Developing the New Creation Lesson 92

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new HAS COME."

     We can only discover who God created this new creation man/woman to be, through Revelation of God's Word.  Natural man cannot show us who we've become, because this Revelation is Spiritually discerned.  1Cor.2:13(Amp) says, "And we are setting these Truths forth in Words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting Spiritual Truths with Spiritual language to those who possess the Holy Spirit."

     A carnal mind can't discern the Truth of the new creation being.  We must learn who we are now by God's Word and the Holy Spirit.  Believers have been held in bondage by carnal thinking and rituals, some which say that "We will only become new creations after we die and go to Heaven."  Carnal thinking has left God's Church impotent and useless to today's world.  Those who came to the Lord with only man's ideas of the new birth, are still in bondage to carnal thinking and devoid of the Truth of what Jesus has done for us now.  

     We must go to the One Who created us, in order to find out who and what God has made us to be.  2Cor.3:17-18(Amp) says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). And all of us, 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 Spirit."

     James1:23-25(Amp) 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."

     God's Word is a mirror that reflects back to us, who we've now become through Jesus, as God's new creation family.  God's Word is the Faultless Law of Liberty, which reflects who we are now in this new creation and not who we once were.  Through Jesus, we've been created righteous, pure, holy, justified, and joint heirs with Him. 

     This is not what we've been taught over the years, which fosters mistrust in what God's Word says about the new creation beings.  Religion has left us fearful of being full of pride, so we continue seeing ourselves as unworthy sinners and unrighteous in God's eyes.  If God made us a new creation, then did He create us like we were when we came to Him?  Or, did God create us in the image He intended us to be, as His family?

     If God left us like we were, then we're not new creations, but we're left to be tolerated and not accepted by Him.  God chose us to be His very Own children and created us to be exactly that, without spot or wrinkle, in Jesus.  This is by God's choosing and not ours.  Do we still make mistakes?  Of course, but these mistakes grow smaller as we develop our new creation spirit, making it stronger and more mature in Him.

     Our problem isn't that what Jesus did isn't enough, but that we have walked in the flesh and carnal mind, maintaining the habits from who we were before being born-again.  We thought like the world, talked like the world, were raised by the world and we're now faced with an entirely new way of living and need to be taught anew by the Spirit.  This is why Paul instructed in Rom.12:2(Amp), saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs, but be transformed, changed by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new ideals and it's new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the Good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is Good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."  What is Good, acceptable and perfect in His sight?  The new creation man/woman who was created by His Own will for Himself, as His very Own children. 

      God doesn't find it pleasing and Good, when we deny what He has done in us, by Jesus.  Heb.11:6(Amp) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please or be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out."  We can only cone near to God by right standing, not in our own right standing, but by faith in God's Free Gift of Righteousness.  If we don't have faith in this Gift of Righteousness, then we won't come near Him in confidence.

     We must develop our new creation man/woman, so we can come before God in confidence and with the assurance.  We must have faith in what God has done for us in Jesus and by His Blood Sacrifice, making us new creatures altogether.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 91

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     We have received the Gift of God's Grace, by faith in Jesus' Sacrifice.  God's Grace has provided the removal of our sins and trespasses and has given us His Own Righteousness.  Rom.5:17(Amp) says, "For if by one man's trespass (lapse, offense), death reigned through that one (Adam), much more surely will those who receive God's overflowing Grace (unmerited favor) and the free Gift of Righteousness, putting them in right standing with Himself, reign as kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."

     If we do not accept the free Gift of God's Grace, then it will not benefit us.  If we do not accept and reject this Gift, then it offends the One Who offered it.  None who are born-again would ever seek to offend our Lord Jesus, but that's what we're doing when we reject the Gifts He offers.  He is at a loss to deliver us, when we reject the Gifts He offers.  Some believe it's "prideful," to consider ourselves righteous, but it's pride that leads us to disbelieve and reject the Gift of Righteousness.

     Believing and receiving God's free Gift of Righteous, will make a great difference in the new creation child of God.  We believe that we've been placed in right standing with God, through Jesus, which builds confidence in our prayers and faith for all God has done through the Blood of our Sacrifice Lamb.  John writes about the Life we now have in Jesus and the fellowship we have with the Father, in 1John5:14-15(Amp) saying, "And this is the confidence, the assurance, the privilege of boldness, which we have in Him; we are sure that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His Own Plan), He listens to and hears us. And if, since we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge that we have granted us as our present possessions the requests made of Him."
     How do we know God's will?  We must be in His Word enough to know what God has granted us through Calvary's cross and Jesus' Blood.  If Jesus bore it for us, then we are, by His will, exempted from it.  Our sins and death were placed on Jesus, so it's God's will that we, by accepting Jesus, receive by faith, the remission and extraction of sin and death.  We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus, according to Rom.8:17(Amp), which says, "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."

     The suffering we share with Jesus, is being mocked and rejected by others, not being sick or depressed.  Jesus bore the Curse of the Law for us.  We must identify with Jesus' Sacrifice on Calvary, in order to share His suffering.  We share His death by dying with Him, as though we were nailed to the cross ourselves.  When we know in our hearts that Jesus did all this for us, we can have confidence in our hearts and minds, knowing that we were also raised with Him into His Glory.

     If we believe that God is still holding us accountable for the old creature we were, then it will be impossible to truly walk and have faith in the new creation man/woman God made us to be.  Paul writes in Gal.2:20(Amp), "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion); it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in and adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in the Son of God, Who Loved me and gave Himself up for me."

     We don't receive Jesus' suffering on the cross, when we believe that we're sick because "God is testing us."  We must identify with Jesus and share His suffering for us, so we can understand the extent of what Calvary has granted to us, by Him.  We're not in sin, if we get sick and God isn't testing us, when we get sick.  It simply means that we don't understand the full effect of what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross.  We share in Jesus' suffering, so we don't have to endure it.  

