Developing the New Creation Lesson 96

     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 became new creations, the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  The fresh and new "HAS COME," not will come in the future.  It's of upmost importance that we go to God's Word to see how we're to live and function in this new spirit man/woman, while we're here in these natural bodies.  We can also watch those who've gone before us, in order to learn who we've been made to be in Jesus Christ.

     When looking at Jesus' life and earthly ministry, we can see what God's will for both Him and us.  If Jesus was doing it, then it must be God's will to do it.  If healing wasn't God's will, then Jesus wasn't in God's will when He healed people.  Jesus said, "When you see Me, you have seen the Father" and "It's not Me, but the Father in Me that does the work."  Many seem confused as to what God's will is for His people.  The Holy Spirit is always speaking and leading the child of God, but we must listen to His Voice.

     Many don't recognize the Voice of the Holy Spirit, because they don't know God's Word.  The Holy Spirit will always refer to the Word and will never contradict it.  Everything He speaks to us, will always line-up with the Word.  1John5:7-8(Amp) says, "So there are three witnesses in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these are One. And there are three witnesses on the earth: the Spirit, the water and the Blood; and these three are in union: their testimony coincides."

     The Holy Spirit will never direct us to do anything that isn't from the Father or doesn't line-up with His Word.  The Blood is one of the witnesses in the earth and is the Truth of the covenant and the Authority and dominion of our Sacrifice Lamb that provides protection from the destroyer.  If we don't understand the Blood and covenant, then we can only hope that things in this life will work out.  We can't put much faith in something we don't have knowledge of.  Many only hope and believe that prayer is like playing The Lottery, taking a chance that something will happen.

     Many have lost confidence and faith in prayer and the Super-natural things of God, because they don't know God's Word and His Promise.  The one scripture we thankfully place faith in, is "All who call upon the Lord, shall be saved," but aren't the rest of God's Promises just as True?  We can't only rely on what others tell us are God's Promises, but we must know the Truth for ourselves.  2Cor.1:18-19(Amp) says, "As surely as God is trustworthy and faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you have not been Yes that might mean No. For the Son of God (Christ Jesus, the Messiah), Who has been preached among you us, by myself (Paul), Silvanus and Timothy, was not Yes and No: but in Him is always the Divine Yes. For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Christ. For that 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."

     Do we know what God's Promises are and believe and put faith in them, as quickly as we believe in His Great Promise of salvation and being born-again?  We've never allowed our faith to grow in the other Promises, because we haven't been taught to believe in the Super-natural Presence of our covenant.  Our Father Promised more than just going to Heaven when we die.  God Promised that we'd be a new creation people and sons and daughters of His Own Seed, when we receive Jesus.

     When we put faith in this Promise, we become new creation children of God.  All of God's Promises are just as sure.  Paul writes in Rom.1:17(Amp), "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith, that arouses to more faith). As it is written; The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."  We were dead in sin and trespasses, but are now alive and living by faith in Christ Jesus and the Promise of God's Word.

     One of God's Promises is that we have been made Righteous, by our faith in Christ Jesus.  Do you truly believe you are righteous in God's eyes, by faith in that Promise?  Or, do you still deny that, quoting Rom.3:10(Amp), which says, "As it is written; None are righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no not one?"  If you haven't received the Promise of Righteousness, then read Rom.1:22(Amp) which says, "But now, the Righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law; although it is attested to by the Law and the prophets. Namely, the Righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confidence, reliance on Christ Jesus the Messiah, and is meant for all who believe, for there is no distinction."

     This is one of God's Promises that is "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus, to the Glory of God."  Do you believe what God says about you or do you believe what others say?  Do we believe this Promise, as quickly as we believe in salvation and forgiveness?  This is going from faith to faith in God's Promises.  It isn't being prideful to believe that we've been made righteous by Jesus' Righteousness.  This is the Promise of the new creation.  We were created in Righteousness, when we received Jesus and His Own Righteousness.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 95

      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."

     Wondering why I've spent so much attention on this particular topic?  Every child born, either in the natural or the Spirit, comes into this world without knowledge of life or things that pertain to life.  Every child, both natural and Spiritual, must learn to walk and conduct our lives by what and how they learn.  If we learn things that are wrong, then we will walk in those things.  The outcome of adulthood and the progress we gain, depend on how and what we learn.

     Prov.22:6(Amp) says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and in keeping with his individual gift or bend, and when he is old he will not depart from it."  If we train ourselves in God's Word, then we will trust and walk with Him as we grow into Spiritual maturity.  Our Spiritual walk will direct our natural walk, when we train ourselves by God's Word.  We will either learn to lean on God and His way of doing and being right, or we will learn on the world's ideas, with it's religious traditions and customs.

     Raising a child in a home filled with double-standards, will cause indifference in that child's heart, which he/she teaches to the next generation.  If we just attend church on Sunday and live another way the rest of the week, then we're training ourselves and our children that's it's proper to be indifferent about our walk with God.  It's difficult to turn a heart that has been raised and trained up like this, because it's become an established part of that person's life.  David writes in Psalm119:113(Amp), "I hate the thoughts of the undecided in religion (double-minded people), but Your Law (Word) do I love."  David confesses to not living by what he tells others.  He tells us not to copy his actions, but just obey what he says.  

