________ WHY NOT ________
A New Creation in Christ – Part 1 – Eternal Life
Living Like Paupers
There was a man named Ira Yates who lived in Pecos county Texas back in the 1920’s. He was a struggling sheep rancher who was about to lose his ranch when, on October 28, 1926, the Transcontinental Oil Company discovered oil on his ranch. It turned out to be one of the most prolific oil fields in North America! It has produced over 1.5 billion barrels of oil since its discovery and is still producing today. The oil had always been on their land, but sadly, Ira and his wife Ann, lived in financial poverty because they didn’t know what they had.
Just like the Yates family lived in financial poverty, the vast majority of Christians live in spiritual poverty because they don’t know who they are and what they have in Christ.
In Christ
When a person receives Christ by faith, they are immediately baptized into Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (a spiritual baptism). The bible refers to those folks as being “in Christ”, i.e., in union with Christ. This is a permanent union in which Christ’s spirit is joined with our human spirit and Christ becomes our new life. (1 Cor. 6:17; Col. 3:4) As a result, we become someone we were not before – we become a new creation with a new nature! We discussed our union with Christ last week in some detail (Identity in Christ Part 13), therefore I will not repeat it here.
Your Riches in Christ
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Cor. 8.9
If you’re like me, when you first received Christ, you were likely told little more than your sins were forgiven and that you would go to heaven when you die. Now if that’s all there was, it would be amazing, awesome, and wonderful. But there is more, much more!
What I want to do over the next several weeks is help you understand what you now (right now on earth) possess as a new creation in Christ. And let me say this, I’m sure I will not be able to tell you all that is yours in Christ. For almost every time I read the scriptures, the Holy Spirit reveals something new to me about our new identity in Christ in which I had not previously considered. But, I can say along with the apostle Paul, -
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might Eph. 1.18-19
Eternal Life
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “eternal life”? You most likely think something like this – “an endless duration of time that begins after our physical body dies and we go to heaven”.
Let’s look at a few things to help you better understand “eternal life” –
Eternal - Only God (Jesus) is eternal. He has no beginning and he has no end – He exists outside of time. (Isa. 43:13) He has always been and will always be. (Job 36:26; Psa. 90:1-2; Isa. 46:9-10; John 17:5; Rev. 1:8)
Life – from Greek word, zoe, which refers to spiritual life. Eternal life always refers to spiritual life. Only God (Jesus) is life and he alone can give life (Gen. 2:7; John 1:1-4; 17:2; Acts 17:25).
Eternal life is not –
A final destination
An extension of time added to your life
Eternal life is the person of Jesus. Consider the following verses –
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5.11-13 (also Rom. 5:21, 6:23)
Instead of thinking of eternal life as something you can possess, think of it as someone with whom you can be permanently joined. When we are spiritually joined to Christ, we in essence, are “joined to eternal life”. This becomes true the moment you receive Christ.
Knowing Christ
The night before His crucifixion, Jesus said this to his Father in heaven –
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17.3
As Christians, not only are we are in union with eternal life, we have the pleasure and privilege of knowing eternal life (Jesus).
And by the way, if you know Jesus, you will also know your heavenly Father (the only true God). (John 8:19; 14:7) Knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ is not just knowing about them; it is knowing them in a personal and intimate way. This relationship is best exemplified by the marriage between a man and a woman. (Eph. 5:22-33)
The apostle John is saying that eternal life is knowing Christ Jesus experientially and not just intellectually. When we experience Christ, we experience his love, joy, peace, acceptance, etc. via his Holy Spirit that lives within us. (Gal. 5:22-23)
Ask God – Perhaps you have really never believed that God loves you or that you could ever have an intimate relationship with Jesus because of something you’ve done. I know a lot of people struggle with this. I know I did.
Let me encourage you to ask God to reveal his great love for you in a way you can understand it. It can set you free in a lot of ways, perhaps most importantly, free to love others. You might find it helpful to read the story of the “Prodigal Son” as a reminder of the love God has for you. (Luke 15:11-32)
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5.20
Next – A New Creation in Christ - Part 2 - Forgiveness