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THE GLORY OF THE NEW CREATION God shares His blessings and character with fallen man, once we repent and receive the new creation. The Christian life is discovering the scope of the new creation. The Lord Jesus has placed everything we need to live the life in our spirits. We are called by the gospel to obtain glory, says 2 Thessalonians 2: 14. All that God HAS and all that God IS are communicated to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, God’s great “how He does a thing” alone knows the Son perfectly and lead’s us into ALL truth. In the light of astonishing new creation realities, how is it that the church of the living God is impotent and immobile? Ignorance ranks high, and God’s people are destroyed by it. There was a man who paid for a transatlantic ship journey and stashed plenty of biscuits and cheese for the journey. His ticket actually included the fabulous meals on board, but he only realised his ignorance when the statue of liberty was in sight! On our heavenly path, many of us make the same mistake. We don’t receive all that redemption has purchased for us – perhaps only 1 or 2 per cent? This could be the believer’s greatest sin – living at such a low level of faith we are hardly distinguishable from those next door pagans who left God sometime in childhood. Let me list an A – Z of who we are in Christ.     A Accepted  Adopted Anointed Ephesians 1: 6 Galatians 4: 1 – 6 1 John 2: 20, 27 B Blessed  Beautified Beholding Ephesians 1: 3 Psalm 149: 4 John 1: 14, 6: 2 C Called Chosen Confident 2 Timothy 1: 9 Ephesians 1: 4 Hebrews 10: 35 D Delivered Dead (to the world) Dead (to sin) Dead (to the law) 2 Corinthians 1: 8 – 10 Galatians 6: 14 Romans 6: 6 Romans 7: 4 E Elect Edified Encouraged 1 Peter 1: 2  Romans 8: 33 1 Corinthians 14: 3 Romans 15: 4  1 Samuel 30: 6 F Forgiven Free Ephesians 1: 7 John 8: 32, 36 G Glorious Good Gentle Hebrews 2: 10  2 Thessalonians 2: 14 Galatians 5: 22 Galatians 5: 23  Psalm 18: 35 H Healed Holy Heirs Harmonized Isaiah 53: 4 – 6  1 Peter 2: 24 Colossians 1: 22 Titus 3: 7 Acts 4: 32  1 Corinthians 1: 10 I  Irreproachable in His sight Invincible Involved Colossians 1:22 Ephesians 6: 10 – 18 1 Corinthians 6: 17 J Jewel in the crown Joyful Malachi 3: 17 Nehemiah 8: 10   John 15: 11 K Known (by Father) Psalm 139 L Loved  John 3: 16  John 17: 23  1 John 3: 1, 2  Jeremiah 31: 3 M More than a conqueror Meditate Mind of Christ Romans 8: 37 Philippians 4: 8, 9 1 Corinthians 2: 16 N New Creation 2 Corinthians 5: 17  Galatians 6: 15 O Overcomers 1 John 4: 4 P Predestined Precious Priests Ephesians 1: 5 1 Peter 3: 4 1 Peter 2: 5 R Redeemed Restored Reconciled Ephesians 1: 7 Joel 2: 25 Colossians 1: 21 S Sealed Strong Sent ones Ephesians 1: 14  2 Timothy 2: 19 2 Timothy 2: 1 John 20: 21 T Thankful Tested Triumphant Ephesians 5: 20 1 Peter 1: 7 2 Corinthians 2: 14 V Valued Isaiah 43: 4 W Workmanship Ephesians 2: 10 X Example John 13: 17 Y Yoked Matthew 11: 28 – 30 Z  Zealous Titus 2: 14       Get to know the divine optimism of who you are in Christ Jesus. Speak the Scriptures aloud, because when you do three things happen: a)God hears your confession  b)it creates faith in your spirit, which c)ensures protection against the enemy. God hears. Your spirit hears. The evil spirits hear the good confession, which fights the fight of faith. Light comes in your house by positive and negative wires. The positives of daily confession must be balanced by resisting and  renouncing the enemy (the negative). Positive and negative words will produce the glory of the new creation coming through you! Some believers rely on faith, others on spiritual warfare. Both are vital in balance for the manifestation of the atmosphere of heaven. Let us hold fast the CONFESSION of our hope, without wavering, for HE who promised is faithful. Confession means saying the same thing as God says, feeling and thinking the same as God feels and thinks. We need to read, speak out and meditate on these verses that give us:   A DESTINY AN IDENTITY AND  SECURITY Psychological good health basks in these three vital issues. Positive faith confessions are a help along the road provided we also possess self-discernment and see where we need healing and deliverance ministry. A simple sum helps young believers.  