     As joint heirs of Jesus, we haven't inherited sickness, disease, poverty, fear, captivity, sin or death, but we're inherited what He died to restore us back to, which is the fullness of God's Love.  Jesus was justified and seated at God's Right Hand, and we must truly understand that He has made us free and fellow heirs, sharing His Glory and inheritance.

     If we believe that God is trying to teach us by making us sick, then we haven't shared in His suffering and have laid ourselves open to the enemy's deception.  If we don't receive the Father's Free Gift, even though it's Priceless, then it will not profit us.  Salvation has been offered to the entire world, but many have rejected this Gift.  The Father has offered it, but they haven't yet received it, for one reason or another.  When we receive the Gift of Salvation, the rest of God's Gifts are ours also, because we've become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.  This Gift comes by faith and is ours to enjoy, as part of our inheritance.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 90

      2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     Witnessing the things occurring under this present Administration in America, leads me to Ex.1:8(Amp), which says, "Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph."  I see a pharaoh, who is trying to make himself god over the American people.  Looking at the things the world is showing us can be overwhelming, but this is why we look to Jesus, Who is the "Author and Finisher of our faith."

     We must keep our eyes on our Heavenly Father and His Promises, which are all "Yes and Amen to His Praise and Glory in Christ Jesus," so our discouragements turn once again to victory.  There might be giants in the Land, but we serve the One Who is Greater than them.  In these Last Days, God is looking for people who will take the Land and believe in Him and His Promises.  This is a Joshua Generation that will simply trust God at His Word and take the Land, instead of dying in the Wilderness.

     Many feel alone in what we're doing, but that is a lie from the enemy.  God is raising up a people all over this Land, who will walk in the Rest He has Promised in His Word.  Joshua took Canaan and we can take back America.  The time has come to put our faith in God's Promise, in Psalm2:8(Amp), where He says, "Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as your possession."

     Things might look bad and things might seem to be in disarray, but we must stand in faith on God's Word.  Heb.4:2(Amp) says, "The Message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire Personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His Power, Wisdom and Good); by those who heard it. Neither were they united in faith with the ones (Joshua and Caleb) who heard and did believe."  We're not alone in believing God for deliverance.  God is raising up a people who will enter in and we're called to go with them, instead of murmuring about the giants.

     The mention of "Rest," wasn't speaking about entering into Canaan, because if Joshua had given them rest, then God would not speak afterward about another day of Rest in Heb.4:9(Amp), which says, "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-Rest reserved for the true people of God."  The Sabbath-Rest refers to our having faith in God, to do what He has Promised to and for us.  This isn't only for when we get to Heaven,  but is our resting in Him now, during our time of trial and testing by the enemy who "knows not Joseph (Jesus).  God never instructed us to give back this Land to the devil, but to stand our ground and retain what He has given us.

     Those who say, "We can't fight city hall," don't understand what our Almighty God can do.  He won't only fight city hall, but He will overcome it for us, if we'll do what He said and "mix faith with His Promises."  It might look dark, but God's Word is True and the Light will overcome the darkness.  This is for all people in all nations, as well as America.

     This isn't about politics, but about Light and dark, in the kingdom.  America is about to enter into her best days, by the Hand of God for His people and for those who are unsaved yet.  The awesome things we read about in the first covenant, are still in the Hands of the One Who did those things to deliver His people.  We must keep our eyes on Jesus, instead of the giants or anything else the enemy tries to show us.  I don't know how He's going to do it, but I know that He is going to do it.

     There will soon be an outpouring of the Manifest Presence of God in this earth, so that even those who don't believe, will surely say, "This is God in our midst."  The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is not yet complete and we will overcome all obstacles by faith in God and His Word.  I look for your name to be written in the Believers Hall of Fame.  The Church isn't going out of here with a whimper and crying, but with glorious and triumphant praise and Glory.  God hasn't forsaken or forgotten His children and "Pharaoh will let His people go."

     We must use the things we learned and have laid dormant in our hearts, because, just prior to His Ascension, Jesus Promised in John14:26(Amp) that, "The Holy Spirit is coming to bear fruit."  Thus, He said, "But the Comforter, (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Stand-by), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name (in My Place, to represent Me and act on My behalf), He will teach you all things and He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I told you."  

     Our having faith in the Power of Jesus' Name, the power of confident prayer, the knowledge of God's will and faith in His Word, will bring about all God has Promised.  We can't only have faith for ourselves, our families and our loved ones, but we must have faith for our nations and the world.  Some in the Church, who don't have faith in the Message they've heard, might choose to remain in the Wilderness, like those who came out of Egypt did.  The giants might look bigger than what they can handle, but we're not the ones who have to handle them.  We only must believe and Rest in God and take the Land He has given us.  God will take care of the giants, as we go.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 89

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     The new creation person is exactly that...a new creation.  We've been given dominion over the enemy, by Jesus' Blood and the Power of His Name.  Jesus forgave us for and removed our sins, so the lying enemy cannot keep us under the condemnation of them, when we come against him with the Name of Jesus.  Many believe that being saved only means that we're forgiven sinners, who will go to Heaven when we die.  This is true, but by God's Grace, salvation means so much more than that.

     Jesus completely removed our sins on Calvary's cross, bore our sickness, removed us from the Curse of the Law, and brought our peace and reconciliation with our Heavenly Father.  Through Jesus, we've been restored back to what God intended His family to be, when He made man in His Own Image.  The same dominion that Adam had, has been restored and we've been given dominion over the spirit world, through Jesus.

     Many Christians haven't heard the full Truth, so we have very little faith or understanding about the Truth of what Jesus Blood has purchased for us.  "Faith comes by hearing," so when we don't hear, then we have applied little faith in what salvation has brought us.  The sin problem was done away with by the Blood of Jesus, so there is no need for another sacrifice for sin and the Blessing.  Our right standing with God or righteousness, has been restored, by faith in Jesus.

