School of the Spirit, Vol. 1; The Power of Living as a New Creation (eBook)

Chapter Two:
Living & Functioning From Our Spirit
as a New Creation

Continuing on with our subject of the power of being a New Creation in Christ Jesus, I think it would give us a powerful focal point to go back to the Garden of Eden for just a moment.

Yes, the New Creation is a New Testament revelation and a New Testament reality, but keep both your eyes wide-open, because this is going to greatly simplify a very multifaceted spiritual reality. I think you will be both surprised and amazed.

In Genesis 1 & 2, we see God declare His intention to create man in His own image, according to His own likeness, and He formed man out of the Earth, breathed His own life and spirit into that man, and that man became a living being.

The first recorded words God said to the man (and woman) He created were a pronouncement of blessing, and the command to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the Earth and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28).

Now, if we jump ahead just a little bit to Genesis 3:8, we see that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. This was apparently a common occurrence, and the Lord would walk with Adam in the garden in fellowship.

So in less than three chapters, we have seen two dominant desires in the heart of God toward His creation, Man—-Communion, and Fruitfulness.

And, if you really look at those first three chapters with the heart of God, what you really see is God creating a co-ruler…. A co-ruler made in His own image and likeness, something which had never happened before. I say “co-ruler”, because God Himself gave man the blessing and authority to have dominion over the very Earth He created. As King David said in the Psalms, “You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet” (Psalm 8:5,6).

Even out of the millions and millions of angels that He had created, only one had even come close to the position that He had given Adam—-But as Mrs. Doubtfire would say, “That’s another story for another time, my puppets” (but if you don’t want to wait for the book to come out, you can always refer to my podcast “Vigilance for the Endtimes”, Episodes 40-42).

Again, God’s intention was to create man in His own image, according to His own likeness, even breathing His own life and spirit into that man.

BUT, Adam did not have God’s very own NATURE within himself.

Thus, the very same “mystery of iniquity” that came into being with Lucifer’s downfall, became Adam’s downfall as well….Just as a Perfect angel, created by a Perfect God in a Perfect Heaven, had chosen a path that had never existed in Eternity past—-the path of Rebellion and Independence—-so Adam followed the same….

The only solution, in the cosmic scheme of things, was for God to make a way to impart HIS VERY OWN NATURE into Man—-a New Creation!

And this was always God’s intention—-to put His very own Spirit within us, so that He might dwell with us;

“I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you…” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.”
(Ezekiel 11:19,20)

“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD.
They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will
return to Me with all their heart.”
(Jeremiah 24:7)

Now, the passage that I just quoted from Ezekiel 36 shines a spotlight upon the divinely creative power that God exercised in making us a New Creation.

There are a vast number of professing believers who have never noticed this distinction, and so therefore operate within a vague perception of what God actually did in His redemptive work.

The vast majority of believers I have encountered and dealt with over the past 45 years operate under a very simplistic notion of what being born again actually involves on God’s side of the equation.

God’s promise through the prophet Ezekiel was to give us a new heart, and to put a new spirit within us (or, a renewed spirit)—-and then, not stopping there, He said, “I will put My own Spirit within you”.

This one tiny little passage here has a world of spiritual revelation within it for those who have eyes to see, and the best example I can give you by way of illustration is my own experience.

I remember many times before I was born again at 17 years of age, that the Lord was continually dealing with my conscience in a very perceptible way.

I distinctly remember one occasion where I had done a good deed for a girl at the job where I was working, and I was riding my bike home, patting myself on the back for being such a good person.

Then the Spirit of God tapped very loudly on the door of my conscience and said, “You only did the good deed for that girl because she’s pretty and you like her. You would not have done the same thing for anybody else”.

My proud ego was suddenly completely deflated, and I knew that God was speaking the truth to me.

So, even though I was not yet born again, I was still very aware of God dealing with my conscience.

Now, notice that at this point in my life that I was still unsaved, but was fully aware—-because of the dealings of God with me—that my conscience was a clear indication that no matter what good I thought I was doing, it was always based out of self-interest.

It was in these moments that I had an overwhelming awareness that even though I knew God was real, I was not in right relationship with Him, because my own heart convicted me of that truth.

That reality changed one Summer night in August, 1978, when while camping in Germany, I had an overwhelming vision of Jesus Christ being crucified for me. I remember weeping and sobbing, and crying out to God to forgive me and to change me.

The next morning when I woke up, there was an undeniable sensation that I was a completely different person.

There was an abiding awareness that on the inside, it was like I had been completely remade.

I’m sure that if I had read that particular passage in Ezekiel, I would have felt that it explained everything I was feeling. I indeed did have a new heart, and a new spirit.

Of course, you know that at this point there is more to the story, as I already shared that part of my testimony with you in chapter 1—how I finally came to the end of my own spiritual resources and realized that there was still a missing dimension from my relationship with my Heavenly Father….The very promise that He spoke through the prophet Ezekiel; “I will put MY Spirit within you”.

You see, when you are born again of the Spirit, your spirit is made alive through the power of God (Colossians 2:13, Ephesians 2:5)—-but your reborn spirit is not the source of spiritual life that you are meant to live by.

In other words, your reborn spirit does not have the ability to generate spiritual life.

This is a spiritual truth that you must make time to meditate on until you truly grasp the understanding of it, because this will determine so much more for you than you can possibly realize right now.

The source of All true spiritual life and power is the Holy Spirit Himself.

Your reborn spirit is not the source of spiritual Life—the Holy Spirit is.

Your reborn spirit is not the source of spiritual Power—the Holy Spirit is.

That is precisely why every truly born again believer I have ever known struggled so hard to live the Christian life before they received the Holy Spirit.

They were trying to draw strength, power, and life from their own born-again spirit, and that is not where those things originate from.

Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life”.

Remember, Jesus also said, “I can do nothing of myself”, and, “It is the Father who lives in me that does the works”.

Why is it of such supreme importance that you grasp this?

Because if there’s one problem that I have seen common to most believers over the last 45 years, it is that they constantly wear themselves out “trying to be a better Christian”, “trying to get the victory” in one area or another, “trying to get closer to God”, or “trying to feel closer to God”….And with all of that “trying”, I have never seen anyone actually achieve what they were “trying” for.

The...