says, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Adam and Eve didn't die in the natural form, for many years after the transgression, but they did die (were separated from Life, Who is God) in their spirit that very day. This kind of death has been difficult for both the world and the Church to comprehend, because we are all still breathing and are alive in the natural. In this natural world, life goes on. They look at it saying, "Everybody (both Christians and non-Christians) dies" and they fail to understand the death from being separate from Life.
No on can see the Spirit of God or the spirit of man, so the natural man fails to understand this Law. Many Christians still do not comprehend the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus. Many believe this Law means that we will have new life when we get to Heaven. This Law of our new being, came into effect the moment we were born-again.
We are now the "new creation," Paul writes above in 2Corinthians 5:16-17. It's not that we failed to become new creatures in the new birth, but we continue looking at who we were, instead of who we have become. We have been slow to teach the Church about who we have become, because we haven't understood the principle of Paul's teaching in 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) which says, "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)."
Many of us still think of Jesus as just "the Man from Galilee." Today, many of us still see Jesus as being on the cross, instead of resurrected from the dead. I'm not diminishing or making light of the cross, but this is where we were made "free from the Law of sin and death." We came into a different Law, which is the Law of Spirit and Life, because of Jesus' resurrection. The Spirit of Life is the new birth. When we accepted God's offer and received His offering on our behalf, instead of trying to become righteous by our own efforts, we became alive again in our spirit and made one again with God.
The Law of sin and death is still a law, operating in today's earth. Since it is a law, it must be legally dealt with by God Himself. God can't dismiss it, but must abide by it Himself. The only way for man to gain back what God had given him, was to pay the price for breaking this law. God needed to bring a Man into this earth, Who was without sin, in order to pay and fulfill this Law. Jesus was not "born from the corrupted seed of man, but the incorruptible Seed of God (the Word)." God had a Man in Jesus, Who could pay the price for all men.
One man (Adam) brought this Law into the earth (and this Law included all men), so One Man could pay the price and fulfill this Law, for all who would receive this Sacrifice. Romans 5:18-19 (Amplified) says, "Well then, as one man's transgression (one man's false step and falling away led) to condemnation for all men, so one Man's act of righteousness (leads) to acquittal and right standing with God and Life for all men. For just as by one man's disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by One Man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him)."
When we by faith, accepted God's grace for the payment of sin and death, we have been "paid for by Jesus' obedience," were born-again into Life with God and were declared righteous and free from the Law of sin and death. The new creation has now become the family God always desired and we are now His children. We have been "created in righteousness" and have already been translated into His Kingdom and sent as ambassadors of that Kingdom and our King. As ambassadors for Christ, we've been granted diplomatic immunity from the Law of sin and death (and all the laws governing the fallen world).
When God sent Jesus to walk as a Man on earth, He walked above the Law of sin and death, as well as the curse that came with it. This privilege has been granted by grace, to all who will by faith, accept and receive it. We have once again, become what God had in His heart when man was the object of His Love and we're to rule over the works of His hands, according to Psalm 8:4-6 (Amplified) which says, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of (earth born) man that You care for him? Yet You have made hi but a little lower than God (or Heavenly beings) and You have crowned hi with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet."
The above scripture lays our the place God desired for His family and GOD CHANGES NOT. Through His new creation, God has restored His will for His family and has returned that which was lost in the fall of Adam. Jesus walked in this authority over "the works of His hands" and He dominated all of the natural laws (as well as the Spiritual Laws of sin and death). This is the "heritage of the new creation man." As new creation people, our calling is to represent our King and His Kingdom and to rule it by the Higher Laws of our King. We're to bring sons into glory by the new birth and govern by the Laws of our King. We are to be subject to no other king or kingdom, but only the One King and Kingdom we represent.
The people were amazed at Jesus saying, "What manner of Man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"
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