Lesson 94 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away."
     When our Heavenly Father created the flesh and blood body for the spirit to dwell in, He made a man in His Likeness and Image who could (and would) function in two realms simultaneously.  Genesis 1:27 (Amplified) says, "So God created man in His Own Image in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them."  In Genesis 2:7 (Amplified) God formed a body for the spirit man to dwell in and function in the natural realm of the earth.  Thus, it says,"Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of spirit of life, and man became a living being."
     God also made a "counterpart" for the male species of man, and Adam declared in Genesis 2:23 (Amplified), "This (creature) is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man."  Both Adam and Eve were capable of living in two realms of life at the same time.  Their spirits were made in God's Image and Likeness.  Jesus said in John 4:24 (Amplified) that, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)."  Adam and Eve were spirit beings, who were given earthly bodies to dwell in, that were able to operate by their spirit while still operating in authority in the natural realm of the earth.
     God gave this "God-man" dominion over the earthly realm, to govern by the spirit (which is to be subordinate to the very Spirit of God Himself).  Man was never intended to be a rogue being, but was an offspring of God Himself and was supposed to be taught and raised into being kings and queens over the work of the Father's hands.  Now man was able to bring forth children in his image and also the Image of God simultaneously.  Man now had the best of both worlds.
     The new creation being who has now come from the Resurrected Christ, has once more been placed into this realm and the dominion that was always the heart of the Father.  Like Jesus, we were created to once again have dominion in both realms at one time.  We were to rule the very elements of this earthly realm, while maintaining authority of spirit beings, according to Ephesians 6:10-18 (Amplified).  Verse 10 is probably the most important one in this entire chapter, because it is the part that Adam failed in from the beginning.  Thus, Paul says, "In conclusion, be strong in the Lord (be empowered through your union with Him); draw your strength from Him (that strength which His boundless might provides)."
     God would never put us in a place that was beyond His provision and strength to care for us.  Adam made the mistake of trying to operate in his own authority, not realizing that all authority comes from the Lord.  Aside from the delegated authority given by the Lord, there is no authority at all.  The only authority satan operated in, was that which was given by God to Adam.  The devil usurped Adam's authority for his own perverted use.
     God had given man authority to rule and govern this earthly realm and it became legal for satan to use man's authority (even though it wasn't meant for him to use).  As long as man had dominion, satan could deceive man into giving that dominion over to him and satan could now, by legal use, rule man by his own dominion.  Man had been legally given dominion by God.  God was left to devise a way to transfer the dominion and authority He gave to man (and man gave to satan), back to man legally.
     In this new creation being, God, Who made man in His Image from the beginning, (however strange it may sound to the carnal thinking) had to be made in man's image, in order to restore balance to where it should be.  To dethrone satan and put things back in order, God needed to take upon Himself the image and likeness of man.
     We see a portrait of what we've been discussing, in Philippians 2:6-7 (Amplified), which says, "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God (possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God) did not think this equality with God was a things to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself (of all privileges and rightful dignity) so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being."
     To the religious mind and by human reasoning, the above scripture is beyond anything we've ever been taught, heard or learned.  Thinking about man's being made in God's Image and then God being made in man's image to restore the authority and dominion He had initially given man, is difficult for the carnal mind to grasp.  Now you can see how we are a new creation people, who have become one one with God like Jesus said in John 17:22 (Amplified), "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one (even) as We are One."

Lesson 93 The New Creation

     Our faith hasn't really grown into much more than believing we'll go to heaven when we die.  How many Christians truly believe that our God can still do mighty exploits here on earth?  When asked that question, do we answer, "Well, maybe" or emphatically answer, "Yes!"  Sometimes, we miss His exploits or dismiss them, because we failed to see God in them.  We were willing to accept what the news media says, rather than a divine intervention in things.  We must become aware of our God at work on behalf of mankind and not the destruction of mankind.
     It's astounding how we've confused the things of God with the things of the enemy who came to "steal, kill and destroy."  Sickness, disease, hard times and poverty have now become the normal for God's people.  Tongues, healing, miracles and prosperity have somehow, now become the work of the devil.  It's so alarming to hear this message preached in the congregations of God's Own family.  The Word says that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."  Faith in anything comes by hearing.  It's a spiritual law and principle.  There's an old saying about this that says, "They have told that lie so long, they have come to believe it."  It's time to come back from the compromised message and believe the truth of God's Word again.
     There is an awakening to God's Presence and the truth of God's Word happening, not only in our Land, but throughout the earth.  The unsaved are become awake to God's Presence and the Church is undergoing revival.  The word "revival" means to "revive the Church from its slumber and sleep and awaken from tradition to truth."
     God said in 2Chronicles 7:14 (Amplified) that, "If My people would awake and pray and come back to Me, then I will hear their prayers and heal our land."  If we cannot see the sickness that has crept into our land, then we are blind and will not see.  America has become sick because of not observing God's Word and by allowing things to occur that we (the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ) should never have tolerated.  We've allowed this sickness to permeate our whole land, either from our not knowing or not seeing or not recognizing it.
     We must put our denomination differences aside and realize that we are one body.  If one part of the body doesn't function properly, then the whole body is dysfunctional.  Standing together in faith isn't that hard, if we'll all return to faith in God's Word.  We've used His Word for individual strength, but now we must come together for corporate strength.  The Church are the ones Jesus gave the authority to.  We need to use that authority over the principalities and powers controlling our nation.  We need to lift up the Name of Jesus over it all, once again.
     Jesus gave His authority to the believer and without its being used like He instructed, nothing changes.  There are currently laws concerning the making and selling of illegal drugs established in our country, but even though the law forbids it, if the law isn't enforced, then the illegal distribution continues.  There are certain things occurring on earth that are against the laws of Heaven, but if the Church doesn't enforce these laws, then the enemy continues destroying those Jesus came to save.
     The Church has become subject to laws that are unGodly, because we refuse to stand united in faith and prayer, to stop satan's maneuvering in our lives.  Jesus gave us some guidelines on how to use the authority He gave us,  in Matthew 18:19 (Amplified) saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in Heaven; and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in Heaven."
     This was given for the future time, when the new creation people would be given this authority to hold as His representatives on earth.  Jesus told us what things Heaven would and wouldn't permit to be just and acceptable on earth.  There shouldn't be a great debate about some of the things that we have allowed to happen here.  Can you imagine things being run and happening in Heaven, like they're being done here?  I hear Christians say, "Whatever is being done, is God's will."  Jesus, though, taught us to pray that, "God's will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven."  Do we truly believe that what's currently transpiring on earth are the things occurring in Heaven?  Who, then, is responsible for "Doing His will here on earth?"  Jesus said that, "He came not to do his will, but the will of the Father."  The way to have God's will done on earth like it is in Heaven, is to have somebody to His will here.  Jesus said in John 6:38 (Amplified), "For I have come down from Heaven not to do My Own will and purpose but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me."
     Jesus also said in John 14:12-13 (Amplified), "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 than these because I go to the Father. And I will do (I Myself will grant) whatever you ask in My Name (as presenting all that I Am), so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son."
     When we take Jesus at His Word and do the very things He did, then the Father is glorified ion the Son, through us.  This isn't some work of the flesh to lift up man, but is the work of the Spirit to lift up Jesus.  The "greater work" Jesus spoke about, is getting people born-again, through His resurrection.  Jesus couldn't get anyone born-again until His death and resurrection.  This was a privilege left for the Church, by the Holy Spirit.
     No father worth his salt, brings children into this life without providing for them and raising and teaching them into adulthood (and sometimes beyond that).  I've discovered that you never stop being a father.  My kids are middle-aged adults, but I'm still their father.  They still look to me for help and advice from time to time.  I didn't orphan my children or leave them as babies.  I raised them into adulthood, and enables them with the tools to remain at liberty.
     Our Heavenly Father never intended for His children to remain babies for the remainder of their time here on earth.  As sons of God, we're expected to "train up" His children and bring them into maturity and into His Kingdom.  This goes beyond teaching them to walk in the natural, but also in the super-natural.  I enjoy my life here on earth with the things my Father has created and provided for me.  I live in a rural area that is both peaceful and quiet, where I raise horses and beef cattle.  I love what my Heavenly Father created for us here.  I simultaneously, can walk in the Spirit with Him and do the things that please Him.
     The Word admonishes us to, "Not love the things of the world," not the things of the earth.  The world or the world system, is run by darkness, while "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."  I can enjoy what God crated for me and change the things the enemy has perverted, at the same time.  When I observe the earth's beauty (even under the curse), I can see the heart of a loving Father Who created this whole world for the enjoyment of His children.  I partook of the blessing that has come on me through Christ Jesus and broke the curse from off the land God has given me.  God has blessed me with enough hay to keep the horses and cattle well fed.  The things that were cursed through Adam's fall, have been blessed by the power of the new creation, in Christ Jesus.  Where there was only proof of the curse, there is now a Garden of Eden.
     I was once told that because I'm in the ministry, I shouldn't have horses and cattle anymore.  What a shame someone would think that way.  My most precious times with my Heavenly Father are spent when I'm in the tractor, cutting and bailing the hay.  The quiet and beauty of that time spent with Him, in the restored beauty of His creation, is prayer and worship that some never achieve.  The balance of enjoying what God has given me here and the inheritance I received into His new creation, is a balance that Jesus and Adam shared.  They both walked with God in the Spirit, while still having a natural body.
     This is a great things about this new creation.  I can have the glory of both worlds, living in both placed simultaneously, while walking naturally super-natural. 