     Many today have been trained to walk with God, just like this.  We attend church on Sunday, while not paying attention to the Lord until the next Sunday.  Most of us haven't been trained to take God at His Word and trust in Him, so we raised our children to do the same.  Many Christians ridicule those who seek to walk with God in a greater way, calling us "fanatics, Word people or faith people."  God is raising believers in the Power of His Word, who refuse to walk according to the religious dictates of the world.

     Most Christians only know what our denomination has taught us, without searching God's Word and His will for ourselves.  They are saved and born-again, but don't see the need to go beyond what they've been taught.  They are still in the infant stage of the walk with God, because they haven't searched God's Word and received the knowledge of their new creation identity. 

     Knowing the Father by what others have taught us, isn't true fellowship with Him.  Jesus said that, "My sheep know My Voice."  It's up to every individual child of God to build their own relationship with the Father.  We're to be in fellowship and close companionship with the Lord, so we hear when He speaks and can follow His instructions.  Many say, "God doesn't speak to me," but Jesus says this isn't so.  It's not a matter of God not speaking, but we're not listening or hearing.

     Some view God's Word as being like magic and that things will simply come to pass with a certain hand movement or word.  It requires time in God's Word for us to receive the knowledge of who we've become in Christ, to trust  in Who He really is, and to rest in what He has Promised in His Word.  It's not magic, but trust and assurance in God's faithfulness, that builds our relationship with Him.  If we don't know His Word and covenant, then we won't know what to put faith in when we pray.  Sadly, many ignore God and His Word, until a crisis arises in our lives.  Then we try building enough faith to receive a miracle.

    Many Christians have left the reading and studying of God's Word, to their preachers and ministers.  This has been one of the biggest mistakes in Christianity.  We don't believe we're called to the ministry, so we don't feel compelled to study God's Word for ourselves.  If we believed that studying math was the teacher's job in school, then we probably couldn't balance our checkbooks.  Teachers are charged with bringing forth the application of math in our lives and the student's job is to apply what we've been taught, so we can count.

     How often do we take the lesson taught in Church and study the scriptures until we know the Truth of God's Word for ourselves?  Our math teachers gave us math books and homework, that furthered what they taught.  What would society be like if only teachers were taught to read?  Can you imagine the chaos that resulted because drivers couldn't read road signs?

     A disciples is a student.  Jesus said in Matt.28:19(Amp), "Go then and make disciples of all nations."  Disciples are students who learned what Jesus taught about our Heavenly Father and how God's Kingdom functions here on earth, applying His Name to bring others into His Kingdom.  There's never been a rocket scientist who can't read or count for him/herself.  They must know how to read and count, in order to achieve this title.

Developing the New Creation Lesson 94

     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." 

    Sadly, few believers understand that we are God's children, who are already Blessed with every Spiritual Blessing and that the old things have truly passed away.  If we don't spend time in God's Word like we should, then we will fail to understand that Jesus bought and paid for our complete deliverance on the cross. 

     James1:2-4(Amp) says, "Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith brings out endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be people perfectly and fully developed with no defects, lacking in nothing."

     Jesus gave "The Parable of the Sower," in Mark4:15,27-29(Amp), saying, "The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them."  2Tim.2:6(Amp) says, "It is the hard working farmer who labors to produce who must be the first partaker of the fruits."  Jesus continued His Parable in Verses27-29, saying, "The Kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground and then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases-he knows not how. The earth produces acting by itself-first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately he sends forth the reapers and puts in the sickle because the harvest stands ready."

     Jesus said that, "The Word is like Seed sown in the ground."  The Seed is God's Word and the ground or soil, is the spirit of man.  It takes times for the seed to produce a harvest in a natural garden.  We plant many seeds like corn, beans, squash, knowing that it takes time for the seeds to produce a harvest.  We continue "sleeping and rising night and day, while the seed sprouts and grows and increases, knowing not how."

     James writes about the patience of sleeping and rising, while the seed brings forth it's fruit, in the above scripture.  In the natural, many gardeners put fences around our gardens, because animals and birds try to eat the seeds we've planted.  In the Spirit, we have an adversary who "comes at once, and by force takes away the Message sown into people's hearts."  Satan tries to steal the Seed, before we put faith in God's Word and receive the fruit of our labor.  Timothy writes about the hard working farmer who labors to produce and must be the first partaker of the fruits.

     We too easily give up on the Seed of God's Word, which produces after kind.  1Pet.1:23(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."  Is.61:11(Amp) says, "For as surely as the earth brings forth it's shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring forth, so surely the Lord God will cause Righteousness and justice and praise to spring forth before all the nations through the self-fulfilling Power of His Word."