     Many in today's Church have heard false teachings about healing and the Baptism of the Spirit, so they believe that, "These things are for only a few people" or "These were only for the early Church."  The Same Jesus Who took our sin, also took the rest of what Adam lost in the Garden of Eden.  We're now restored and created to the intentions our Father had at the beginning.  The things we endure today, were dealt with at Jesus' death and Resurrection.  The earth is enemy territory and we must stand in faith, receiving what our Blood covenant and our Sacrifice Lamb has accomplished for us.  If we haven't heard this, then we won't stand in faith for it.

     2Cor.1:20(Amp) says, "For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes answer in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), To God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency to the Glory of God."  This doesn't just include the Promise of our sins being forgiven, but the Curse of the Law and the restoration of everything Adam's fall caused.  We've been restored back to God's Original Intent.  Most of us have never applied faith in much else than forgiven and the Promise of Heaven.  Many still struggle with having faith in their forgiveness and live under condemnation of our pasts.

     The Father promised Jesus in Gen.3:15(Amp), saying, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heal."  This is one of the Promises we read about in the above scripture, which tells us that, "All the Promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus."  This is the ultimate Promise on which all of our salvation rests.  All the Promises the Father made to us through Jesus and now Yes and Amen in Him.

     Luke1:38(Amp) and Luke2:11(Amp) says, "For to you is born this day in the town of David, a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah, the Lord)."  All the Promises of the new creation hinged on this Promise being met and has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  Every Promise for and to the new creation family of God, is now Yes and Amen (So be it) through the One to Whom this Seed was Promised.  The scriptures tell us that these Promises were fulfilled for and through Him.

     The Promise of righteousness we read about in Is.53:45 has been fulfilled in Jesus.  Jesus has restored us back to right standing with God, which we read about in Is.54:18.  Is.54:17(Amp) tells us, "But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord (those in whom the ideal servant of the Lord is reproduced). This is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me, this is that which I impart to them as their justification, says the Lord."  The Resurrection of Jesus has made these Promises ours and many more.  If we don't know what these Promises are, then how can we put faith in what the Father has Promises us, in Jesus?

     The world, with man's opinions and carnal thinking, have replaced relationship with God with religion, so many of these Promises have been unfilled in our lives.  It's imperative that every believer read God's Word and hear from Him on our own, besides just hearing from our preacher on Sunday.  Most have lost sight of the Promises in God's Word.  We can't be like double-minded, like James1:8 says.  Many don't know if God is testing, teaching or punishing us or if the devil is trying to steal the Word and destroy us.  We must know God's Promises for ourselves and put faith and trust in them.

    

Developing the New Creation Lesson 88

      2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     1Pet.2:2(Amp) says, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the unadulterated Spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may grow and be nourished and grow unto completed salvation."

     Every baby must grow and mature, including Spiritual babies.  We're all born with the things that pertain to the life in our natural bodies and the Life in our new creation.  Both require nourishment, in order to develop into mature, proper adults.  Natural children don't know anything that we haven't been taught and this is true for the Spiritual child, who is born of the Spirit.  God's children must learn from His Word and His Spirit, in order to understand "His way of doing and being right,"  (Matt.6:33).

     We don't read God's Word as a religious duty, but we do so, to hear His instructions on how to live this new Life He has given us.  Reading the Word is a matter of education, while understanding it, is a matter of receiving Revelation and discernment from the Holy Spirit.  Many read the Word by carnal knowledge, without having Spiritual discernment.  God instructs us to "Get understanding," in Prov.4:7(Amp), saying, "The beginning of Wisdom is, Get Wisdom; skillful and Godly Wisdom. For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."

     We can read the Word in our carnal, educated minds, and still not have comprehension or understanding from the Spirit.  This is true for every are of our lives.  Many dismiss the Spiritual interpretation of what God's Word reveals to us, because they don't have Revelation knowledge.  This only comes from meditating and seeking the Father.  Our believing that God's Promises are only for when we die and go to Heaven, does little or no good to us, while we're in the enemy's territory.

     God's Word is a Living Word, whereby God speaks, guides and keeps us, while we're in this fallen world.  We'll be in the Presence of the Word of God, Who is Jesus Himself, when we get to Heaven, so we won't need to read the printed Word.  Jesus instructed in John6:63(Amp), "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."

     Jesus told His followers in Mark4:24(Amp), "Be careful what you are hearing, the measure of thought and study you give to the truths you hear, will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you-and more besides will be given to you who hear."  Many things we hear aren't really what the Father says.  We've misread or misspoke the Word and replaced it with what we think it says.

     When Jesus rose from the dead and presented His Blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven, the new covenant was ratified and all who would believe and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, would be under the Blood covenant and become family in the House of the Lord.  Many have received Jesus, without knowing who He has made us to be, by the new creation.  We still see ourselves more as who we once were, instead of who we now are in Him.  We are really who the Father has created and called us to be, even though some don't believe this.  Our true identity isn't found in our opinion or the opinion of others, but only the Truth of God's Word.

     No one can stop what God has done, but in order to fully understand our new creation identity, we must seek God's Word and listen to His Spirit.  If we will only believe what He says about us, instead of what the world or religion says, then we can walk here, like we're already in Heaven.  The only things we must deal with here, is the same things Jesus dealt with while He was here, which are the lies and deception of the enemy.  If we stay on God's Word, having faith in what Jesus has done, then we will keep satan in the realm of the spirit, where he has no defense from the power of the new creation.  Satan will try keeping us ignorant to who we've become and hold us in this carnal realm.

     Jesus said, "The Words (Truths) I speak to you are Spirit and Life."  God's Word keeps us in the realm of the Spirit, where we're always victorious.  When we allow ourselves to be deceived and walk in the natural realm, instead of having faith in the Truth of God's Word, then we'll be open to deception.  Jesus gave "The Parable of the Sower," saying in Mark4:15(Amp), "Satan comes at once to take away the Word that was sown in their hearts."  No seed can produce, if it's dug up and removed from the soil of our hearts.  The devil will use anything he can in this natural realm, to stop the Seed of God's Word from taking root and producing what God has Promised and declared.

