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2 Cor.
5:17&21 "Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new." v21 "For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him."
These scriptures tell us that
we are a new creature (creation, species) in Christ.
We are not the same person we used to be if we are
in Christ. We are made to become the
righteousness of God in Christ. Our
old sin nature is nailed to the cross in Christ.
We are no longer that old sinner, we are a new species
(something that never existed before) in Christ.
So how do we get in and abide
(stay) in Christ? The answer is; By Faith in what he has
done for us at Calvary. We enter in to Christ and stand in
Christ and walk in Christ by Faith. By faith we must commit
our lives totally and completely to Jesus. We must repent
(turn away) from our old sinful ways and allow Him to rule
and reign in our lives. We actually have a choice. We can
walk according to the lusts of our flesh or we can submit
ourselves to God and choose to walk and live by faith in the
life of God that is in Christ Jesus. If we walk in the
Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Where is eternal life? Where
is that "zoe" life of God?
To understand that we must
first understand how we became separated from God and how
God made it possible for us to be reconciled back unto Him.
Let's start with the fall of
man.
Genesis 2:7 "And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath (spirit) of life; and man became a
living soul.
When God created man, he was
made in God's image and likeness. God is a three part
being, Father, Son and Holy Spirit yet he is only one God.
So God made man to be a three part being yet he is only one
man. Man is Spirit, Soul and Body. The spirit part of man
is what makes man eternal, just like God or the angels, we
will always exist. The thing is, will we exist in life (the
life of God) or death (separation from God)? Here we see
that when God created man and breathed into his nostrils man
became alive with the "life of God" that "spirit of life"
made man a "living soul".
Now that might burst some
religious bubbles, if we believe this scripture then man "is
a soul" and doesn't just have a soul. The reason man became
a "living soul" is because man's soul was made alive through
life of God that was in man's spirit through God. That is
to say man's spirit was connected to God's Spirit which gave
life not only to man's spirit but to the whole man.
How did man become separated
from God?
Genesis 2:16&17 "And the Lord
God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
God told man that if he ate
of the forbidden fruit he would die that day. Later on the
Devil came along and told man that they would not die. Man
believed the Devil instead of God and submitted to Satan
instead of God and man was immediately separated from God.
That is man died. He was no longer walking in that "spirit
of life". Now not only was Adam in spiritual death
(separation from God) but that death was passed to all of
mankind for thousands of years until God made a way for man
to become once again reconciled unto Himself through His Son
Jesus Christ.
From Adam's transgression
until Jesus was born, about four thousand years later, every
man, woman and child on the Earth was born spiritually
dead. Adam was created a living soul. Jesus was made a
life giving spirit. The New Testament calls Jesus the
second man Adam. The reason is that the sin nature was
passed down to all of mankind through the seed of man.
Jesus however was born of a virgin therefore was not born of
the seed of man but was born of the Spirit of God. Jesus
was born with the "ZOE" life of God in Him and made it
possible for Man to enter back into that "life of God", that
is to be reconciled unto God, by standing by faith
in Christ.
John 1:4 tells us that "In
Him was life "zoe" (the life of God); and the life was the
light of men."
Notice that this "zoe" life
of God was and is in Christ and it is
that life that is light unto us. It is important for us to
realize that the only way we are able to be reconciled unto
God and not be separated from Him is now for us to stand by
faith in Christ.
God made it possible for men
to be able to stand and live and walk in this "life of God"
that is in Christ. As we stand by faith in Christ then we
are in Him and He is in us. He is in the Father and the
Father is in Him. The Father makes us pure and holy
"sanctifies us" spirit, soul and body as we enter into and
stand by faith in Christ.
1 John 1:5-7 tells us "This
then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare
unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk
in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk
in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship one
with another (with God) and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us (makes us free) from all sin."
As long as we are standing by
faith in Christ, all the righteousness that He is, so are we
in this life. It is not possible for us to be standing by
faith in Christ and walk in darkness (sin) because the "zoe"
life of God in Christ Jesus is the light of men. When we
walk by faith in the life of God in Christ Jesus we are
walking in the light as he is in the light and His blood
continually destroys the power of sin in our lives. We are
once again "living souls". We are alive unto God (in
fellowship with God) by that spirit of life in Christ.
Romans 8:1&2 tells us "There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the "Spirit of life"
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death."
Now notice where this "spirit
of life" is located. It is in Christ Jesus. Those of us
who are in Christ are walking after the spirit and not after
the flesh. So what is this "law of the spirit of life"?
The "law of the spirit of life" is this. If we walk after
the spirit as we stand by faith in Christ Jesus then the
power of sin will be broken in our lives and we will not
have to be subject to death or separation from God. But if
we, through our own will, choose to walk after the lusts of
the flesh and not after that "spirit of life" in Christ then
we will become separated from God once again. However since
Jesus sacrifice was once and for all, we are able if we do
sin, to repent and confess our sins and He is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. That is we are able to simply enter back
into that life of God that is in Christ Jesus and stay
hooked up with our Father God "in Christ".
If we will read the
scriptures in this light we will see that they all work
together perfectly, for God's Word is truth and God is not a
man that He should lie. May the blessings of God overtake
you and may you overflow with His goodness. |
