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NEW LIFE
Many Christians are ignorance of the new life. Because of their ignorance, they remained where they were since the first day they received Christ.Some still remain BABES, and not growing at all. Some others are neither HOT nor COLD. Some do not know whether they are in the new life or the old life. Worst still, some had gone back to the old life, after a short stint in the new life.Of course, there are some who try to live in the new life and the old life- a double life!
This new life is something VERY SERIOUS. If you don't have this new life, you are HEADING TOWARDS HELL! Jesus told Nicodemus that unless he is born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. So man must be born again, to have this NEW LIFE. So without this new life, we are still dead in sins. We are still in darkness. We are still not saved. We are still in the old life!
HOW TO GET THIS NEW LIFE?
"For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son that who ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."(John 3:16)
This new life is a gift from God the Father to all who will accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and is forgiven and cleansed by Him. Those who does
not believe and accept Him will not be given this new life. Therefore, this free gift is eternal life! So if you do not accept Jesus and surrender to Him, you will not be given this new life, even if you go to church every sunday.So brothers and sisters, if you do just what the verse above wants, you are given the new life. On conditioned, you are forgiven and cleansed. The cleansing is the beginning of the new life in Christ.
I will share more on this later
THIS NEW LIFE IS THE LIFE OF CHRIST
For you were dead and your life is hidden in Christ, in God. Christ is our life.(Colossians 3:3,4)
We declare unto you the life, eternal life, which was with the Father and manifested unto us. God had given us eternal life; and this life is in His Son.He that had the Son had life.(1 John 1:2 5:11,12)
Indeed, a glorous blessing is given to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He recieves a new life from God Himself. He is born of the Spirit, born of God. Now he becomes a child of God, whose inheritance is eternal life in heaven. When we are forgiven and He cleanses us with His blood, we receive the new life. We move from the old life, the desire of the flesh, to the new life in Christ, following the desire of the Spirit. In other words, we move from a life of sin, into a life of righteousness. From darkness into light. From the dead, into life.
There are two hinderance to this new life:-
1. Ignorance of the working and rules of the new life.
2. In the way of faith.
Many Christians are ignorant of the new life. The new life is beyond our comprehension. It is a life in the Spirit. The old life (old nature) cannot mix with the new life. Darkness cannot mix with light. The new life, is being set apart for holiness, for God. Its not conform to the world.
We must learn to grow in this new life because the seed of God is in us.
This new life is a life of faith. We cannot see and feel the newlife for the believing life is a life of faith.This is important. This new life is a life of obedience to a God whom we cannot see or feel.
GROWING IN THE NEW LIFE
The newlife in us is eternal life. Peter and John mentioned in their letters about God's seed in our heart, in the new birth. The law of all created things is to grow. Living things grow, that is becoming bigger and bigger or increase in size etc. Jesus mentioned about the parable of the seed. The young plant grows and the farmer does not know how. God gives power in us, to grow. To grow in this new life is to increase in grace and in the knowledge of God. To increase in holiness until we attain the stature of the fulness of Christ in us. In other words, the life of Christ must increase in us. This is how this new life grows. It is growing through our surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit in us. We must have faith that the new life will transform us, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
GROWING IN THE NEW LIFE
Many Christians, at conversion were on fire for God. Of course, at a new birth, we do have inner joy and peace and we get real excited because of our emotional experience. But after a while, everything become still and we feel no more excitement. But the life of faith is not dependent on what we see or feel or touch. The life of faith is believing in God that we do not see or feel at times. This new life is living by faith.
Now our faith is in God, in His promises and His promises is in His Word. If we do not read the Word of God, how can our faith be inspired and strengthened?
To grow in the new life, we must drink milk from the Word of God, as the Apostle Peter said. We just read His Word wtether we understand it or not, because the Spirit of God will turn it into milk, bread or food! Do you believe that? If we have to wait for the pastor or to go to Bible school to read God's Word, you will be in big trouble. By reading the Word alone, we will get blessings!God will surely make us understand something according to our needs.