     We're been lied to by the enemy, for so long, that we've been convinced that it's "not God's will for us to have what He says" or "These things are for only when we die and get to Heaven."  We must believe God's Word for ourselves.  No one can believe it for us.  It is the responsibility of the hearer, who is each of us.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 87

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 come. Behold, the fresh and new HAS COME." 

     Heb.11:6 (Amp) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out."

     Everything we do in developing the new creation we've become, is based on our faith in what Jesus has already done for us.  We must accept God's Gift of Righteousness, in order to be pleasing to Him and to come near to Him.  We cannot establish our own righteousness or right standing before God, by our good deeds, rituals or works.  We must have faith in Jesus' Sacrifice and receive His Righteousness.

     Jesus said in Matt.6:33(Amp), "But seek, aim at and strive after first of all, His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and all these things taken together will be given you besides."  God's way of doing and being right or His Righteousness, comes by faith in His Gift of Righteousness.  Those under the Law were trying to establish righteousness by the blood of goats and bulls they sacrificed and by observing rituals and traditions.  Rom.3:10,23-24,22(Amp) says, "As it is written, None is righteous (just and truthful and upright and conscientious), no not one."  Those under the Law weren't righteous and their sins were only covered by the blood of bulls and goats.  Paul continues teaching about righteousness in Verses23-24, saying, "Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and Glory which God bestows and receives. All are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His Grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the Redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus."

     Verse22 tells us, "Namely, the Righteousness of God which comes BY BELIEVING WITH PERSONAL TRUST AND CONFIDENT RELIANCE ON JESUS CHRIST (THE MESSIAH), and it (this righteousness) is meant for all who believe, for there is no distinction."  God has reconciled Himself to mankind through Jesus, but we must by faith, reconcile ourselves to Him and receive what He has done for us through Jesus.  2Cor.5:20(Amp) says, "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We, as Christ's personal representatives beg you for His sake to lay hold of the Divine favor now offered you, and be reconciled to God."

     In order to be reconciled to God, we must by faith, accept what He has offered us through Jesus and receive by faith, believing He has done all that needs to be done to reconcile God and mankind for eternity.  Through Jesus, God has made us righteous by faith and reconciled us to Himself.  We must stop trying to be righteous on our own and reconcile ourselves to the Truth of what He has already done for us, so we can have faith to enter into His Presence.

     Heb.11:6(Amp) tells us that, "Without faith [faith in what He has already done for us) it is impossible to be pleasing and be satisfactory to Him without first being reconciled by faith in what He Himself has provided for us to be righteous (in His standing)."  Trying to be righteous by our own standards, isn't God's way of doing and being right or righteous.  We must reconcile ourselves to Him by faith and believe what He has done for us, so we can freely enter in.

    This doesn't mean that we can live any way we please, but we must follow God's way of doing and being right, which is being obedient to His Word and adjusting our lifestyles to match His Word.  Everything God has is already ours, when we were born-again, through faith in Jesus.  We must reconcile ourselves to God's way and not the world's or our own way of doing, in order to receive what God has given us through Jesus.

     We keep trying to earn what has already been given, instead of reconciling ourselves to God's Word and His way of doing and being right.  Many find it difficult to believe that all God has Promised, has been given to us without our having to work for it.  This is contrary to the world's way of thinking, which says that we don't get anything we don't deserve or work for.  We don't deserve anything in God's Kingdom, but through His Great Love, Jesus has done what no man could do.  He has made us heirs of God and joint heirs with Himself, without our having done anything to deserve it.

    We must renew our minds by God's Word, in order to reconcile ourselves to God's great mercy, Love and Grace.  Our natural minds can't be reconciled to God's way of doing and being right.  Rom.8:7(Amp) says, "That is because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law (indeed it cannot)."  Reconciling ourselves to the Power of God's Grace, requires our renewing our minds to how we thought before being born-again and created new.  We must put on the Mind of Christ, so we can see ourselves after He has made us to be, instead of who we were before being saved.

     If we could become righteous and justified by our own works, then Jesus would never needed go to the cross for us.  When we deny that we can only be righteous before God, through Jesus.  Trying to be righteous on our own is not having faith and Heb.11:6 says that, "Without faith it is impossible to please or be satisfactory to God."  We can't boldly enter into God's Throne Room of Grace, without fear or shame, unless we have renewed our minds by God's Word and reconciled ourselves to the Truth of His Word. 

     

      

     

 

Developing the New Creation Lesson 86

      2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."  

     When we were born-again from the Lordship of Jesus, then we're not only saved like the world and some in the Church teach, but we have become new creations.  We're new creations in God's eyes, from the moment we received Jesus and we have no past.  The adversary likes to remind us of who we used to be, but God says we are new creations, with no past or sin to condemn us.

     In order to live free of the bondage of condemnation and guilt that satan tries to keep us under, we must renew our minds by God's Word and see who we are now in Christ Jesus.  Our Heavenly Father sees us as righteous, judged not guilty and sanctified.  He has brought us into His Own family, and made us clean and righteous.  If we'll renew our minds by God's Word, then we'll see ourselves like the Father has now created us to be.  We'll see ourselves through the eyes of the One Who was crucified in and with Jesus.  The wages of sin are death, so we died with Jesus died on Calvary's cross, where He paid our debts.  We are now new creation by and in His Resurrection into Glory.

     Jesus said, "Whomsoever the Son sets free, is free indeed," speaking about how we're free from the past and now have Life with and in, the Father and His Kingdom.  Few churches teach this, so we believe we're just "old sinners saved by Grace."  We were sinners and our penalty was death, but Jesus died in our place and paid the debt we owed.  We are judged in Him and found righteous because of Him.  We're found to be not guilty, in the eyes of the One True Judge of Heaven.