FAITH MESSAGE  +   HEALING AND DELIVERANCE  +   OBEDIENCE      =   WHOLENESS The faith message alone will graft new creation realities onto the old man in many instances. Deliverance alone will lead to co-dependence and self introspection. Without obedience we are likely to be, as a friend put it, “fruit cake Christians”, more associated with unreality than truths coming through the lifestyle. There are 101 hindrances to the glory of the new creation shining through. All kinds of clamps can stop our spirit (where the Holy Spirit dwells) from functioning. WE FUNCTION UNDER THE UNCTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT We know there is a fierce battle, for Satan hates the manifestation and demonstration of the new creation realities. We can make a claim on the precious blood for our sins to be cleansed. We can reckon ourselves dead to sin. But what about the sinister aspects of spiritual warfare, when you feel you’ve been targeted by invisible demonic forces? These forces hate the manifestation of the new creation.  THE SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL This religious, pervasive spirit seduces, flatters, divides leadership to the point leaders cannot function; their identity becomes blurred, their security unhinged and their destiny fails in terms of God’s purpose. Jezebel launches a massive attack on our spiritual well-being. She began the attack in our hereditary line in our relationship with mother as a baby and a child She completes her attack through the wrong girlfriend through false charisma in the church (particularly personal prophecies) through defiled leaders who have never confronted her cleverly controlled kingdom, and who debunk deliverance ministry through wrong affiliations in church groups and denominations through culture and T.V. Are you getting the picture? It is a pervasive spirit – the very fact it is universal is part of her deadly camouflage. The enemy wants to devour glory and Jezebel, in particular, will abort a “God idea”, supplanting it with a good idea. A checklist for discernment purposes will help, see table.      HOLY SPIRIT JEZEBEL 1. God initiatives with the glory of God..   1. Man initiates a good work for man’s esteem. 2. Leads to a balanced view of the Word of God. 2. Pushes toward extra-biblical revelation… so person becomes deceived. 3. Sanity and sanctity in a renewed mind. Calm considerations 3. Fascination toward strange doctrines, and weird ideas.  Emotions lead. 4. Abiding in the word: 2 Timothy 3: 10 – 17. 4. Divination: Acts 16: 16 – 18. 5. Meekness of wisdom: James 3: 13 – 18. 5. Confusion is the end product, mixed with fear. 6. Glorifies Christ alone: John 16: 14. 6. Glorifies the person ministering. 7. Low visibility like Jesus.   7. High profile or lusting after people. 8. Confronts sin, laziness, carnality with the authority of Elijah. 8. Keeps men weak, vacillating; knowing what is right but unable to do it (Ahab). 9. A self examined life with repentance. 9. Flatters to seduce, crossless messages. 10. Exposes sin and Satanic workings.   10. Tolerates sin, accuses the spiritual ones.     Remember, essentially Jezebel is a religious counterfeiter. We must deal with Jezebel for the new creation to shine through. This religious counterfeiter of the true Holy Spirit working: produces shame through the spirit of harlotry, making the victims humiliated. ruins businesses and jobs by speaking against God’s anointed ones in the marketplace. twists words in misrepresentation and misinformation and projects a camouflage of self-righteousness. breaks male identity in God and brings fatherlessness so men seek sodomy or incest. projects false logos morality – pretending to be a virgin, she is really mystery Babylon. self absorbed (Isaiah 47: 8) but believes by sorcery can keep her ‘spiritual’ children co-dependent. loves counselling to gain a following, which she gradually poisons and seduces away from legitimate authority. brings false guilt and condemnation to those who question her ‘discernment’. This produces a maternal control that leads to depression and limitations.  