Lesson 92 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     Our natural body still mostly controls our new creation body.  We continue living by Law, rather than by grace.  We listen more to the unrenewed mind, rather than the mind of Christ.  "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," but we've primarily been taught only a small portion of the Truth of the Gospel.  Our faith cannot rise above our hearing.
     We all acknowledge the sins of the flesh are wrong, even under grace.  But, we haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to guide us into the place where our spiritual actually dominates our natural body.  In Numbers 13, we see people respond by faith in what they've heard and it kept them in the Promised Land for more than forty years.  Only ten of the preachers telling the Israelites that, "We cannot take the Land" had ever even seen it.  The others placed faith in what they heard from those saying, "We cannot take the Land."  Joshua and Caleb agreed with what the Lord had told them, while the majority placed their faith in, "We cannot take the Land."
     Because we've only preached certain things from the Word about the new creation, the faith of the people has never risen above what they've heard.  Most of our preaching has been more about what God has done in the past and what He will do in the future.  We've failed to preach much about what God can and will do in the here and now.  When we hear the "Now Word of faith," then our faith in the true and Living God can do what He is ready to do now.
     Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says, "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."
     Our faith is a living thing through the Word of God, that should grow from day to day,as we come to understand who we are now in the Gospel.  Paul said that, "In the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed by faith."  When faith understands righteousness, faith will grow into the life of faith, that reaches into the realm of understanding.  Until we begin to understand (by hearings and studying) what God has done for us in the Gospel, we can't actually walk in it by faith.
     Even after reading from 2Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified) that, "Christ was made to be sin with our sin, so that we, in and through Him, might become (endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of) the righteousness of God," we still just quote from Romans 3:10 (Amplified) which says, "As it is written. None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no not one."  We didn't have the understanding that now, through Jesus, God has made us to be righteous with His righteousness.  And, because not much has been preached on it, we operated more in Romans 10:3 (Amplified), "For being ignorant of the righteousness that God ascribes (which makes one acceptable to Him in word, thought, and deed) and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation) of our own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness."
     This might be the greatest starting point of what Paul was saying in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), "Until we, by faith, can understand righteousness by grace, our faith cannot rise into the place of understanding living by faith."  Those of us who have been saved and born-again, are already living by faith, according to Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) which says, "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 (by adherence to and reliance on, and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
     So, whether or not we understand it, we (the new creation people) are already living by faith.  We sometimes have a difficult time putting our faith in this, because it hasn't been preached much.  e continue trying to establish our own righteousness, instead of going "from faith to faith."  We find our faith "stuck" in one place, as we try to grow into Him.
     Many of us were taught that we will be new creations, after we arrive in Heaven to spend eternity with Him.  And, this prevents our taking our rightful place here on earth.  Growing up into faith with our Father, is simply believing what He says, more than what our senses and others say about us.  Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified) tells us, "But solid food is for full grown men, For those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to distinguish evil and contrary either to divine or human law."
     We continue being swayed by the world's idea of what "morally good and evil and what is divine or human law."  What man thinks about divine law and what God thinks about divine law is spiritually discerned.  In the eyes and thoughts of the world, all things are acceptable.  Because we haven't "trained by practice" what the Word says, we find ourselves being drawn into the world's way of thinking.  This is establishing our own righteousness in the Word of God.  We are called to not only do differently, but to think differently.

 

Lesson 91 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, any person who is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) is passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     We became a new creation, the moment we were born-again.  This doesn't mean that things won't be different when we leave this body, but it does mean that the spirit man who lives in this body, is alive unto God now and can (and should) walk in a different realm than we have been walking in.  To what degree we are to walk, seems to vary from person to person.  Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:31,33 (Amplified) to, "Seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right) and then all of these things (what we are to eat, what we are going to drink and what we are going to wear Vs. 31) taken together will be given you besides."
     Jesus indicated that God wants to meet our natural needs, as well as our spiritual needs.  We've never learned how to obtain this kind of relationship with the Father.  God's way of doing and being right, means that the Kingdom has another way of functioning that we've never reached into.  Obviously, God's way of being right (His righteousness) is a gift of grace given when we receive Jesus as our righteousness.  Romans 3:24 (Amplified) says, "(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."  In order to seek His righteousness, we must by faith, believe that Jesus is our righteousness.  If we believe what Jesus told instructed in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first of all His righteousness," then we will by faith, cease trying to obtain our own righteousness by works.
     His way of doing and being right, is something we've not understood.  Religion says that, "In order to do His way of being right, we must simply change our way of living and stop allowing sin to operated in our natural body."  It's very true, that we should bring our natural body into subjection to the Word and the new creation spirit, but is this all there is to "doing and being right?"
     In the life of Jesus and those we read about in the Word, we see how they didn't just stop at simply not sinning anymore.  His way of doing right, extended into reaching the masses of people who had things which didn't comply with His Kingdom.  His way in the Kingdom, also deals with the natural position of mankind, as well as their spiritual lives.  Seeking first of all His way of doing and being right, means bringing them closer to God's Kingdom, through our works of the Spirit in this new creation.
     We were created in Jesus, in order to bring about God's will here on earth again.  Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."  In order for God to express His will here on earth, He needs for His new creation to operate in the Laws that govern Heaven, to function again on earth, through His very Presence in His new creation.
     This isn't a condemnation to those who are simply "living right," here on earth, but to challenge us to reach farther into Who our Father has created us to be, how to operate in His Kingdom instead of the kingdom of darkness that we'd previously been raised in.  What we have been doing isn't wrong, it's just short of "His way of doing and being right."  He has so much more for us to operate in, we haven't seen yet, because we haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to teach us His ways.
     The Church has reached the age of maturity, where God will raise up such leaders as Moses, Joshua, Jesus, Paul and those who stepped out of the ordinary into the super-natural Kingdom of God.  This is for us today. 
     "Seeking and doing the things of His Kingdom" also means that everything that was out-of-order in the Kingdom, was to be restored to God's original plan for man.  Jesus stood in the Synagogue, reading from Isaiah 61:1-2, in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified) saying, "The Spirit of the Lord (is) upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the Good News (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are trodden down, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity) To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord (the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound)."
     His way of doing and being right, is for the time when righteousness was restored again to mankind.  His way of doing right, was for the new creation people, to restore His way back to the earth.  Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:8-9 (Amplified), "Whenever you go into a town and they receive and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God has come close to you.'"  Is this His way of doing and being right, in the Kingdom?
     If it were different, then Jesus would have done it differently.  Is this then, as it was then "For us to seek first of all His way of doing and being right?"  Is this what brings us close to the Kingdom of God by our works of the Spirit in this new creation?
    