     Here in America, we have a Supreme Court which judges the cases of the people.  When someone is accused or when a controversial law is passed, the Supreme Court might hear and overturn these cases.  God is the Chief Justice of Heaven's Supreme Court.  He ruled and overturned the ruling made against the old man/woman we once were.  He has found us to be not guilty, because Jesus Paid the bill and we don't owe that bill any longer.  The Son has made us free, so we should walk in the freedom from condemnation and guilt.  God didn't overlook or forgive our sins, but He actually removed and completed the penalty for those sins, when He judged u8s in Christ Jesus Who fulfilled that Law, for all who would accept Jesus.

     If we paid off the mortgage on our home, then the bank can no longer repossess it, even if someone paid off that mortgage.  The debt is cancelled and we're debt free from that mortgage.  This is a simple comparison, but it's essentially what happened to us through the new birth in Christ Jesus.  Satan is the "father of lies" and would like us to believe that we still owe the debt, because we weren't the ones who "paid the debt."  We must renew our minds and realize who we've become in Christ, so we can shut out the lies and accusations satan tries slinging against us.  

     God gave Paul the responsibility to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and it was much different than anyone had ever heard before.  Those under the Law continued trying to make restitution for themselves, instead of allowing Jesus to pay their debt.  Their sacrifices and rituals couldn't set the people free, because the blood of animals only covered their sins.  Only a Man without sin could forever settle the debt for us.  All had sin, so Jesus, Who was sinless, laid down His Life, in order to pay the debt and clear the penalty that a Just and Holy Judge required to be paid.

     The man Adam brought sin and death to humanity, and it would take a Man without sin, to pay that penalty for sin.  Through faith in the Finished Work of Jesus, our entire debt has been paid and we're no longer responsible to pay it.  We only need to receive this free Gift.  When we don't walk under the old condemnation of the adversary, we can enter into fellowship with the Father and He will reveal the fullness of what we, as new creations, have inherited through Jesus.  This is His Peace.  It's not the world's peace, but is His Peace which passes all understanding.  It's difficult to have God's Peace and actually stand in His Presence, when we haven't renewed our minds by faith in the Salvation that Jesus brought and paid for, on our behalf.

     Paul writes about our going "from faith to faith," in Rom.1:17, which is a growing Revelation of the Finished Work of Jesus.  Jesus has done everything needed to be done on our behalf.  We haven't seen it all, but we're growing into it.  It's a continuing Revelation, which won't be totally clear to us, until we get Home.  We can though, see it more clear if we dare to believe what God says, instead of satan's lies.

     All that we've received through Jesus, isn't only for when we get to Heaven, but is now ours, in this world.  Putting these off for only when we die and go to Heaven, is a religious way of saying that we're only "sinners that God can't fix, while we're living in these flesh and blood bodies."  In Matt.19:26, Jesus tells us that, "With God, all things are possible and all things are possible to those who believe."  The limits we put on this are based on renewing our minds and believing what God has said and done for us, in Christ Jesus.

    

Developing the New Creation Lesson 85

      2Cor.5:17-18(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come. All things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled Himself to us (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself)."

     We have been reconciled back unto God, through Jesus.  As believers, we must have faith to receive this reconciliation through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  You might believe this is automatically done, when you were saved, but it isn't.  Many believers still refuse to accept all that Jesus has done for us, at His Resurrection.  God has made us righteous by actually placing the Righteousness of Jesus, in and through us, but many refuse to reconcile themselves to this Truth.  They consider themselves to be only "sinners saved by Grace."

    God's Word doesn't bear this out, so they're not reconciling themselves to God.  This doctrine mostly comes from those who really don't know the fullness of reconciliation, in terms of God's Awesome Grace, in their hearts.  God's Gift of Grace brought us into His family and it had nothing to do with the life we lived before receiving Jesus as our Lord.  Righteousness was given to us, when we received Jesus, but if we don't know who we've become in the new creation, then we'll continue considering ourselves from the old person we once were.  We must have faith in God's Word, in order to be reconciled in this part of our walk with the Father.  He now sees us as "the Righteousness of God, in Christ Jesus."

    Rom.5:17,19(Amp) says, "For those who receive God's overflowing Grace (unmerited favor) and the free Gift of Righteousness, putting them in right standing with Himself, reign as kings in life through the One Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."  In order to reconcile ourselves to this Truth, WE MUST, by faith in His Truth, accept and receive it to ourselves.  If we continue seeing ourselves as being unrighteous in God's eyes, then our ability to receive answers to our prayer and other portions of the new creation child of God, will be dwarfed.   

     Paul goes on to explain God's Grace to us in Jesus, in Verse19, which says, "For just as by one man's disobedience (Adam's failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness), the many were constituted sinners, so by One Man's obedience (Jesus) the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him.)  Righteousness is a word that has been removed from today's vocabulary and has been replaced by what we think it means.  Righteousness or right standing with God, is a Gift of Grace that was offered to us, when we received Jesus.  Now, in Jesus and the new creation He has birthed by His Sacrifice, we've been restored or brought into existence by the Father.  We've been brought into God's family, through Jesus and have the same ability Adam had before his transgression, to enter into the Very Presence of God, without sin, guilty, condemnation.  We are new creations and are children of the Most High God.    

     The reconciliation God has offered us in Jesus, is already done on God's behalf.  We must however, accept this Gift of Righteousness and reconcile ourselves with Him.  Religion and carnal minds will continue telling us that we are "still unworthy, unrighteous and still sinners.  If we believe this, then will won't reconcile ourselves to the Truth of God's Word, which says this is already ours to enjoy.  When we lack faith in what Jesus has done, we won't be able to enjoy fellowship with the Father in His Presence, like He desires.  And, we won't be able to learn His will and Love, like we should.

     We remain in the Outer Court, like the Old Testament saints, instead of entering the Holy of Holies with Him, when we don't understand the Fullness of God's Grace.  God invites us to come directly and boldly into His Very Presence and His Throne Room of Grace, in Heb.4:16.  God invites us to enter into His Presence, any time we need or want to, His Door is always open.  Christianity isn't just some religion, but it's family and home to the Most Loving, generous and providing Father.  He Loved us, when we were at our worst and welcomes and receives us, as Jesus made us to be in Himself.