To grow, we must read the Word of God. I had explained why we must read the Word of God, under the heading,"I DON'T LIKE TO READ THE BIBLE". The power of God in us is through His Word. God instruct us to put His Word in our heart so that the Word will do its work in us. Remember, in this new life, we must increase in holiness. The Word of God is doing that in our life. The Word of God purify and sanctify us. You don't read the Word, your new life will eventually be overwhelmed by the old life!
BEING SET APART
To grow in the new life is to:-
(1) To be more and more like Christ.
(2) A life of surrender to God
(3) Increase in grace.
To be more and more like Christ is to move towards holiness.To let God get rid of our sins and to sin no more. Can we do it on our own? Cannot. Three ways we can be made holy:-
1. By the blood of the Lamb.
2. By Faith
3. By reading the Word of God.
The above is made possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must be in us, for He is the One that will lead us into holiness and make us holy.The Holy Spirit is to make us more and more like Christ. The three above goes hand in hand.
LIFE IN THE NEW LIFE
When we move into this new life. a life of worship begins. The desire is of the Spirit of God, no more of the flesh. To worship God means to bring honor and glory to Him, in EVERYTHINBG THAT WE DO. We put Him first, such as, we consult Him through prayer, we give Him the best, and our life is lived to please Him and to bring honor to Him. We speak and sing about His goodness and greatness. We want to draw closer and closer to Him through personal devotion and services. In this new life, we have a life of prayer, a life of praise and worship, a life of obedience and trust in God. We have a life of Bible-reading, ministry, a life of caring etc. Everything is possible because God will equip us, by giving us spiritual gifts!
We must abide in Him and He will abide in us. Jesus gave a very good illustration about the vine. We are the branches. We must not detach ourselves from the main vine. We must continue to be attached to Him, in this new life.
IF WE ARE IN THE NEW LIFE, OUR LIFE WILL BE BORING?
That is what some people say. Some people who are in the old life says that life in the new life is boring etc.But how do they know if they are not in the new life?
When a person is given the new life, God gives him a different perspective to life. He experience eternal peace and joy. He has inner happiness that he had been searching for when he was in the old life. He is hungry for the truth and he is heaven focuss. When you are heaven focused, the things of the world do not bother you. The gold, the fame the world glory have no attraction to you. The new life is a life controlled by the Spirit and therefore your life is full of satisfaction. You will not look elsewhere if you have found JESUS!
When we are in the new life, we are no more in darkness. We do not want to do things are done by those who are still in darkness. We are already in the light. In the light, we are born of God, children of light.Hence, we do not go back to darkness any more. Those in the newlife inherit eternal life in heaven.
The new life in Christ is the difference between a believer in Christ and those who do not accept God in their life. The believer lives in the light and the Spirit of God dwells in him, he gains God's wisdom to manage his life on the earth. He is heaven focussed and he lives according to the desire of the Spirit of God. He inherit the City of God because he is no longer condemned.
The non believer is still in darkness and is controlled by self and by the world. They enjoyed the worldly life and will not want to accept Jesus because they are blind to what the Spirit desire. They don't want to leave the enjoyment of the worldly life. That is why, they will not go away from the old life. The old life is a condemned life which will lead to eternal punishment. That is why, there is everything to lose if God is not in our life.
DON'T SELL YOUR BIRTH RIGHT!
< Esau was so hungry that he rather give his birth right to his brother Jacob for a bowl of soup. After we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour and is given the new life, we might be tempted to sell this new life or eternal life to satisfy our worldly desires such as positions, possessions,sex, power,fame etc. We might even abandon Jesus just because we want to marry someone of different faith. For the new born again Christian, he is given eternal life and when he dies, he will go to heaven. To let go this special gift is to let go life for death.
A LIFE OF CONFUSION
A life of confusion is a life which know not whether he is in the old life or in the new life. That's a life of confusion. Today he indulged in sins, tomorrow he shared the Word of God! Today he is such a wonderful person, tomorrow he abuses other people. Brother! that's a life of confusion. The devil really trives in that.He is not worried when someone is really in darkness. We must not serve two masters. No one can serve God and mammon! Jesus also mentioned that at the end of the age, many will come to Him but He will say He does not know them!
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