Paul wrote in his second epistle to Corinthians, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor 5:17. Holy Spirit inspired me to write a series of articles on this new creation and this is my third post. In this post, we will see the basic building blocks or bricks (or the beginning steps) of this spiritual process, New creation. We have seen in first post that each Christian is expected to live a life pleasing to Christ, i.e. living life in Christ's way and we have seen about creation of human being and what constitutes a human in my last post.
The very first process of the new creation is salvation and it is not just a one time process and it happens throughout the life. We could say that whoever accepted Christ have been saved, are being saved and will be saved eternally. But, let's see the context of salvation that happens to a believer for the first time. I don't think any man can accept or come to Christ by himself. He should have been identified by God. One may be a Christian by birth but that doesn't mean he has gone through salvation automatically. So, we should understand, if anyone is truly a Christian, he had been through salvation not by himself but because he has been chosen by God even before the foundation of the world. Jesus said "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. In same chapter, He also told "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." John 6:44 and again in verse 65.
So, how does one get salvation? what one has to do to get the salvation? The gift of salvation is available to everyone and it is free. It is God's grace. But, for an individual to receive the salvation, he should have faith on Lord Jesus Christ and what he had done on cross for the mankind. Faith is the first step in order to receive salvation. The definition of faith is given in Hebrews 11:1 as "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." In this context, we haven't seen Jesus shedding blood on cross, or we haven't seen Father accepting Jesus sacrifice for sins of mankind, but we are believing through scriptures that Jesus has paid ransom for our sins in cross. This is what faith is all about. The second step is declaring our faith through our mouth, accepting that we are sinners and we cannot save ourselves and instead we accept God's provision for salvation, which is through the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ. We will see more on God's provision with couple of old testament examples. But, the above entire process is written in Romans 10:9-11 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
Think the grace of God as a huge water reservoir like a dam or a huge river. We can go and see the dam and the water. But, to get the water from the dam, you need to have a vessel. You should have a vessel to get water for yourselves. Just seeing is not enough. So, going to church, giving offerings and doing other church activities are like seeing the waters. But, having faith in Lord Jesus is the vessel to get the grace for ourselves. How big the vessel is that much amount of water we can draw. That's exactly why Paul writes in his letter to Ephesians, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9
Let's see the examples for God's provision. When Adam has sinned, the entire mankind has been fallen short of glory and became unrighteous and unholy in front of holy and righteous God. In last post, we have seen the fig leaves were not sufficient to cover the nakedness but God has provided clothes made of skin to cover Adam and Eve. It became very clear that God has to provide a way of salvation when it comes to restoration of mankind back with God and any other solutions that man offers won't be approved in God's presence. The first example is the incident of God's calling of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. When Isaac asked Abraham, where is the lamb for a burnt offering?, Abraham by faith knows God will provide an alternative for His son and even if he has to sacrifice Isaac, he believe God will rise Isaac from dead because God promised Abraham through Isaac, his seed will multiply. Heb 11:17-19. So, he gave a wonderful answer to Isaac that "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Gen 22:8. Finally, as Abraham said, he found a ram and he called God as Jehovah-Jireh, in the mount of the LORD, it shall be seen. Gen 22:14. How true in the mount of Golgotha, the solution is provided. Praise God. John Baptist introduced Jesus as "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29
The second example is the pass over in Egypt. When the Israelites applied the blood of the lamb on their door posts, they were saved from the plague that killed all the first born of Egyptians. The door post symbolizes the cross and all the households of Israelites who were behind those door posts were saved and they were delivered from Egypt that night. If you believe that Jesus dies for your sins on cross in your heart and confess through your mouth that He is your Lord and Savior, you are behind the door post where the lamb's blood has been sprinkled and you are saved. You are saved eternally from condemnation, hell, the clutches of devil. Not only that, you are partaker of the blessings of the Lord. As I heard in one of the sermons, the difference between mercy and grace is, mercy is the act of relieving from the eternal punishment but grace is along with relieving from eternal punishment (mercy), extending the blessings of God in such a manner that we haven't sinned at all.
Salvation is just the first step, just like a baby steps and this is essential step in a Christian life. Just remember, because as you were born Christian never meant that you were saved. One must realize and accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Faith is the first step required in us and this faith has to be started by God Himself. So, if you are touched by this post and haven't gone through salvation, it means that God Himself worked in you to realize the truth. Jesus Christ, our Lord is the author and finisher of faith. So, He has already started faith in your heart. In invite you to believe that Jesus died for you on cross, He shed His blood on cross for the remission of your sins and confess your sins and declare that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior from now on. You will see your life changing even if not immediate gradually or at some point.