     We, of course, make mistakes in this life of the flesh and the world.  I hope though, that if you've truly accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, in Truth and faith, then you're not deliberately living in sin or aren't growing in knowledge of who you've become in Him.  Grace isn't a license to live any way we desire, but is the Strength of God that keeps His new creation children.  Through Jesus, God has done what no one could do for ourselves, despite how hard we try.  It's only by faith in what Jesus has already done for us, we can be made righteous in His Presence for eternity.

     Paul writes about our going from "faith to faith," in Rom.1:17(Amp).  Our faith in what Jesus has truly done, is an ongoing Revelation that will bring us into the maturity of our salvation.  We will either accept or reject our reconciliation and our right standing before the Father, by faith in Jesus.  Our trying to make ourselves righteous by works and pride in our ability, will never work.  Everything in our salvation, is determined by how much faith we put in His Finished Work.  Because we are already "heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus," (Rom.8:17), all these things are already ours to enjoy.  We must accept them in faith in Jesus, in order to truly enjoy them in this life and when we get Home to Heaven.  This is our inheritance.  It's not something we work for or can earn, but is what we receive by faith in Jesus' Work for us.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 84

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."  We're the only ones who can develop the new creation we've become in Christ.  We can, like others, attend church and live clean moral lives or we can spend time reading God's Word and fellowshipping with Him.  We can grow beyond the world's ideas of Christianity and become what the Father has planned for us.  This personal fellowship with God is based upon us, not Him.  He wished to be a Father and have a close Personal fellowship with all His children, but not all of God's children spend time getting to know Him.

     God's Door is always open and His Presence is always there for us to enjoy.  Through Jesus, God has opened up the Mystery of His will and His Presence, to all His children.  Many seek Him when things aren't going right and then back off when He fixes the problem.  Then, when they find themselves in another mess, they wonder, "Where is God?"  God is always there, not just in times of crisis, and is longing to fellowship with us and keep us out of the crisis.

     The purpose of Jesus' coming to earth, was to bring God's children home to Him again.  Now that we're new creations and have entry into His Presence, God longs to fellowship and know us as His sons and daughters.  We have access to God's Throne of Grace any time we wish to enter in, not just to ask for help, but to fellowship with the Father.  Those whose faith is small, are those whose time of fellowship is limited and lacking.  We don't only come to Him in prayer or in need, but just talk with and learn to know Him as Father, not just as God.

     I recall President John F. Kennedy's being in the Oval Office with dignitaries from around the world, when his small son called John John crawled into his lap.  The President was "Daddy" to John John, not just the President.  That's what our Heavenly Father desires of us.  Of course He is Almighty God, but He is also our Daddy and wants us to be comfortable in His House.

     There are things we learn in fellowship with Him, that we can't learn by any other means.  We learn the Heart of the One Who Loved us enough to die in our place and returned us back home to Himself.  Many hear God's Word, but don't hear His Heart.  Some view Him as a God of rules and Laws which we're to follow, without understanding His Heart.  All the things in God's Word and the covenant, are for our good and are there to protect and Bless His children.  Any good parent will establish boundaries for their children, in order to protect them from harm.  Our Heavenly Father is no different, except He knows what is ahead, while we don't.

     We need to understand that God's Word and His Spirit will guide us, protect us and keep us safe.  Many disobedient children have lost their lives on this earth, because they failed to listen to the words of their parents or guardians.  Many of God's children have gone Home to be with Him long before their time, because of their disobedience.  God didn't "take them," but He did receive them, when their time on earth was cut short, because they would not hear.  Many today, have lost their lives from drug abuse and overdose accidents.  They were told to avoid and stay away from these things, but they didn't heed the word of warning and believed they could handle it on their own.

     Most of us aren't smart or savvy enough to navigate this world without the Holy Spirit's Guidance.  God created our lives and He knows best how we should live it.  Adam believed that both he and Eve could make it on their own, which cost them everything.  Surely we can learn by his mistake and follow God's way of doing and being right.  Jesus has restored us back into what the Father created for mankind in the beginning.  We don't know how to handle it, but He does.

     The Psalmist write in Psalm119:9-11(Amp) saying, "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch on himself according to Your Word (conforming His life to it). With my whole heart I have sought You, inquiring for and of You, and yearning for You. O let me not wander or step aside, either in ignorance or willfully from Your Word. Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You."  We can't take the new creation being we've become in Christ for granted.  We don't need another religion, but we need to seek a family relationship with our Heavenly Father.

     Christianity was always to be a family relationship with Him and not another religion with rules and regulations.  Jesus came to restore us to unity and fellowship with the Father again.  Many crazy things have come from our misunderstanding our relationship with God.  Some even believe they're to punish themselves by flogging and performing other rituals and traditions, in order to serve God.

     If we acted this way in our earthly families, then people would rightly think we're "crazy."  God's family gives all the Love that the Universe holds, according to 1John4:16-17,18(Amp), which says, "And we know, understand and recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience, and believe in (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the Love God cherishes for us. GOD IS LOVE, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in Him. In this union and communion with Him, Love is brought to completion and attains perfection in us, that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment with assurance and boldness to face Him, because as He is, so are we in this world."

     John continues in Verse18, saying that "Perfected Love casts out fear (full grown, complete, perfect Love expels every trace of fear."  Because, John writes, "Fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of Love (is not yet grown into Love's complete perfection)."  We love our Heavenly Father, because He first Loved us and gave His Only Begotten Son to die on our behalf and bring us into God's family once again.  This was what God had Planned from the beginning.

   

 

Developing the New Creation Lesson 83

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     In order to develop this new creation man/woman of God, we must find out what God's Word says about who we've been made to be in Christ Jesus.  Rom.1:17(Amp) says, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness that God ascribes is revealed, both spring from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith.  We must have faith in what God has now created us to be.

