Continued
from the last episode…
Text
Of Interest:
“I
have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to
come.”
Jn 16:12-13
“Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
1Cor 2:13
Case Study Text:
“All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.”
2Tim 3:16-17 (KJV)
The believer becomes a vessel unto God
and is used to demonstrate God’s power, wisdom and knowledge to the world and
all principalities and powers (Eph 3:10). This is the purpose of God for man
that all men should come to the knowledge of Him and acknowledge that He is
their creator and that He can live in them and work through and in them.
Therefore, the New Testament is all about this purpose which is how God can
come and dwell in man and express Himself through man. The New Testament
initiates man as the temple of God, in this new order God does not dwell in
temples made by hands (Acts 17:24 – 25). The New Testament is divinity in Humanity
which means man living the God kind of life, that exceptional life that is not
noticed in the ordinary life of a man on the street. In this life the only
thing permanent is frequent occurrence of extraordinary things. Things that are
not normal become normal.
That is to say the believers’ life, I
mean a man rooted in Christ, does not necessarily align with the normal life of
being subjected to the things which nature imposes on people. This is possible
because of the power of the indwelling Spirit of God in them. He has been made a
partaker of God’s divine nature, a nature that does not recognize the existence
of the natural causes or laws and does not exist within the vagaries of the forces
of nature. The natural man is subjected to the things nature can impose on him,
the desires and lust of the flesh does not control the man that has his
existence in God, though the urge may come, but because of the inherent power
of the Holy Spirit in him he overcomes (1 Jn 3:9).
The life of the New Testament man is
beyond the comprehension of any man except the ones who are of the same spiritual
family with him or her. Their life looks very strange because it doesn’t comply
with what is obtainable in the world system. So they are seen in the world but
they are not of the world, which implies that they don’t think the way the
world thinks and behaves (Jn 17:16). The New Testament therefore, is a
testament that God has initiated in order to restore man to his lost glory. The
sin of Adam brought all men under the subjection of power of sin, and as a result
no one is able or has the capacity to live above sin. The continuation of life
of sin means living a life in Adam and in Adam the glory of man departed as a
result of sin (Rom 3:23).
However, in Christ is the restoration
of this glory, because the Christ came and fulfilled that which Adam couldn’t
do, and in this fulfillment is the restoration of man’s glory. The restoration
of man’s glory means the establishment of God’s righteousness in man. This
implies that a life in Christ is a life of righteousness because those who live
their lives in Christ have received the forgiveness of their sins and no longer
come short of the glory of God. This is an act of God Himself (Rom 3:21 – 22,
24 – 25, 1 Jn 2:12). Here, the Grace of God epitomizes the will of God by
teaching man how to live God’s kind of life and by this means taking the nature
of God. It depicts that righteousness should be a gift from God and not a
reward from Him to man, because there is no way man could have met the standard
of God in order to merit His reward.
The New Testament therefore, is that
initiative God has taken in order for Him to become everything man will ever
need and desire in life. So in Christ, God has become our righteousness, our
wisdom, our sanctification and our redemption (1 Cor 1:30, 2 Cor 5:21, Eph
1:11). He took it upon Himself to take up our sins and suffered for us, so that
we cannot go through the pains and punishment for our sins. This was not done
as a result of our confession or wailing but by His infinite mercy His Grace was
made manifest to deliver us and crown us with His own righteousness. In the New
Testament, man is rightly established in faith in Christ and by this, man has
obtained the righteousness of God and in this righteousness is the
establishment and restoration of the lost glory. Man therefore has made peace
with God because of his faith in Christ and this has brought justification to
him (Rom 5:1, 10 - 11). And by this faith he has been enabled to have access to
the grace of God and salvation is granted to him. There is no longer a wall of separation
between man and God. Praise God!
To
be continued….
Till I come your way again, keep on
basking in the Arena of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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