Knowledge is Power part 2
Here's a saying that I like a lot: "Don't worry about mistakes. Learn from them. When you know better, you can do better." And when we apply this to the finished work of the cross it takes on even a deeper, more powerful meaning. Because when we know better WHO WE ARE, we can more naturally BE who we are! Look at Colossians 3:9-10, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." And the part I love the most is the PAST TENSE. Seeing that ye HAVE put off the old man. Basically, Paul is saying, "You're a new man. Start acting like it. You know the truth. Stop lying to each other (and yourself)." The other part I love the most is the secret to being renewed. Remember in Romans 12:2 Paul writes, "And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." See, WE don't renew our minds. JESUS did that when He gave us HIS mind. We HAVE the mind of Christ. What we ought to do is LET the mind of Christ that's already in us BE in us. And we do that through the knowledge of the One whose mind it is! We be not conformed to the world when we understand that we have been conformed to the image of God's only begotten Son. We BE who we are when we KNOW who we are. What (or who) we see is what (or who) we be! When we look into the mirror with an unveiled face we see the glory of the Lord. Because we literally SEE the Lord. Because He is in us. And then we are changed into that same image (of glory) FROM glory TO glory. By little and little. Here a little, there a little. Baby steps. Making mistakes and learning from them. Very rarely does somebody know how to do something new perfectly the first time. Often we have to do it wrong before we can do it right. But knowledge is power. When we know better we can do better. And there is no better knowledge than EXPERIENTIAL knowledge. When you can say, "I've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt," then you REALLY know what you're talking about. That's what a witness does: He shares what he has experienced. And we are Christ's witnesses, right? That's the New Commandment, right? Love another as Jesus has loved you. Share the love you've experienced. Because you can't give what you don't have. How could you? And you can only give what you do have. What you KNOW and BELIEVE you have. You can't be someone you're not. No matter how hard you try. What you believe about yourself--either what the world tells you, or what the Word of the Lord tells you--defines your reality. If you believe you're a "sinner" that's what you're going to act like. But if you believe you are the righteousness of God in Christ... that's WHO you're going to act like. Not in a trying to copy Him, or emulate Him way. But in the I am who I am and I know who I am way. When you know that you have a new nature--you've put off the old man and put on the new man (which is a concept we might look at tomorrow more fully)--then you don't have to try to overcome an old nature. When you know who you are, you don't have to try to be someone you're not. You can be strong IN THE LORD and in the power of HIS might. Because that's who you are. Who you are in Christ is who Christ is in you!