Tag: Bible Truth

All New

Iris Godfrey

A New Creation – thoughts on 2 Corinthians 5:17.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” NKJV

This verse is the theme of our “New Creation Covenant” course on Tuesday evening in the Institute. Also I preached this morning at my church (New Heart Ministries) using this as my main scripture. So it is presently very much in my thoughts.

I think every Christian would say they believe this verse, but I know I have lived much of my life, as a believer, never really grasping the consequences of this verse being true. The word translated “created” is translated well. It is a word used for construction projects when it is built new from the ground up. So we are an entirely new creation. The word also means that we are the original formation. So it takes us back in spiritual DNA form to the New Adam – Christ Jesus our Lord.

Many, including me, have often taught that all that is true of our inner man or “spirit” which was completely made new. However, we must then learn how to manage our old man of flesh because that was not made new. Colossians 2:11 clearly states “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” That old man was a part of the “foreskin” of our heart that was circumcised at our new birth in Him. So that is no longer a part of us.

So truly all things are new! The word “all” is not technically in the Greek text that I am using, but it is inferred in the other words. So using “all” in English, translates the passage properly. All really does say it well.

This is a re-adjusting of our thinking in this passage. He really did make all things new. Now to embrace that new identity in our Lord and begin to embrace the fullness of His work that has brought us into His family.

Lord, thank you!

We Turn Our Hearts . . .

Iris Godfrey
sunrise-blue-clog
I have been pondering the fact of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. Since the Lord Jesus has eliminated every definition of distance between us and because we have, by the fact of this indwelling, been drawn into the fellowship of the Trinity (John 17:20-23), what does the Scripture mean when it says to “Draw near” (James 4:8) since it is impossible to get any nearer?
I know we are all limited by our language, regardless of what language that might be. So the writers of our New Testament were also very limited by what they could conceptually place within a text. When it comes to pondering the things of God in the Spirit, truth is so marvelously grand, that our words fail in our attempts to share it. Remember in the book of Revelation how the Apostle John was always saying, “It was like…” simply because there were no words (regardless of his language) to adequately express what he was trying to convey. He was experiencing “picture” after “picture” in seemingly a rapid-fire movement (much like our short video’s today). So language failed him. So it is with us – we dwell in “It was like….” often.
I am thinking that the title of this post gets close to how we can effectively and progressively think and work. “We turn our hearts.” He is always with me and in me. However, I am not always tuned into His voice nor His presence. Oh yes, I know my Lord Jesus is here with me, but it takes an act of my will to turn my heart and my mind that direction. This is His plan. He does not force us to belong to Him, nor does He force us to fellowship in Him, once the birth into His family and heart occurs.
So to “draw near” would still mean, to “draw near” with the understanding that to do so simply means to turn my heart to Him and turn my ears and mind into a listening stance. We can always hear and always fellowship.
So Lord we turn our hearts to hear yours and to dwell sweetly within our home in your heart. Here we worship and share.
Next post: Sharing in His heart, or what we commonly call “prayer.”