Memorise:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Read: 1 John 3:7-9
3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil.
3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Message
There is a nature that is of the Earth and there is a nature that is of
Heaven. Since the fall of man, the earthly nature of man has become
corrupted and therefore is greatly under the influence of the kingdom of
Satan. Characteristic features of this nature are: wickedness, moral
perversion – sodomy and all sorts of indecent sexual practices,
deception, fraudulent practices, poverty, ignorance, sickness etc. A
person not in Christ carries this polluted nature around and is capable
of manifesting any of its devil influenced character, irrespective of
social and educational status. However, when a person comes to Christ,
the power of the cross of Christ destroys this nature of sin and the
person is given a new nature which is of God; a nature whose feature and
expression include a holy character. The character of this new nature
is described in 2 Peter 1:4: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust.”
When a person truly gives his or her life to
Jesus, some things occur spiritually in his or her life. The Bible says
that fellow is delivered from the power of darkness and is translated
into the kingdom of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13). Also, he or she now has
Jesus dwelling in the inside. Jesus in Revelation 3:20 promised that,
if you open the door of your heart, He would come in to your heart. Not
only these, 1 John 3:9 reveals that the seed of God is now dwelling in
you if you are in Christ. Also, with Jesus now dwelling in you and He
being light, there would be no place for darkness. Darkness is the
sphere of operation of sin and demons.
It is not enough to know
all these. The onus is now on you as a child of God to assert yourself
based on the power of God that is now at work in you against the old
nature of sin, Satan and the sinful and worldly influences around you.
Hence, the Bible says you should be strong in the Lord and in the power
of His might, so that you would be able to stand your ground against the
enemy of righteousness (Ephesians 6:10-13, James 4:7).
Prayer Point:
Pray to God to be more like Jesus Christ.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 1 CHRONICLES 1:1-4:23 and PROVERBS 26:1-14
AUTHOR : Pastor E.A. ADEBOYE
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