God promised us new life in the Spirit. We can have the thrill of resurrection in our hearts every day. Scripture says that our old man dies when we are born into the new life. (2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Romans 6:4 "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.") Jesus says the new life we experience in Him is a good one. (John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.") So why do our lives feel less than abundant? Why does it seem that the old man, the person we were before salvation, is still kicking and very much alive, and is in fact, determined to destroy us? Just because we died to sin does not mean that sin has died. It lives and is constantly making attempts to bring us back into bondage. The problem comes when sin speaks, and we listen. Instead of feeling like a partner in our first relationship (the old man) has died and we are married to a new partner (the Holy Spirit), we feel like we are divorced from our first partner, but that old, sinful-man "flame" still lives. As such, the possibility of resuming a relationship lingers. It's a little like trying to avoid thinking about food. The more we know we shouldn't want to snack, the more our attention is drawn to the pantry. When sin comes around with temptation, if we try to avoid thinking about sin, we think about it instead, and end up falling into old patterns of thought and behavior. We can avoid this mind game. When the enemy says we should resume our relationship with sin, when he says we haven't changed, or when he declares we aren't saved, we focus, instead, on our new relationship. We set our new love in front of our face and look to Him. In him we find the power to overcome. We lose ourselves in Him. His righteousness, His identity, His perfection. His love. His Spirit. (Matthew 16:25 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. ") When we truly believe the old man, our flesh, is dead, we cease to harbor feelings for or make room for carnal influence. When we allow ourselves to become consumed with Jesus, we gain every provision of His Spirit: love, joy, peace...an exceedingly abundant, overflowing, NEW life.
Tip/Tidbit: Begin a new life through the power of God's Spirit, a genuine relationship with Jesus. Believe who He is. Release your embrace on sin and turn to embrace this Savior. Let the residue of the old be washed away and a fresh identity with Christ be given in baptism in His name, and let God fill you with exquisite, joyous new life in Him.
Tip/Tidbit: Begin a new life through the power of God's Spirit, a genuine relationship with Jesus. Believe who He is. Release your embrace on sin and turn to embrace this Savior. Let the residue of the old be washed away and a fresh identity with Christ be given in baptism in His name, and let God fill you with exquisite, joyous new life in Him.
RSS Feed
