All Things New part 5
The cry of our heart: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). God's promise to us: "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19). This all happened on the cross. The cry of our heart was answered when God gave us HIS heart. He made us new. A new heaven and a new earth. A new mind (or heart) and a new body. New on the inside equals new on the outside. Because what's in you is what comes out of you. What you know, and believe, and confess, is what manifests. The important thing to realize though, is that while (in a sense) God is constantly renewing things... in a grander sense He has ALREADY made all things new. The kingdoms of the world ARE BECOME (have become, and are becoming) the Kingdom(s) of Christ. When we look in the mirror with an unveiled face and behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into that same image from glory to glory. We start at glory. We start at, "complete in Him." Because let me ask you this: How much more perfect could you be than to have the Perfect One living inside you? Our perfection (or completeness) doesn't come from our behavior. You don't act a certain way and then say, "Wow, I must finally be complete. I turned over that new leaf. I've arrived." No. You realize that you ARE complete, you realize that you HAVE arrived, and then you stop trying and start resting. When you stop trying to be Jesus, that's when Jesus can be Himself in and through and as you. I'm telling you, nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. Nobody can live up to the standard of the Law of Moses because the Law demands perfection without being able to produce it. The Law is the Old Covenant... and if ALL THINGS have been made new then that means we aren't IN the Old Covenant anymore. The cross crossed out the Old (fulfilled it and put it away) and brought forth the New. And the New Covenant IS the new creation that we are in Him. The New Covenant is: Jesus took away your sins, and forgave your sins, and forgot about your sins... so you're no longer a sinner. There is no condemnation in Christ. There is no OLD in Christ. All of that stuff passed away. The Old Man was buried when Jesus was buried, and when Jesus rose back to life ONLY the New Man rose with Him and as Him. We have to let go of that which is dead and buried. We have to lay aside the sin (or unbelief) that so easily besets us. And, because of the finished work of the cross, we CAN let it go. We CAN lay it aside. We CAN keep our affections on things above and not on things on the earth. Because WE have been made new. And all of creation is just groaning and waiting for us to manifest. For what's in us (the light, the Spirit, the fire, the LOVE that IS God) to come out of us like a river of living water. And guess what: If all your life you've yearned for love... and now you know and believe that you are loved... that's new. That's the whole point. That's what it's all about. The love of God filling us to overflowing so that we can BE loved and so that we can love one another WITH that love!