O.K., so we know that we are a new creation in Christ, but what does that really mean? What is so “new” about us? Are we really so different as the ones out there that do not know our Lord? What is the mark of a person who has been transformed into a new creation?
I believe that difference is love. Many of you will quickly respond, “But we all love! Even before we knew Christ we were loving family members and friends and pets and such.” It is true – we have all loved others around us, felt warm affectionate feelings for those who are closest to us, acted in kind ways to people in need. Yet, this is mere human love based on emotions and experiences that are favorable to ourselves (as well as those recipients of our sentiments).
But there is a different kind of love that is not based on endearments and devotion. This love thinks not of itself nor of its needs but always is concerned for the needs and feelings of those around it. This love comes only by the Holy Spirit and is the substance of Who God really is.
The scriptures teach us that God is love (I John 4:8). That statement tells us of the essence of the Father. Love is what He is. When we say God is holy, God is righteous, God is pure, we name attributes of God, describing something about Him. But love tells us Who He is. If you are love, then holiness is a result. Righteousness is a result. Purity is a result – of being love.
Love is not a result – it is the essence of Who He is. Yes, one can be loving – that is a result or attribute. But to be Love is itself the substance.
Therefore, I submit that if love is the essence of God, then the image of God that we were created in is love! We were created reflecting that image and when man fell in the Garden of Eden it was the reflecting of that image that was cut off. And it is that image – love – that Jesus came and restored! God is Spirit (John 4:24) so when He desired to physically reveal Who He is, He manifested what love is by creating man. Man is the physical manifestation of love.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control Galatians 5:22-23
The very first fruit in this list of the fruits of the Spirit is love. It is the Spirit of God that supplies this kind of love and without the Spirit of God, this kind of love is not available. Humans cannot conjure up an ability to sacrifice self for the needs of others merely from human efforts. We may at times perform such acts that are self-sacrificing, but we are totally incapable of consistently living that way of our own efforts.
At the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man became sin and was then unable to be in the presence of God, not because God shunned man for his sin, but because He knew that man would die in His presence because of the sin. The separation between God and man was God’s rich mercy toward man to spare his life, yet as a result His Holy Spirit could no longer dwell with man. Jesus came and died to give man back his place of righteousness by exchanging His righteousness for man’s sin. With man once again righteous, the Holy Spirit could come again and dwell in man without man dropping dead. With the return of the Holy Spirit to man came all the gifts the Spirit holds, the first of which is love.
That is the new creation. We have been reborn in the Spirit (John 3:5,6,8) and are set free from the bondage of the curse (Galatians 3:13) so that we can once again manifest the very essence of God. This is what marks us different from the rest of the world. When you are indwelled with the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19, Romans 8:9) and that Spirit is leading you (Romans 8:14), He will always lead you to walk out a supernatural level of love (I John 4:8).
There is absolutely nothing this world has to offer that is more breathtaking than when we become a new creation, submit to the Holy Spirit and are led by Him. Walking in His love proves to be an astonishing component of life in the Kingdom and nothing compares to the rest we find for our souls when we “enter into the rest” (Hebrews 4:3) of the love of the Father.
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For more perspective, view the 4 minute video, Image of Love