    

Lesson 90 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (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 away, Behold, the fresh and new HAS come."
     We've mostly thought that the new creation is for after we go to Heaven, because we've been taught and heard that it won't happen while we're here on earth.  God's Word tells us, though, that we become new creation the moment we are born-again and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
    God works through men to accomplish His work on this earth, it's the new creation man living in his old natural body.  When the natural body dies, we leave this earth and we're no longer any use here.  God has reserved the new body for His new creation people to receive this new body simultaneously.
     God gave dominion over the earth and everything in it, to man in Genesis 1:26 (Amplified), "God said, LET US (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image, after Our Likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air; the (tame) beasts, and over all the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth."
     This mandate has never been recalled or change, according to the commission of God.  After the fall of Adam, satan used this same mandate to usurp man's authority for his own kingdom of darkness.  Man left the Life of God and stepped into the realm of spiritual death.  He was no longer able to walk in the place of the spirit realm, where he was created to be.  Satan now uses the authority God had placed with mankind, to govern the whole earth.
     Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness with this authority and dominion.  Luke 4:6 (Amplified) says, "And he said to Him (satan to Jesus), To You will I give all this power and authority and all their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace) for it has been turned over to me, and I will give it to whomever I will."
     When Jesus came into this world, He came as "The Son of man," as well as the Son of God.  He came as a Man, in order to take back the authority and dominion that Adam has given away to the devil.  At Jesus' resurrection, he transferred this authority and dominion back into the hands of God's new creation Man, to carry out God's mandate of Genesis 1:26.
     God had given man the dominion and authority, man gave it to satan, God worked through the Man Jesus (His Son) to take that authority and dominion back.  Now God could work again through man and restore His creation to was He planned at the beginning.  Adam was supposed to expand the Garden of Eden to cover the planet,but satan used this blessing or power that God gave to Adam in reverse, and the power of this blessing became a curse to steal, kill, and destroy.  Life became death, blessing became a curse, thorns replaced vegetation, darkness replaced light and mankind became captives to an outlaw spirit.  The reversal of blessing had come.
     Through Jesus, God once again restored this blessing and authority into the hands of mankind.  God has taken up resident in the very body of this new creation.  By the power of the new creation, God has taken resident in the very body of the new creation, like it was with Jesus.  Jesus said in John 17:22-23 (Amplified), "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one (even) as We are One; I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and (definitely) recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them (even) as You have loved Me."  Jesus reiterated this many times saying, "It is not Me, but the Father in Me, that does the work."
     The "mystery" of the new creation was that God Himself would now take up residence within the born-again spirit of man and man would be restored to what the Father created him to be, which was His son made in His Image and Likeness.  Paul says in 1Corinthians 6:19-20 (Amplified), "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received (as a Gift) from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a Price (purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His Own) So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body."
     The new creation man has this glory in an earthen vessel, in order to show forth God into the earth, like Jesus did in His earthen Body.  This is the new creation's mission, to show the Glory within, while we're here on earth.  When we are caught up and the graves are opened and we enter God's fullness, the glorious beauty of this new creation will be transformed into a new and glorious body, from the inside out, with God's Own glory. 
     2Corinthians 4:6-7 (Amplified) tells us, "For God Who said, Let Light shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts so as to (beam forth) the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God (as it is manifest in the Person and revealed) in the Face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). However, we possess this precious treasure (the divine Light of the Gospel) in (frail, human) vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves."
     Notice how Verse 6 didn't say that, "The God Who said Let Light shine in Our hearts," but that, "The God Who said for Light to shine, has shone in our hearts."  It's not only the Light, but the "God Who commanded Light, has shined in our hearts."  Now this Light and the God Who spoke this Light to shine, are both in the earthen vessel (the new creation).  The Creator and the new creation are now one.
     When my sons were born, they were a part of me from that very moment.  They bear my name, my blood and my inheritance.  They are "one with me" and I am "one with them."  Even though they are two separate bodies, we are still linked together by blood, to be in more than one place and still not be separated in spirit.  How much more so are we one with our Heavenly Father, Who said, "I will never leave you or forsake you" and "I will be with you until the end of the age." 

