SPEAKING IN ECSTACY - ADDRESSING THE ONLY IMPERFECTION IN THE PERFECT NEW CREATION

THE PERFECTION OF THE NEW CREATION

When we receive salvation, it replaces the sin nature that we have and makes us new men, born again.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new.

Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to receive this salvation and become new creations. All we have to do is

   Is believe that someone (Jesus Christ) died for you

That He was raised from the dead by God

Confess Jesus to be your Lord i.e. Pledge allegiance to Him with your mouth

The moment we do this we receive Him into our lives and we become born again. We become new creations. 

So the question now is what is a new creation?

The New Creation is a new breed, a new species, someone that has never existed before. He is not refurbished or cleaned up. He is a totally new being.

The bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God’s workmanship

^{KJV 10} For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

^{AMP 10} For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), ^[a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

^{COMMON ENGLISH 10} Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

We see us being described as God’s workmanship, God’s own handiwork and God’s accomplishment. These words are not used lightly and signify the fact that we are a perfect masterpiece, God’s show piece and his accomplishment meaning we are flawless, perfect complete.

Everything God has the new creation which is us has.  The bible tells us in Genesis that we are created in God’s image we are further told in 1 John 4:17 that as he is so are we in this world. The question then is – Is God perfect? If yes then we have no choice but to believe as new creations, created in the image of God and being God’s workmanship and accomplishment we can be nothing but perfect.

In every area of our lives we are perfect and without flaws. Glory be to God. Except for one area where the bible tells us we have a weakness and thankfully also gave us the solution to this weakness and how we can circumvent being paralyzed by it.

OUR ONLY WEAKNESS

Let us take a look at Romans 8:26-27

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

²⁷ And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

It says likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities: Here the spirit the bible is referring to is the Holy Spirit. Here the bible does not refer to man the spirit it refers to the Holy Spirit helping the new creation (man the born again spirit) with his infirmities. Wait a minute – does that mean the perfect new creation, God’s excellent masterpiece, God’s accomplishment has infirmities? YES and this is the only singular infirmity the bible records the new creation as having. In every other area of life we are perfect but here the bible say we have an infirmity also referred to as a weakness, a short coming.

What are these infirmities: The bible tells us for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. This is another loaded statement and if we don’t take care the true meaning might fly over our heads. The most important word there is as we ought to. The word ought is derived from  “to owe” and is used to express obligation i.e. we do not know how to pray as we are obliged to do, as we owe it to God to pray. So it is not something we have a choice in, it is not something we do if we want and not do if we don’t want to. That’s an obligation.  We all pray we all think we know what we are praying about but the bible tells us we don’t know how to pray as we owe it to God to do. All we have been doing is if we are not praying according to the word of God is just doing our own thing.  If we take nothing away from this we must understand that when it comes to prayer we do not know what we should pray for (one) and we do not know how to pray as we ought to.

Solution: As with every other thing is life God can and will never leave us with a solution. The bible tells us we have been provided with the spirit who maketh intercessions for us.  Maketh intercession for us i.e. prays on our behalf because we are naturally incapable no matter what we do to do this for ourselves.

Jesus said in John 16:7 when talking to his disciples before his ascension -  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.  It always amazes me how the words used in the bible just hit the nail on the head for instance the word expedient not only stand for the fact that it is important but it also means it is for your own interest and not just for your interest but to give you an unfair advantage.  So it is important Jesus Christ left so that we can have an unfair advantage of the devil and his wiles by the presence of the comfort in our lives.

The word comforter was derived from the Greek word paracletus which means another of the same kind, a counselor or an advocate. The word advocate is in keeping with the job description of the Holy Spirit given in Romans 8:26 where it says the spirit would make intercessions for us i.e. speak on our behalf as is seen in the court of law. It further goes to say “with groanings which cannot be uttered …. (In our understanding) This we also see in 1 Corinthians 14:2 where the bible says - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. These mysteries are not for us to understand because the spirit speaks directly to God and not unto men as so the issue of what am I saying, does it make sense should never ever arise.

Continuing with the analogy of the court of law with the Holy Spirit being our advocate (lawyer). The following similarities can be seen:

<1.  In a court of law the client is usually seen but not heard, at times he may not even be present hence when speaking in holy ghost our input or presence is not necessarily needed that is why we see in 1 Corinthians 14:14 - For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. Meaning the discussion is between the spirit and God (Lawyer and Judge) and my understanding is unfruitful (I have no part to play in it because I do not understand anything that is going on)

2.    We also see in Romans 8:27 - And he (being the Holy Spirit) that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. This means the holy spirit searches our hearts and knows exactly what we want whether we know about it or not and puts in the best light in the presence of God according to his word. This is also exactly what happens between a client and his lawyer. The lawyer is well versed with the constitution of the land and is also well acquainted with our case and pleads our case in accordance with the laws which he is very knowledgeable in. So we see that there is no other way for us to pray the perfect will of God than through praying in the Holy Spirit.

3.     Finally even after the advocate has spoken for us or the lawyer for his clients there might be times when we feel we would still like to say something, we would still like to go into the witness box and say our peace. We want to Judge to hear from us in our own words. Paul took note of this and provided us with 1 Corinthians 14:15 where he says – “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” This tells us there might be a place for our praying in our understanding i.e. praying in our earthly tongue but this is qualified by the word “ALSO” meaning first and foremost we must pray in the holy spirit and if need be after words we can pray in earthly tongues also.

As ridiculous as it is to try and argue your case in court by yourself and communicate adequately with the Judge without adequate knowledge of the constitution and the process and procedures in the court that is the same way it is ridiculous for us to continuously try to pray in our understanding. 

CONCLUSION

What I need us to take away from the above is that we as new creations are perfect in every way except for in the area of prayer where God tells us we have an infirmity/weakness and not just that we do not know what to pray for but that we do not know how to pray as we owe it to God to do.  

So who are we to think we can pray on our own, who are we to even consider praying without praying in the Holy Spirit, who are we to even consider praying in our understanding when God himself as told us we are doing it wrong. We have been clearly told in 1 Corinthians 14:15 that if we must pray in our understanding it must be after we have prayed in the Holy Spirit.

The fear that holy spirit may not be saying exactly what we want also should be stamped out totally because the word tells that he (being the Holy Spirit) that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit (real man, hidden man), because he maketh intercession for the saints (us) according to the will of God.  So when we pray in the Holy Spirit we are praying the perfect will of God in our lives.

So henceforth I do not expect any of us to forgo praying in the spirit because every other thing is just touching the surface of prayer as we know not how to pray as we ought.