THE HOLY SPIRIT & THE NEW CREATION

As we continue our series on the Holy Spirit we can’t ignore the Holy Spirit’s work in salvation. It is He who has given us a spiritual birth and made us a new creation in Christ Jesus.

II Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Most believers know this verse well, but do we truly understand the full ramifications of it. Before going any further, we must understand the word creation. Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the following definition: “the act of making or producing something that did not exist before: the act of creating something”.  In other words, when the scripture says that we are a new creation, it doesn’t speak of transformation. It doesn’t speak of a metamorphosis like what happens to a butterfly. A butterfly is not a new creation.   

If we are a new creation, what kind of creation were we prior to this?

We were a creation that was born in sin & spiritually dead.

Romans 3:10 – “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;”
Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”
We were born under condemnation.
Romans 5:16 – “Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.”
We were born under the curse of the law.
Galatians 3:10 – “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
The law of God is good, but it became a curse to us because we were unable to obey the law. Therefore, we were condemned by the very law that was put there to show us how to live and serve God. The law couldn’t save us because it is powerless to do this.
We were born into the family of Satan. Therefore, we were children of Satan.
I John 3:9-10 – “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
This scripture doesn’t state that all who are born on earth are children of Satan. Yet, scripture clearly shows us that there are two families under heaven, God’s family or the devil’s. There is no other family stated in scripture. There is no neutral family. You are either in the darkness or in the light. The scripture speaks of God’s seed here. The opposite of God’s seed is Satan’s seed. We were all born with the seed of Satan or Satan DNA. When we are born again, we receive God’s seed. We will talk more of this later.
No one likes to think of themselves as the seed of Satan and I am not advocating that we should go around calling people Satan’s children. The non-believer would like to think of man as innately good. They would like to propose there is a neutral ground where one is not good or bad. Yet, the scripture does not support this philosophy or ideology. Others would like to use the last part of this scripture to say that if I do what is good that I am God’s child. Doing what is good does not make you a child of God. Yet, a child of God will do what is good.
When we are born again in Christ, what is no longer there?
We still have the same body, the same soul, and often certain sins continue to manifest in our life. It is important to realize that being born again or becoming a new creation is not a thing that happens over time. It happens instantly.
No longer condemned - Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”
No longer under the curse of the law – Galatians 3:11-14
No longer dead spiritually – Romans 8:10 – “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.”
No longer a child of Satan – Romans 6:1-5
No longer have the sinful nature – Romans 6:6 – “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
Romans 8:3-4 – “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
There are those who believe that Christians have two natures or two seeds in them. They believe that we have the sinful nature and the Christ like nature. This is contrary to scripture. There are 2 key words here: crucified and condemned. The old self or sinful nature has been crucified. Something that has been crucified is dead. Condemned here is the idea of a judge giving a person the sentence of death.
No longer held accountable for our past sins – Ephesians 1:7 – “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (See also: Romans 4:5-8)
What makes us a new creation?
Our spirits become new.
John 3:5-7 – “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, He gives us His Spirit. His Spirit enters our spirit and at that very moment we are born again and become a new creation. We receive a new heart or spirit.
Ezekiel 11:19 prophesies this – “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
At this moment, we receive new life by God’s grace.
Ephesians 2:4-5 – “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
At the moment of salvation our spirit becomes perfect, holy and without blemish. It is for this very reason that we are called saints. We have been set apart unto God by his Spirit who lives in us. There is no darkness, sin or sinfulness in our spirit. The sinful nature which resided in our spirit is dead. We now have new life by the Spirit of God. We have a new nature. We have a new DNA. We are no longer of the blood line of Satan, but have Christ’s bloodline. It is for this very reason that we are sons of God. We have entered into His family through Christ’s blood sacrifice and have been born again by the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”
There is no darkness in our spirit, because the light of the Holy Spirit has cast out the darkness. Light and darkness can’t be in the same place at the same time.
Remember that God has placed His perfect seed in us, the Holy Spirit, who has all the characteristics of God.
1 Peter 1:23 – “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God”
I John 3:9 – “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”
Some may be asking, if we no longer have the sinful nature in us, why do we continue to struggle with sin? Because our soul (will, emotions, mind) have not been made new. The struggle or fight is between our soul and the Holy Spirit who dwells in our spirit. While the Holy Spirit is seeking control of our soul, Satan and the world are trying to keep control of our sinful soul.
Now that we are a new creation, what must we do?
We must not allow sin to reign in our bodies. (Romans 6:11-14) We need to give our life afresh and anew each day to God. (Romans 12:1) We need to submit our thoughts under the will of God. (Romans 12;2) We need to nourish the seed of the Holy Spirit in us. (Galatians 6;8). We need to remain in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. (Hebrews 10:25) We need to submit daily under the control of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:6-13) We need to keep our eyes on Jesus.
In summary, all mankind has been born with the seed (DNA) of Satan. As result we were born dead spiritually and under condemnation. Yet, when we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that Christ died and rose again for our salvation, we are born again. We become a new creation. We receive the seed of Christ through the Holy Spirit who dwells in our spirit. We are no longer dead or under condemnation. Yet, God’s work is not complete in us because our souls have not been sanctified. The Holy Spirit does not have full control. Therefore, we need to continually yield our will, mind and emotions to Him.