Lesson 89 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (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) is passed away, Behold! the fresh and new HAS come."
     For most of our Christian walk, we've believed that we would become the new creation, after we go to heaven.  We've been taught that and have come to believe that way.  It's true that we won't have our glorified body until Jesus returns, but we became a new creation the moment we were born-again.  We were created brand new in Jesus.
     1John 3:2 (Amplified) says, "Beloved, we are (even here and) now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be (here after), but we know that when He comes and is manifest, we shall (as God's children) resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He (really) is."  1Thessalonians 4:15-18 (Amplified) says, "For this we declare to you by the Lord's Own Word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede (into His Presence) or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep (in Him at death) For the Lord Himself will decend from Heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first."  Verses 17-18 go on, "Then we, the living ones who remain (on the earth) shall simultaneously be caught up along with (the resurrected dead) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of eternities) we shall be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these Wrods."
     Paul also writes about our new body being made "as He is now," in 1Corinthians 15:42-52 (Amplified) saying, "So it is with the resurrection of the dead (the body) that is sown is perishable and decays, but (the body) that is resurrected is imperishable (immune to decay, immortal). It is sown in dishonor and humiliation; but it is raised in honor and glory. It is sown in infirmity and weakness; it is resurrected in strength and endued with power. It is sown a natural (physical) body; it is raised a supernatural (a spiritual) body, (as surely as) there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); The Last Adam (Christ) became a Life-giving Spirit (restoring the dead to life)."  Verses 46-52 continue, But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man (was) from out of eart, made of dust (earthly-minded); the Second Man (is) the Lord from out of Heaven. Now those who are made of dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded) And is (the Man) from Heaven, so also (are those) who are of Heaven (Heavenly-minded) And just as we have borne the image (of the man) of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the Image (of the Man) of Heaven. But I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot (become partakers of eternal salvation and) inherit or share in the Kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (that which is decarying) inherit or share in the imperishable (the immortal) Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or councel of God). We shall not all fall asleep (in death), but we shall all be changed (transformed) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the (sound of) the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead (in Christ) will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay) and we shall be changed (transformed)."
     When the coming of the Lord happens, the new creation (us) will also have a body like unto His body.  We still mostly see Jesus as the Man from Bethlehem and as flesh and blood.  The Body Jesus now has (the resurrected Lord) isn't something that we really have a clear picture of, but whatever Jesus looks like, we will also look like.  The new creation spirit man we became at being born-again in Christ Jesus, will put on the new, spiritual, glorified Body that our Lord Jesus now has.
     We were made "in His Image and in His Likeness," at the new birth.  2Corinthians 5:1-4 (Amplified) says, "For we know that if the tent which is now our earthly hom is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. Here indeed, in this (present abode, body), we sigh and groan inwardl, because we yearn to be clothed over (we yearn to put on our celestial body like a garment to be filled out) with our Heavenly dwelling. So that by putting it on we may not be found naked (without a body) For while we are still in this tent, we groan under the burden and sigh deeply (weighed down, depressed, oppressed)-not that we want to put off the body (the clothing of the spirit), but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life (after the resurrection)."
     The new creation spirit man will have a new creation body to dwell in after the resurrection.  For now, though, as new creation people, we are confined to this flesh and blood house, in order to show forth the glory of our Lord through.

Lesson 88 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (moral and spiritual condition) is passed away, Behold, the fresh and new has come."
     Yesterday, I presided over a grave service for a dear friend and Brother in Christ.  Although he was ninety-three years old, I still feel like Ken went Home too early.  If it was possible, then we would hold onto our loved ones and never let them leave.  Even though I knew he was far better off with the Father than when he was here (especially over the last few weeks), I was being selfish and prayed for him to stay here.
     Standing at the grave, I began thinking about the new creation we've become after being born-again years ago.  Ken walked in the Word to the best of his knowledge and spent many, many hours in prayer, but there was still so much that he didn't know.  I began thinking about Ken's new creation being who is now in God's Presence, was the same new creation man who lived here in a flesh and blood body.  The only thing that changed was Ken's location.  Everything he is now, he always was.  The only difference is the lack of influence and tradition of this world in his life.
     As I stood by his grave, 1Corinthians 13:12 (Amplified) kept running through my spirit, saying, "For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection (of reality as in a riddle or enigma) but then (when perfection comes) we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly) but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood (by God)."
     Finally, the image began to clear in my mind, as to what the Spirit was saying.  Everything my friend now had, was what he already had, but we never knew the extent of it from here.  The Holy Spirit said to me, "Ken would be able to know the Father now, as the Father had known him."  What an awesome truth and revelation this was to see now.  The above scripture means to many of us, for "when Jesus comes."  To my friend, it was true when he went into God's Presence.
     I couldn't help but think, "If we only could understand more fully what the Father has already done, while we are here, then what a change it would make in the world around us."  We have put these things off for a time in the future when we meet Christ, but it is already ours now.  The same new creation being that left Ken's body, was the same new creation spirit that was already here in his body.  Nothing changed for him ,as far as who he was, except the understanding.
     When Ken left his natural body and fully entered into God's Presence, he could understand what he already had while residing in this world.  The same authority, power, anointing, ability and understanding was only only "blurred," according to Paul who said, "We now only see it like through a blurred window," but it was always there.  Satan's lies, along with the influence of the world, kept it hidden while he was here.
     I began seeing more clearly why the enemy uses everything he has to keep us in darkness.  If I knew and could see here and now, what Ken is now seeing, then I would and could walk in such a place with the Lord, that it would startle the world like Jesus did.  Jesus came down from the Father and knew what was His.  We, however, have to learn from the Word and the Holy Spirit, what is our inheritance from God.
     When we arrive into God's Presence, like Ken has done, we can see what the Father intended us to be here on earth.  No unbelief would cloud our thinking and satan couldn't influence us or hold us back.  The things Ken had here, are no longer of any use to the world, because without his body to hold him here in this world, he cannot engage in this realm.  He is no more a song of God or a new creation, than he was when living in his body on earth.  Now, though, he doesn't hold any influence to use on earth.
     I can hear what Paul said in my spirit.  Paul told the Ephesians in Ephesians 4:22-24 (Amplified), "Strip yourselves of your former nature (put off and discard your old unrenewed self) which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lust and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude) And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's Image (God Like) in true righteousness and holiness."
     By the Holy Spirit, Paul simply said that we must, "Understand now, who you really are and don't allow the world and the flesh cause us to become disillusioned."  He also simply said, "Do not quit in our commission and assignment in this earth."  The enemy and his kingdom would like to keep us blinded by the things around us, so we don't truly see who we are (until it's too late to be of any use in this earthly realm). 
     When we leave this body and come into the fullness of God's Presence, then what profit will my understanding of who I am as a new creation be to anyone on earth?  We've looked at ourselves and have accepted the world and satan has said about us, rather than listening to the Holy Spirit's revelations about who we are.  Why would we only need the ability of our new creation man when we leave this earth?  The Father left us here as His representatives in this realm.  He left us with the Super-natural, God-given, new creation ability, in order to function here and not when we go home.
     If my friend knew everything he now knows in Heaven, while he was here, then signs, wonders and miracles would have been part of everything he did here on earth.  Ken wouldn't have left anything undone, if he had only known everything his new creation was and is.  There's nothing functioning in his spirit (new creation being) that couldn't and wouldn't, have functioned while in his earthly body.  Our new creation man (born-again spirit) is fashioned by God, to work in and through our fleshly body, just like it would function in a glorified body.  Jesus proved this, in His earthly ministry and walk.
     Let's not wait to leave this earth, in order to discover our ministry and purpose is in this earth.  God mad our new creation being to work now, not when we get home.  No one in Heaven needs to see the power and glory of God, because they are living in it.  It is for here and this is where we need to know. 

