Thursday: A New Creation
The great news of the gospel centers around the death of Jesus as our substitute.
Image © Bill Osborne from GoodSalt.com
He took our sins upon Himself, bearing in Himself the penalty that would, otherwise, justly be ours. As we have seen, too, the whole idea of Christ as our substitute, dying for the sins of the world, is inextricably linked to the Creation story. Christ came to destroy death, which is an alien intruder in God’s creation. If evolutionary theory were the chosen way that God used to create humans, it would mean, then, that death, far from being an aberration and an enemy, would instead be part of God’s original plan for humanity. Indeed, death would play an important role in the way in which God created us. It’s no wonder, then, that Christians must reject theistic evolution as a viable way of understanding the Creation story.
The Genesis Creation account, however crucial in helping us to understand Christ’s death in our behalf, also helps us to understand another aspect of the plan of salvation, that of God’s work of creation in us, as we partake of His holiness now.
Read Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26, 27; Colossians 3:10; and 2 Corinthians 5:17. What promises are given to us here that are linked with the concept of God as Creator, as revealed in Genesis 1 and 2?
A new heart is a creation that only God can do. We cannot do it ourselves but must depend on the same Creator who formed the world and created our first parents. David recognized his need and asked God to solve the problem by an act of creation.
Indeed, the person who is “in Christ” is a new creation. The old way of thinking must be taken away and replaced with a newly created mind. Our new mind is created for good works, in accordance with God’s will. This kind of creation is a supernatural process, accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s creative power, as shown in the original Creation, gives us confidence that God’s creative power is able to change our lives and to bring us back into relationship with Him.
How have you experienced what it means to be a new creation in Christ? What does this mean, in a daily, practical sense? What is it that changes in the life of someone who has had this experience?
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We need to Ask God daily to create in us a new heart. We next Believe He is our Great Physician who can take a stony spirit out of us and replace it with a meek and gentle spirit, just as easily as He can create a tree, bird, or lion. Last we Claim His promises. Psalms 48:14, Isaiah 55. Ez 11:19,
Ps.91:1, Ps. 51:10....
Today's lesson brings to view in my mind the fact of God's wonderful creative power which reveals the power of His Word. The issue of theistic evolution has also been brought out in such a manner as to reveal that this is inconsistent with the creation story. If we believe that God created us using evolutionary processes then we might as well believe that it is NOT possible for God to create new hearts within us and renew a right spirit within us UNLESS this happens gradually. In other words then the question becomes at what point does the new heart become complete? Will it take a day, a week, a month, a year or perhaps the entire lifetime? I believe in God's creative power wherewith He spoke and it stood fast and commanded and it stood firm. This is the same power He uses to restore healing where health has been lost and to recreate pure hearts within. Thank God for this power which He is so willing to exercise on behalf of those who put their faith and trust in Him. Blessings!
Your encouraging comments remind me of our need to look to Jesus for full salvation and of His ability to do more than we can imagine, more quickly than we might think possible. I had not seen the parallel of evolution with a gradual "salvation". This reminds me of those who quote "sanctification is the work of a lifetime", as if that meant a hope to overcome sin someday before we die. God can give complete victory now, if we will completely submit to Him now. On the other hand we will always have room to grow in grace, to become stronger in the Lord and more reflect His beautiful character.
Its very encouraging to hear such words of Christ while we are living in the evolutionary world. all we need is God's intervention to do what He is capable of and what he is known of (recreating) as the potter does in Jer 18. all we need is a clean new heart and steadfast spirit. also the new mind to survive the doctrines of this world
I still think that when God brought death after the first sin it was and is still good for us. Firstly death stops us from sinning more and more. Death brings pain to an end suppose someone was suffering from cancer that is a great relief. Thank God He always gives us the best all the time.