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF JESUS

Jesus was fully God and fully man which is a mystery to us. Because He was fully man, He needed the Holy Spirit on earth even as we need the Holy Spirit.  We see the Holy Spirit at work in Jesus’ life from the day of His birth to His resurrection.

It was by the Holy Spirit that Jesus had a supernatural birth. (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35) He was born of woman by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, another great mystery. It is for this reason that He was able to save us from our sin because Jesus did not have the nature of Adam (sinful nature). Therefore, He was born sinless and not born under condemnation as we all are when we are born. He did not need forgiveness or salvation. Not only was He born without sin, but the Bible says He was tempted, but never sinned. (Hebrews 4:15) Therefore, He was able to be a spotless lamb for us. He was able to deliver us from sin and condemnation.

We see the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus when John baptized Him. (Matthew 3:13-17) This was necessary for Jesus to be able to resist temptation (Mark 1:12) and to be empowered to do the work of the Father. (John 10:37-38) We see throughout Jesus’ ministry, healings, miracles, and the casting out of evil spirits (demons). This was all done by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:18) Jesus said the works that he has done, we will also do and even greater works. (John 14:12) It is because we as believers have the Holy Spirit’s power at our disposal.

It was through the help of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was able to offer himself as a sacrifice for us. (Hebrews 9:14) It was no easy thing for Jesus to offer himself up on the cross and take upon himself the sins of the world. We see in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus’ emotional suffering as He understood fully what He was about to do. He asked His Father to take this cup from Him three times. Yet, He said, not my will be done but yours. (Matthew 26:39)

Also, we see the Holy Spirit enable Jesus to rise from the dead (grave).

Romans 8:11 – “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of  his Spirit who lives in you.”

I thank God that this same Holy Spirit is in me and all God’s children. It is this same Holy Spirit that gives us spiritual life and everlasting life.

NEW TESTAMENT WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

In this study we will look at the Holy Spirit’s work in the New Testament. We have already seen some of the work of the Holy Spirit from studying the Old Testament, His Names and His New Creation Work. Yet, we want to delve further into His many and glorious works.

The Holy Spirit is the One that produces spiritual fruit in our lives as we yield to Him. (Galatians 5:22-26)

The Holy Spirit gives us life and peace.

Romans 8:6 – “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

We already talked about the life giving power of the Holy Spirit in our new birth and making us into a new creation. It is important to note in this verse that peace doesn’t come automatically. Not all Christians have the full peace of God because they have not completely given over their minds to Christ. The battle for peace is in the mind. Peace comes when our emotions are submitted to the mind that is controlled by peace. Many a non-believer has greater peace than a believer because they discipline their minds. Yet, their minds are put under control in their own strength, not in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to His saints. We find nine of them listed in I Corinthians 12:7-11. Each believer who is baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit is given one or more spiritual gifts. These gifts are manifested in our lives as release them by faith in God’s ability to use us in these ways.

The Holy Spirit guides us as we yield to his direction.