Lesson 87 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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've greatly discussed the new creation we've become, but still seem to mentally block and struggle to accept the full significance of what the Holy Spirit is saying to today's Church.  For many years, religion has dictated what the world's ideas of what a Christian really is, to both us and the world.  Even though, the teachers and preachers were doing the best they knew how, they taught from the world's viewpoint and not from the Spirit.
     The Holy Spirit very plainly states that we are "No longer to know anyone after the flesh, but after the spirit," in 2Corinthians 5:16.  We can still recognize someone after the flesh, but realize that the "real" person is the one (that spirit) that actually lives in his flesh and blood body.  We even give our body greater recognition and rule, when saying we're a body, soul and spirit.
     And, because we were taught this pattern, we placed our new creation spirit in a lower place than our bodies.  Most of the Church's teachings were directed to the flesh and soul of the Christian, and not the new creature (the spirit man who was the true identity).  We've learned certain thins about how to train our flesh, but most of them didn't work well.  We've had a difficult time holding the flesh in tow, because we weren't feeding our spirit man.
     Galatians 5:16 (Amplified) says, "But I say, walk and live (habitually) in the (Holy) Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit); then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God)."  This isn't saying that you are not born-again and the Spirit of God lives inside you, but that we've simply tried to tame the flesh, by the flesh.  That makes it "human nature without God."
     Satan has worked long and hard, to hold onto authority he gained from Adam.  He held this world by a grip of sin and death, for thousands of years and he's not going to simply deliver that hold into another's hands without a fight.  Satan's greatest fear is that the Church will get the revelation of who this new creation man is and then simply walk in that knowledge.  When this happens (and it is now coming), then his days of ruling will come to a definitive end.
     Imagine the panic that the Day of Pentecost must have brought satan.  He fought a losing battle with this One Man (Jesus Christ), Who was a new creation Man.  Jesus was a Man Who knew Who He was and walked in that knowledge.  Satan had no control over this Man at all.  He tried the usual tests and trials, but every one of them failed.  He tried having Jesus killed, but this Man simply walked away.  Satan tried killing Jesus with a storm, but this Man simply instructed the storm to, "Stop!"  Then, he stirred the crowd up, in order to have Jesus killed, but death didn't stop Him.  Jesus stripped satan of all authority that had been given by Adam and then received it back to Himself.
     Satan listened attentively when Jesus told the people in Acts 1:8 (Amplified), "But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth."  Satan witnessed what a Single Man (Jesus) Who was filled with the Holy Spirit could do and now Jesus promised this power to many people.  Acts 2:1-4 (Amplified) says, "And when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place When suddenly there came a sound from Heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire; which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them. And they were all filled (diffused, throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in (different, foreign) languages (tongues) as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression (in each tongue in appropriate words)."
     Satan knew what had happened, probably better than the ones who received the power from the Holy Spirit.  Remember, satan had one time been with God, he knew the Holy Spirit, he knew the return of the blessing and the authority God had given mankind and he knew had had no defense for it.  Satan watched while One Man rose from the Jordan River in this power and now one hundred and twenty more received this power too.  Panic must have set in, while satan's diabolical and devious mind devised the only way he had of combating this power.  Satan knew the only weapon in his arsenal was the ability to deceive mankind, the way he deceived Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden.
     Initially, satan didn't have a great number of men to deal with, but that number was rapidly growing.  He tried keeping them under the Law to control them, but once more a man came speaking Words of wisdom.  Satan encountered a man, filled with the Holy Spirit, who had a new revelation in 2Corinthians 12:1-4.  This man, Paul, taught that salvation didn't come about by the Law and wasn't only for just the Jews.  Paul said that salvation came by grace and was for the entire world, if only they believed.
     Satan must have been desperate to stop this man from preaching the revelation the Holy Spirit gave to him.  He set out to try destroying and killing Paul, by the same standards he used against Jesus.  This man wasn't only teaching that salvation came from the Law, but he was an entirely new creation from the Kingdom of Heaven itself.  This man taught about authority, blessing, dominion and how God had began residing in man again, just like the Last Adam had said would happen.  Satan's entire hold of mankind could be destroyed, if he didn't immediately stop this revelation.
     By the Holy Spirit, Paul was now teaching people's spirits and showing them by the demonstration of the Holy Spirit, the same things Jesus had done.  This preacher revealed to the people, how they were now sons and daughters of God Himself, by the new birth.  He taught the people that they were created in God's Image and Likeness again and that the Presence of God Himself would indwell inside them.  Paul taught them how the power, ability and might that had been in Jesus through the Holy Spirit, was available to them.  Jesus said in  Mark 16:17-20 (Amplified), "And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe; in My Name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new languages, they will pick up serpents; and (even) if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 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) Amen (so be it)."
     The only thing satan could take comfort in, was that Jesus said, "These attesting signs will accompany those who believe."  The deceiver must now make sure that he stopped them from preaching or stop what they preached.  The Lord would confirm only His Word that they preached, so if satan could water down the message, then he could stop the power of this new creation.  The attesting sign would only come for "those who believed it," so satan simply needed to make them believe something different.  After all, if it worked in the Garden of Eden, then satan only needed to question, "Is that really what God said?"
     The deceiver (satan) went about his routine, using the same lie and quietly denying God's Word before the eyes and hearts, saying, "God's Word doesn't work for anyone today."  He never said that God's Word isn't true, because religious people would never accept that.  So, we were once again deceived by the same liar, believing that "We're only forgiven sinners with no hold on Heaven and little hope for life here on earth."  We were deceived into believing we'd go to Heaven when we die, but we didn't have God's ear here on earth.  The lie continues.
     The Church believes his lie still.  They could believe that Jesus spoke the truth, but that truth was for a different time and people.  As long as we thought it wasn't for now, we would never step into the place of the new creation.  It's like trying to cage a lion.  You'd better make sure that cage is locked, before trying to cage him.  If you don't and he discovers that he's free, then that lion would be very dangerous.  In order to satisfy both us and himself, satan needed to keep us "locked up" as non-believing believers.  We'd believe portions, but not the parts dangerous to him.  We could stll be born-again, but remain immature, babies in Christ.
     Hebrews 5:13-14 (Amplified) says, "For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action); for he is a mere infant (not able to talk yet) But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law."

     

See Ya Soon, Ken

     I sat to write this, almost saying, "We lost a great Brother on Friday."  But, then I stopped, recognizing how Ken isn't lost."  We know exactly where he is.  He's in Heaven with Jesus.
     For the past thirty years, Ken shook hands, greeting every person who entered our church with, "Welcome. Praise the Lord. It's good to have you here."
     I know Jesus was waiting at Heaven's Gate for Ken.  I know Jesus shook his hand saying, "Welcome, Thou good and faithful servant."  I'm sure Ken fell to His Lord's feet and wept for a few moments, before seeing the love of his life, Ginny, running to them.
     They were only married for seventy years, before Ginny went to Heaven four months ago.  They'll spend an eternity together in Heaven.
     We miss you, Ken, but we'll be joining you very soon, Brother, Friend, Father, Pa, Grandfather and Great Grandfather. 
     

