A New Creation

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called A New Creation. Let’s turn to 2 Cor 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Let’s turn to 1 Pet 1:1-5, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Verse 13-25, Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.  And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and it’s flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.  Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. 

The Gospel is that God so loved the world that He sent his only beloved Son to come into this world and live as a man; to be tempted in every way as we are, yet He never yielded; He never sinned. That’s why John the Baptist called Him the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. So Jesus, because He never sinned, because He was tempted as a man, He was able to offer Himself on the Cross for our sins. He literally paid the price for our sins. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Sin is the transgression of the Law; God’s holy Law that He gave. And the Law was given that all the world might become guilty before God. But God gave His Son to deliver us from all our sins; to deliver us from sin. He took away our sins; they were laid on Him on the Cross. He died for our sins, He was buried, and on the third day the Father raised Him from the dead; justified Him from all that sin that was laid on Him; justified us; those of us who will repent of our sins and believe on Him and be baptized into his death. When you’re baptized in water, you’re baptized into his death; you’re buried with Him, and you’re raised with Him in newness of life; you become a new creation in Christ. Jesus Christ comes to dwell in your heart by faith. In Rom 10 it says, If you confess Jesus as your Lord, and believe that God raised Him from the dead you shall be saved. In Gal 4 it says, Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba, Father. Jesus Christ comes to dwell in your heart. Jesus Christ comes to dwell in you! If you are born again; born of the Spirit, Jesus Christ is in you; you are in Him. You belong to Him. He purchased you with his own Blood. He sacrificed his life. The Bible says He loved us and He gave Himself for our sins; He washed us from our sins in his own Blood. We belong to Him; we are not our own. We are a new creation in Jesus Christ. 

Then He gave us the Holy Spirit; that we may be led by the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. Jesus told them before then to wait in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. Then you shall be my witnesses. The Bible says in Romans 8, They that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. So what are we? A new creation in Jesus. Jesus Christ is in us. We have repented; we have turned from our sins. His Blood washed away all our past sins. Now we are led by the Holy Spirit. In 1 John it talks about if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. So we are walking in the light with Him; continuing in the light. Jesus said, If you continue in my Word you will be my disciples indeed, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. So we are continuing in his Word, in the Holy Spirit. In 1 John 2:27 it says, You have no need that any man teach you; but the  anointing, the Holy Spirit that you have received dwells in you and He teaches you all things and is truth and is no lie. So the Holy Spirit teaches you the Word as you continue in the Word; continue reading the Word of God and asking God for understanding, He will reveal it to you by his Spirit and teach it to you. And then He’ll lead you to walk in it, and as you do that, the Word of God is washing you and cleansing you. You’re being cleansed; you’re being sanctified by the Spirit and by the Word of God. You’re becoming a new creation; you are a new creation, but you’re being perfected; you’re being sanctified; you’re being washed, as you continue to yield to the Holy Spirit. You learn to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Jesus said, If any man will follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me every day. This is not religion! This is a new creation in Jesus Christ!; following Him, not man’s religion, not man’s doctrines, not man’s rules and regulations. It’s following Jesus. It’s being led by the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out, Amen! John the Baptist said, I baptize you with water, but there’s one coming after me whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire! And if you read through the Book of Acts: the disciples heard the Gospel, they repented of their sins, they were baptized; their sins were washed away in water; they were baptized for the remission of sins; they were baptized into the death of Jesus; raised with Him in newness of life; and then the Apostles, in many cases, laid hands on them and prayed for them and they received the Holy Spirit; they spoke with other tongues. Sometimes they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and then they were baptized in water. But they received the Holy Spirit and they were led by the Holy Spirit. They that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. 

Let’s turn to Rom 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. You were not saved to walk in the flesh and go to Heaven. That is a lie of the devil. That is a lie of man’s religion. That is false grace that is being taught, and has been taught for many years. The righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us who do not walk according to  the flesh, but according to the Spirit. You were saved to become a new creature in Christ; born again; Jesus Christ dwelling in you; you abiding in Him; you keeping his Words; you being filled with the Holy Spirit and being led by the Holy Spirit to do the will of the Father. Verse 5, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, do you understand that? If you walk in a carnal mind, if you walk according to your carnal mind you will die. but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God. You see, the Holy Spirit will lead you to fulfil the righteous requirement of the Law. You don’t even need to think about the Law. The Holy Spirit will never lead you to do anything contrary to the Word of God. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We live to please God. We have come to God. God has saved us. God sacrificed his Son on that Cross to save us. You know what He saved us from? His wrath! His wrath is going to send many people to the Lake of Fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever because they would not repent of their sins; they would not turn to Him and receive his love, and receive the sacrifice of his Son. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Paul said, I’m crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. If you were baptized in water, in faith in Jesus Christ, you’re crucified with Him. You no longer live. He lives in you. You follow Him; every day you take up your cross and you follow Him, and He leads you in his good way, and sometimes it means suffering, suffering. You must suffer for his name’s sake that you may be a partaker of his resurrection. Amen! Thankyou Lord! Thankyou Lord!  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. That’s the resurrection. Therefore, brethren, 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. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 

So what does the devil tell you? You won’t die. You won’t die; you’re under grace. You’re saved. You can live in the flesh and go to Heaven. Jesus took care of everything. That’s not what the scripture says. The scripture says, If you live according to the flesh you will die. And if you look in Galatians 5, it talks about the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. If any of those works of the flesh are continuing in your life, and you’re not even interested in repenting, you are living according to the flesh, and you will die, eternally. Jesus said, in Matthew 7, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Not everyone who comes to Me and says, Lord, Lord will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but they that do the will of my Father. How do we do the will of the Father? We take up our cross every day. We lay down our own wills. We yield to the Spirit of God. We are a new creation in Christ. Jesus Christ is in us. He’s leading us by the Spirit to do the will of the Father, and we follow Him. We hear his voice. We follow Him. Amen! And He leads us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake to purify us and cleanse us, to perfect us, to sanctify us. He’s creating a holy people; sanctified by the Word of God, by the Holy Spirit, Amen! Washed in the Blood of the Lamb white as snow! Amen! Holiness, without which no man will see the Lord. Peter said, Be you holy as He is holy. None of these things that I am talking about are impossible. What makes it hard is when we don’t want to yield to God. We want to do what we want to do. That’s what’s hard. And so we have to lay ourselves down. We have to be honest with God and say, Lord, I don’t want to do this! You know I’m stubborn. You know I want to do what I want to do. But I see that that’s not right; that I’m going to perish if I won’t surrender my life to you; and come to Him. Surrender everything to Him. Yield to Him. He loves you! He proved it. He gave Himself for you on that Cross! That Cross; that took place 2,000 years ago! That’s not a religious fairy tale. Jesus came here and loved you and gave Himself for you. Turn to Him now with all your heart, and become a new creation in Christ, and let Him lead you by his Spirit to do the will of the Father. And for the things that you have done in obedience to God you will receive eternal rewards! God loves you. God bless you.