     The world's ideals about what Christians are, can't reveal the Truth of what God has really done in us.  We can only learn the Truth of who we are now, by God's Word and the Holy Spirit, Who is living in our new creation spirit.  Our body and mind didn't change, so we must renew our minds by God's Word, according to Rom.12:2.  We need to search the scriptures, until we understand what God has done and by faith, receive it in our lives now.

     We don't read God's Word as some religious exercise, but as a means of learning who we are.  If we read the Word, without putting faith in what it says and without accepting what God has done by Grace, then we'll believe this Truth is only for when we get to Heaven.  God's Word provides the new creation man/woman with instructions on how we're to live and conduct ourselves in God's Kingdom.  Jesus prayed in John17:16(Amp), "They are not of this world (worldly, belonging to the world). just as I am not of the world."  This doesn't mean that we're no longer in this earth in our natural body, but we no longer govern our lives only by the world's standards.

     Jesus was in this world or earth, in His natural Body, but He didn't allow the dictates of the worldviews to govern His Life.  He still needed to eat, sleep, clothe Himself, and do the things we're doing while here on earth.  Jesus received direction and Wisdom from His Heavenly Father, which set Him apart from the world.  In the world, there wasn't enough bread and fish to feed the multitude.  The disciples said they would need to leave the ministry and get another job, in order to make enough money to buy food for the multitude.  Jesus received His instructions from the Father and God produced more than enough to feed the multitude, with leftovers.

     The Same Father is now our Father and He will do the same thing in our lives, if we will trust and believe in His instructions.  I'm not saying that we should quit our jobs and wait for bread to be placed on our tables, but our job isn't the only source we have.  God is the new creation man/woman's unlimited Source, if we will put faith in His Word. 

     The worldview says that no person can lay hands on the sick and have them recover.  God's Word tells us in Mark16, that by faith in God, we can lay hands on the sick and the Presence of Christ in us, can remove their sickness.  God's Word must be more real in us, then the world's view of reality, if we're to function in what He has created us to be.  Renewing our minds by God's Word takes time.  We must meditate on it, until we believe it and then God's Promises will be our reality.

     This is for all who will believe in what God says.  Many only believe in what they can see, but we know the wind is real, because we see the damage it causes.  Gravity is real, whether or not we believe it.  Step off a tall building and gravity will cause you to hit the ground below, even if you don't believe it.  We can't see the Holy Spirit or the Lord, but this doesn't negate His Word and dismiss His Presence.  We see the aftermath of a hurricane's winds and we witness God's Mighty works, following those proclaiming His Gospel.  Many miracles and healings have been documented by doctors, who say, "There can be no reason this person was healed, it must be God."

     In order to receive this Truth in our lives, we need to believe in what God has said to and about us, and allow God to do what He says He will do.  We must go to God's Word, in order to know what God has Promised.  God's Word is True, but will not work in an unbelieving heart.  I'm the only one who can stop God's Promises from being manifested in my own life.  They're working in the lives of others who believe and allow them to produce what God says.

     God will do what He says about His new creation family.  We're already Blessed, healed, righteous, citizens of the Kingdom, joint heirs with Jesus,and are sons and daughter who have God's Holy Spirit Living inside us as His Temple.  Our lack of faith and trust in God's Word, prevents it from producing the Fullness of God's Promises, according to "The Parable of the Sower."  Jesus says in Mark4:18-19,20(Amp), "And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age and the pleasures and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches and craving and passionate desire for other things, creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it become fruitless."  

     God's Word didn't fail, but the heart of those who heard it was filled with other things, which stopped the Word from being sown in it.  Jesus went on in the next Verse, saying that, "Those who received, accepted and welcomed the Word, saw it bear fruit even up to one-hundred times as much."  God's Word doesn't fail.  If we put faith in God's Word and allow the Seed to produce, then we will receive one-hundred fold. 

Developing the New Creation Lesson 82

     2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."  The new creation is born as a baby and like all babies, he/she must be nurtured, raised up and trained in life.  The new creation child of God is born into Life, that is contrary to the culture and life we were trained up and familiar with.  In order to the new creation child of God to grow into the mature person he/she was born to be, we must be taught from the Spirit realm by God's Word and the Holy Spirit.  The way we learned before being born-again, isn't always the True way of our Heavenly Father.

     Many Christians today depend entirely on what we know and have learned from the world.  If we were taught wrong, whether or not it was intentional, it's still wrong when we teach it to the new child of God.  Many of us only know what we learn in church, much of which is according to our denomination and has little or no bearing on "God's way of doing and being right."  Even though we mean well in what we teach newborn Christians, it still might not line-up with God's Word.  If we were Catholic, then we teach them from our Catechism.  If we're some from another denomination, then we teach them what that denomination believes.  Many don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Super-natural things of God's Word or that we can still hear from God, when He speaks.

     God's Word is True, regardless of what we might think about it.  Many things have invaded the Church throughout the years, from the teachings of men and women who have good intentions.  Many Christians don't spend much time reading or meditating on God's Word, for themselves.  We rely on what others think the Word says, instead of knowing what it says for ourselves.  Every individual believer is responsible to read the Word and hear from God for themselves.

     Many declare, "God doesn't speak to me," but the Holy Spirit lives in us, speaks to us and will lead and guide us into all Truth.  He will never leave you or forsake you, in all our time, but we must train ourselves to hear the Voice of the Spirit.  There are so many voices in today's world, so we must learn to distinguish the Shepherd's Voice for ourselves.  Jesus said, "My sheep will hear My Voice."  We must learn to listen to His Voice in our new creation man/woman, more than depending only one our natural hearing. 