Now you can see why we must renounce and repent of all Jezebelic involvement in our lives, and why we must also build ourselves up in the glorious realities of the new creation. The Jezebelic spirit hates the release of the new creation in worship. True worship must be from our spirits, how rarely we arrive there! Where Jezebelic wiles are broken, we as the body of Christ can begin to worship in spirit and in truth. The following Scriptures warn of Jezebel: Genesis 39: 12, Potiphar’s wife. 1 Kings 19, Jezebel and Elijah. 1 Kings 21, Jezebel and Naboth. 2 Kings 9: 30f, Jezebel and Jehu. 2 Kings 11, Athaliah (Jezebel’s daughter). Isaiah 47, the Lady of the kingdoms. Nahum 3: 4, the scope of Jezebel’s influence. Isaiah 3: 16 – 26, God’s judgement. Jeremiah 3: 1 – 5, Israel as jezebel. Proverbs 6: 20 – 35, the peril of adultery. Proverbs 7: 6 – 27, the harlot. Judges 16, Samson and Delilah. Mark 6: 21 – 29, Salome. Revelation 2: 20 – 22, church at Thyatira. Revelation 18, the fall of Babylon. As we read these passages, meditate and inquire of the Lord, we will “wise up” and be prepared. Through renunciation, repentance and deliverance ministry the glory of the new creation will shine through. Hallelujah! We will also be in the secret place of His presence to receive a greater infilling of the Holy Spirit. He, the Spirit of truth, always wants to make real to us what our triumphant Redeemer HAS purchased for us. IDENTIFICATIONS The glory of the new creation is our identification with Christ. Just as He is one with the Father, so are we one with Him. In the New Testament, Samuel Chadwick points out seven identifications. We are ONE SPIRIT with the risen Lord and that means exactly the same as. What a privilege and responsibility! 1. Relationship Through the new birth and baptism in the Holy Spirit we possess a relationship of sonship with our Lord Jesus. We have the legal right and borrowed power to become sons of God, says John 1: 12. Our sonship is authenticated by the leading of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 14). There are two sides to redemption: legal standing in Him and vital state of our hearts. For example, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It can never be altered or damaged. However, we work out His righteousness by our righteous motives, righteous thoughts and deeds. Only His righteousness worked out in our lifestyle causes us to function as believers. Righteousness gives to us the relationship and adoption of sons. Galatians 4: 5 – 7 is a picture Paul borrowed from the heathen world. When a son was 16 he had a coming of age ceremony – only then could he receive the inheritance. The inheritance was his legally at birth, but vitally only after an apprenticeship when he learned from the head slave, the spirit, values and attitudes of the family he had been born into. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. A vast family awaits the believer who is rightly related to the Lord Jesus. 2. Nature Jesus partook of flesh and blood that we may become partakers of the divine nature… see Hebrews 2: 14 and 2 Peter 1: 4. Nature is stronger than the conditions of our environment. I once befriended some Easterhouse teenagers who had adoptive parents on the remote but beautiful Harris. The locals soon realised they were and still were tearaways from Glasgow!  Adoption must be linked to regeneration. The glory source of the new creation is His divine life. We are not born again by human persuasion, but by divine reckless love intervening in our sorry state. The Lord’s image defaced in Adam is renewed in Christ (Colossians 3: 10, 11 and 2 Corinthians 3: 18). We are conformed to His image (Romans 8: 29) which means we activate our wills to put off and to put on! (Ephesians 4: 22 – 24). We identify daily with that daily procedure, of putting off the works of the flesh and the works of darkness, and putting on the virtues of Jesus. The activation of the will is essential in our path toward maturity. We must co-operate with His initiative in regeneration. It is not a new coat for the man but a brand new man underneath the coat. 3. Possessions We are heirs of God who share His possessions. Imagine a rich aristocrat marrying a poor girl. She enjoys his rank, status, home and wealth – it is freely shared with her, because he invests her with all he has. See 2  Corinthians 8: 9; and 9: 8, the resources of heaven are for us. He took our poverty that we could RECEIVE HIS WEALTH. We can have