The Bride of Christ Lesson 4b (The Bridegroom: Immanuel, God with Us!!!)

Today we will finish our study of the fourth characteristic of the Bridegroom: God with us! 

In two days, we will be entering into 2025!  For some a new year brings as sense of dread.  Maybe last year was full of loss, sorrow, hurt....  The questions they could be asking might include, “Will things ever change?” “How much more can I take?” “What else can go wrong?” For others 2024 might have been mixed bag.  Some victory; some struggle.  For others, 2024 might have been a year of mostly highs that left them feeling on top of the world.  No matter which category you might find yourself in I have great news!!! 

Jesus, the Word, came to give us new life!!!! 

2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new. 

I want to study this passage concept by concept.   

First, If any man is in Christ... 

“Is in Christ”, describes the believer's position not his/her practice.  When we acknowledge our need for a savior and accept the gift of redemption through Christ our position changes. We are no longs slaves to sin.  As we studied in a previous lesson, all of mankind, when they are born, are born with a sin nature.  This nature is in direct opposition to the nature of God.  It keeps us enslaved by the enemy.  

In John 8:44 Jesus, when speaking to the religious, yet unbelieving said, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

However, through salvation our position changes from slave to son!  Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” According to Romans 8, as sons we are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. Romans 8:17, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him. 

Membership in God’s family brings privileges that boggle the mind. All God’s children are heirs of God. An heir, of course, eventually inherits his father’s estate. That is just what is meant here. All that the Father has is ours.i 

Sharing his sufferings may be looked at as simply the cost of discipleship. Yet it has a brighter aspect, because it is the prelude to partaking with him of the coming glory (cf. 1Pe 4:13).ii 

Second, he is a new creature... 

The new creation is described in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The word “therefore” refers us back to verses 14-16 where Paul tells us that all believers have died with Christ and no longer live for themselves. Our lives are no longer worldly; they are now spiritual. Our “death” is that of the old sin nature which was nailed to the cross with Christ. It was buried with Him, and just as He was raised up by the Father, so are we raised up to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). That new person that was raised up is what Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5:17 as the “new creation.”iii 

Galatians 6:15, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but a new creation. 

What really counts with God is a new creation. He wants to see the transformed life. Findlay writes: “The true Christianity is that which turns bad men into good, which transforms the slaves of sin into sons of God.” All men are in one of two creations. As born into the world, they are sinful, helpless, and condemned. All their efforts to save themselves, or to assist God in their salvation by good character or good works, are futile, and leave them unchanged. The new creation is headed by the risen Christ, and includes all who have been redeemed from sin and given new life in Him. Because the new creation is all of Christ from start to finish, it excludes any thought of gaining God’s favor through character or works. A life of holiness is produced, not by the observance of ritual, but by yielding to Christ and permitting Him to live His life in the believer. The new creation is not an improvement of or addition to the old, but something entirely different.iv 

Third, Old things have passed away. 

The “old” refers to everything that is part of our old nature—natural pride, love of sin, reliance on works, and our former opinions, habits and passions. Most significantly, what we loved has passed away, especially the supreme love of self and with it self-righteousness, self-promotion, and self-justification. The new creature looks outwardly toward Christ instead of inwardly toward self. The old things died, nailed to the cross with our sin nature.v 

Again, it is our position that changes when we come to Christ, not our practice. In some cases, for instance, after coming to Christ, those who were addicted to substances might find themselves instantly free from that addiction and may even escape the withdrawal symptoms they would normally have faced when quitting. However, in most cases grace and strength are given to us, by Holy Spirit, to resist the temptations that had once entrapped and enslaved us.  This resistance is still our choice.  We must rely on the power and strength of Holy Spirit to overcome.   

William McDonald wrote, The words in Christ are the key to the passage. In Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new. Unfortunately, “in me” not all this is true as yet! But as I progress in the Christian life, I desire that my practice may increasingly correspond to my position. One day, when the Lord Jesus returns, the two will be in perfect agreement.vi 

As we enter 2025, how then do we walk in this new life?   

Ephesians 4:22-24, that you put off the former way of life in the old nature, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new nature, which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. 

To begin, we put off our former way of life.  We choose to lay aside our previous selfish, sinful desires, habits, words, and actions. 

Ephesians 4:29-32, Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, that it may give grace to the listeners. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outbursts, and blasphemies, with all malice, be taken away from you. And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. 

Additionally, we allow our minds to be renewed by the Word!   

A second lesson the Ephesians learned at the feet of Jesus was that they were being renewed in the spirit of their mind. This points to a complete about-face in their thinking, a change from mental impurity to holiness. The Spirit of God influences the thought processes to reason from God’s standpoint, not from that of unsaved men.vii 

Romans 12:2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

It is interesting to note that Paul says that we must be transformed by the renewing of our “minds.” The mind is the key to the Christian life. The reason why non-Christians do not respond to Christian truth is that they cannot discern spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 2:14). The gospel is a call for the unbeliever to repent of his sin and embrace Christ by faith. The Greek word translated “repentance” carries the notion of a change of mind. Our thinking must be changed (transformed) from old, ungodly ways of thinking into new, godly ways of thinking. What we know in our minds to be true forms a conviction in our hearts of that truth, and that conviction in our hearts translates into action. Therefore, we must first renew our minds.viii [Emphasis mine] 

Finally, we you put on the new nature.   

This new kind of man is according to God, that is, created in His likeness. And it manifests itself in true righteousness and holiness. Righteousness means right conduct toward others. Holiness is “piety towards God, which puts Him in His place,” as F. W. Grant defines it.ix 

2 Peter 1: 3-4, His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and excellence, by which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these things you might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

When we become intimately acquainted with God, through prayer and the Word we then begin to understand that He has already provided everything we need to live this life and to live it in godliness.  This understanding of our position in Christ allows us to escape the corruption of sin.  As we seek after God, the Word renews and restores the image of God within us that was tainted and corrupted by sin.  This is the new/divine nature that Peter is talking about. 

As we become partakers in this new nature, the power of Holy Spirit dwelling in us makes us more than conquerors. Romans 8:37, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  

 

Questions for reflection:         

1. Do my daily life practices reflect my position in Christ?     

2. Am I daily allowing the Word to renew my mind to transform my thoughts to align with those of Christ? 

3. Do I truly understand my new position as an heir of God?   

4. Do I know how to appropriate my inheritance into my daily life and walk with God?     

Note: All Scripture references are from the MEV unless otherwise specified.   

Works Cited:

i Believer's Bible Commentary Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2016 by William MacDonald. 

ii Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament Copyright 2004. 

iii https://www.gotquestions.org/new-creation.html 

iv Believer's Bible Commentary Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2016 by William MacDonald. 

v https://www.gotquestions.org/new-creation.html 

vi Believer's Bible Commentary Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2016 by William MacDonald. 

vii Believer's Bible Commentary Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2016 by William MacDonald. 

viii https://www.gotquestions.org/renewing-the-mind.html 

ix Believer's Bible Commentary Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2016 by William MacDonald.