2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (the previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
We must go to God's Word and place our faith in the picture that it paints for us, in order to understand the new creation we've become. We are Spiritual beings and the only way of seeing the "real" us, is by faith in God's description of a "Mirror," from 2Corinthians 3:18 (Amplified) which says, "And all of us, as with unveiled face, (because we) continue to behold (in the Word of God) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor, and from one degree of glory to another; (for this comes) from the Lord (Who is) the Spirit."
As we read God's Word and place faith in what He has created this new creation to be, we will begin seeing the new creation family. Many still see a mystery today, when reading 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)."
The "knowledge" spoken of in the above scripture, is the Spiritual insight into the Risen Christ and not only the Physical Man, that we see in the Gospels. This insight (knowledge), comes by revelation through the Word and the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 16:16 (Amplified) Jesus said to His disciples, "But who do you (yourselves) say that I am? Simon Peter replies, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then Jesus answered him; Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you Simon Bar-Jonah, For flesh and blood (men) have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in Heaven."
In light of the many signs and wonders that Jesus performed in their midst, those around Him didn't "discern" the Truth of Who He really was. Only Peter, by revelation, could know the Truth of the Spirit. The only way we can understand the new creations we've become through the new birth, is to see (by faith) into the Truth of the Spirit and the Word.
We can read the Words of the Bible and can understand those Words by our intellect, but the revelation we need only comes by the Holy Spirit. The Truth has always been there, but natural man cannot see into the Spiritual Truth of the Word. Jesus spoke about what we call "Communion" today, in John 6:63,65 (Amplified). His followers had no idea what Jesus was saying, concerning His upcoming death and resurrection. Sadly, many of us today, continue struggling with this Truth. Jesus told the people who were present, that His Body was the Bread of Life and His Blood was the Wine, saying, It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver) the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
When Jesus said that, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life," He not only spoke of the eternal life of the new creation that was to come after His crucifixion, but the Life that only the Spirit can bring to the Words He spoke. Without the Life of the Holy Spirit, the revelation given in the Truths of His Word were only understood naturally. Jesus went on in Verse 65, "This is why I told you that no man can come to Me, unless it is granted him (unless he is enable to do so) by the Father."
We must learn to discern the Truth of this new creation man, by the revelation granted to us by the Father. There's no on earth, who can tell you, "who you are now in Jesus," except the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will convey this Truth to your spirit.
The Holy Spirit brings insight to the Church, when He compares the Word to a "mirror" in James 1:23-25 (Amplified) which says, "For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his (own) natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law, the (Law) of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer (who obeys) he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience)."
We'd do good, to remember the Holy Spirit 's teaching, concerning wisdom and being double-minded, in James 1:5-8. You must seek God's Wisdom, concerning this teaching. It's only when you know if this is Truth, is by having the Holy Spirit's revelation operating in your life. If we become double-minded in this wisdom, then we will lose faith in it and "forget what we look like" in the Mirror of God's Word and the Law of Liberty.
This is why Peter referred to the new creation being as, "the hidden man of the heart." He is revealed to the world and us, by revelation. Jesus said in John 14:17 (Amplified) that, "The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart) because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, For He lives with you (constantly) and will be in you." The last Words of, "will be in you," have already come to pass, in the spirit of the new creation. The wisdom (concerning your new identity in Christ Jesus) is already in you and for you, but you must seek it out (by faith) in the "Mirror" of the Word of Truth and the Holy Spirit.
This "new man" (Paul calls him the inner-man) is birthed by the Holy Spirit and the Seed (the Sperm), the Word of God. 1Peter 2:23 (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." Peter also says in 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified), "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into (completed) salvation."
The only way to see, grow, mature and develop in this new creation man, is through God's Word and receiving revelation concerning the Word, from the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit begins to being forth the revelation Truth into your new creation spirit, growth will instantly come.
The new man (child of God) responds to the revealed Word, like a baby does to milk. Until it is ready for the "meat of the Word," the new creation will constantly crave and responds to the milk of the Word. As a father, I remember the two o'clock feedings of my children. As they grew, the milk didn't hold them for very long periods of time and they needed to be fed more and more frequently. We began to include cereal and meat to their feeding, in order to satisfy and develop their growing bodies.
Every born-again child of God, has already become a new creation child of God, even if some don't know it. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal this to them. It's through the Word and putting faith in that Word, we can begin seeing who God truly created us to be, as new creations. Some believers will remain babies, long after their new birth. Some will mature and grow into adulthood sooner than others. You must first see who you are, by the Mirror of God's Word, which reflects "who you are, not who you were." Natural man will continue reflecting who you once were, the sinful, unrighteous man of the world. Only the revelation of the Holy Spirit, can reveal "as in a Mirror," who the truly, new creation, born-again spirit man, is in Christ Jesus.
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