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II 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."
This morning, there are many
that do not understand
that some of Adam's race are not
in Christ.
Yesterday, I listened (for a
very brief period of
time) to a man on the radio that
stated, "God's plan
of salvation included all of
Adam's race." Just 5
minutes before this statement,
he declared, "The God
of heaven and earth has all
power and authority." To
this, I query, "If you declare a
God has ALL power and
authority, how can you further
declare that He ‘plans’
to save all of mankind, but not
all of them be in
heaven?" The answer to their
question is that "we
have to let Him." This makes us
more powerful than
God by their reasoning, and this
is an impossibility.
Paul declares that there are
some that are in
Christ. Then, he goes on to say
what this position
does for us. Notice the very
small but very vital
word "in." It is located 27
times (I think) in the
first chapter of Ephesians to
show our place and
position in Christ. This very
powerful little word
shows that we are in a place
where no body, no power,
or authority can reach us. We
are IN Christ. Where
is He? He is IN the Father. Now,
if all we were in
was Christ, that would be good
enough. However, we
are secured even further. We are
in Christ in God.
Now, if that is
our position, how can it be possible
for us to fall from that
position by some action? The
Lord has promised not to ever
leave us or forsake us,
and that includes times when we
are engaged in our filthy actions. While
He chastises and purges us here
in time, He will never
cast us off eternally. There is
no way we can fall
out of that relationship, and
further, the devil and
all of his forces cannot pry us
out either.
Therefore, we
should not be in fear of what man can do
to us. Paul goes on to say that
being in Christ makes
us a new creature. When the Lord
vitally enters into
one of His children, a new
creature is born. It is
compared to a heart of flesh
replacing a stony heart,
a new birth (from above), and a
seed (that cannot sin)
being placed within us. This new
creature is created
in righteousness and true
holiness. This is a
creature that cannot sin,
because he bears the image
of Christ (in us the hope of
glory). This new man
longs to be released from the
corruption that he is
housed in.
You see,
inwardly, all the old things are
passed away. Outwardly, we are
still perishing day by
day. So, all of our sinful
nature that resided within
our soul and spirit is gone. All
of the hatred and
blasphemy that our soul conjured
is done away with.
Some might ask, "Then why do I
still sin?" Paul asked
the same question, and the
answer lies in the fact
that our flesh has NO good thing
dwelling in it. Our
bodies are still corrupt, and
they will remain that
way until their change on the
glorious day of the
return of our Lord. When that
day comes, our bodies
will bear forth the same beauty
that already resides
within us. May we ever thank Him
for making us a new
creature in Him, and ever look
unto that day when time
shall be no more.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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