Lesson 86 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus, 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 understand this new creation being that we've become after being born-again, we must first study Jesus.  He is not only our Lord and Savior, but He is also the Head of the Church and we are His Body.  He is also the "Firstborn among many brethren," according to Romans 8:29 (Amplified) which says, "For those whom He foreknew (of those HE was aware and loved beforehand) He also destined from the beginning (foreordained them) to be molded into the Image of His Son (and share inwardly His Likeness) that He might become the Firstborn among many brethren."
     Because Jesus was the Firstborn and we, as God's new creation sons and daughters, must be like He is.  No Father ever sires many different types of children, from the same seed.  The Law of Genesis has set a precedence about this already, in Genesis 1:12 (Amplified) which says, "The earth brought forth vegetation; plants yielding seed according to its own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was (suitable, admirable) and He approved it."  In John 15:1-2,3(Amplified) Jesus said, "I Am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vine dresser. Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit (that stops bearing) He cuts away (trims off, takes away) And He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit."  I also wish to include Verse 3, which describes how He prunes and cleanses, saying, "You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the Word which I have given you (the teachings I have discussed with you)."  I included this verse, because of the false teachings in the Church.  Many have been taught that God "prunes and cleanses" by sickness and hardship.  Jesus said, though, that we are "cleansed and pruned by the Word."
     Paul writes about the relationship between the husband and wife, in Ephesians 5:32,25-26 (Amplified), saying, "This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning (the relationship of) Christ and the Church."  He also speaks about this relationship in Ephesians 5:25-26 (Amplified), "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word."
     The pruning and cleansing is done by the Word.  Do not let anyone subject you to the wiles of satan into believing otherwise.  Remembering that every seed produces after its kind, let's read 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) which 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."  Since every seed produces after kind, we are of the same Seed and the Same Origin as Jesus.  The Word cannot produce any other kind.
     God's new creation family is after the same Likeness, as the One Who brought us into His family.  Religion hasn't dared to believe this and has by false humility, kept the Church under bondage with it's lack of faith in the Truth.  It's impossible to the carnal mind, that man could ever truly be made in the Image and Likeness of God.  Those with renewed minds of the new creation, can never fathom anything but the Truth.  Ephesians 4:23-24 (Amplified) tells us, "Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude) And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's Image (God Like) in true righteousness and holiness."
     It's become easy to see why Paul instructed us to "renew our minds," in Romans 12:2-4 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its 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)."  When we continue thinking in the carnal and religious way of thinking, we will never know what His "perfect good and acceptable will for us" is.  We then, find ourselves living in confusion, instead of faith.
     Our entire covenant with the Father is based on faith, according to Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) which says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through (your) faith. And this (salvation) is not of through your own striving) but it is the Gift of God."  Romans 5:1-4 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith; let us (grasp the fact that we) have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) through Him also we have (our) access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we (firmly and safely) stand. And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God. Moreover (let us also be full of joy now) let us exalt and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and hardship produces patient and unswerving endurance and endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity and character (of this sort) produces (the integrity) and character (of this sort) produces (the habit of) joyful and confident hop of eternal salvation."
     Romans 4:16 (Amplified) also says that all the promises come by faith, "Therefore, (inheriting) the promise is the outcome of faith and depends (entirely) on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all His descendants."  We can better understand Romans 1:7 (Amplified) better, after reading the above scripture.  Thus, it says, "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."
     It is through faith that we are "declared and justified and made righteous."  As the new creation people, living by faith, we were once dead in sin and trespass, and have now been made alive by faith in Jesus.  We are now living by faith in Him.  This is what the new creation is all about.  Those who live, are righteous, are justified, are reconciled, are enjoying access and entry into God's Presence by faith in Jesus, are the new creation.
     We're born of the Same Seed as the "Firstborn of many brethren" and we've been created in His Likeness and Image.  We are filled with His Spirit and we are the very branches of the Vine, Who is our Life.  This earth has never seen such people as God has created.  Satan's biggest fear is that this new creation will discover who they truly are and then we'll turn his kingdom upside down.  Alleluia!!!
     Do not let the world's idea of what "faith people" are, hold you back.  It's simply a way of keeping us from finding out and walking in, what the Father has sired us to be.  Allow your faith to grow, even like the small mustard seed, into a large herb that covers and into a Garden of Eden that expands until God's Kingdom covers this earth.
      

Lesson 85 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 is our base scripture, for the new creation lessons.  In Verse 17, Paul (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit), says something we haven't taken seriously to our hearts.  Thus, he says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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."
     This isn't a promise for what lies ahead in some distant future, but was true the moment anyone receives Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  We've never truly considered ourselves as "new creature altogether," but simply as forgiven sinners.  And, because of this way of thinking, we continue to carry the burden of guilt, stemming from our previous existence.  Jesus' Own Blood cleansed us from everything and we were born again, when we received Him as our Sacrifice.  If a baby is born, then it has no past (just like we have no past).
     No one needs tell a fish that "He is a fish."  He simply swims, because that is what he was made to be.  The things with a fish is, his entire world consists of only water.  He thinks this is all there is to life.  He has no idea about trees, grass, mountains or anything else outside of water...this is his whole life.  As believers, we have looked around us and have determined that this is all there is.  We seem not to acknowledge anything outside of our five senses.  We have only eluded to, "Someday we will be in a different life."  Paul speaks to the old covenant people, as well as the new covenant people in Galatians 4:31 (Amplified) saying,"So brethren, we (who are born again) are not children of a slave woman (the natural), but of the free (the supernatural)."
     Paul continues his letter in Galatians 5:25 (Amplified) saying, "If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the same Spirit (If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit."  Paul writes to the Church in Romans 8:14 (Amplified), "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are Sons of God."  This is really the "Mature" sons of God.  Those who realize who they've become, have made the return to the rights of the family and household of our Heavenly Father.
     We read the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.  I know that this Parable has been likened to many things in the past, and I'm sure that they may all be true.  However, I wish to liken it to the Church, if I may.  After the Prodigal Son was restored (becoming a new creation son), the other son (the one who was religious) became angry with their Father, saying in Verse 29, "These many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you have never given me (so much as) a (little) kid, that I might revel and feast and be happy and make merry with my friends."  He continues in Verses 31-32 saying, "But when this son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you have killed for him that (wheat) fattened calf. And the Father said to him, Son, you are always with Me, and all that is Mine is yours. But it was fitting to make merry, to revel and feast and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead, and is alive again! He was lost and is found."
     We have brothers in Christ, who've been with the Father for a long time, but have never enjoyed the inheritance of the Kingdom.  But, this brother, who was dead is now alive (he is a new creation), one who knows who the Father really is, was granted all the things of the Father that the religious son never before enjoyed.  The Father simply replied to that son, "Son, you are always with Me, and all that Is Mine is yours."
     The son who was "born again from death to life," is a new creation man who knows who he truly is.  He didn't receive anything the other son wasn't entitled to, but he didn't receive it (like his brother did).  They were both of the same Father and the same inheritance.
     In God's family today, many of us have never enjoyed our inheritance, because we don't know it is ours for here and now.  Many Christians seem to be waiting until they die (in the natural), in order to inherit from the Father.  When a man leaves a will, it is valid when he dies and not when you die.  When I joined the Army in 1958, I was issued a small New Testament.  It was olive green, just like our uniforms.  Inside the front cover, was written these words, saying, "The last will and testament of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."
     Galatians 3:14-16 (Amplified) says, "To the end that through (their receiving) Christ Jesus, the blessing (promised) to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might (all) 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 heirs) He (God) does not say, and to seeds (descendants, heirs) as if referring to many persons, but And to your Seed (your Descendant, Your heir), obviously referring to one individual Who is (None other than) Christ (the Messiah)."
     This promise was to Jesus and as joint heirs with Him in God, we can read the will and know exactly what it truly says, "The Father will kill the fattened calf and place a robe on his should and place the ring (sign of authority) on his hand."  For those who will not read the will, they are still sons of God, but they never enjoy the inheritance.  But, the Father says to them, "Son, you are always with Me, and all that is Mine is yours."
     Romans 8:16-19 (Amplified) tells us, "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. (But what of that)? For I consider that the suffering of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us For (even the whole) creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known (waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship)."
     We find one son, in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, knew who he was, but wouldn't partake of his inheritance.  The other son, who was dead in sin and trespass, was now alive in Christ Jesus and entered into who he was made to be.  He didn't try to be a fish, but he just swam.  You don't have to become a new creature, you already are a new creature.  We must now walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit.  We must walk as sons of God, into this new kingdom that has been given to us by inheritance.

