DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES OF GLOBAL CREATION MINISTRIES |
REACHING
AROUND THE WORLD  |
Apollo
17 hand-held Hasselblad |
TRUTHS TO GROW BY
THE ENEMY (cont'd) Finally, the most devastating of all is the internal attack of our own flesh. Because it is internal, a part of us, it is the most difficult of all to defend against. When we accept Christ as our Savior, God the Holy Spirit gives us new life in Christ. II Cor. 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (or creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We become a “new creation.” This is incredible and fantastically wonderful, yet Paul in Romans 7 tells us that as a child of God he had a terrible conflict with his flesh. Why didn’t God just change our flesh too and give us our new bodies when we get saved? If He did, who would win the lost to Christ, for God couldn’t leave our new bodies in this world as they will be like Christ’s body? I John 3:2 tells us, “We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” We will shine like the stars of heaven and we would not be a good medium for communicating the Gospel to the world. We also would be taken up to heaven immediately for our new bodies will never be in the presence of sin. Even though the seed for being transformed into the likeness of Jesus is within us, the physical bodies we have are very sinful. In Romans 7 Paul describes our bodies as being sin personified. This then is our greatest enemy. Defeating it requires that we simply put it to death. We must mortify the deeds of the body and keep our minds (souls) focused on the Word of God. Paul tells us in Col. 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.” Remember, we have victory already in Jesus. Claim it! Focus on the Word of God! We must simply defeat the enemy that the cause of Christ will be victorious in ourselves and thereby reach those around us. Christ has already won the victory for us and the devil’s methods never change. Learn the devil’s methods and lean upon the Word of God. Jesus IS the victory!
|
