New Creation in Christ
Biblical bases:
1. Jas 1:18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
2. I Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
3. John 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God.
4. Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
These 5 verses clearly reveals that God, through His grace and mercy, in His sovereign plan, according to His will, gifted us with salvation through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We become new creation in Christ through the sovereign grace of God acting upon our hearts as we hear the word of God through the hearing of faith through the gospel of God's salvation.
The center-piece of this gospel message is Jesus Christ. He is the God-man, reconciling fallen humanity to God. The jewel of the crown is Christ Himself. In an unutterable eternal mystery, God chose to unite Himself, through the mighty work of His Spirit, through Christ Jesus, with humanity, to 'bring many sons to glory'.
These new creation now can only live 'by faith, and not by sight' (2 Cor 5:7). These new creation continuously partake of the 'divine nature', partaking of the Holy Spirit freely given by Christ as His promise to all who would believe upon Him. It began with grace, is sustained by grace, and finished by grace, all flowing from the heart of Christ, as mediated by the Holy Spirit as part of the Father's plan.
Amen!
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