God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Jesus Christ the New Creation

Some believers get confused over the idea that Jesus Christ was a new creation
because of the fact He never had a beginning, and is eternal. Since Jesus wasn't a
created being and has always been, how can He be considered the new creation?

The answer is that God redefined what creation really was. The original creation was spoken and shaped and formed by God into existence. While it was a reflection of Jesus Christ, it wasn't exact.

The difference between the old and new creation is the new creation is birthed from heaven, as evidenced time and again by the words of Jesus when He said He wasn't of this world but came from above.

So when Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born from above if he wanted to see the
kingdom of God, it was a reference to a birth, not an improvement on the old creation or something added to it. It's also why Jesus told His disciples they were not of this world.

All of this is to say that a person truly born of God has the very life of Jesus Christ dwelling in them by the Holy Spirit. This life is the only way the kingdom of God can be seen and tasted.

As a matter of fact, that life begins to express itself in and through the person bearing that life, and it changes that person within and without.

Consequently, when Jesus Christ testified before Pontius Pilate that His kingdom wasn't of this world, it wasn't a reference of indifference to the visible world, but a reference to the source of the kingdom, which was God and heaven itself.

He didn't have his angels and followers fight because He had no interest in taking over a dead and condemned world, He could have done that at any time. What He was doing was introducing an entirely new creation, a totally new life form that was alien to everything in the world they knew.

That new creation was His very life, and while separate from mankind, does dwell within the spirits of those that believe Christ is the son of God. He who has the Son has this life within them.

What begins to happen with this new creation is it dwells in the innermost being of people, and transforms them into the very image of Jesus Christ. It happens through the work of the Cross and resurrection life being released as a result.

In the end, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as people commit their lives fully to Him and cooperate in His ultimate purpose, which is to have a people conformed to His very likeness.

This birthing and growing process of the new creation brings about the kingdom of God on earth in the same measure God's people obey and cooperate with Him.

The building of this kingdom is accomplished through the love of and obedience to God being shared among His people as they grow into a temple fit for the King.

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