Sunday, 21 November 2021
BEYOND THE CROSS
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 (Romans 6:4).
Being born again, you have the resurrection life; life beyond the Cross. I would to God you’d catch this. The new creation wasn’t “delivered” from the hand of the enemy, neither does he need deliverance, for he’s superior to Satan.
Deliverance was accomplished at the Cross. It was for the whole world. But there’s a resurrection life beyond the Cross. That’s the life of the new creation, and in that life, you’re not the “delivered,” neither are you the “set free” or “redeemed”; rather, you’re the recreated! The recreated man in Christ isn’t of this world; so the forces of this world have no power over him. In Christ, he has overcome the world and all its elements.
The Bible calls us “...more than conquerors...” (Romans 8:37). We’re indestructible and invincible. Then, most beautifully, He calls us saints (1 Corinthians 6:2, 14:33, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1 etc.). The sinner died with Christ; the sinner was buried with Christ; but a new creature, a saint, arose with Christ. This is your new nature. The Christian is the man who believes that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and confesses His Lordship; he identifies with the resurrected Christ. He’s a new type of man: “...If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I’m showing you who you really are. The biggest thing to grasp about the Christian is the fact that he is absolutely a new creature. The unrecreated man, the natural human being, needed deliverance from the devil and God gave it to him. He needed remission of sin and God gave it to him. Jesus died to pay the price for his redemption.
The new creation, on the other hand, is not a product of the Cross. The Cross was enough to pay the price for redemption and salvation, but it didn’t produce a new life. If Jesus had never risen from the dead, we would still have been redeemed, but continually subject to sin. The blood He shed brought us eternal redemption and salvation. But we wouldn’t have been new creatures. The new creation is a product of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! The resurrection gave us eternal life. It gave us the righteousness of God, and made us joint-heirs with Christ.
CONFESSION: I’m a new creature in Christ Jesus — infused with life and immortality; impregnable to infections, superior to Satan and the debilitating elements and rudiments of this world. I’m called to a life of glory, victory, success, prosperity, hope and blessed assurance. Hallelujah!
FURTHER STUDY:
Galatians 6:14-16; John 1:12-13; Romans 6:4
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: James 4:13-5:1-20 & Ezekiel 24-26
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: John 13:21-30 & 1 Chronicles 21