Dead indeed. The phrase old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new... is one of the more popular portions of the gospel. The first time I heard those words, the promise they held for me was immeasurable. My mind devoured them like water on hot sand. Hope was born. However, as fantastic to me as those words were to hear at the point of conversion, their novelty soon began to wear off. Time trudged slowly on and the more I looked around me, the less convinced I became that anything had in fact passed away. Why was it that I still struggled with the same limitations, sins and flaws as I had prior to conversion? Where was the new me? Was it not meant to be instantaneous this transformation? Where was the spontaneous applause that should have greeted my big reveal to the rest of the world? Why was no one stopping to gawk at my sparkling new self? It is a particularly deflating feeling that I suspect many have had to deal with in their own personal experience and it would take me roughly another decade and a half to understand the truth that old things had indeed passed away. The reason I couldnt see it yet, was because I had been looking in the wrong place. There is a remarkable transformation that occurs when a person becomes born again. It is invisible to the human eye, inaudible to the human ear and intangible to the touch. There is no algorithm known to man by which it can be physically represented, deciphered or predicted. It was designed to defy reason. Once it is set in motion, there would be no stopping it, no altering it and no avoiding it. At the precise moment of conversion, the power to live the rest of ones life just like Jesus did while on earth is released to that individual. A life without sin, limitations or flaws. It is as I said at the start, a process that cannot be logically explained. This is because it was never MEANT to be understood by men. It is a gift. Freely given, not earned. Our one requirement is to stretch out our hands, receive it with thanks and enjoy its effect in our lives. When a person becomes born again, there is an immediate identity swap. Everything that characterized that person in the spirit prior to conversion - ancestral alignments, irreparable damage, irreversible actions, insurmountable debts - is wiped out. A clean slate is received. The system is rebooted. A brand new social security number, passport - everything necessary for that person to begin again- is given. Freely. As if the past never happened. It is the makeover to end ALL makeovers. All of this transpires in an instant in the realm of the spirit. But in the realm of men, its manifestation tends to be ever so slightly slower. In truth, for many, it could span an entire lifetime. As I said, I expected to see the immediate change in my own life. When I did not, I lost faith that there had in fact been any transformation at all. That was until I was helped to understand the following bit of scripture; Romans 6:11-14 Likewise RECKON ye also yourselves to be DEAD INDEED unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. PERMIT not sin therefore to reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall NOT have dominion over you. For the born again Christian, there is no more empowering portion of scripture than this. The word reckon there means know. Know that you are dead indeed to sin. The fact that we do not see, feel or smell our transformation at the time it occurs, is neither relevant nor helpful to the process. With the human mind, the only way to believe in the existence of a thing, is to measure it empirically. For it to be real, it must possess the ability to be physically handled. The ways of God however, are vastly different and in this case, directly opposite to the ways of men. When it comes to the things of God, one must first BELIEVE in its existence. It is then and only then, that the eyes of that person will be opened to see what has been there all along. In order, therefore, to see our transformation play out in the physical world, we must believe that it is already complete in the spirit realm. The question remains - How then does one reconcile the often discouraging old man we see everyday in the physical realm, with the new man in the spirit realm? How does one go about dragging the new creation out of obscurity into prominence? Out of dormancy into dominion? The Holy Spirit. I know of no one as thorough and unyielding as He. Nothing gets by Him or past Him. His Light is inescapable. He is Spirit, as such, He speaks in a language that cannot be understood by the human soul or body. It is here we see why the transformation we spoke of earlier is so important. When a person becomes born again, that persons spirit is immediately re-connected to the Spirit of God. The communication that was severed at the fall of man is restored. The fellowship between God and men that was withdrawn is re-kindled. This re-connection is the key to dominion. As the Spirit of God begins to speak to the spirit of man - instructing, guiding, strengthening - mans decisions become based, not on fleeting emotions or powerful physical urges, but on the command of God Himself. The need for instant gratification is phased out and replaced by the infinitely higher desire to please God. The flesh will always war against the spirit. Those powerful urges, those quick fix desires will not go down without a fight. Having enjoyed laissez faire for so long, they will not be pleased to discover that their time is up. You must know this. You must expect it. You must be prepared for it. This is war. That is why the scripture above uses words like permit not yield not and my favourite - dominion. You must draw strength from the inexhaustible supply of the Spirit of God, dig in your heels and stand firm. The instant you relent - even for a split second - the enemy gains new ground. You will have to lead a charge and recover that lost ground again. Ever noticed how you can go an entire day without eating because you are SO BUSY. But the instant your body hears the words fasting and prayer it begins to send warning signals to your brain? A slide show of all the images of the food you havent eaten that day begins to play. On loop. Interesting isnt it? Thats one example of the battle between the old man (instant gratification) and the new man (obedience to the will of God AT ANY COST). Which of the two we listen to at any given time will reveal to us how far we have come in the transformation process. Just remember, that the change has already occurred. NEVER let your enemy lie to you that you are the same. You are NOT. You simply have to get up and show up at the Holy Spirit Boot Camp every morning without fail. Let Him train you. Let Him break you. Let Him put you back together. One fine morning you will rise and find that the image you see on this side of eternity (the human being that walks around and interacts with this physical world) has begun to reflect the real you (the transformed man in the spirit). When that day comes, smile, thank God and get back to work. Continue until the two (the real man and the reflection) are exactly alike. Fully Transformed.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 12:07:27 +0000
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