I truly hope that I can make you see the nature of the new man. Most recently, the Lord opened my eyes to the disposition of my true self. For the first time I saw myself through the eyes of God, the Father. When I refer to my true self I am speaking of the new creature: the inner man, the hidden man of the heart, the regenerated conscience.
I pray that the Holy Spirit helps me to find the words to describe the disposition of this powerful new man. We have not moved to the place of recognition of this being. We have deceived ourselves into thinking that we have seen Him as He is. This is done by our overwhelming acknowledging of His presence. However, in our minds, we are still far from becoming who we are in the Lord.
Please open your heart and mind and ask the Lord to help you understand His Word.
II Corinthians 5:17-18
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
First of all, the man who is in Christ is a new creature. Note what the scripture is saying. The man, himself, is a new creature. We have given extreme ascent to this. However, our ascent has only been mental. We have not merged our mind with that of the new man. Therefore, we can only view through the eyes of the flesh. I really need you to see what I mean.
We still see ourselves as earthen vessels, even though we say we are spiritual beings. Therefore, we are unable to merge the mind of the flesh with the mind of the Spirit. In order words, the mind of the flesh blocks the communication of the new man with the Father and with the world.
Notice I used the phrase, “blocks the communication.” As long as you consider your personage, earthy, or rather think, talk and act as an earthling, you will never be able to walk in the oneness of the new creation.
St. John 17:21-23
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
The glory that Christ gave to the Church is the Holy Ghost; the Spirit of the Father. It is the Spirit by which we are adopted into the royal family. It is the Spirit of oneness in the family of God. Jesus and the Father are one. They are one in the Spirit. Jesus saw Himself as the Son of God. The Lord is His Father. Therefore, He communicated with the Lord as a son would a father. He never allowed His flesh or the mind of the flesh to block His spiritual communication with His Father. But we allow this block. Why? Because of the infirmities of the flesh.
PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT
Jude 1:20-25
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 6:18-20
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
St. Matthew 6:7-15
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
St. Matthew 9:37-38
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
St. Mark 14:38
38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
When we come before the Lord to pray, we must come as a son of God, in the mind of a son, petitioning His very own Father. Oftentimes, we see God as our creator and not our Father. We measure the power of our relationship with Him by the infirmities of the flesh. He is pure and holy. Our flesh is weak and failing in the things pertaining to God. However, the mind of the son of God is to come to the throne of the Father for help in the subduing of the flesh.
Tradition did not teach us concerning our true relationship with the Father. We saw Him as only a disciplinarian, whose wrath would be poured out against us in our failures.
God is our Father. We are His offspring. We are partakers of His divine nature and one with Him in the Spirit. Therefore, the term praying in the spirit, does not limit itself to praying in an unknown tongue, but it is praying by the spirit. The inner man is the son of God. He is the eternal being. He is the one responsible for the deeds done in the flesh. He therefore, must be built up in the power to subdue the flesh.
We have already learned that the new creature is going to mature by the knowledge of God. He must be exposed to the truth. He must be allowed to learn of Himself and God’s purpose for His life. Thus, He must pray on that wise.
TO KNOW AND SERVE HIM
Example: Heavenly Father, I know you are the chastener of my soul. I desire to please you in all things. I want to learn of you and to know your ways. I want to fellowship with you, and come to know and experience all things which you have given to me freely. Cause me to mature in the knowledge of your Word. What is it that you would have me to do? Where would you have me to serve you? Be a light to my path and a lamp in my way. I need you to order my footsteps and establish my goings.
HELP TO OVERCOME THE FLESH
Example: Heavenly Father, you are all merciful and kind towards me. I need you to help me subdue this body of vanity. I want to walk in the righteousness that you have ordained for me. I need you to strengthen me with the Spirit of Might so I may be able to overcome the temptations of this world. Help me to deliver my body from the snare of the enemy. I want to glorify you here on the earth. I am here to do your will. I need you to empower me with the strength of your will to overcome the infirmities of my fleshy body. Father, help me not to become a vessel of dishonor. Allow the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart, to be acceptable in your sight.
