What an appropriate time to mention Gods creation. The spring season is here, and we can start to see life as new as we look outside and see the beautiful blue sky, hear the beautiful songs of the birds, and experience the aroma of flowers. How about smelling fresh rain when it falls, feeling the warmer air and actually not having snow in the forecast. There's nothing else quite like Gods creation, is there? There's much to be said about creation, how mankind can make gourmet recipies but actually not create the food itself. We can bake the chicken or beef, but not actually create it, or we can plant, water, and fertilize the flowers but not actually make it grow.
You may have heard me tell this story once before, but I thought it is fitting here. There was once a scientist that was absolutely obsessed with the idea of creating a human being like God did. The scientist pondered, studied, and calculated for years until he hit a 'eureka' moment. So the scientist went before God and said "God, I have discovered it! I know how mankind was created and how you did it." God replied, "Go forth." So the scientist gathered together all his materials, lab equipment, books and then went outside with his bucket to dig up some dirt, then suddenly Gods voice reigned from heaven, "No you don't! Get your own dirt!"
If we really think about it, we are actually witnessing a miracle every single day in God's creation. From how the human baby is formed to the trees dropping their leaves in the fall, and bring new growth in the spring. So much to consider when thinking about creation.
But there is another part of word creation that we tend to overlook and sometimes ignore. The new creation in us. The book of Genesis tells us "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
Without looking too much further into the first few chapters of Genesis, we find where the fall of mankind began. Yes, it started in the garden of Eden, and even though God said, "behold everything that He had made was very good", yet God's creation failed to follow suit in obedience, moral living, and righteous behavior, hence the fall of mankind.
So if we were to look into how something can be fixed or created new, how could it happen? When our computers are broken or our cars are damaged, we send them to the shop to become like new! When we have a broken bone or a terminal illness, we go to the hospital to repair, treat or cure the condition. We always have ideas or ways in our minds to help restore what was lost to us at one point in time. Life itself can not be replaced, but in today's reading, it shines true that our spirit can be renewed.
In the reading today with Pauls letter to the people of Corinth, we find a suitable review of creation. "Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
We hear Paul telling us that there is actually a separation between flesh and spirit. Paul even gives Christ as being known to us in flesh, but we know him no longer as flesh. The word creation (ktis'-is) in Greek is defined as creating something from nothing. It's a hard concept to swallow in this earthy vessel, but if you hear Jesus’ response to Nicodemus, it may help. "Jesus responded and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus *said to Him, "How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit."
Being born into this created world does not give us rights to Gods favor. Nor does living in a Christian home, reading your daily devotional, attending church regularly. It all boils down to the statement of being born again, becoming a new creation!
But just as Jesus stated to Nicodemus, its not physical birth he is referring to, but spiritual. Even though as I stated earlier how the beautiful scenery of God's creation is mesmerizing, it's the Spirit of the living God in his people that is actually what matters most! It is the newness God gives to us when we fail and yet get redeemed. But some people may ask, how can this be so? Listen to the Psalms tell us, "How blessed is he whose wrong doing is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord does not take into account, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my guilt; I said, "I will confess my wrong doings to the Lord"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin."
Being a new creation is not easy to understand. But there is a flip side to this coin. If you are NOT a new creation, you are wasting away. As you just heard in Psalms. Sin is the one thing that can keep us from actually being renewed.
For us to be a new creation, we need to be what the bible calls' Dead to Sin, Alive to God.' "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life."
I would like you to remember what God said to the serpent as being the first revelation of God "So the Lord God said to the serpent, you are cursed!" This marks the beginning of how sin will be dealt with and punishment esteemed. If we are not of God, we are cursed. Just like if we are not in Christ and Christ not in us, we are not his new creation. If our lives do not hold the Holy Spirit's flame, we do not belong to God. If we bless with our mouth and curse with our heart, we are not of God.
What must we do then? Listen again to Psalms, "I did not hide my guilt; I said, "I will confess my wrong doings to the Lord"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin." When we openly and willingly confess our sins, then we start down the road to being a new creation.
The other concept about us being a new creation, is taking off the old and putting on the new. This is a more personal and hard realization to accept, as it stretches into more of the interpersonal relationships of who we are versus what we are. A perfect example of this is our Baptism. When we receive baptism, we acknowledge an outer symbol of a inward decision to die to sin, take off the old life, and put on the new creation of God. When I read about Jesus's trip into the desert immediately after being baptized, I wonder how powerful Jesus really was in the spirit. Its exactly like what we have today, immediately when we accept Christ as our Lord and Master. We have the power of God with us.
What newness of spirit was in us when we accept Christ as our Lord and Master, that compelled us to be more Christlike. When old things pass away and all things become new, we see a new concept to things. A newness nothing else can muster.
I remember hearing a man tell me and my wife one time, he had a great passion for missionary work. He prepared all kinds of things from his finances to where he was going to live, all because he felt he wanted to do the work. Well when the time came to flip the switch per-say, everything fell apart. He finally came to discover the ambition he was experiencing was his own and not of God. He had a desire, but not where God needed him. The new creation God places in each of us, is only suitable for us when God is ready to deliver and when we are ready to receive it. You can be baptized a dozen times, but it only takes one time when your heart and spirit is ready and willing to receive it.
In closing I pray that you can receive the concept of being a new creation in Christ to the point of knowing if our lives are not made new, nothing will change for the better. In the book of Romans it tells us “we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Putting things to death in our old life is vital to living Godly lives. For example, if a person was always a thief, cheat, lier, then when they truly and genuinely accept Christ, they are redeemed and their newness will be lifted up as Christ comes to give us the strength needed to resist those urges. Does that mean we will no longer have the old nature amongst us? Not at all! Infact scripture tells us time and time again, sin will always be present while we live in this world. Pain is always at our door step. Being saved and being Gods child, does NOT exempt us from having sin in our lives, this side of the grave.
Let me give you one of many examples. In reading from Chapter 20 in Numbers, “Take the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink. So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Those were called the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.”
Moses, the leader of the people of Israel, Gods faithful servant, was denied access to the promised land because of his sin. That still applies today! We are both blessed to serve the living God and cursed when sin is accepted and curessed in our presence. Rest assured my friends, God will NOT be mocked. He desires us in fellowship and Love, to be in constant communication with his children, and even though there are times we fail, he is ever faithful as we strive to become the new creation he desires us to be. Amen