     Nothing can stop the Seed of God's Word from bringing forth whatever the Word says.  The same "self-fulfilling Power" that brings forth the Seed or Word of salvation, will bring forth the Seed or Word of healing.  The hard working farmer can sow whatever Seed is needed, into our born-again hearts (spirits) and it will bring forth a harvest.

     The Apostles James and Mark both write about how the enemy tries to dig up the Seed of God's Word, before it brings forth a harvest.  Many think that, "It must not work for me," but Mark says that we "sow, sleep, and rise day and night, while the seed produces, while we know not how."  The same "self-fulfilling Power" that holds the universe in it's place, is working in us today.

     The Seeds of healing, peace, righteousness, and fellowship with the Father, all "produce after kind," according to the Law of Genesis.  The Holy Spirit inspires Paul to write in 1Cor.3:9(Amp), saying, "For we are fellow workers (joint promoters, laborers), together with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, you are God's building."  The Seed that God planted through Jesus, is now the family God Planned in the beginning.  It's the self-fulfilling Power in that Seed (Jesus, the Word) that has brought forth and is still providing the harvest today.

     Satan comes immediately to try to steal the Seed sown in our hearts, because if he can't take it away, then the Seed will produce by it's self-fulfilling Power.  Once we've received the Seed and keep it in our hearts, then we can "Count it all joy."  Why would we do that?  Because we know that if the enemy is out to stop it, then we know he's fearful of the harvest coming to the hard working farmer.  When we know that nothing can stop the Seed and harvest, then satan knows he's defeated in our lives.  Satan is the Seed eater, so we must stand firmly in faith, with the Seed of God's Word in our lives.     

Developing the New Creation Lesson 93

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     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.

     Paul writes to the Church (including us), 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."  

     Paul understood that before we were born-again, our lives were fashioned and formed by the world, without God.  We had functioned by our senses and emotions, instead of by God's Word and His Spirit.  Our senses and emotions can't conceive or understand the Spiritual things of God's Kingdom.  The only way to understand Spiritual things, is by the Spirit.  Jesus told His followers 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."

     We can read God's Word without having the Spiritual Revelation of the Truth, not understanding they are Spirit and Life.  Most opinions about God and His Word, have come from what Paul describes in the above scripture as the "external, superficial customs of man."  Many rituals and religious traditions that we've been taught, have very little to do with the new creation man/woman of God.

     Many only see God as being angry and often displeased at the new man/woman He has created.  Many too, believe that God spends much of His time putting sickness and hardships on us, in order to teach us how to do right.  We must truly understand that God has created us in Righteousness and that He sees us that way.  We try making ourselves righteous enough to deserve God's Goodness, without understanding that He has already made us righteous and that His Goodness has already been given to us to enjoy.

     Through faith in Jesus, we've already become new creation beings, without sin or the remembrance of sin, in God's eyes.  The world would have us live like we are still sinners and need to try becoming good enough to deserve God's Grace.  We have already become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  God has given us our inheritance to enjoy, but it must come into the new creation person, by Revelation from His Word and the Holy Spirit, not by the carnal way of man's thinking.

     Prov.4:7(Amp) says, "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 became new creations, when we were born-again and whether or not we know it, we received Wisdom.  1Cor.1:30(Amp) says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of Salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God, and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our Ransom from eternal penalty for sin."

     God says that, "Wisdom is the principal thing" and Jesus is our Wisdom from God.  We've been given Wisdom by God, but lack the Revelation and discernment that Proverbs tells us will bring us understanding.  This was all provided for and to us, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but we haven't understood it.  God instructs us in the above scripture, saying, "With all that you have gotten, get understanding."  If we don't understand the Spirit and Truth of God's Word, then we will lack understanding and fail to receive what our Heavenly Father has provided for us.  We will fall into the "external and superficial customs" of man and miss out on the inheritance given us, through Jesus.

     We don't strive to earn this.  This is an inheritance God's new creation family receives, by faith in the Finished Work of Jesus.  An inheritance is something that another has obtained by their life's labor and then leave to those he/she loves.  Gal.3:14-16(Amp) tells us, "To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentile, so that we, through faith might receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit. To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, if even a man makes a last will and testament (a merely human covenant), no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed). Now the Promises (covenants, agreements), were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir)."  God doesn't say that it was given to "his seeds, descendants," as if to many persons, but says, "And to your Seed, your Descendant, your Heir," obviously referring to One Individual, Who is none other than Christ Jesus, the Messiah.  Rom.8:16-17(Amp) says, "The Spirit Himself thus testifies together with our 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, joint heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His Glory."

     Jesus' suffering was denying Himself, so we could gain Him.  In order to deny ourselves, we must renew our minds by God's Word and Spirit, and following what the Spirit says, at all costs.  Jesus needed to get Himself off His mind and putting us on His mind, in order to go to the cross for us.  We're new creation children of the Most High God, heirs of God and part of His family.  We must renew our minds to the Spirit, so we can carry out His will for our lives.  If we remain carnal minded, having only ourselves on our minds, then we will be taking the easy road, instead of the one that doesn't require self- denial.