ALL sufficiency in ALL things that we may have an abundance for EVERY good work. How? By ALL GRACE! Hallelujah, if we are WILLING and OBEDIENT we shall eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1: 18). Some are willing for a prosperous life but not obedient and other sons and daughters obey, but are not willing to grasp the provisions and possessions. The double premise of willingness and obedience ushers in the delight of the promise. Inheritance begins in the here and now (this life), and continues in the hereafter (eternity). The milk and honey of the promised land begins with looking after bees and cattle, in the actualities of this life. Faith must have corresponding actions so that we can enjoy our inheritance. 4. Character If we are one with Him we must be like Him. Christ-likeness is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8: 9). Christ gave His life FOR US in order for the Holy Spirit to impart TO US His sinless life… overcoming life… demon-defeating life… death-defying life… submissive, sacrificial, separated life… of love, joy, peace. As HE IS so ARE WE… in this world: righteous, pure and in the light. The holy hereditary is the mark of the new creation. There is an atmosphere of heavenly glory about the faces of certain saints. I knew several such men at the Bible College of Wales – they carried the atmosphere of a celestial realm with them, because of godly character. 5. Experience The dealings of Christ with His disciples are the same process for us today. Experience of Jesus Christ has not been watered down by the Father – even  though many modern movements have tampered with terminology, and the modern saint is a pale reflection of what he could be. The great need today is to identify with the genuine manifestations of the Holy Spirit as in John 20 and Acts 2. The glory of the new creation depends also on “go on being filled with the Holy Spirit”. We will also share the experience of persecution (especially if we know His power). John 15: 18 says,  “…if the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.” Matthew 10: 40 is the encouragement,  “He who receives you, receives Me, and he who receives Me, receives Him who sent Me.” It is enough that the servant be as His Lord in times of opposition, and in blessing. In whatever situation, His peace is our peace (John 14: 27). 6. Mission We identify with the Great Commission of Matthew 28: 18 – 20. As co-labourers with Him we are called into fellowship with the Son of God. As the Father sent Jesus so our Lord sends us today. It was my joy in the late 1980’s to work with a young missionary society. Young men and women were receiving the seed that is successful against any satanic situation, in order to go into all the world. The incorruptible seed of scripture cannot be destroyed. There is an intensification of teaching the word, the taking up of a daily cross and the power of the Spirit in missionary preparations. Many students had to bridge the gap between casual church experience and the GO of a missionary heart. Here is an acrostic you will do well to study and develop for yourself.     Making new solutions – Acts 13: 1 – 3  Inspiring new prayers – Acts 4: 24f  Sowing new seeds – Acts 19: 1 - 8  Serving new peoples – Acts 16, 17  Inventing new ideas – Acts 10  Opening new highways – Acts 27  Nourishing new souls – Acts 8 May God’s M.I.S.S.I.O.N. be emblazoned on our hearts with holy fire,  branding us with vision and passion. The heartbeat of Father should be the heart throb of the church. When it fails to be, we slowly imperceptibly, perish for lack of purpose. 7. Reward We are one with Him in reward. Revelation 3: 21 is the great goal of all Christian living,  “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I ALSO overcame and sat down…” We enter heaven for free! We enjoy heaven with our rewards! There in heaven the glory of the new creation will be everywhere for the sons and daughters who overcome. The rewards for the overcomer are in short: the throne life. Here is where man stands higher than the angels! To quote Samuel Chadwick, the great Methodist pioneer:  “The Son of God in all things the Son of Man, that the sons of men may be as the Son of God.” What an amazing identification! What a glory of the new creation! << Previous | Next >>