IN CONCLUSION:
II Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
This is the result of the renewal of the inner man. He becomes aware of His eternal nature. He comes into an understanding of the purpose of the Father for His being. The truth allows Him to see the need to enter into the fellowship of Christ’s suffering. Because of the knowledge of God, He is not offended by the afflictions of this life. He is very much aware of the eternal life to come.
This is the life HE strives to achieve.
II Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
The knowledge of God will bring the inner man to a commitment to the purpose of God unto death. He will not see the death of the fleshy body as a loss, but rather a gain. The only way He can maintain this mindset is by the strengthening of the Word of God daily.
II Corinthians 5:2-6
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord . . .
Notice the terminology here. “We are at home in the body.” That is the new man talking. It is not the outward man. The outward man is the home or temple for the inner man. It is the inner man that is longing to be with the Lord in glory.
II Corinthians 5:7-8
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The inner man would rather depart from this fleshy vessel and be present with the Lord. He knows that He has another body waiting for Him in heaven. Therefore, the loss of this flesh is no loss at all. It is indeed gain.
II Corinthians 5:7-8
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
We must strive to be accepted by God. Therefore, we labor in good works to please the Lord. It would be very tragic to labor here in this lifetime and not be accepted by God in the life to come. Listen to the next passages.
II Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
According to the Apostle, everyone of the new creatures will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of the deeds done in this body. It is obvious some take this very lightly, but it behooves us to be mindful of the severity of the judgment.
II Corinthians 5:11
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
Paul uses the word terror concerning saints who will stand before the Lord. I believe there will be many saints who will experience the terror of the Lord. I pray that we will not be of the number.
However, Paul gives a way to ensure our well-being in the resurrection. We must commend ourselves to every man’s conscience. For it is the conscience that is the judge of the flesh. He is the knower. Therefore, our spiritual disposition should be manifest in the conscience of the new creation.
II Corinthians 5:12-13
12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
Here Paul insists that the things he suffers are for their cause. How is it possible for a man to give his entire existence over to the cause of another. He explains the reason in the next verse.
II Corinthians 5:14
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead . . .
The love of Christ is the constrainer. It is the love of Christ flowing from the inner man that creates this mindset. Later we will see how Paul further explains this in the “not I” truth. However, right now I want us to look into this word, “constrain,” as it is taken from the original Greek.
CONSTRAIN, CONSTRAINT
Primarily denotes "to employ force contrary to nature and right, to compel by using force" confine, secure, to hold fast"
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
This is the power of the Word in the inner man. If you feed Him the truth, He is able to force the flesh to do that which is contrary to it. To constrain is to use force to achieve a given desire. The force the inner man uses is His knowledge of God. It is this knowledge that empowers Him to subdue the desires of the flesh. With the truth, He becomes the dominant one.
Now the opposite of this is true when the inner man is not fed the truth. I want you to understand that one can be in attendance in church consistently, but not hearing the Truth. They will not have power over the flesh. It takes the real Word of God to build up the inner man.
Colossians 2:6-7
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving
The New Man must be taught the Word of God in order to be rooted and established in the Faith. He cannot walk in the character of Jesus Christ unless he is exposed to the Truth.
You must understand that the New Man must be matured. He must be developed into perfection. This is impossible without the Word of God. Without the Word, He will never really understand His own divine nature.
Jesus began to learn of the will of the Father at 12 years old. It was after studying that will for eighteen years. He was able to go to the cross. The point being . . . He had to learn of Himself and the Father’s purpose for His life. Through learning, He discovered the Father’s” great love for man. Then and only then was He able to say, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
It is the all powerful knowledge of God that brings about such a love-based commitment to the securing of others.
Now may the grace of God and the sweet communion of the Holy Ghost, rest, rule and abide with you forever.
