Issued 29.08.2004

New creation

God has created a new man in Jesus Christ. This new creation lives in those who belong to Jesus. When you follow Jesus the old self dies and a new one emerges.

New and old creation
Knowing Jesus gives more than most people realize. Everybody understands that sins are forgiven in Jesus. Instead only few know that a believer gets a new creation in Jesus. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2Cor.5:17 Only he, who is in Jesus Christ, can know how it feels like to be a new creation.

An outside observer can ask how this new creation manifests itself in the life of a Christian. Often it doesn't appear, because believers don't live the life of their new creation, but of their old one.

God urges believers to crucify their old nature and to put on the new one. "You were taught to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Eph.4:22-24

Although Paul proclaims that "the old has gone", he still urges "put off the old", and though he says that "the new has come", he yet urges "put on the new".

Paul uses these seemingly inconsistent sentences to underline that though a believer already once died together with Jesus he must also let it influence his practical life, and though a believer has a new creation he also must let it control himself.

New creation crucifies the old one
Many confess faith, but they have not a new creation. They are not Jesus' own, although they believe in Him in their own way. When they are urged to put off their old self, they face an impossible task, because they have not a new creation who could seize this advice. Of course our sinful nature doesn't want to crucify itself. Only the new creation together with the Holy Spirit can crucify our sinful nature.

Paul says that man is "controlled by the sinful nature" when he has not a new creation. If a person has a new creation, he has "the Spirit of Christ". "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." Rom.8:8-9

A believer himself must crucify his sinful nature. God doesn't do it on our behalf. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." Gal.5:24 On the other hand nobody can do it without the help of the Holy Spirit. The new creation puts the old creation to death with the power of the Holy Spirit. "If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Rom.8:13

The Holy Spirit puts our old self to death by baptising us into the death of Jesus. "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death?" Rom.6:3

Baptism into Jesus Christ
Strong common experiences join people together. This kind of an experience is called a baptism. The Israeli were "baptised into Moses in the sea" (1Cor.10:2) when they followed him across the sea. Baptising into Jesus means that we cloth ourselves with the new creation. "For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." Gal.3:27 Jesus says about His own baptism: "I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!" Luke 12:50

Jesus is speaking about the baptism He experienced in Gethsemane. There He was distressed so much that His sweat was like drops of blood, but there He also was freed from His distress. There He denied His human will but also with joy agreed with the will of His Father. Jesus was a true man and it was difficult for Him to give up His own human life. His heart experienced death and resurrection when praying in the battle of Gethsemane. He denied Himself and took up His cross. He was able to deny Himself because He loved His Father. He was distressed until He had overcome His human nature. He had experienced His baptism and was ready to face the crucifixion.

Jesus has called His own to do the same as He did. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Matth.16:24-25 If we want to go after Him out of love for Him, we will get power to deny ourselves. A person baptised into Christ has lost one's own life for the sake of Jesus and has found a new life in Him.

When you remember how Jesus sweated blood, you understand this encouragement: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." Heb.12:4 Love resisted sin. Wet with bloody sweat the overcomer utters the words of His victory: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42

God doesn't give us as big a trial as to Jesus, however, something similar we are allowed to experience, and it must not be strange to us. "Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed." 1Peter 4:12-13 God will not let us be tested beyond what we can bear.

Crisis of ego
After coming to faith many wonder at a new type of distress they are experiencing. Guilt disappeared but still we experience that we are worse people than ever before. When Jesus starts to shine in our hearts His light reveals the reality of our sinful nature for us. The problem is that our ego has engaged itself to our sinful nature. The Spirit of God wants to disengage us from our old nature and engage us to the new one.

Our ego is built up of what we append to the words "I am". What we are thinking about ourselves must be changed. Getting a new name describes this change of ego which God causes in us. Saul became Paul and Simon became Peter. Paul describes the content of his new ego: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Gal.2:20 "By the grace of God I am what I am." 1Cor.15:10

About the death of his old self Paul says: "For His sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." Phil.3:8 Judaism was a great part of the identity of Saul, but Paul considered it rubbish. He could declare: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free." Gal.3:28 In the previous words of Paul we can hear the following words of Jesus: "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:33

The new creation feels like a stranger among the culture of the old creation. He feels he belongs to the heavenly realm. "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Phil.3:20

When losing his earthly citizenship a believer gains the citizenship of the Kingdom of God. Through Jesus he owns everything. "So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." 1Cor.3:21-23

Fire of the Holy Spirit
How does the Holy Spirit baptise us into Jesus in practice? When Jesus speaks about His own baptism, He says: "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" Luke 12:49 He says that the fire He sends causes division on earth. He predicts that people who are close to each other will be divided against each other for His sake.

God's gospel exalts Jesus to the absolute number One of our heart. Jesus says: "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matth.10:37 People don't like that they are degraded to the second position in the life of their believing relatives.

Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit and with fire those who confess Him LORD and God. God's Spirit gives courage to rising against our own sinful nature. Our ego overpowered by our sinful nature is our worst enemy. Paul describes this holy fire: "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." 2Cor.5:14-15

People confessing Christian faith but who have not a new creation disapprove of this radical following of Jesus. Some of them try eagerly to put out the fire of God. They blame those who have fallen in love with God for lovelessness.

Their mistake is fully understandable, because they are controlled by their sinful nature. "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." Rom.8:7 Instead the new creation loves God's law. "For in my inner being I delight in God's law." Rom.7:22

John, the apostle, says that a new creation never sins. "No-one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No-one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him." 1John 3:6 John calls our sinful nature a child of the devil and our new creation a child of God. "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." 1John 3:8
It is so comforting, isn't it? You need not to submit yourself to your devilish nature! Jesus re-creates you.

As for me, God forbid!
The baptism into Jesus is experienced over and over again. "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." 2Cor.4:16 It means growing together with Jesus. "If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection." Rom.6:5 The fellowship of the Holy Spirit leads us to phases of life in which we experience agonizing prayers through which God brings up a new ego in us.

The phrase often used during those prayer fights is: "God forbid!" With patience say it again and again to the thoughts of the old creation: "As for me, God forbid!" Paul gives us an example: "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Gal.6:14

In the name Jesus, die my pride, die my greed, die my selfishness! Let the glory of God appear! Only He is worthy, He who can append all good to His name, I AM!

I say about my old creation: I am nothing. I own nothing. I have no plans. I say about my new creation: I am a child of God in Jesus. Through Him I own everything that God has. He has a perfect plan for my life.

Our sinful ego can be put to death! Do you believe it? Do you want to experience its rest? Jesus promises: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matth.11:29-30

A sinful nature that once was put to death can wake up and repress our faith, if our will is sleeping at the moment when we should pray and deny ourselves. Paul gives the following warning: "Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Rom.13:14 When Paul speaks about the sinful nature he doesn't mean the desires of our body, but our sinful thoughts. How do we take care of the desires of our sinful nature?

If you give a good self-esteem to your sinful nature, in that way you gratify its desires. Paul discouraged his old self, and he didn't allow it to feel good about itself. "I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body (of sin) and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1Cor.9:26-27

Condemning one's own sinful nature is a very important thing. As long as we consider ourselves good without the grace of Jesus we don't want to deny ourselves. With the power of the gospel Paul had come to this conclusion: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature." Rom.7:18

Someone objects to this and says that there is much good in me, although there is bad too. Paul says to him: "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh." Phil.3:3 The flesh means the sinful nature. Jesus Himself says to you: "If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Guard your thoughts
Because the spirit of most people is sleeping, their fleshly nature can freely feed its thoughts into their consciousness. A spirit of a believer must be awake and guard every moment what thoughts are running in the stream of his consciousness. We must know the sources where they are coming from. It is important to learn to trust the new creation so much that we obey its thoughts. In the same way it is important to learn to resist the thoughts of our sinful nature.

Mostly the life of a believer is going in good thoughts that God's Spirit gives us. "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil.4:7 Sometimes "flesh" starts to speak aiming to capture our mind. Then payers are needed about which Jesus said in Gethsemane: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Matth.26:41

Because also Jesus had our sinful nature, He was tempted in every way, just as we are. "God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man." Rom.8:3 However He never gave His sinful nature any room in His mind. He never sinned, not even in His thoughts. He is calling His own to live as pure a life as He lived.

Paul talks how "the body of sin is done away" (Rom.6:6). Also Jesus is speaking about the tempting parts of the body: "If one part of your body causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." (Matth.5:29) These tempting parts of the body are attitudes and thoughts that come up from our sinful nature. The parts of the body of sin have their own sinful will. Paul speaks about "the sinful mind", when he means the sinful thoughts of our sinful nature. So how do we tear out those thoughts from our consciousness? Fall silent all "flesh" before God!

He who doesn't guard his thoughts, can neither pray at the right moment. It is possible to repel sinful thoughts immediately when they appear only if we are spiritually awake. It is a mistake to try to repel only a sinful thought loosened from the sinful nature itself. Repel your old self who expresses its thought. It is even a bigger mistake to try to blame the devil for our own evil thoughts.

If you gave your ego to your old creation, you fell into temptation. If you allow your sinful nature to control yourself, you will finally agree with its bad ideas and you will sin and then you are in need of purification. Ask forgiveness from God to your bad thoughts before they grow worse deeds than thoughts. The longer your wrong thoughts live in your mind the more painful it is to get rid of them.

The body of sin has indecent eyes, greedy hands and violent feet. We can consider it as difficult to give up indecent, greedy and violent thoughts as to lose an eye, a hand or a foot of our body. Jesus says about it: "It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." Matth.5:29

It is very rewarding to overcome a temptation. You feel very fine leaving your own Gethsemane as a winner. Thanks to God for His grace that gives us a victory in our trials. "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12

In the coming of Jesus our new spirit will also get a new body, worthy of a new creation. Now the new creation is like in birth pangs, because it must still live in this body of death. Very soon groaning will be changed into unbound joy. "We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." Rom.8:23