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 (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)."
Jesus is the Example of our new creation being. He was the Only Example, we have as a Spirit-filled Man on earth. Under the old covenant, the Holy Spirit would come upon certain people and rest upon them, for whatever the Lord needed to accomplish and then He would lift off of them. We, the Church, the Body of Christ, are blessed with the Ever Present Holy Spirit living inside us. Even though we know this and even testify concerning this, we still have different understandings about it.
The main thing to know and remember about the new creation, is that, "It's not me, but the Father in me Who does the works." Even Jesus declared, "I can do nothing of Myself." Many in today's Church, are caught between two dichotomies. One group has a "God complex," believing they are God, while another group won't acknowledge that "God can still work through the Church." Both sides have left the Father's work undone and incomplete, in the earth today.
Many believe that the blessings and intervention of the Holy Spirit, along with most things having to do with God, are for "when we die and get to Heaven." Many have lost all credibility, because they've been foolish and tried doing things without, "the Father in me, Who does the work."
The Father only told us to "believe Him," in order to do what was needed through us. In some parts of today's Church, we've put off hope, until the time when we die and go to be with the Lord. This certainly is a valid hope and expectation, but we need hope here on earth. Prayer has become something we're so double-minded about. This leaves us having very little hope and placing no faith in our prayers.
Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) is a scripture that has opened many things in the eyes of the Church. There are many differing opinions about this Verse, but only the ones that line-up with God's Word, are useful for us. Thus, it says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the Title Deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses)."
There has been much said about the above scripture for many years. As new creation, Spirit-filled believers, we now in Christ Jesus, have the ability through faith to see in the spirit realm, from which we are born. Through faith in Jesus and the Word, we've been given insight into the Kingdom of Heaven. The natural man doesn't have this capability, but the new creation man and woman does. For so long, our hope has been limited by what we've learned, that our faith would no longer bring God's Promises to bear fruit in our lives.
Many things the Lord has promised us as "the Seed of Abraham in Jesus," couldn't come to pass, because our hope (concerning these things) has mostly been lost, ignored or forgotten. "Faith is the assurance of what we hope for," and without hope (trusting God's Word) our faith has no place to reach or no goals to achieve. We've put off our hope for a time in the future and our faith in God's Promises has been left for a time of the future too.
It's an absolute Truth, that when we (and our loved ones in Jesus) die, we will leave this earth and live with Him for all eternity. This is the foundation on which Christianity has stood and remained strong, for two-thousand years. But, our hope in God shouldn't simply stop at this Promise. The same Jesus Who made this Truth in our lives, has also made the rest of the Promises in God's Word.
In order to develop our faith to the level where we become mature Christians, we must learn to trust that all the Father's Promises are "Yes, and Amen." When we believe that healing will only come when we get to Heaven, then our hope for healing has been pushed for then too. When hope went, faith for healing had no goal to perform and faith for our healing ceased. Through the years, we've lost hope in many of God's Promises and because our hope was gone, our faith grew weaker and weaker. Finally, the only hope we have left, is for "when we get to Heaven."
The Promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, is the greatest we can lay claim to. When a loved one leaves this earth in death, we all believe he has gone (in his spirit) to be with the Lord. This is the ultimate Truth of our new creation being. My question is, "If they died and went to Heaven in their spirit, then when did they become a spirit?" We all believe that our spirit will one day be in Heaven for eternity, but why is it so difficult to believe the Lord can do things with our spirit now? We didn't "become" a spirit, when we left this earth, but when we were born-again. We became a new creation with God in us and we in Jesus. Jesus prayed in John 17:22-23 (Amplified) saying, "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given to 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."
We don't become His children only when we leave this earth and we don't become only a spirit, when we leave here. We are a spirit now, living in a natural body, like Jesus was on this earth. The Father wants to be able to do in and for us, like He did in and for Jesus. He wants to do so, not only for us, but for many others who desperately need Him in their lives. This isn't having a "God complex," but is being an obedient son (like Jesus was), one who does what the Father instructs, goes where the Father says to go, and say what the Father says to say. We've become what Jesus was on the earth. We are vessels that carry the Very Presence of God within us, because the Holy Spirit indwells this new creation being.
The time of miracles and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, has not "passed away." It's only the hope that we could still walk in them, has been placed for a future time of "when we get to Heaven." This has made our faith for them, weak. Ephesians 3:16-18,19 (Amplified) says, "May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner-man by the Holy Spirit Himself indwelling your innermost being. 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 breadth, and length and height and depth (of it)."
Verse 19 goes on to say, "(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 (throughout all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may you have the richest measure of the Divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)."
This is our hope and faith will bring the fullness (substance) of this into our lives, as we begin seeing what our Father desires to do in and through His new creation family. We have seen ourselves like the Israelite spies who went into the Promised Land in Numbers 13. Upon their return from spying out the Promised Land, they told the people, "We were as grasshoppers in their eyes" (in the eyes of the inhabitants of that Land).
God never told them to "Look at yourselves" and He never intended for them to do so. God only instructed them to, "Go into and look at the Land that I have Promised you." God didn't intend for them to conquer the Land, because He had already done it. We don't have to try and "tear down the Walls of Jericho." We only need to walk, shout and blow trumpets and God will bring down the Walls.
We don't need to "do the work" of bringing healing, hope and deliverance to the world. We must only allow Him do to the work, through us. Our part is to be obedient to His Voice and leading. We must do like Jesus did and say, "Without the Father, I can do nothing of myself." We must remember that we are never without the Father, because He has made His abode in us. Let your hope rise up, into a place where your faith can bring God into the Light and glory this world needs to see. Let God work through you, as His new creation family.
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