    When we read God's Word, it is God speaking to us, just as though He was right in front of us.  The world's ideas and culture are mostly against what God's Word says about how God's children are supposed to walk.  As a Parent, God the Father knows what is best for His children and our well-being.  We must be willing to do it His ways, in order to walk with Him like He intended and to prove Himself as the Loving Father He is.  No parent rewards their child's wrong behavior, neither does our Heavenly Father.  

     Many have been taught that certain things in God's Word "aren't for everyone" and that prayer "only works for certain people."  Most of us only know what we were taught before being born-again.  Some were taught a moral code of behavior, but some were not.  Like good students, we've done what society teaches and as good parents, we've tried to teach our children the right things.  Not everything we taught our children was wrong, but it wasn't all they should know, because we didn't have a relationship with the Lord and didn't know what His Word says.  Now we read God's Word and listen to His Holy Spirit, so we can teach them those things.  We did the best we knew how, but now we know God's way of doing the things He has laid up for us and them.

    We learned things before being saved, that we still need.  God's Word doesn't teach us how to drive a vehicle, but we still need to drive according to what we learned.  The Holy Spirit can teach us to beware of things to come, that we didn't learn before being saved.  The Lord has spoken to me while driving, telling me to "Stop."  Thankfully I obeyed and witness a person running a stop sign and would have been broadsided, if I had been moving.  My driving instructor couldn't have taught me that.  My life has been saved many times over the years, because I listened to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and followed His instructions.

     We're responsible for many things in the world we live in, but the Lord can and will, show us how to do them in a way that is safe and effective.  He will lead us in our daily walk through the "Valley of the shadow of death."  There are so many things God does in our lives, which we simply take for granted and might not even be aware of.  God will try to direct our paths for our good and we might not see how He protected us, until we go to Heaven.

     The Holy Spirit will navigate our lives in ways we might not see, while we're living in this natural world.  Many of God's children have left this present life way before they should have, because of self-inflicted wounds.  Habits of the flesh and carnal minded ways of living that we've adapted to over time, are often destructive and deadly.  Paul tells us in Rom.12:2(Amp) to, "Renew our minds with God's Word" and "do not adapt to the external, superficial customs of this world," because some of these are deadly.

     

Developing the New Creation Lesson 81

      2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."

     Salvation is a continuing Revelation.  When we were born-again, we became sons and daughters of the Almighty God and became heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  The inheritance we received from Him, isn't withheld until we get to Heaven, but is ours from the moment we were saved.  We lack knowledge of God's Word and His Promise, so we haven't understood the Revelation of what salvation has brought to us.  1Peter1:23(Amp) 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 goes on in 1Pet.2:2(Amp), saying, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire), the pure, unadulterated Spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may be nurtured and grow up unto completed salvation."'  

     Growing in faith to faith Revelation means we're growing from babies to mature sons and daughters of God and into completed salvation.  We must renew our minds by God's Word, in order to learn who we are now in Christ, to maintain Spiritual strength and keep the flesh in-line with the Word from within.  We will remain Babes in Christ, until we have Revelation about who and what we are in this new birth.  Babies don't know who they are and Babes in Christ don't know Who our Heavenly Father truly is or what He has for us.  As we grow in Revelation and mature, we begin to know the One Who has given us Life and what we have received from Him, in this new creation family.

     Many in today's Church don't know who we've already become or what we've received as heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus.  As we grow and mature by His Word, we discover our true identity and as we fellowship with Him, we discover Who our Heavenly Father truly is.  Fellowship with Him is based on Righteousness and relationship.  When we have the Revelation of our being more than "old sinners saved by Grace" and are new creations, then we won't be sin conscious and will freely fellowship with the Father.

     An unrenewed mind only knows the things of our past, when we were dead in sin and trespass.  Condemnation and guilt will prevent our having unbroken fellowship and seeing the True Nature or God, if we don't renew our minds by God's Word.  Rom.12:2(Amp) provides the knowledge of how we do away with the old way of thinking and how to begin unbroken fellowship with the Lord.  Thus, it says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to it's external (superficial) customs, but be transformed (changed), by the entire renewal of your mind, by it's new attitude and ideals, so that you may prove for yourself what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing that is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."

     This comes by having personal Revelation and fellowship with God.  The first order of Redemption is to restore relationship.  God had to first bring mankind into a legal standing as His children and partakers of His Very Nature, so that we can be His genuine heirs and joint heirs with Jesus.  Then God needed to restore mankind's fellowship with Him.  This could only be done when Righteousness was restored to mankind.  There can be no fellowship with God, unless men/women can stand in His Presence, without the consciousness of guilt of sin or inferiority.

     There could be no question as to the legal standing of mankind, in God's family.  The sin problem needed to be settled on legal grounds, so God would have a perfect right to impart His Own Nature to mankind, making us new creations.  Mankind's sin nature had to be driven out, so the Nature of God could come into us.  Mankind must become the actual children of God, just like Jesus was in His earthly walk.  James1:18(Amp) tells us, "And it was of His Own free will that He gave us birth as sons by His Word of Truth; so that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures, a sample of what He created to be consecrated unto Himself."

     The above scripture tells us that we are born of God's will and His Word.  It is all of God.  We must renew our minds to this Truth and enter into fellowship with Him, so we can know who we are now in Christ and what our inheritance really is.  The customs and external (superficial) things the world taught us, will not reveal the Truth of God's Word to us.  

     The inheritance we have as God's sons and daughters, is based on our being born of His Word and Spirit.  It's already ours, even in this world.  We must renew our minds to His way of thinking and doing, so this Truth can be manifested in our lives today.  God has bequeathed our inheritance for and to us, on this earth today.  We must pursue the ongoing Revelation of our salvation with a renewed mind and Revelation from fellowshiping with Him, in order to rise above what our carnal minds have told us about our Father's identity.

     Most of what we know about our Heavenly Father comes from carnal minded people, including religious teachers.  Paul writes in Gal.1:11-12(Amp), "For I want you to know brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not a man's gospel (a human invention) according to or patterned after any human standard. For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a direct Revelation given by Jesus Christ,"