“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.” [Acts 17:28]Please, accept my sincere apologies for being away for so long; I am sure you forgive. From here on, I would like to emphasize the importance of your comments; we need to bless one another. Let it be a mutual improvement of everyone that reads. Share something that’ll bless the writer and other readers as well. God bless you as you do.
While I thought about where to start, it occurred to me that I should start where it ‘started,’ that is where I began thinking about the subject of this post. A short while ago, while reading Rhapsody of Realities, I came across the scripture where Paul described the rapture, saying “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” [1 Thessalonians 4:16]. It immediately caught my attention that the dead that will rise are those that departed this life in Christ. “My God,” I thought, “that’s all the qualification that’s needed.” So, all that matters to God is that they were in Christ?
In my search with the HolySpirit, I began to discover several scriptures that either mentioned “in Him,” “in Christ,” or some variation thereof. God is not concerned or perturbed by men’s sins; in fact, He is not currently holding anybody in the world’s sins against them [2 Corinthians 5:19]. Instead, we tend to be the ones concerned for Him. There are two men in this world even as you read this: the man in Christ and the unregenerate man (outside Christ). God is only interested in the former. And, here’s where it gets interesting. He’s not concerned about the law, ethnic groups, or religion; all He cares about is the new man in Christ.
Galatians 6:15 says “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature,” iterating the same thought. Circumcision, in Paul’s language, referred to the law and all that had to do with it – the religiosity it brought. God was saying through Paul that He does not care about any of those anymore.
Questioning whether or not a Christian should do this or that wrong thing is asking the wrong set of questions; it’s the unregenerate man that needs to know whether or not to smoke. It’s the unregenerate man that needs to know whether or not to deny himself certain obvious pleasures, because it is in him to desire and to do those things. In the gospel, Jesus and all the Apostles were announcing that there is a new man on earth today. That new man has his own characteristics. The real question anyone should therefore be asking is: who is this new man?”
When you begin asking that question, you’re really ready to live. In the opening scripture, we read that “we are also his (God’s) offspring,” meaning that this new man has inherited God’s nature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,” letting us know how to become the new man; it’s by being in Christ. And, how does one get in Christ? All you have to do is accept what Jesus did on your behalf by confessing so, and you are instantly found in Him – relocated into hiding in His finished works till you cannot be seen anymore.
There’s so much to say on this topic, but I would let everyone contribute and complete the subject (if at all possible) in the comments section. But, remember this: the new man is sin-free and is a product of God’s love. My local church Pastor once reminded us that parents don’t necessarily favor the child that always does right. Rather, they favor the one that talks with them and that is confident in their love – that child that is bold to ask anything and bold to receive forgiveness when he does wrong. God is the same way! Don’t try to please God with your right-doing; it will yield nothing. Jesus already did right on your behalf. Now, enjoy it in Him!
God bless you!
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