The Advent of Easter, Part XII by Pamela Christian—Copyright © 2019
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (ESV). The phrase if anyone is in Christ, refers to a person who has placed their faith in the Promised Redeemer. When a person comes to believe in Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord, they are instantly transformed—the human spirit they were born with is done away, and an entirely new spirit born of God is put in place. This is why we use the term describing Christians as, spiritually born-again.
This process of God making us into a new creation is also known as regeneration. However the term regeneration can be misleading, simply because re means back or again, and generation means the production of something. God does not fix the original human spirit for a believer. No, He completely does away with the natural born spirit, and generates an entirely new human spirit, holy not unlike the spirits God placed in Adam and Eve. Regeneration, while sometimes perceived to be a step in the process of salvation, is generally understood in Christian theology to be the objective work of God in a believer’s life. Spiritually, it means God brings Christians to new life or causes believers to become born-again from a previous state of separation from God and resulting subjection to the decay of death.
However, unlike Adam and Eve, our new spirits cannot be corrupted. Had Adam and Eve chosen God and His ways, and eaten only of the Tree of Life, their spirits would have been eternally bound to God and incorruptible—the enemy of God would have had no ability to influence them. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve rejected God and His ways, and chose themselves and their own way, causing the spirits within them to die, and bringing death and destruction upon all Creation. This act also meant humanity would be under the governance of Satan, as each human being born since Adam and Eve is born with the same spiritually dead condition. The offspring of Adam and Eve, are all naturally born sinners having inherited the condition from the first man and woman.
Gratefully, God’s love for humanity is so great, He revealed His plan to redeem anyone who chooses to be released from our natural-born condition and restored into a right relationship with God. The Promise was fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. People of the Old Testament era knew of the promise of God given in the Garden of Eden, and by faith they looked forward to the fulfillment of that promise. Those of us in the New Testament era look back by faith in the fulfillment of the promise in the Person of Jesus. For all mankind, salvation comes by faith alone.
The fact New Testament believers have an incorruptible spirit does not mean we won’t ever sin. We will be enticed, influenced, and troubled by the enemy of God like every other human being on earth has suffered. However, because of the complete work of Jesus, once a person places their faith in Him, as God’s promised Redeemer, we are given entirely new spirits that are eternally bound to God. The enemy has no ability to corrupt our new spirits.
Sinful acts committed by born-again believers are sins of the body, not the spirit. Sinful acts committed by unbelievers are sins of the spirit. Our temporal bodies are perishing and will return to the dust from which they came. Our eternal spirits and souls, will be taken to heaven or hell, depending upon the condition of our spirit, upon the death of our bodies.
Especially in light of God promising to create a new heaven and earth once His plan for Redemption of all creation is complete, I find His act of regenerating believers fascinating. It could be said, God is actively creating the new heaven and earth in the present, as an ongoing effort that will culminate in the fullness of time.
As a new creature, we can see and experience the natural world from a spiritual perspective and live the abundant, victorious life Christ died to provide us. As new creatures in Christ, we have a different relationship with the world than before. We now view all matters through the lens of reconciliation. As a new creature in Christ we are also commissioned as Ambassadors for Christ to help God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For this reason, our new commission into the ministry of reconciliation will be the focus of the next post.
For March 28-29, 2019 read and meditate on the following Scriptures:
Genesis 1-3; Psalm 51:10; Isaiah 65:17; Ezekiel 36:26; Mark 16:15-16; John 3:5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:14-19; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 1:15-23
Scroll down below to access earlier posts in this series. To view the entire list of planned devotions, see the Introduction.
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