Scriptures: Revelation 21:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians
2:20; Romans 6:1-7, 10-11;
Isaiah 43:18; Ephesians 4:22-24
And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I
make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful
(accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine).
Anyone who belongs to Christ
is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.
I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have
shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah)
lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by
adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved
me and gave Himself up for me.
1 What should we say? Should
we keep on sinning, so that God’s wonderful kindness will show up even better? 2
No, we should not! If we are dead to sin, how can we go on sinning? 3
Don’t you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also
share in his death? 4 When we were baptized, we died and were buried
with Christ. We were baptized, so that we would live a new life, as Christ was
raised to life by the glory of God the Father. 5 If we shared in
Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. 6 We
know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This
was done, so that our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. 7
We know that sin doesn’t have power over dead people.
10 When Christ
died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only
for God. 11 In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to
the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.
The Lord said: Forget what
happened long ago! Don’t think about the past.
22 You were told
that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old
way of life with all its bad habits. 23 Let the Spirit change your
way of thinking 24 and make you into a new person. You were created
to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.
We are dead to sin and it’s affects, therefore,
the things that happened to us because of sin (born in sin and shaped in
iniquity – Psalms 51:5 – because of the curse brought on by Adam and Eve sinning
in the Garden of Eden – Genesis 3) can no longer hold us back. Jesus has freed us from ALL
sins; we are no longer slaves to sin or to its consequences (Romans 6:6). Therefore, old things are passed away and God HAS made ALL things new (2 Corinthians 5:17)!
We are no longer the person we were BEFORE we accepted Christ! All those
things that happened to us before (abuse, molestation, sexual assault, neglect,
abandonment, rejection, etc.) are under the Blood of Jesus! Those things
(listed above) and others happened to your old self (“old man”) and you are no
longer that person. You do not have to accept the thoughts the enemy bring you
concerning these or anything in your past; pull down the strongholds in your
mind using God’s mighty weapons of warfare and “lead every thought and purpose
away captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4 – Amplified). Don’t allow the enemy to speak to your mind or
speak to you through others; believe what the Word of God says that you are a
new creation in Christ – old things have passed away, behold all things are new
(2 Corinthians 5:17) – you are a new creation.
Submit yourselves to God by believing every word
in the Bible, every promise and this will cause you to resist the devil; then
he will flee – he MUST flee!
However, he will NEVER flee if you
keep believing and agreeing with his lies!
You are not the same person you use to be! Sunday,
April 29th 2012, after my Pastor prayed for me, God let me knew that
I was not the same little girl I was years ago when I was rejected by my
father. God let me knew that the rejection did not happen to the new me but to
my old self and I am no longer that person; I have been washed in the mighty,
powerful Blood of Jesus and restored to my heavenly Father – He will NEVER
reject me! God also let me knew I was not the same person because I am a new
creation in Him through Christ. The enemy was trying to bring back those old
feelings how my father had rejected me but my Pastor prayed and God reminded me
who I was in Him and that’s what He is doing to YOU through this teaching.
Romans 6: 4-5 let us know we died when Christ died and rose
from the dead in newness of life when He rose. That’s why when we accept Jesus
as our personal Lord and Savior, we are “born again;” the new birth cannot and
will not happen without accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior – He
is the ONLY way to the Father (John 14:6: “Jesus told him, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” – www.biblegateway.com – NLT).
“3 Jesus replied, “I tell you for
certain that you must be born from above (Greek – “in a new way”) before you
can see God’s kingdom!” 4 Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man
ever be born a second time?” 5 Jesus
answered: I tell you for certain that before you can
get into God’s kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit. 6
Humans give life to their children. Yet only God’s Spirit can change you
into a child of God. 7 Don’t be surprised when I say that you must
be born from above. 8 Only God’s Spirit gives new life...” (www.biblegateway.com – Contemporary English
Version).
Romans 6:6 tell us that our old self was nailed to the cross with Christ (we were
crucified when Christ was crucified – Galatians 2:20) and we are no longer slaves to sin. Romans 6:7 goes on to let us know why we are no longer a slave to sin: “We know that sin doesn’t have power over
dead people.”
Romans 6:10-11 let us know when Christ died, He died to sin once and for all (“ending His relation to it”) and the
life He lives is to the Father (“in
unbroken fellowship with Him”). Therefore, we are dead to sin (our relation to it is broken) and we
are alive to God (we live in unbroken
fellowship with Him) in Christ Jesus (as
Christ is so are we – we are joint heirs with – Romans 8:14-17)! As long as we remain IN Christ,
we will have unbroken fellowship with God our Father!
It is imperative that we know who we are IN (joint heirs to ALL God’s promises – greatest promise is to live
eternally with the Father!) and THROUGH
(cannot come to the Father without Christ – must go through Him – Christ is our
Mediator) Christ!
In closing, I suggest you read the complete chapter of Romans 6 and ask God to give you the revelation of who YOU are in and through Christ!
God bless you all,
Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks
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