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. 

LIVING A LIFE WORTH LIVING

Before I begin I would like to ask u all one question - Apart from God who is the most important person you know?  Does anybody have the answer?

Well the answer is – YOU ARE. You are the most important person and the most worthwhile person you know.  You should not only know this but you should also know that you are important to those around you and most importantly to God himself.

Have you ever wondered how the world around you would have been if you never existed?

Think about it. How would your family have been without you, who would have married your wife and would your child have ever existed? What impact would your absence have had on the lives of those you have touched?

The magnitude of your importance on this earth cannot be over emphasised. And knowing this should help us understand even more than before how important we are in the future of these lives we affect and our Importance to God.

If we still have any doubts about how important we are, let's consider we determine the importance or worth of anything.

How many of us have had the privilege of handling or being in touch with the famous blackberry porshe phone?

Being a tech geek or junkie myself I have had the opportunity to play around with it and I must tell u that all the hype about the phone is just hype and there is nothing special about it. And to add to that it is a very ugly phone. Having said all this ordinarily the phone should be considered of little worth or importance but despite this the phone is notoriously important and a sign of prestige because one handset cost about 450,000 naira. WOW!!!.  After hearing this, whatever impression u had in mind would be changed forever. When you see the phone you would have respect for it and the person holding it.

So basically D amount people r willing to pay 4 something shows or is a sign of how important it is.

Now how much is a human life worth? Can u put a figure on it? No Sir. Let's increase the stakes abit. Am sure you would confirm that though your life's worth cannot be put into monetary terms the life of your children is worth even more than yours and if you have only one child that life is even more and more important.

So if the value of something is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it, and we have determined to an extent an approximate value of worth of an only child, if God the father himself paid the price of sacrificing his only son as ransom for us then it is clear without a shadow of doubt, uncontestably that our lives are immensely important to God and as such should be of immense importance to us also so we need to ensure we do all we can to make sure we live a life worth living, a life pleasing to God.  The bible tells is in the popular bible verse John 3:16 that God so loved the world that he gave us his only son.

I know some of us might be confused when I say live a life worth living or a life pleasing to God. Fortunately the bible never leaves us without answer and so the bible gives us a clear picture of a life that is pleasing to God.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalm 35:27

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

3 John 1:2

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

(To name a few)

So one of the ways by which we can live a life worth living or a life pleasing to God is to live a prosperous life not just materially but as the word tells us in health also and by our souls being prosperous.

So what exactly is prosperity? Prosperity is defined as wellness and wholeness that is nothing missing and nothing broken in every area of our lives including our finances. In Bible verses this is written for us to clearly see...2Cor.8:9...“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” So God’s will for us is to prosper.

Many people have been struggling with various issues and are in desperate need of the touch of God in our lives. The prosperity that God so much wants for us. They are tired of trying various things all to no avail. The reason for this is that in the presence of God they are dead,  they do not exist.

We have to understand that we are born sinners because of the disobedience of Adam and there is nothing we can do to change this. No matter the amount of good works we do, even if we never commit an act of sin in our lives. The bible tells us all our good deeds are like filthy rags.  And since we are all born sinners we are damned to death as the bible also clearly tells us in romans 8:23 that D wages of sin is death.

The issue here, what we need to understand is that death here does not refer to death as we know it as in to cease to live but death as a separation from God. And if we understand that God is the source of everything good then we would understand the magnitude of this separation in our lives.

So what then is D solution?

How do we become alive to God and begin to live D life we r meant to live?

The solution is so simple that it baffles me that more people having known this do not take advantage of this opportunity. To begin to live a prosperous life both here on earth and for eternity there is only one thing to do.

The bible says in Mark 10:29-30 that: And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,³⁰ But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

This makes it clear that the misconception that we would only be rewarded and live prosperous lives in the life to come is a bold faced lie as the bible tells us that we shall receive a hundred fold in this time………and in the world to come eternal life. So reward both on earth right now and in the world to come.

We are told the one and only way to receive this free gift of salvation in Romans 10:9-10

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

It is that simple – all you need to do

•        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 you do that you will receive Him into your life and you will be born again.

Finally before I end I would like to tell u guys a short story because I know in our hearts we all would like to take advantage of this but some fears of what we might miss are holding us back. Each of us within us know what these fears are and I assure you I had these fears myself but when you give your life to Christ you find out it is much better than you could ever imagine.

The story is about how some African monkeys are trapped by hunters. It can be very difficult to catch these intelligent creatures, so hunters have used a more inventive method…trapping a monkey by enticing him.  A small jar is placed at the base of a tree with nuts or other items which may attract the monkey’s curiosity. 

The opening of the jar allows the monkey to place his hand in, but when he tries to withdraw it, he is unable to do so without letting go of the contents of the jar.  Believe it or not, some monkeys will stay there with their hand in the jar until the hunter comes back to trap them! 

They are trapped because they are unwilling to let go of something they are doing which is working against them.

I am sorry to say that many people are like these monkeys caught with their hands in the jar unwilling to let go of the things of the world. Even though they know and it is clear to them that the path would only lead to destruction. They hold on fast to it seeing imminent danger coming but refuse to let go.

Please do not be like these monkeys. Let go of whatever u r holding or whatever is holding u and become born again.

If you are tired of living the life God did not intend for you to live, If you want to be alive in the presence of God, if you can now see how important you are to God and understand that prosperity is what you were made to enjoy. Then pray the prayer below and give your life to Christ once and for all. Become a born again believer.

HEAVENLY FATHER, I COME TO YOU IN THE NAME JESUS. YOUR WORD SAYS, “WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, SHALL BE SAVED” AND “IF I SHALL CONFESS WITH MY MOUTH, THE LORD JESUS AND SHALL BELIEVE IN MY HEART THAT GOD HAS RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, I SHALL BE SAVED.

I THEREFORE DECLARE JESUS AS MY LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOUR. I PLEDGE MY ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS AND JESUS ALONE. I THANK YOU FATHER FOR SAVING ME. I AM BORN AGAIN. IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AMEN.

Praise the Lord. You are now born again. Welcome to the fold of God.  Please if you gave your life to Christ right now we would like to hear from you. You can send a mail to reverendwalter@gmail.com or go to The Super Church Group on facebook. Leave a message and someone would be in touch with you. May the lord continue to bless you.