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 fresh and new. 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)."
As we learn more about and begin to understand who we are in this new creation, we will find it easier to walk and live in what we've been birthed into. Many of the Kingdom's children have never really learned to live by the Kingdom principles. We have enough Word in us, so we don't fit in this world any longer; while having enough world in us, that we cannot fit into the Kingdom. The Kingdom heritage that is ours through Jesus, doesn't fit into the religious structure we've been taught for years.
This makes it difficult for us to understand the Father's full Promise, because the traditions and religious teachings have denied it's being for this time. Nearly all we've learned about Christianity is for "when we get to Heaven" or "for another time and generation." Jesus preached in John 10:10 (Amplified) that, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy, I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
Jesus came so that we might have life and enjoy life to the full. We have life here, but Jesus came to give us Life by the Spirit and restore the life we were meant to heave here. Mankind could never live life here on this earth like God intended from the beginning, without the Spiritual Life that Jesus came to give us. We weren't meant to be "as miserable as possible" while we're here on earth, but we're to be restored back and enjoy what the Father created for us in the beginning.
The things of the world were against the Father and not the things of the earth. Through Jesus, we're able to live here on earth, like Adam was in the beginning. We have the ability of the Spirit to govern the things of the flesh and bring the things of the earth back into what God intended from the first, so that we can have and enjoy life to the overflow of it.
Did you know that God never intended for us to live the way many of us did before knowing Jesus? Some of us came from extreme poverty, want, abuse, sickness, disease, depression and many other misuses of this world. This was never the heart of our Father, for His family. When Jesus said that, "He came that we might have and enjoy life," He didn't remove the things that made life enjoyable here (like marriage, family, happiness and children), but through Him, we now would be able to have the full joy that the Father had for us, when placing mankind on earth.
We never lost anything that we had before being born-again, except for what sin had burdened us with. It was the "thief who came to steal the blessings and destroy the joy and bring death that grieved man's hearts." Through Jesus, we are now able to again enjoy our lives here on earth and in Heaven for eternity. We tend to separate this life from the "next" life, but they are one and the same. The life that Jesus gave us, is now, while living on earth. We've never learned how to combine the Life of the Spirit, with the life on earth.
Religion and tradition have trained us to accept the world's misery as "a penalty for being here." The Blessing of Abraham came upon us through Jesus and it was a temporal and earthly Blessing. God Blessed Abraham with such good things as gold, silver, cattle, sheep, family and prosperity. These Blessing came from Abraham's union with God and were to be enjoyed here, as well as with the Lord in his future.
My life here, since becoming a new creation, has been blessed by Jesus. I'm not what I was before receiving Jesus as my Lord, but I'm a new creation. I've discovered in God's Word and His Promises, that I can enjoy life here and still walk with God. I have accepted the Blessing, so I can now bless others and enjoy my life to overflowing. I must learn how to receive this great impartation for two realms, from God's Word and His Spirit. I've begun to see how the Blessing from the Kingdom, works here in this earthly realm too.
We've been taught that "all Christians must suffer, in order to be rewarded in Heaven." I've found though, that the rewards of Heaven are for the overcomer. We weren't meant to "suffer," as much as we were meant to overcome the sufferings of this world. Paul said in 2Corinthians 12:10 (Amplified), "So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities, and distresses, for when I am weak in human strength, then am I truly strong, able, powerful in Divine strength."
Paul said that facing hardships of this life, gave him God's strength to overcome, through his new creation life. Many others have suffered the same hardships as Paul, but failed. As part of the new creation family, we have entrance into the Divine ability of the Father. That allows us to overcome the things in life that would have defeated and destroyed us, in the carnal natural life we had before. When satan singled Paul out for destruction, God reminded Paul that His Grace provided all that was needed for Paul to overcome. We've misunderstood the power of God's Grace, that puts us over the lies of satan.
The only thing Jesus came to take away from man, was sin and death; not life. There were certainly things from our old lifestyles that would be removed, but not the things that brought us happiness and joy. The old, sinful things of the flesh were "crucified with Christ on the cross," so the things of our natural body could once again glorify God. Jesus didn't take away the love I have for my wife and family, but He enhanced my love for them with His Love, making it more perfect. 1John 2:15-16 (Amplified) says, "Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world, if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh craving for sensual gratification, and the lust of the eyes, greedy longings of the mind, and the pride of life, assurance in ones own resources or in the stability of earthly things, these do not come from the Father but are from the world itself."
We must learn to distinguish between the world and the earth. The world is the system satan establish when Adam fell. It's a system that denies God and tries making men meet his own needs without God. The earth is the home God created for His children to live and walk in, when He formed the natural body that the spirit abides in. The earth was lush and full and under the dominion of God's family.
When we love the world and it's system, we must deny God in a variety of different ways. The world doesn't acknowledge sin any longer. It's acceptable for man to "do whatever he or she wishes." This isn't true in the Kingdom, which has returned man to the dominion over the earth. There are many things I still enjoy in the earth, but it's difficult to find anything in the world that's worth looking at. The world has war, famine, disease, terror, divorce, child abuse, broken homes, drugs and alcohol, and the spirit of disobedience abiding in the men of the world. Our job is to bring them into relationship with the Father; not to kill them.
God has charged the new creation people with changing the hearts of man, to the heart of God. We're not to do this through condemnation, but through the ministry of reconciliation with the Father. We do this by being different from the world, while still being joyful in the earth. We're to take the things the world brings against us and overcome them by the Kingdom principles we now hold. Through Jesus, we're to bring light and hope to the world. When they see us rise above this world, they will have hope that by Jesus, they can rise above it's problems too. It's not the problems that will change the hearts of unbelievers, but it's the victory over the problems, that the world needs to see and know.
When we actually learn who the new creation person is, we will be able to reveal Jesus to the world, like He really is. The lost world won't just see a Man Who died two-thousand years ago, but will see a Man Who is alive and living through the new creation man who was created in His Image and Likeness.
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