The greater glory of the new covenant
Now, in the New Covenant we have boldness to enter the presence of God and live there! We look on God’s glory in the face of Christ and are being changed from glory to glory. We have left the repelling, feeble and fading glory of the old and we embrace the welcoming, energising and transforming glory of the new. We leave aside the old way of trying to please God and constantly failing. Now we take up our position in Christ and believe his declaration over our lives – “you are accepted in the well beloved.” One of the greatest blessings in a believer’s life is that we are new creations in Christ. Old things have passed away and everything has become new! This means that a dramatic, creative and lasting change has taken place. This is the glory of the relationship we have with God in New Covenant.
The glory of the New Covenant is permanent, the old passes away. It is a greater glory than anything the Old Covenant could produce. Christ lives in us. They never knew the indwelling Spirit of God in the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is sufficient for all our needs empowering us to live in the presence of God. The old leaves us outside the blessing of God, struggling to enter into it through our own merits. In the New Covenant, we live by the merits of Christ. The Old Covenant brings bondage leading to death because it locks us into the downward spiral of defeat and despair. But, the New Covenant gives us life and freedom through the Spirit who lives in us. The Old Covenant, at best, modified people’s external behaviour because the law only judges and condemns. But, the New Covenant gives grace and forgiveness leading to a new life based on heart transformation, not behaviour modification.
Now we take up our position in Christ and believe his declaration over our lives – ‘you are accepted in the well beloved.’
Changed by looking at Jesus
Stop trying to change yourself, trying be different, to become what you are not. This is fleshly human self-effort. It is totally useless and absolutely unnecessary! You are already being transformed from within. You are not what you were because you are now in Christ. This has nothing to do with your efforts or your actions. It is totally and 100% the work of God. He has totally re-created you in Christ. Now, you are a new creation.
The secret lies in learning to be conscious of Jesus and his glory in you. Everything that Jesus has accomplished belongs to you. In him you have wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption. Christ is your life because your life in now hidden with Christ in God. That means you are acceptable to God at all times, no matter what is going on in your life. You do not fall in and out of favour with God depending on how well you are doing as a Christian each day.
One of the greatest blessings in a believer’s life is that we are new creations in Christ. Old things have passed away and everything has become new! This means that a dramatic, creative and asting change has taken place.
Always focus on Christ and his righteousness, never on yourself. You are complete in him. You are righteous in him. You are perfect in him. Stop trying to add to the perfection of Christ’s work on the cross as if it was an incomplete work that has to be supplemented by your own efforts. The more you see who you are in Christ and the more you meditate on all that he has done for you and in you – the more you will be transformed into his image. Understanding who you are in him will lead you into the breathtaking levels of conformity to Christ in your daily life.