We will move on to the next process of new creation which is being born again. I will explain that in my next post. All glory, honor, praise to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the holy lamb that bore of the world in Himself and created salvation through Himself. Praise God for His unspeakable gift, Lord Jesus. II Cor 9:15. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 Amen.
The very first process of the new creation is salvation and it is not just a one time process and it happens throughout the life. We could say that whoever accepted Christ have been saved, are being saved and will be saved eternally. But, let's see the context of salvation that happens to a believer for the first time. I don't think any man can accept or come to Christ by himself. He should have been identified by God. One may be a Christian by birth but that doesn't mean he has gone through salvation automatically. So, we should understand, if anyone is truly a Christian, he had been through salvation not by himself but because he has been chosen by God even before the foundation of the world. Jesus said "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. In same chapter, He also told "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." John 6:44 and again in verse 65.
So, how does one get salvation? what one has to do to get the salvation? The gift of salvation is available to everyone and it is free. It is God's grace. But, for an individual to receive the salvation, he should have faith on Lord Jesus Christ and what he had done on cross for the mankind. Faith is the first step in order to receive salvation. The definition of faith is given in Hebrews 11:1 as "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." In this context, we haven't seen Jesus shedding blood on cross, or we haven't seen Father accepting Jesus sacrifice for sins of mankind, but we are believing through scriptures that Jesus has paid ransom for our sins in cross. This is what faith is all about. The second step is declaring our faith through our mouth, accepting that we are sinners and we cannot save ourselves and instead we accept God's provision for salvation, which is through the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ. We will see more on God's provision with couple of old testament examples. But, the above entire process is written in Romans 10:9-11 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
Think the grace of God as a huge water reservoir like a dam or a huge river. We can go and see the dam and the water. But, to get the water from the dam, you need to have a vessel. You should have a vessel to get water for yourselves. Just seeing is not enough. So, going to church, giving offerings and doing other church activities are like seeing the waters. But, having faith in Lord Jesus is the vessel to get the grace for ourselves. How big the vessel is that much amount of water we can draw. That's exactly why Paul writes in his letter to Ephesians, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9
Let's see the examples for God's provision. When Adam has sinned, the entire mankind has been fallen short of glory and became unrighteous and unholy in front of holy and righteous God. In last post, we have seen the fig leaves were not sufficient to cover the nakedness but God has provided clothes made of skin to cover Adam and Eve. It became very clear that God has to provide a way of salvation when it comes to restoration of mankind back with God and any other solutions that man offers won't be approved in God's presence. The first example is the incident of God's calling of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. When Isaac asked Abraham, where is the lamb for a burnt offering?, Abraham by faith knows God will provide an alternative for His son and even if he has to sacrifice Isaac, he believe God will rise Isaac from dead because God promised Abraham through Isaac, his seed will multiply. Heb 11:17-19. So, he gave a wonderful answer to Isaac that "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Gen 22:8. Finally, as Abraham said, he found a ram and he called God as Jehovah-Jireh, in the mount of the LORD, it shall be seen. Gen 22:14. How true in the mount of Golgotha, the solution is provided. Praise God. John Baptist introduced Jesus as "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29
The second example is the pass over in Egypt. When the Israelites applied the blood of the lamb on their door posts, they were saved from the plague that killed all the first born of Egyptians. The door post symbolizes the cross and all the households of Israelites who were behind those door posts were saved and they were delivered from Egypt that night. If you believe that Jesus dies for your sins on cross in your heart and confess through your mouth that He is your Lord and Savior, you are behind the door post where the lamb's blood has been sprinkled and you are saved. You are saved eternally from condemnation, hell, the clutches of devil. Not only that, you are partaker of the blessings of the Lord. As I heard in one of the sermons, the difference between mercy and grace is, mercy is the act of relieving from the eternal punishment but grace is along with relieving from eternal punishment (mercy), extending the blessings of God in such a manner that we haven't sinned at all.
Salvation is just the first step, just like a baby steps and this is essential step in a Christian life. Just remember, because as you were born Christian never meant that you were saved. One must realize and accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Faith is the first step required in us and this faith has to be started by God Himself. So, if you are touched by this post and haven't gone through salvation, it means that God Himself worked in you to realize the truth. Jesus Christ, our Lord is the author and finisher of faith. So, He has already started faith in your heart. In invite you to believe that Jesus died for you on cross, He shed His blood on cross for the remission of your sins and confess your sins and declare that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior from now on. You will see your life changing even if not immediate gradually or at some point.
We will move on to the next process of new creation which is being born again. I will explain that in my next post. All glory, honor, praise to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the holy lamb that bore of the world in Himself and created salvation through Himself. Praise God for His unspeakable gift, Lord Jesus. II Cor 9:15. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 Amen.
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