October 3, 2016 OUR PAST IS OUR PAST
Colossians 3:3: “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
We often hear that our past shapes who we are today, and there is some truth in that statement. Everyone has both pleasant and unpleasant memories of the past and many find themselves bound by the memories of past events. However, the liberating truth of scripture is that we have not just been ‘refurbished’, or improved, but have been made new-we are not who we use to be! In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” It is a spiritual giant step forward for us to believe, and accept as absolutely true that we are a new species of beings-that we have been transformed by the power of God and have been given new minds, new spirits, and new hearts. The transformation that we have undergone changes how we think, it changes our spirit, and it gives us new appetites and desires in our heart; in fact, the life that has been transformed by God is a supernatural life. As new creations, and because of our new identity, we can now reflect the very nature of God in the way we live; we can now extend genuine forgiveness; we can now express love even to the unlovely; we can now comfort those who need comforting; we can now speak words of hope to the hopeless; we can now give wise counsel; and we can now be light in a dark world. Many have had horrible experiences in the past, and it may seem impossible to be set free of these experiences, but God has the power to break us from the chains of the past that still bind us today-and He does so by making it possible to die to who we use to be and be made brand new. However, we must understand that to experience this new person that we are is not automatic, but there is a part for us to play in the process. Our part is to put on the new person, but before we can put on the new person, we must know that there is a new person to put on. This all has to do with knowing our new identity in Christ, and we come to know our new identity when the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. The obvious question then is how and when does the Holy Spirit give us revelation concerning our new identity, and what, if anything can we do to receive such revelation. Basically, at the risk of sounding overly simplistic, we become good candidates to receive revelation when we have a hunger and a desire to know God, and we read His word with an open mind and heart, being willing to believe what we read. We also must understand that even though we have come to know our identity in Christ, it is possible for us to revert back to the old self. The key is that we see putting on the new man as something we do as a way of life-day by day. We are to be continually being filled with the Spirit; walking in our new identity and not living according to the flesh. Yes, God has made us new, and He has given us His written word in which we learn of our new identity, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us to put on the new self.
Ezekiel 36:26: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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