Title: New People, New Mission
Contents
The life of faith in God is a new life in Jesus Christ. Christian faith is a life of realizing God's love and living by receiving the life of Jesus Christ, whom he sent. This life of faith is not living according to the desires of the flesh, but living according to the spiritual desires for Jesus Christ, who died and rose again. Living according to the flesh has no hope and only despair. But those who live according to their spiritual desires, that is, those who live in Christ Jesus, will live according to the power of eternal life. You will live the most valuable and rewarding life in the world. What makes this life possible? Why are we being created anew? And what is the purpose of such a life?
1. Reason for being re-created
Why would you be made a new creature in Jesus? Human beings are not only the beings of the earth made with the flesh, but also the beings of the spiritual image of God. Spiritual beings are the life of beings that can be created anew. God is born of a physical lineage, and the physical body of the earth is easily broken and corrupted, but the life as a spiritual being can bring about new changes. If we live only in the flesh, we become enemies with God, belong to the devil and live in sin. And in the end they will be destroyed forever. Because God loves humans, He does not want us to perish, He wants us to live forever (John 3:16). He also opened the way for us to be re-created so that we can live the most glorious life in this world that we have only once. This is to make life the happiest, and to do good, so that we may live forever (1 John 2:25).
2. The road to becoming a new person
The conditions for becoming a new creation are possible in Jesus Christ. The only way to enter Jesus Christ is by faith. Through faith in Jesus Christ, man can be recreated anew. How is it possible to be newly created in Jesus Christ? First, we can be renewed through the death and resurrection of Jesus (1 Peter 1:3). By uniting with Jesus through faith, you will receive a new life. Second, through the Holy Spirit of truth that Jesus promised, the dead will survive and be reborn into new life (John 3:5-6, Titus 3:5). Third, you will be born again as a new person through the word of God, that is, the word of the gospel of Jesus (1 Peter 1:23-25). The evidence of being born again is evidenced through baptism. Baptism is the evidence of faith united to his death and resurrection in Jesus (Romans 6:4). Baptism is the sign of salvation by the new life (1 Peter 3:21).
3. The new man's mission
The mission of those who have been created as new creatures is to reconcile. The saints came to fellowship with God in Jesus. The gospel of Jesus is the gospel of peace (Acts 10:38). Therefore, those who believe in Jesus Christ have received the ministry of reconciliation. Now that you are a child of God, you must prove your faith through the work of making peace (Matt. 9). Be a peace maker, but not a trouble maker. First, we must be reconciled to God. You must be reconciled to God to receive blessings (John 22:21). Through worship, we must use the evidence of reconciliation. Second, there must be reconciliation among believers. The saints are those who are called to be part of God's family. Third, we must be at peace with the world. In other words, we need to bring many people into Jesus and make them reconciled to God. This is the ministry of the newly transformed in Jesus Christ.