2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
For the last couple of days, I have, at the Lord’s direction, taken up the subject of what it means to be a new creation in Christ. The moment that a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ is the moment there is a huge change in his life; he is no longer the same person as before. He no longer lives under the law, but is now living under God’s grace. He is no longer a slave to sin. Now, none of this means that he stops obeying laws, or that he can’t sin. It means instead that he commits to making Jesus Christ the Lord of his life. It means he has been justified, righteousness has been imputed to his account. If he does commit a sin, it is a choice. The Holy Spirit indwelt in him will let him know when he has made a wrong choice and will urge him to stop the sinning to correct his behavior and/or attitude. Jesus Christ is the model for his life, and the Bible becomes his road map. He seeks direction from God through prayer and study of the Scriptures. He is invited to join the Lord in his work and is urged to listen for when the Lord speaks to him. He knows that the Lord may at any time give him an assignment, one that is often difficult but always in his best long-term interests. Now, let’s look at some more Scriptures that will reveal the Lord’s perspective on how to live in Christ as His new creation.EPH 4: 29-32, “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad: for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feeling of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.” How very revealing this passage is! The Lord wants our behavior toward others to be constructive. He is shown to care deeply about how we respond to His commands in the comment that misbehavior on our part can make the Holy Spirit sad. God’s mark of ownership on believers is no small thing. It sets us apart and protects us from the onslaughts of the enemy. It is our knowledge that He is not only giving us assignments asking us to let Him use us to carry out His will, but He is equipping us to succeed in them. We are to care about the other believers around us, to work toward encouraging and building up their faith. We are to use the energy that comes from our anger for constructive, not destructive purposes. We are not to hold grudges, for the Lord knows they are favorite tools of the devil’s.We were told in MT 6: 19-21 to shift our attention from the things of this world to things that transcend the grave and are of heaven. “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are.” As new creations in Christ we are allowed to have a deeper understanding of this in COL 3: 1-4. “You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on His throne at the right side of God. Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory!” It is in this way that the believer begins to understand that God has claimed ownership of him and that God’s priorities should supersede his individual ones in his life. If that kind of control over us was being exercised by any other entity but God, we would have a serious problem. After all, that is how religious or political sects exert mind control over individuals for their own nefarious purposes. However, this claim of ownership is being made by the only One Whose love for us is perfect and Whose agenda is 100% righteous. Even with all of this, the Lord still grants us our free agency. That is because He needs to know that His claim of ownership of a believer is not only His will but also the believer’s. We need to know that as new creations in Christ, we can trust that following God’s course will lead us to an eternal life of joy and close fellowship with Him. That is true despite any pain and suffering we must endure between now and the time we go home to Him.The clear directions that our Lord gives us are a map on how to get from earth to eternal life in heaven. The path the devil sets out can lead only to death. Remember RO 6: 23, “For sin pays its wage-death; but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.” COL 3: 5 continues the road map to heaven. “You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry). “ This one citation could be the subject of a whole book. Anyone who has ever been in a family where sexual immorality, indecency, lust, or evil passions have ever impacted them knows how devastating, destructive, and painful the negative effects of it can be. Many lives have been ruined by selfish unwillingness on the part of family members to stop this kind of behavior. Think of all the children whose homes have been broken and who have been abandoned by one or both parents because of this kind of evilness. Greed at home or in the work place has also led to many lives being broken. When God makes it clear as far back as the OT times that idolatry is the sin He hates the most, He does this for a reason. Idolatry takes many forms besides the obvious worship of graven images. While painful to deal with, God wants us to think about these issues, so we can make a conscious choice to eliminate them from our lives. Tomorrow, we will continue looking at COL 3, because this chapter is rich with wonderful lessons the Lord wants us to have. For now, join me in this prayer:PRAYER: O Lord, You are so loving that Your greatest desire is for us to have joy and eternal fellowship with You in heaven. To that end, You have called us to be new creations in Christ and have given us a road map in the Scriptures for how to do this. You ask us to mind the words we say, knowing that the wrong ones can be tools of the devil in destroying lives. You command us to put away grudges and hate, to extend the love Christ models for us to others , and to avoid sexual immorality and other behaviors that destroy the faith of our families and others. We need to examine our lives and turn from any form of greed or other forms of idolatry in them. In Your love for us, you claim ownership of us, so that Your purpose becomes ours, and our lives are blessed. We praise, thank, worship, adore, and honor You. We dedicate our lives and relationships to Your glory. In Christ’s name, amen.The Scriptures are like a treasure chest with unique riches inside, riches that transcend the grave and apply eternally in heaven. These riches open the door to better lives for us on earth too, because they nurture our relationship with the persons of God and with other believers. They also bring others to faith by our willingness to share them. Each one of us is a pearl of great price, a shining jewel in God’s eyes. He knows the contents of our hearts and loves everything in them that is righteous and faithful. Our efforts to expunge sin in our lives do not go unnoticed by our loving Abba. Be encouraged by that. Know that Peter and I love you too.Grace Be With You Always,Lynn <-- Back to Archives