Acts 8:29 – “The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Acts 16:6-7 – “ Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”

Being led by the Holy Spirit is more than being willing to be led. It requires discipline in training our spirits to listen to the Spirit of God. Learning the voice of the Lord (Holy Spirit) comes through prayer, devotional reading, Bible teaching, trail & error, and fellowship with other believers who have already know the voice of the Lord well.

The Holy Spirit puts God’s Word in the mouth of his prophets. (Zechariah 7:12)

I Peter 1:21 – “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit does not only speak to us individually, but He often gives message for the whole church.

Revelation 2:7 – “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

The Holy Spirit makes us one and equal in God’s eyes. (Eph. 4:4)

I Corinthians 12:13 – “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

The Holy Spirit helps us proclaim the message of God with boldness.

Acts 4:31 – “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

I Corinthians 2:4 – “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,”

Even is we are timid in nature, we speak boldly and with wisdom under the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit we give us courage to witness to the lost. He will empower are sermons and teachings.

The Holy Spirit sets people apart to Him and the service of the Lord.

Acts 13:2-4 – “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” (see to Acts 20:28)

1 Peter 1:2 – “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

It is the Holy Spirit who sets us apart unto God and sanctifies us. It is he Holy Spirit who enables us to walk pure and holy lives.

Romans 8:13 – “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

This is not a complete description of the work of the Holy Spirit. We will be delving more into this in another teaching post.

As we can see the Holy Spirit plays a very important role in the life of believers and His church. We need to continually yield ourselves to His work in our lives.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The first work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is His participation in creation.

Genesis 1:2 – “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

The main work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is to give certain servants of God power and ability to accomplish something for God’s people or His kingdom.

Exodus 35:30-31 – “Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skill.”

Here we see Bezalel filled with the Spirit of God that he might have wisdom, understanding and knowledge to work on crafting items for the Temple of God. It was not purely a natural task, but a spiritual one because He needed to be able to do it just as God prescribed. It is very possible that Bezalel did not have the ability in himself to make all the items and things God required. Therefore, he gave him His Spirit. As we will see later on, in our studies on the Holy Spirit did not reside in him but only rested on him to do the work necessary and more than likely removed from him when the task was done.

Numbers 11:16-17 – “The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.”

Here we see that God’s Spirit was on Moses. This was necessary because Moses was first and foremost a prophet.  (Acts 3:22) All the prophets were mouth pieces for God and as result were under the power of the Holy Spirit when they spoke. 

2 Peter 1:21 – “For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Secondly, Moses was God’s leader for the people of Israel so He needed God’s Spirit on him to know the will of God and work the miracles of God before the people. In turn, God took some of the power of God’s Spirit from Moses and put it on the 70 elders that God had selected to lead the people of Israel together with Moses. “Taking some of the power of Moses spirit”, it was a figure of speech. God did not give the 70 elders some of His Holy Spirit but all of it that they might have God’s authority and power to lead and serve the people of Israel. Another way of saying it is that God gave them ability to be leaders of God’s people along with Moses through the Spirit of God. Although they received all of God’s Spirit, they did not receive all of God’s power. Moses had greater power or greater anointing then they the rest. We see this idea of greater anointing in the story of Elijah and Elisha. Elisha received a double portion of God’s Spirit.

All the appointed judges over Israel in the Old Testament were given the Spirit of God that they might have power to deliver God’s chosen people from their enemies and power to lead and judge wisely. (Judges 3:9;-10; 6:34-35; 11:29; 14:6,19; 15:14)

All of God’s chosen kings received the power of the Holy Spirit to deliver and lead God’s people in the way that they should go. (1 Samuel 11:6; 16:13; 2 Chronicles 15:1-2; 2 Kings 2:9, 15)

It is interesting to note that there is no mention of God’s Spirit on Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. The reason being is that they didn’t have a task to accomplish. They didn’t need any special ability, power or authority from God. They were only called to live by faith and obedience to him.

We see the Spirit of God mentioned many times in the O.T., but the Holy Spirit only mentioned 3 times. (Psalm 51:13; Isaiah 63:10,11) The reason for this is because the work of the Spirit was not to sanctify people or enable them to obey God as it is in the N.T.