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! All things are made new. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ has reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation with Him (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
Who and what is the new creation? God's Word says we're a new creation and this indicates that there was never anyone like us before, otherwise we wouldn't be a new creation. What our new quest should be, is finding out what God's Word and the Holy Spirit (our Teacher) says we are created to be and what are we that was never before.
Those used of the Lord under the old covenant, only had His Spirit come down upon them for a purpose and a season. When the Spirit left them, they were mere mortal men. Some were used in mighty and miraculous ways, but only when the Holy Spirit was upon them. God used these men for a purpose to deliver His Word and His deliverance of His people. God used some as prophets, to speak His Word into the earth, while using others to deliver His spoken Words.
In the new covenant, we are not like these men at all. The only common thing we share with the Old Testament saints, is our faith in Him Who Promised. We are no longer longer servants, but family, in the new covenant. We're not like those in whom the Spirit came down upon, because we are now those the Holy Spirit has made His home.
"The Word of God testifies that all these lived and died in their faith," according to Hebrews 11. This faith is a trust in God, that He is Almighty. In Romans 4:21 (Amplified) God speaks about Abraham (the one who God now calls "The father of our faith") saying, "Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised." God has made many such Promises to us, in this new family of believers.
Abraham had an outstanding faith, concerning God's Promises to him. Today, most of us will never need to believe such a great Promise as the one God gave to Abraham. It's unthinkable in the natural realm, to believe that Abraham and Sarah would bear a son at one-hundred years of age. This faith impressed the Father, that He calls Abraham "The father of our faith" and God has accounted unto Abraham as "righteousness (right standing with God)."
We've been born-again into God's family and have been made the righteousness of God, in Christ Jesus. We must also believe what God has said and that He will do what He has Promised us, according to Romans 5:1 (Amplified) which 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)."
Our righteousness differs a little from Abraham's, but it still relies on faith. Abraham's righteousness was "credited to him," while ours has been "imparted to us." Abraham trusted God and God counted it as righteousness. We were made righteous in our union with Jesus. Some struggle to accept this Truth, by faith in our family relationship with God. We are a new creation and differ from all others on the planet. The same Holy Spirit Who worked all the great things of God, when He came upon the Old Testament heroes, now lives in our new creation spirit for all time.
What is the nature and the character of this new creation? Are we only as some have said "only forgiven sinners?" Or, are we truly a new creation? It's certainly true that God no longer remembers our sins and iniquities, but He didn't do this just to forgive our sin. God removed even the stain of sin and made us altogether new. We have now received the very natural and character of our Father Himself. The signs and wonders that the Holy Spirit revealed in the old covenant saints, now lives in the new spirits of the new creation family of God.
Most of what Jesus preached was already in the Word and the people knew and had already read it. They just didn't believe that it was for them or for their time. We've fallen into the same trap of unbelief, that they did. Like them, we believe it's going to be, but it's not for us or our times. We keep putting it off for future generations. Jesus preached a sermon that had already been read and known to all of Israel for thousands of years, in Luke 4:18-21 (Amplified). The thing that threw them, was where Jesus said in Verse 21, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing." The fact that God's Promise was no longer just the future, but now, wasn't something easy for them to grasp.
The great thing about Jesus' ministry was that He knew Who He was. And, because He knew Who He was, He had no problem doing what He was sent to do. The new creation family has had a problem of not knowing who we are and this has led to our not doing what we were meant to do. We've often looked at "the ministry," as being behind the pulpit or someone who travels from church to church.
Ephesians 4:11-13 (Amplified) says, "And His Gifts were varied (He Himself appointed and gave men to us) some to be apostles (special messengers) some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders) some evangelists (preachers of the God, traveling missionaries) some pastors (shepherds of His flocks) and teachers. His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people) (that they should do) the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the Church) That it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the (full and accurate) knowledge of the Son of God, that we might arrive at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's Own perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him."
God gave the five-fold ministry as a Gift, to bring the Body of Christ (the Church) into a knowledge of who and what Jesus has made us to be and to minister to the world and the workplace. The Gifts of the Spirit from 1Corinthians 12:7-31 (Amplified) are primarily Gifts used in the five-fold ministry, but are not exclusive to them. Thus, Paul says, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit (the evidence, the Spiritual illumination of the Spirit for good and profit." Verse 31 says, "But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best Gifts and graces (the higher Gifts and choicest Graces) and yet I will show you a still more excellent way (one that is better by far and the highest of all-Love)."
The Holy Spirit has and gives these Gifts, "as He will to profit all" and we are to strive to walk in Love, in order to be a recipient of these Gifts. These Gifts aren't limited to the five-fold ministry. When we develop Love, we become candidates for one or all of these Gifts, to set others free.
We are new creations and have the Holy Spirit living in and through us. He determines these Gifts and to whom they are bound. Through the Holy Spirit, we are to bring these Gifts to those who need them. We've read about and have been taught about those have a healing ministry, a deliverance ministry or a teaching ministry. The Truth is, there is but one ministry and that is the ministry of reconciliation. We are all called into this ministry.
2Corinthians 5:18-19 (Amplified) tells us, "But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ has 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) It was God (Personally Present) in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting and holding against (men) their trespasses (but canceling them and committing to us the ministry of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor)."
We can see from even these few scriptures, that the Holy Spirit, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Message of the Holy Spirit are for all who are walking in the Love of God and are moved by His compassion to set he captives free. Jesus told His followers in Mark 16:15-17,20 (Amplified), "Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the Good News (the Gospel) to every creature of the whole human race. He who believes (who adheres to and trust in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth) and is baptized will be saved (from the penalty of eternal death) but he who does not believe (who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Who it sets forth, will be condemned. And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe." Notice, Jesus didn't say "these things will follow those in the five-fold ministry" or only a "special people," but "those who believe." I'm writing now to the Church, which is made up of believers (those who believe).
We see the result of God's new creation family who believed what was preached; not the apostles, not the disciples, but those who believed what they heard in Vere 20 which says, "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 (the Word preached)."
This wasn't the Gifts of the Spirit from 1Corinthians 12 and it wasn't for the five-fold ministry, but was for all who heard and believed and proclaimed it. Signs, wonders and miracles accompanied the men and women as they heard, believed and did what the new creation is supposed to do.
This is nature, character and calling of the new creation family of God. You might never lay hands on thousands of people. You might not minister healing and deliverance to thousands of people either, but if thousands of us lay hands on one person, then thousands will see and hear and believe. This isn't an anointing for some, but for all who believe. What can be wrong with simply laying your hands on someone who is sick, simply because God told us to? This doesn't mean you're called into a healing ministry, but that you're a new creation with the Holy Spirit (Who gives the Gifts as He wills) living within you. We have the One Who has and gives these Gifts as He wills to profit everyone who needs them, living inside us.
This is who we are and what we are. We're a new creation, filled with His Spirit to do His will and reconcile the world back to Himself, "by word and deed."
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