The name of this particular Sunrise may not seem befitting for this series, but in actuality it is perfect. Yesterday, we spoke about the new creature and today we will speak about the new man.
Have you ever heard someone say in a service, "The old man is dead!"? Well, do you know what exactly the old man is? Many refer to it simply as the lifestyle we once lived before Christ, but my friends it is much deeper than this.
Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
According to the scripture above, the old man is a body of sin!
We learned in Reversing Death, how when Adam sinned, he and his wife became filled with the law of sin and death. This law works inside of the human body, forcing whomever it works in to sin. It was passed down to the whole human race. Thus, we were all captives to sin. We needed a savior! We needed Jesus.
Hence, if Jesus is to save us, we would need to not only be saved from hell, but from the sin that works in our flesh and forces us to fall. The Holy Ghost did just that. When someone receives the Holy Spirit, God not only sanctifies their soul but their bodies as well, by removing all the sin from the flesh (Heb 10:22, Col 2:11, 1 Thess 5:23, Rom 6:6-7).
This is what Romans 6:6 (above) is referring to. We needed to be saved from our very bodies, because they were bodies of sin. Sin was a force at work in them. We needed to be rescued.
But how? How can a human being be saved from the evil in their own bodies.
Well, Jesus devised a strategy!
In order for you to be saved from your body, the sin that is in the body needs to be replaced with the Spirit of Christ. If Jesus enters and remains in the flesh, the body will never be able to sin against you (John 17:2, 1 John 3:9).
This is exactly what happened when we received the Holy Ghost, our bodies became the temple of the Holy Ghost. The moment the Holy Ghost came in, there was a transition from being a body of sin, into being a body of Christ (read the Operation of Faith for more details). But let's look some more into this.
Ephesians 5:30
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Apparently, Jesus has a human body today (flesh and bones). We the church are members of His human body. In other words, if you have the Holy Ghost, your body is the body of Christ.
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:
Remember the old man, was a body of sin, so what do you think the new man is? Correct, the new man is the body of Christ. The new man is our physical body that has been saved from its sins, by the indwelling Holy Ghost. The new man is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in our bodies.
Galatians 3:27 teaches this same concept, however, Paul chooses to be a bit more plain in that scripture.
Galatians 3:27
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Instead of saying that we put on the new man, Paul simply says, we have put on Christ. Why? Because, Christ in the flesh, is the Word made flesh. Our bodies are the body of Christ. Thus, when we touch, and handle one another, we are handling Christ. This is why Paul encourages us not to lie to each other, because if we lie, we are lying to the Body of Christ.
This is true even for the woman! Listen to what the verse that follows says.
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Apparently, even the woman has put on the body of Christ. Her body is a new man too. Thus, it is the life of Christ that is in her flesh. Christ has chosen her body to express Himself through. Bear in mind that the soul carries no gender. We learned yesterday that the soul has been hidden inside of the Spirit of Christ (Col 3:3). If this is true, this means that it is the Holy Ghost that fills the flesh of the woman. Jesus Christ is the Spirit present within her flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. - 1 Cor 6:17.
It is the testimony of many that a woman ought not minister in the churches, however, would Christ come in her to keep silent?
Jesus once taught this same concept to a multitude, they however did not understand his words. He told them that unless they ate His flesh they could never be saved (John 6:51). By this he was simply saying that unless their bodies became the bodies of Christ they would never be saved, however they did not perceive it. In an attempt to cause them to see Jesus said something that has many stuck even to this day.
John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
The words of the gospel are spoken by the Spirit of God through the flesh. The flesh has no great significance. For so long, so much focus has been placed on the flesh, as a qualification for ministry, when in truth flesh cannot stop the work of God. It is the Spirit within the flesh, that gives life (quickeneth). What say ye, if this Spirit is in the flesh of a woman? Can it yet give life? I believe so.
----------------------------------------------------------
For more blogs like this get the Sunrise with Jesus App - www.sunrisewithjesus.com/swjapp