New True part 4
It feels like a totally and completely new you. But really it is the true you emerging from under all the... stuff... the world has thrown at you. Because you are IN the world, but not OF the world, right? That white stone with the name of Jesus written on it is your ticket into the Kingdom. Into experiencing the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God as we let Him live His own life of love in us, and through us, and as us. And here's the best part: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). So not only is it a return to what has always been true, but it is a shedding of all of that... stuff. Its the old man dying in a watery grave. And it means that we no longer have to drag around the corpse of that dead old man. Look at Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." The sin, or unbelief. or accepting that we are who the world says we are instead of who God says we are, has been taken away. The old things have passed away. And because of that--because JESUS did that on the cross--we can lay them aside. We can let them go. We can stop letting our mistakes, or our past, define us. We can let our new (TRUE) nature define us. Because while actions ARE important... what you do flows from what you believe. And behavior modification is a stop-gap at best. Right believing is what produces right living. Because if you're trying to live right so that you can stop being a sinner and start being a sait... man... good luck. But if you know that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, even when you mess up, that's when you can keep moving upward and God-ward. That's when you can learn from your mistakes and grow. Maturation is a process. Seeds are planted, but they take time to grow. And that's ok. That's the part of this never-ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter (which is the heart) that gives us peace. We don't have to have it figured out right this very second. We literally have all the time in the world. So don't get discouraged if you look in the mirror and you still see blemishes. Because the truth is Jesus washed you with the Word (which is love) and with His blood. He presented you to Himself WITHOUT spot, wrinkle, blemish, or any such thing. So even if you're still dealing with it (or even struggling with it), be of good cheer. Because it has already been dealt with. Taken care of. Its not who you are. So you don't HAVE to deal with it, or struggle with it. You can lay it aside. Let go and let God, right? He already did His part. He gave you His name--His character, His authority, His nature. He gave you His Spirit--the love receptor, the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth... the truth that God is love and He loves you. He gave you... Himself. You were created in His image, and then on the cross you were conformed into the image of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's the true you. The hidden man of the heart, who is no longer hidden. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Revealed glory. His glory on display. His LOVE on display. Everything He is is everything you are. As He is, so are we in this world. Jesus. God in the flesh, love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body!