Page 27 - lifeandgrace
P. 27
When Adam sinned, something of him died. This could only have been His spirit which was in
connection with God. After the sin, he was no longer related to God. Now he had a sin nature which he
passed along to all his children including us. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were put
to death on the cross right along with Jesus. Water baptism represents that truth; it is a picture in this
temporal realm of what happened in the eternal or heavenly realm. Let us take time to remember this: In
God’s realm, the eternal realm, there is no time. Everything is always “now”. When Moses asked God
His name so he could tell the Israelites God’s name in Exo 3:14 (RSV) “God said to Moses, "I AM WHO
I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you. '" John 8:58 (NKJV)
"Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."" So the Lord God
Almighty is not “Was” or “Will Be” but simply “I AM”. He is eternally present!
When we entered into Jesus Christ, we have, in our spirits, entered into His realm. In order for man
to have a relationship with God, he must be born again in his spirit or “born from above”. (John 3:7-8
NKJV) "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8"The wind blows where it wishes,
and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who
is born of the Spirit." This is exactly what happened to us when Jesus was raised from the dead. We died
when He died, and when He was resurrected, we were resurrected with him - a new man in Christ. This is
represented in water baptism when we come up out of the water just as Jesus came up out of the grave.
When He arose, we arose into newness of life - a new man! 2Cor 5:17 (NNAS) "Therefore if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." All this
happened in the spiritual realm or eternal realm as that is where our spirits dwell. Our spirits dwell in the
spirit realm with God. And in that realm, we are a new creature or new creation through the same power
that raised Jesus from the dead.
So, now we see that we have a new birth and by that new birth we have a new identity! This new
identity has nothing to do with our performance, good or bad. It only has to do with us accepting or
receiving the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ, by faith. This took care of all our sins we will ever
commit. Then, when we died and were raised with Jesus, our old sin nature, the nature we inherited from
our forefather Adam, died, was done away with, is gone forever. We received a new nature in Christ.
This nature is what Paul describes in 2Cor 5:21 (RSV) "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no
sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Phil 3:9 (NNAS) "and may be found in
Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith," We are also made complete in
Him: Colossians 2:10 (NKJV) "and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and
power.” We are blameless in His sight: Col 1:22 (NKJV) "in the body of His flesh through death, to
present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight;"
We could go on but these scriptures show that we now have the righteousness of God, that we are
blameless and holy in His sight. All this is a new identity based on new birth - you were born into
righteousness and holiness and completeness! It has nothing to do with performance. You have become
holy by virtue of your birth as a new man in Christ.
And you may say: But I am still sinning! I sin every day. That is my performance. This is all true and
yet who you are, how God sees you has only to do with your birth, and you have been birthed as a new
creature in Christ. When God looks, He sees Christ and His great sacrifice for your sins. Because of that
sacrifice, God chooses to only see Jesus. If it were not for that, we would all be lost and in terrible trouble
eternally. But Christ paid the price, and we have been born anew. Here is what is important: WE
REALLY ARE A NEW MAN! THE OLD REALLY IS PASSED AWAY! This is the second half of
the gospel!
connection with God. After the sin, he was no longer related to God. Now he had a sin nature which he
passed along to all his children including us. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were put
to death on the cross right along with Jesus. Water baptism represents that truth; it is a picture in this
temporal realm of what happened in the eternal or heavenly realm. Let us take time to remember this: In
God’s realm, the eternal realm, there is no time. Everything is always “now”. When Moses asked God
His name so he could tell the Israelites God’s name in Exo 3:14 (RSV) “God said to Moses, "I AM WHO
I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you. '" John 8:58 (NKJV)
"Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."" So the Lord God
Almighty is not “Was” or “Will Be” but simply “I AM”. He is eternally present!
When we entered into Jesus Christ, we have, in our spirits, entered into His realm. In order for man
to have a relationship with God, he must be born again in his spirit or “born from above”. (John 3:7-8
NKJV) "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8"The wind blows where it wishes,
and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who
is born of the Spirit." This is exactly what happened to us when Jesus was raised from the dead. We died
when He died, and when He was resurrected, we were resurrected with him - a new man in Christ. This is
represented in water baptism when we come up out of the water just as Jesus came up out of the grave.
When He arose, we arose into newness of life - a new man! 2Cor 5:17 (NNAS) "Therefore if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." All this
happened in the spiritual realm or eternal realm as that is where our spirits dwell. Our spirits dwell in the
spirit realm with God. And in that realm, we are a new creature or new creation through the same power
that raised Jesus from the dead.
So, now we see that we have a new birth and by that new birth we have a new identity! This new
identity has nothing to do with our performance, good or bad. It only has to do with us accepting or
receiving the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ, by faith. This took care of all our sins we will ever
commit. Then, when we died and were raised with Jesus, our old sin nature, the nature we inherited from
our forefather Adam, died, was done away with, is gone forever. We received a new nature in Christ.
This nature is what Paul describes in 2Cor 5:21 (RSV) "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no
sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Phil 3:9 (NNAS) "and may be found in
Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith," We are also made complete in
Him: Colossians 2:10 (NKJV) "and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and
power.” We are blameless in His sight: Col 1:22 (NKJV) "in the body of His flesh through death, to
present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight;"
We could go on but these scriptures show that we now have the righteousness of God, that we are
blameless and holy in His sight. All this is a new identity based on new birth - you were born into
righteousness and holiness and completeness! It has nothing to do with performance. You have become
holy by virtue of your birth as a new man in Christ.
And you may say: But I am still sinning! I sin every day. That is my performance. This is all true and
yet who you are, how God sees you has only to do with your birth, and you have been birthed as a new
creature in Christ. When God looks, He sees Christ and His great sacrifice for your sins. Because of that
sacrifice, God chooses to only see Jesus. If it were not for that, we would all be lost and in terrible trouble
eternally. But Christ paid the price, and we have been born anew. Here is what is important: WE
REALLY ARE A NEW MAN! THE OLD REALLY IS PASSED AWAY! This is the second half of
the gospel!