Lesson 84 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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 read the scripture and make mental assent to the fact these scriptures are true, because they're in the Bible.  What we've failed to do, is to allow this Truth and Spirit to enter into our spirit and set us free from the condemnation of the old man's past sins.  Paul said in 1Corinthians 4:4-5 (Amplified), "I am not conscious of anything against myself, and I feel blameless; but I am not vindicated and acquitted before God on that account, It is the Lord (Himself) Who examines and judges me. So do not make any hasty or premature judgments before the time when the Lord comes (again), for He will both bring to light the secret things that are (now hidden) in darkness and disclose and expose the (secret) aims (motive and purposes) of hearts. Then every man will receive his (due) commendation from God."
     Paul confesses in 1Corinthians 15:9-10 (Amplified) that, "I am the least (worthy) of the Apostles, who am not fit or deserving to be called an apostle; because I once wronged and pursued and molested the Church or God (oppressing it with cruelty and violence) But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not (found to be) for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them (the apostles) though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me."
     Paul believed that the One Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, had cleansed him so completely, that Paul felt "blameless and no longer conscious of his past or sins."  Because of God's grace, Paul could now go on in the thing that God had set in his heart to do, without looking back, under the condemnation of the old man.
     God said in Hebrews 8:12 (Amplified), "For I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds of unrighteousness no more."  Hebrews 10:2-3,14 (Amplified) says, "For if it were otherwise, would (these sacrifices) the old covenant  not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin. But (as it is) these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins (to be atoned for)."  Verse 14 continues, "For by a single offering He (Jesus) has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy."  Hebrews 9:14 (Amplified) says, "How much more surely shall the Blood of Christ, Who by virtue of (His) eternal Spirit (His Own pr-existent Divine personality) has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the (Ever) Living God?"
     As new creation people, we should believe so much in our Sacrificed Lamb, that we would not be living under the guilt and condemnation of the old,dead spirit we were under.  By faith in Jesus, we should not be reminded of our past, but only of who we've now been created to be, clean and new before God.  We are not forgiven sinners, but we are a new creation.
     1John 3:19-21 (Amplified) tells us, "By this we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate and pacify) our hearts in His Presence. Whenever our hearts in (tormenting) self-accusations make us feel guilty and condemn us (for we are in God's hands) For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts) everything (nothing is hidden from Him) And beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us (if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us) we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God."
     Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified) says, "Let us then (fearlessly and confidently and boldly) draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners) that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well times help, coming just when we need it)."
     The only way I know to "come boldly before God's throne of grace," is by faith in the One and Only Sacrifice that hasn't only "cleansed me of sin and unrighteousness," but by allowing my faith in Him to cleanse my conscience from the memory or those things.  Paul speaks about this in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its 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)."
     Learn to think like a new creation and not like the world thinks.
    

Lesson 83 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "Consequently, from now  sayson we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value) (No) even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh). Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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."
     For much of the Church's history, the thing keeping us from functioning like God intended, has been discrimination.  We continue to see one another after the flesh, more than the spirit.  We have black churches, white churches, Hispanic churches, Korean churches and a church for every nationality.  We've yet to see one another after the spirit, instead of the flesh.  Even in the twenty-first century, women are still seen this way in the church, too.
     Peter commented on this in 1Peter 3:7-8 (Amplified) saying, 'In the same way you married men should live considerately with (your wives), with an intelligent recognition (of the marriage relation), honoring the woman as (physically) the weaker, but realizing that you are joint heirs of the grace of (God's unmerited favor) of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered and cut off (otherwise you cannot pray effectively)."  In other words, Peter is saying that if you believe women are beneath you and you're somehow superior to your wife, then the best you can agree on is the "value" you place on her worth.  This is not a prayer of agreement, according to Jesus, Who says in Matthew 18:19 (Amplified) saying, "Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever (anything and everything) they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven."
     The husband and wife should be "one flesh" and more "in symphony" together, than anyone else on earth.  They must see one another "after the spirit."  Galatians 3:27-29 (Amplified) says, "For as many (of you) as were baptized into Christ (into a spiritual union and communion with Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah) have put on (clothed yourselves with) Christ. There is (now no distinction) neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
     I understand that we do have differences in our "outer man."  We are boys and girls, varying colors and races, but this isn't what we're talking about here.  I'm saying the same thing Paul said in 2Corinthians 5:1.  We need to stop allowing our outer difference to determine who we really are.  2Corinthians 5:1 (Amplified) said, "For we know that if this tent (body) which is our earthly home is destroyed (dissolved) we have (from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens)."
     Our flesh and blood bodies are not more than a "house" that our spirit, as well as God's Spirit, resides in while we're on earth.  What difference should it make what color my house is painted?  If I visit a friend or relative, then I don't go to see his house, but to see him.  I don't care whether his house is white, green, blue or yellow, or it he paints it at all.  I came to see him and not his house.  When I fellowship with my family in Christ, I don't care what color his house is, because I came to see him and not his house. 
     Satan has used this division of color to keep the world and the Church separated for over two thousand years.  We've much to learn from one another, if we will only walk in the new creation.  Philippians 3:13-15 (Amplified) says, "I do not consider; brethren, that I have captured and made it my own (yet); but one thing I do (it is my one aspiration); forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the (supreme and heavenly) prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. So let those (of us) who are spiritually mature and full grown have this mind and hold these convictions, and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also."
     1John 3:1-2 (Amplified) tells us, "See what (an incredible) quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should (be permitted to) e named and called and counted the children of God!  And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him. Beloved, we are (even here and) now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be (hereafter), but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall (as God's children) resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He (really) is."
     What color do you suppose God's House is?   Is the glory of God's House white, black, yellow or brown?  Do you suppose that we, the Temple of God, will simply see ourselves like God sees us now, as the perfect light of glory?  1John 3:14 (Amplified) says, "We know that we have passed over out of death into life (from flesh to your spirit) by the fact that we love the brethren (our fellow Christians) He who does not love abides (remains in, is held and kept continually) in (spiritual) death." 
     As God's new creation family, we're called to walk in the spirit and not the flesh.  We are to see one another "after the spirit and no longer after the flesh."  When we continue walking in the prejudice of the flesh, we're not only still very carnal, but we are actually walking in spiritual darkness, like the world is.  John said in 1John 3:1 (Amplified) that the "reason the world does not know and recognize us, is that it does not know and recognize Him," because we're supposed to do like Jesus sent and commanded us to do in John 15:12,17 (Amplified) saying, "This is My commandment; that you love one another (just) as I have loved you."  He continues in Verse 17, "This is what I command you' that you love one another."
     We try demonstrating our love more to the world, than we do towards one another in the Church.  We will give money, food, shelter and mercy to the world (which is good), but then we divide ourselves b y race, color, denomination or even by financial status.  The world might be crazy, but they're not stupid.  They see the division in our ranks and the enemy has used this schism in the Body of Christ, to tell the world that the Church is full of hypocrites.
     It's time we stopped the foolishness and get on with the works the Church was commanded to do.  

