New Life, New Kingdom, New Status
New Life, New Kingdom, New Status
Part Seven of a Series—The Final Word
You were forgiven
You were removed from Adam
You were placed into Christ
You were given a new loving heart
You were given a new spirit
You were made clean
You were made one spirit with Him
His Spirit was placed in you
If you have read the last six parts in this series, you have seen that this is what He promised, and this is what He delivered.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (KJV)
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
A New Kingdom
Jesus also changed our citizenship, taking us out of the kingdom of darkness and transporting us into the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 4:17 (KJV)
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
He began telling people that a change was imminent. It was so close that it was essentially already there. All who would believe Him would soon become citizens.
Matthew 12:28 (KJV)
28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Everything Jesus did He did by faith in God through the Holy Spirit. At the cross He died to make forgiveness and reconciliation available by taking away sin. At the resurrection He made righteousness and eternal life, the very life of God, available. He set us free from the kingdom of the ruler of this world, that old snake, our enemy, the accuser. But He did not leave us homeless.
Colossians 1:13 (KJV)
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
He translated us, or transferred us, into His Kingdom. Our citizenship there is not something gained only upon our passing from this world to the next. It is here and now. It is in us and we are in it. He makes this perfectly clear in John 17:16 where we read, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” These words are in the present tense. We are not of the world just like He is not of the world.
A New life
To be citizens of the Kingdom of God, we needed new life. As we have seen, He accomplished this for us at the cross.
Romans 6:4 (KJV) tells us all about it. 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.
The old self has passed away and a new self has been created in its place as we see in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Being recreated, we are now fit to be members of God’s family and to participate in all the benefits that brings. Paul speaks of this in Colossians 3:3-4 (KJV)
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
This means that our current life does not look much like our old life. Oh, the outside may not have changed, but the inner life is much different.
Galatians 2:20 (KJV) talks about this.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
We look the same on the outside, but we have a completely new spirit. We look the same on the outside, but our mind is being renewed day by day to better apprehend what Jesus has done to us, and for us, and how He works through us. Here is what scripture says about it:
Romans 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Ephesians 4:23
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Colossians 3:10
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
You are Seated with Him
Ephesians 2:6 (KJV)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Do you see that? He has already raised us up and seated us in heavenly places in Christ. Just moments ago we read that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. It takes some mind renewal to begin to grasp this, but as a practical matter it means that we are where He is and He is where we are. We are one spirit with Him—for real.
You have Every Spiritual Blessing
Ephesians 1:3 (KJV) makes another bold claim:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
That wonderful past tense verb hits us right in the face. Every spiritual blessing is ours; right now, today. Here is the way Peter put it: in 2 Peter 1:3 (KJV)
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
The truth is that we have been profoundly changed. Because of Jesus Christ, we are no longer what we were. Our lineage has changed so that Adam is no longer our spiritual ancestor. God Himself is our spiritual ancestor. What we inherit in the core of our being, the deepest part of us, the part of us that is our true being, is the nature and traits of our Father. The Holy, Almighty, Unchanging, God who is Love. Or to put is perhaps more simply:
You Participate in the Divine Nature
2 Peter 1:4 (KJV) the very next verse after the one we just read tells us this.
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
We partake in the very nature of God. Therefore, it is correct for us to expect that good fruit is being produced in us. We are good trees because we are connected to The Good Root and if the Root is holy, so are the branches. (see Romans 11:16)
You are Righteous
Ephesians 1:4-6 (KJV)
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Did you catch that? You are holy and without blame and you are accepted just as Jesus Himself is accepted.
We do not need a teacher to tell us how to live. Our teacher is the Grace of God as we read in Titus 2:11-12 (KJV)
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Father promised that we would all know Him (see Hebrews 8:11) and we do. (see John 10: 3, 8, and 27)
This series was written to provide an overview of where we started, when Jesus acted on our behalf, and what exactly Jesus did in us and to us and for us.
I hope you have found this study as helpful as I have.
Grace and peace to you.
Larry
