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 (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
We've been studying God's Word, in order to learn more about the new creation we've become in Christ. The new creation is an entirely different species, than any that have been on earth. We've misunderstood this man, because the Only Pattern or Example we have of the new creation, is Jesus Himself. Jesus was in a place where no other man was or ever would be, so we assume that He was a different kind of man, than we are.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus was and still is, the Only True Example of this new creation. He was and still is, the Seed from which the new creation family of God is produced. Jesus said, "I am the Vine and you are the branches." Jesus made us so much a part of Himself, making us the same type of being He is. Don't get me wrong here. We are not and never will be the Messiah or the Lord, but we've been made in His exact Image and Likeness.
Paul tells us that "Jesus was the First Born of many brethren," in Romans 8:29-30 (Amplified) where he says, "For those whom He foreknew, of whom He was aware and loved beforehand, He also destined from the beginning, fore-ordaining them to be molded into the Image of His Son and share inwardly His Likeness that He might become the First Born among many brethren. And those whom He thus fore-ordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified, acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself, and those whom He justified, He also glorified, raising them to a Heavenly dignity and condition or state of being."
When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were created new in Him and made exactly like Him. He is our Brother. When we accepted Him as our Lord, we were raised together with Him and seated together with Him at the right hand of the Father, according to Ephesians 2:6 (Amplified) which says, "And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together; giving us joint seating with Him, in the Heavenly sphere, by virtue of our being in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
This isn't something that the carnal, natural mind can grasp hold of. In the natural, we are still held down with the unrenewed mind of the old, dead man we used to be. Some deem it "a heresy," if we hint at the Truth that we are "like Him," because of carnal and unrenewed thinking. The Church has been stagnate for centuries, because of this thinking.
In these last days though, the revelation of God's new creation family is coming forth, in order to set the captives free. If we don't know who we've been made to be in Christ Jesus, then we are unequipped to help mankind in their natural state of being. We've been diligent to lead others into salvation, but we've left them in the same miserable state they were in, before being born-again. We have promised them eternal life in Jesus and have given them hope and healing for "when they get to Heaven," but haven't delivered these things for their lives here and now. If we don't understand who we are now, then we can only promise them thees things, after their earthly life is over.
This isn't what Jesus taught or did, in His earthly ministry. In John 14:12 (Amplified) Jesus said, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, If anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things, because I go to the Father." If anyone else had said them, then we could assume they were mistaken, but this was Jesus Himself speaking. Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:21 (Amplified) saying, "That they all may be one, just as You, Father are in Me and I in You, that they also may be One in Us; So that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me."
We have become one with Jesus and are called the Body of Christ. I can't see how we can be "anymore like Him," than being His Body. Romans 8:16-17 (Amplified) says, "The Spirit Himself thus testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God, And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him, only we must share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."
Jesus Himself promised that we will "suffer persecution and tribulation," in this world. Please understand, that the trials Jesus spoke about, aren't what everyone else is going through. Everyone on earth is "suffering tribulation." Before we were saved, we underwent tribulation of one sort or another. The persecution we now endure as Christians, is the suffering Jesus endured in His earthly ministry. Jesus didn't suffer what natural man had only to deal with, but He suffered the full force of the enemy. Satan did everything in his power, to try and stop the works that would reveal God's Grace and God's ability to set the captives free.
Jesus didn't come to earth, in order to start another religion. He came to break satan's hold over mankind (spirit, soul and body). Even natural man could see and believe in God, when they witnessed Jesus' setting others free from sin, sickness and death. This is what the new creation man was created for.
We've been taught by man and man's idea of God's Word, for two-thousand years. Without revelation knowledge, mankind can only build another religion that has no power to back it up. Jesus didn't only preach about the Father, but He backed up what He preached by signs and wonders. The Father used these things to prove that He was in Jesus. We've preached about the resurrection of the dead and God has honored it, because "He performs His Word." It seem like we've lost faith in God to perform His Word, in this natural realm of life. We read in Mark 16:20 (Amplified), "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."
When we preached the Message of salvation and being born-again, God confirmed it by the attesting signs and wonders and people were saved. When we preached the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, He confirmed it by the attesting signs and wonders and people spoke in tongues. Do we believe that if we preach healing and miracles, then He will confirm these things too? The new creation has been created with and by the Same Holy spirit, Who was in Jesus. It's not another spirit, but the Same Holy Spirit Who lives in us now. We were born of the Same Father, that Jesus was born of. It's not another father, but the Same Father Who lives in us now. We were sent on assignment by God, in order to do to same work that Jesus did. It's not another assignment, but the same assignment.
Jesus would never have told us to do these things, if we weren't able to do them. And, He wouldn't confirm these things, if it wasn't His will and His plan. Some would falter in their and not go, while others would dismiss these as being "not for us today." There will always be those, like in the early Church, who will accept God's Word as Truth and then go forth Acts 8:5-8 (Amplified) says, "Philip, who was a deacon not the Apostle, went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (the Messiah) to them, the people. And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Philip, as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing from time to time For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them, screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health. And there was great rejoicing in that city."
Philip understood what we've been told is, "Not for us today" and the city rejoiced in liberty. This didn't pass away. This is God and He hasn't passed away. We've been talked out of the Truth, and left without seeing the True Light of our new creation. We were created for this very purpose and for this time.
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