Lesson 82 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "If any person is (ingrafted) in Christ, 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 truth of the Gospel tells us that, "the old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away."  Under the Law of the old covenant, man's sins were covered by the blood of bulls and goats, making men counted as righteous by that blood.  The problem with the Law wasn't the Law.  The Law was perfect, the man wasn't.  The old moral and spiritual condition remained the same.
     Romans 3:20-24 (Amplified) says, "For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For (the real function of) the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin (not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith and holy character) But now the righteousness of Gd has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the prophets."  Verses 22-24 go on, "Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah)  (And it is meant) for all who believe Since all have sinned and are fallen 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."
     Let's read on in Verses 25-28, which say, "Whom God put forward (before the eyes of all) as a mercy seat and propitiation by His Blood (the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received) through faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has (true) faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of (our) pride and (our) boasting? It is excluded (banished, ruled out entirely) On what principle? (On the principle) of doing good deeds? No, but on the principle of faith. For we hold that a man is justified and made upright by faith independent of and distinctly apart from good deeds (works of the Law). (The observance of the Law has nothing to do with justification)."
     Now, after reading the above scripture, reread our original text in 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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."
     Under the Law, men were only covered from the consequences of sin.  Under Jesus, we're not only covered, but we're actually creation brand new by faith in His sacrifice.  Our old person was crucified with Jesus, buried with Him, raised with Him, and have become brand new, sinless, righteous and accepted sons and daughters of the living God.  You never existed before in the new covenant.  The old person you were, was already dead to God, while the new creation was born anew, with no past or blemish. We're just like the first Adam was in the beginning.  We are truly a new creation people, who never existed before accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
     In God's righteous judgment, we're so pure, holy, and righteous in Jesus, that God Himself can actually live in us and proclaim us the "temple" of God.  It's difficult to understand, except by faith, that a God Who is so holy and righteous can abide and live in us as a temple.  An unrenewed mind and the "accuser of the Brethren (satan)" keep reminding us of who were once were, so we cannot see who we are now in Christ.  Once the truth of this new creation is realized in the heart of God's  children, satan will have no hold on our lives at all.  He has worked diligently to keep this truth from God's children.  Guilt and condemnation from an unrenewed mind, will keep God's children in captivity under satan.  When we fully recognize that our old person no longer exists, that hold is broken and we will come out from under that bondage.  When Jesus said that, "The gates of hell shall not be able to withstand the Church," He was saying that once we know who we now are, the chains will be broken and we will be free.
     Condemnation is the only hold satan has on the Church and the power of deception is his only weapon.  If he can keep the Church under the deception of guilt, then we will never be able to accept the truth of righteousness by faith.  Once the Church understands the new creation, we can walk in boldness as ambassadors for Christ.  A new creation means exactly that, new.  New is not remade, redone, repaired of just forgiven, but it means "new."  If I am new, then I have no past.  A baby has no past for which to be judged by, because he has never been before.  You are born-again, with no past and no sin, born perfect in God's righteousness.
     If God calls you "righteous and new," then who are we to call Him wrong?  After all, He justified us and declared that we are in right standing with Him.  This is the answer to Jesus' prayer to the Father.  He prayed in John 17:16-19 (Amplified), "They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world) (just) as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy) by the Truth, Your Word is Truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth."
     When we receive the Truth of the Word (instead of man's idea of the Truth), we can know (without a doubt) that we, as new creations, were made sanctified, consecrated, purified, holy and separated from this world, just like He is.  In his letter from Jude 24:24-25 (Amplified), Jude says, "Now to Him who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present (you) unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the Presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exaltation (with unspeakable, ecstatic delight) To the One Only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory (splendor) majesty, might and dominion and power and authority, before all time and now and forever (unto all the ages of eternity) Amen (so be it)."
    

Lesson 81 The New Creation

     In Genesis 1:26-27 (Amplified) God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) make mankind in Our Image, after Our Likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the (tame) beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them."
     Corinthians 5:16_17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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."
     Many of us today, fail to see ourselves as being new creations of God, even though the above scripture tells us, "the old previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away, Behold, the fresh and new has come."  If we truly pondered this, then we would have realized the fullness of this Word.  We were "dead in trespass and sin, without God and without covenant."  The Amplified version says in Ephesians 2:12 that, "(Remember) that at that time you were separated (living apart) from Christ (excluded from all part in Him) utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the (Messianic) promise (with no knowledge of outright in God's agreements, His covenants). And you had no hope (no promise); You were in the world without God."
     We needed to be created new in Christ Jesus, in order to become alive to God and to His covenant.  Our spirit needed to be created new in His life, so that we could be alive to Him.  Now, we are a new creation, just like it was in the first chapter of Genesis.  We all believe that we were dead in sin and trespass, but we haven't grasped the full extent of what our new creation has made us to be.  When the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul, saying, "Old things have passed away, and all things are made new," HE MEANT EXACTLY THAT.
     We're not simply forgiven sinners, but are "new creatures altogether."  In Christ Jesus, we've been created as new as the heavens and the earth were created new in the beginning.  There has never been a people like us, existing in all of creation.  We were created even differently, than Adam was in the beginning.  Adam was created in God's Image, while we were created in God Himself.  You might ask, "What's the difference?"  The main difference is that  we are no longer a separate entity, but now we're one in Him, in Jesus. 
     This makes us an entirely new creation, who is much different than the first one.  Adam was a spirit man in a flesh and blood body, who was in touch with God.  We aren't only a flesh and blood body in touch with God, but we've become His Body altogether.  Christ is the Head and we are His Body.  Paul says in Galatians 2:20 (Amplified), "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have share 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 (adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
     We are different from the first creation and have truly become a new creation.  The person we once were, no longer even exists in the new covenant.  We were already dead, so how could we ever live for God?  He first, needed to create life within us who were dead (all of us),  in order to have a new creation.  We've been taught that God still looks at us (Christians), like we are still sinners.  This isn't true for this new creation family of God.  God looks upon us, like He looks upon Jesus, because we are the Body of Christ.
     This doesn't mean we can do whatever we wish and sin, because of grace, but we're to do like Paul instructs in Galatians 2:21 (Amplified), saying, "(Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift of minor importance and defeat its very purpose). I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through (observing the ritual of) the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) dies groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain (His death then was wholly superfluous)."
     Most of us have tried being a new creation in the spirit, and then try justifying ourselves by the Law.  This can never happen.  The body that we had (including the spirit within us) was dead unto God and needed to be created brand new.  Our body is now His Body and our spirit is ingrafted into His Spirit.  We have become one with Him.
     Jesus said in John 17:23-24 (Amplified), "I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know (definitely) recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them (even) as You have loved Me."  If we are Christ's Body, then  how could God not love us like He loves Jesus?  Jesus was praying, just prior to going to the cross, in the above scripture.  He was praying a future thing, in prayer to the Father.  Jesus continued in Verse 24 praying, "Father, I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me (as Your gift to Me) may be with Me where I Am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me (Your Love gift to Me); for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."
     We discover the answer to Jesus' prayer in 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)."  The new creation is even lifted up and is superior to the first Adam, because he wasn't one in God, but one as like God (which was simply as separate spirit as God is).  We are not a separate spirit like God, but are now one Spirit with and in God.
     The new creation people never existed in all of creation before.  The Holy Spirit said through Paul, in 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (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."

PRAYERS ANSWERED

     Thank You, God, for the wonderful rain!!!
     Thank You, Megan, for pushing through lots of red tape in the VA.  Surgeon appointment next Tuesday.  Miracle.