The consciousness and awareness of what took place on the cross and how it affected us is what made a difference in our life. It is an understanding that has to be renewed in our lives.
The cross brought us to the newness of life.
It is not sufficient to know that we are a New creation; it is also important to embrace consistent and continuous knowledge of the one who created the new man. This knowledge empowers us to live the life of victory as a new creation. The reason many who have experienced the new birth still get molested by the devil that he makes demands of the old script is because they are not renewed in knowledge of him that created the new man.
Colossians 2:11 -23, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, Colossians 3:10
The script that is rewritten is on the premise that we are redeemed and are experiencing continuous renewal in knowledge. It gives us the ability to rewrite the scri[ts. The script is not according to the old man or the requirements of the old man, it is according to the image of him who created the new man. If we don’t have continuous renewal of knowledge per time, we will still be cheated on and tossed about. The devil will be making a demand for the old requirement of the scriptures. It is therefore not sufficient to shout that I am a new creation but that we understand these realities. When we grow in the right knowledge we will not accept the old script or anything different from what the new script has provided. As the new creation we should keep growing in knowledge of Christ.
There are saints in light and there are saints. One functions in accordance with the knowledge of God. They are powered by the revelation of God. They do not take no for an answer. They put their feet on the ground and make a demand. This is why redemption is an empowerment for the saints. It is an empowerment for the saints that will come to the point that what we would keep saying is not about the old script but rather the new script.
Colossians 1:12
It is not enough for us to say He is risen. It is not about He rose up from the grave. It is not about us saying that. We should know the reason why He was raised up. The Bible says, “…. He was raised for our justification.” Romans 4:25
We should be bold to say he was raised for our justification. The cross rewrote our stories. It is not just religion and not just Easter. The cross made us a new man. That is the story of redemption.
We are talking about the cross. The cross rewrote our stories. The script of the devil was deleted and cannot be retrieved again.
Calvary rewrote our story. Redemption is a platform for our life to come out anew. By the sacrifice of the son, something happened to us. The devil lost his claim over lives. His requirements and decree have been lost over us. Jesus took over our lives.
Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete
We have a new label. The old fashion is done away with. Our wardrobe is custom made. In Christ, the old fashion is obsolete. In Christ we have the new label. This is what Christ has provided us with- that is, we can walk in the newness of life. This is a brand new life.
We are begotten in the gospel. We have seen what happened between Paul, Philemon and Onesimus. Christianity should not be limited to a religion we are identified to when asked in secular places.
Colossians 3:10 (MSG)
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.
The whole essence of Jesus dying, buried and being raised is that a new life began. It was the glory of the Father that raised Him from the dead. The glory of the Father appeared and became our experience. The glory of the Father had an effect in His raising up. The newness of life will be proof that Calvary, which is redemption, happened to us.
That scriptures are not for decoration. We happened after the cross happened. Only to give such a description as the newness of life.
Romans 6:4
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
The cross happened that is why we happened. A new us emerged. Now we walk in the newness of life. Our life has changed. Everything changed. We are not tied to the bloodline of our forefathers or lineage. It is a new day.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
What made that achievable was that the cross happened. Redemption happened. This is why we walk in the newness of life. We will not subject ourselves to what the devil used to do. We will not submit ourselves to such regulations.
Romans 6:4-7
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
We are dead as a result of the things that held us bound. That was what regulated our lives and determined how far we could go. We are delivered from what is holding us from being what we ought to become.
We have been delivered from the law, we have been made dead to those things that held us bound, so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. So we were delivered to walk in newness and serve him in the newness of the spirit. We have been made free from the things that held us bound.
In 1 Peter 1:18-21, we see that as a new creation that has received the gospel and the gospel has brought out the new life, it does not stop there. It’s a good place to start, it’s a bad place to stop.
Many believers remain at this point and tend to suffer what new believers suffer. We operate by light, we are born again and new creatures. Christianity is “do it yourself.” What most people want is a prophet who will pray for them. That’s not Christianity.
