ICS Daily Devotions
New Creation in Christ
Ephesians 4:23-24 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Paul is saying that one should no longer walk in the futility of the mind, being darkened in understanding which is excluded from the life of God because of ignorance and hardness of their heart.
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
If anyone chooses to walk in the ways of the world that is influenced by the prince of the power of the air, he will suffer like the people of the world. We need to renew our mind with the word of God just like what we are doing today in regards to the new creation. We should no longer conform to the values of this world but live a consecrated life the moment we are born again. We should not continue to dwell or live among the activities that belong to the darkness. Instead, we should begin to put God and family as top priorities in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and He will not force us to do anything we do not want to do. God has already given us the ability and the power to have a successful life. All we have to do is to walk and act on it. Will you? The key is in the willingness!
2 Cor 5:17 (NASB) Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Peter 1:3-4 Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
This scripture tells us to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. We are a new creation and have the nature of God living on the inside of us and we have it. We just need to live out the inner life with the help of the Holy Spirit. We need to see ourselves as God sees us as holy and righteous so that we will consciously walk out based on whom we really are on the inside!
God’s divine power enabled us to be born again and created a new creation in the spirit man. The spirit man, inner man or the heart is completely new! We have a new identity in Christ and it helps us to feel secure in Him. It helps us to pray effectively and being conscious of the full armour of God helps. This new creation is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is what God expects of us to live so that we take hold of what He has given us and empowered us with to experience the life of God.
The flesh, the devil, and the mind that is not renewed by the Word, hinder us from living out God’s best for our lives. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. He is holy, therefore, He can be easily grieved by ungodliness and the ways of the flesh and the work of the devil. He is sensitive because He hates sin, discord and falsehood.
Gal 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
The victory in our daily living is very much determined by what we choose to yield to. If we choose to sow to our flesh, we will reap corruption. However, if we yield ourselves to the will of the Spirit, we will reap everlasting life. Let’s choose not to grieve the Holy Spirit but yield to Him instead so that we will experience the victorious life that God has given us!
Sermon series: Inner Man
