Jesus says to Nicodemus: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6).
When you ask a man to describe himself, he might say: “I am tall and handsome.” But do you know your height and looks are not you? The man drives a Mercedes Benz and therefore considers the car to be his identity. He feels the luxurious car defines who he is. So the wisdom of God says: “Steal the car, and let us see if he will consider himself stolen.” “Burn the car, so he will consider himself burnt.”
If we are how we look, what happens when we grow old? The Lord says: “I am the Lord, I do not change.” (Malachi 3:6). If the Lord does not change then, neither do sons of God because as he is so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17). If a man is his physical nature, then if he has an accident and breaks his leg, he has changed. No! A man is his spirit and not his body; and his spirit does not change. Like Jesus, a son of God is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8).
The Prototype
There is only one New Creation and he is Jesus. There is only one personality. There is only one character. There is only one look; and that is Christ: “For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28).
The New Creation stands in perfect atonement with God and with Christ. This was Jesus’ prayer, and it was answered completely at the Pentecost. He asked: “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:21).
Jesus is the beginning of the new creation. (Revelation 3:14). The first human species was in Adam. The New Creation is in Christ. As Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchisedec met him, so have we been in the loins of Christ from the foundation of the world. As Noah was in the ark, so are we in Christ. The New Creation is a completely different species of human being although coming through no human agency. He comes not by blood, or through the flesh, but as a result of the will of God. (John 1:13).
Family of God
Moreover, the New Creation draws strength from the power reservoir of the body of Christ. That body is not made up of one, but of many, parts. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). Accordingly, the son of God is never alone. He is part and parcel of an incredibly large and illustrious heavenly family.
The New Creation has a hundredfold of brothers and sisters and mothers. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26). When God says: “Touch not my anointed,” it is not a vain threat. The New Creation is his brother’s keeper. Therefore, the man who dares to fight a son of God is going to have to face him and all his relatives.
If you fight him, you have to answer to the body of Christ. You might be fighting him in Lagos, but there are brothers and sisters of his in Toronto prevailing in battle on his behalf. Once the battle cry is raised, a message is transmitted to the twelve tribes of Israel that it is time to repel the forces of the enemy. So it is spiritually with the body of Christ.
Therefore, know this for certain, the son of God is impregnable. He is an integral part of the army of the God, the Lord of hosts; an army united in spirit and in power. It is an army perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. Unlike what takes place in the contradictory churches of today, in the Church of Christ where the son of God belongs, there is one body and one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father. (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Born Again
The New Creation is of God and is born of God. He hates sin with passion and walks in the truth. He cannot be killed and cannot die. Signs and wonders follow him. He has the spirit of excellence. He has the spirit of wisdom and revelation. He can see the kingdom of God. He can see the invisible. He has the mind of God. In short, the new creation is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-2).
Transfiguration
One day, Peter, John and James went up a high mountain with Jesus and discovered to their surprise that this same Jesus is somebody else at the same time. Suddenly, Jesus was transfigured before them and they caught a privileged glimpse of his glory.
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:13). This is a wonderful kingdom dynamic. The Son of Man who is in heaven is also here on earth at the same time talking to Nicodemus. No wonder, Nicodemus was completely flabbergasted. As it is with Jesus, so it is with the New Creation. As he is here on earth, so is he seated at the same time in the heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 2:6).
As a man on earth, the pre-incarnate glory of Jesus was veiled. This baffled many. There was dissonance between Jesus’ mighty works and his human pedigree. People wondered about him. He was learned, and yet he never went to school. “He’s just a carpenter’s son,” they reasoned. And yet, carpenters don’t heal the sick and raise the dead. “But we know his mother and his brothers. Surely he is just another Joe.” (Matthew 13:55).
However, at the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, John and James discovered what manner of man Jesus is. They saw him completely differently, covered with God’s splendour and glory. And they heard a majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (2 Peter 1:17). So it is with the son of God.
Beloved, wouldn’t you like to be a son of God? “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7).
Credit: Femi Aribisala