We keep learning. Why do we keep learning? You are a new creature but, the truth is that your salvation experience will not amount to anything if you are not growing in knowledge. The new man is created in the image of God, so as you are renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one that created the new man, you keep growing and advancing into the image of the one that created the new man.
You keep learning such that you are patterned according to the creator of the new man, Christ. LEARNING IS CORE IN CHRISTIANITY. It’s not about dancing. So a church with a good sound system without sound doctrine is not complete. God desires the new man to become everything Jesus died for. The blood of Jesus is the spiritual currency for our redemption.
Redemption is a banking term – the process of getting an asset that was used for collateral. So, sin collateralised us, and for you to get back the collateral – there’s a need to payback – meaning you have to be redeemed. The Blood of Jesus is what the Father used to buy us back from sin; to collect us back. We aren’t redeemed with corruptible material things like silver or gold, but by the precious Blood of Jesus – as a Lamb without blemish.
So, therefore the Blood of Jesus – the Lamb is the spiritual currency used for our redemption. The essence of the redemption from sin is for you to walk in the newness of life and anything short of that is fake, and doesn’t represent Christianity. There are several people that the Cross and redemption rewrote their stories, turning them into a new man; even Saul, he experienced a complete change after the redemption encounter with the Lord. He walked in the newness of life, the Cross made a difference in his life; the effect of the Cross is evident. Trials, persecution or provocation are a test on the authenticity of your newness.
The days you separate yourself from the gathering of faith, from your brethren – and you want to isolate yourself, you’re giving the devil a room to exploit your stance in faith.
Moreover, your stance in faith is not just about proximity or about coming to church – it’s about the newness of heart and welcoming the lessons of the Master so that you can appropriate your life. Judas Iscariot was present in the lessons of the Master but never knew how to appropriate those lessons but Peter, after the denials appropriated the lessons – he approached the feet of the Lord and his narrative changed. I will encourage you to approach calvary and obtain redemption to walk in the newness of life. I would have wished that Judas understood everything the master taught. I need you to also understand that it is not about proximity or constant attendance in church, there is more. What did Judas learn for three and half years on the death and resurrection of Jesus as well as the effect of his death.
The scriptures would have had a different narrative if Judas understood the essence of Calvary. What would it have looked like if he ran back to the feet of Jesus for pardon. If the thief on the cross could enjoy forgiveness, why not his disciple which would have been a good area to talk about where the cross was appropriated. However, the reverse is the case. Judas was a bad student. He didn’t understand anything. He was constant in class but his heart was not open to knowledge. The essence of continuous learning is that you are a new creation and are renewed in knowledge so that you can appropriate all you have learnt about the death of christ. For Peter, he did it differently. After publicly denying his master, he went back to cry bitterly. His conversation was not disclosed but we can conclude that he realised his wrongs and maximised the essence of the cross, he must have remembered all the master taught them and personal encounters he had too.
Peter must have engaged his saviour for him to enjoy forgiveness. While all these happened, Peter actually denied Jesus publicly and Judas who was not bold enough betrayed his master privately by kissing him in disguise. It requires you to understand what Jesus did for you before you can maximise it. Peter was able to return to the fold, he was found waiting at the upper room but Judas missed out on what calvary had for him. We eventually saw the benefit of calvary in Peter’s life. After Pentecost, the same Peter who denied Jesus because of the threat of a young girl stood before a multitude to declare the gospel. Acts 2 and 3. Peter’s encounter with calvary went a long way in preserving and spreading the gospel.
So much was wrath through Peter in the early days of the church because this man’s script was rewritten. The devil saw what God could make out of Peter’s life that he wanted to truncate it but he understood all his master came to achieve and he appropriated it.
Jesus told Peter at a point that when he is converted, he should strengthen his brethren. It is like he was telling him that he shouldn’t act like he was a superman, that he should show his scars ,he should say how he denied Jesus. I tell you again that calvary made a difference in the life of Peter.