Lesson
9
From
the Old Man to the New Man
II. From the Old
Man to the New Man
It is exciting to
witness these miraculous manifestations of God's power as is often done in the
church. But the greatest miracle that could ever happen would be to experience
the life-changing transformation brought about by the "new birth"
(John 3:5). Jesus had performed powerful miracles during His ministry,
including the raising of the dead. He had given the disciples power to perform
many of these same miracles but He cautioned them not to rejoice because they
had power over spirits but rather "rejoice" He said, "because
your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). The Lord was obviously
more concerned with the miracle of salvation and eternal life than any other
miracle when could be performed. Salvation is always God's highest priority for
man.
A. The Greatest
Work
Concerning the
miraculous, Jesus said, "Greater works than these shall he do because I go
to the Father" (John 14:12). How could anyone perform greater works of
miracles than those which Jesus had done? These works were to be in the future,
after the Lord's journey to Calvary. The greatest work that could ever be done
was to tell of the delivering power of the blood of Jesus and the "new
life" that would be given through His Spirit (Acts 2:4, 38 and 39). Since
Jesus gave His life on Calvary, was resurrected and ascended into heaven, He
has been pouring this beautiful miracle of "new life" into all who
come to Him (John 10:10).
1. Jesus Brings
Change
Everything Jesus
taught and all the love and compassion He demonstrated was designed to draw the
people's attention to the power of God. This power was able to change troubled,
empty lives into joyous, abundant lives. His mission was to bring the joys of
heaven and the life of God into the heart and soul of mankind.
2. Jesus Brings
Victory
He offers victory over
satanic forces, human weaknesses and struggles of life (John 16:33; I John
5:4-5; I Corinthians 15:57). The victory in removing the curse of sin from its
victims was paid for by giving His own life, thereby conquering sin and opening
the door for man to receive this "new life." He laid down His life
for mankind, that man could experience a superior way of life—NEW LIFE.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17).
3. The Three
Enemies of Man
The receiving of the
baptism of the Holy Ghost is actually receiving the very presence and life of
God dwelling within. Jesus had conquered the:
a. Devil (Hebrews
2:14)
b. World with its
ungodly lusts (I John 2:16 and John 16:33)
c. Flesh (Hebrews
4:15)
He continues to defeat
these three same enemies as He lives in the heart of the believer. Two of these
enemies are outside the body, (the devil and the world). But it seems that the
greatest enemy is within man. ". . .out of the heart of men proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these
evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23).
B. The Works of the
Flesh—The Old Man
All of these things
come from a carnal and sinful nature. A picture of this nature is painted in
Galatians 5:19, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like." When left to itself, the
heart of a man is capable of unbelievable evils. As long as a life is lived in
response to the dictates and the desires of this sinful nature, it can never
please God. The Scriptures declare that it is impossible to please God with the
carnal mind, and that it is hostile towards Him. The carnal mind does not
submit to God's laws (Romans 8:6). This is why God gives a new nature (Romans
7:6; I Corinthians 6:17), a new mind (I Corinthians 2:16) and a new heart
(Ezekiel 36:26-27; Romans 5:5) thus making a new man (Ephesians 4:24) full of
new life (Romans 6:4; II Corinthians 5:17) for the old man, as he is called,
(Ephesians 4:22) cannot please God. He cannot understand God (I Corinthians
2:14) neither can he live holy before God (Romans 8:5-8). Can sweet water come
from a bitter spring (James 3:11)? Of course not! Neither can he who lives in
the lower nature of the old man produce the fruits of this newly created man.
C. The Works of the
Spirit—The New Man
To this new man God
has given many promises. The old man was associated with the curses. Since
actions flow directly from the heart (Luke 6:45; I Corinthians 13:11), it was
necessary that God create in man a new heart, with new characteristics. The
feelings of the heart cannot be trusted, for the heart of the natural man is
". . .deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know
it?" (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Would it be safe to find the most wicked,
deceitful man you know and entrust everything to his care? A wise man knows he
cannot do this. The Bible says that a man cannot trust his own heart. David,
that great psalm-writer and king, never dreamed that he had murder in his heart.
He found out too late. He learned to ask God to search his heart and try him,
know his thoughts and see if there was any wicked way in him and lead him in
the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24). This honest and sincere appeal to God is
the only hope man has of influencing his eternal destiny. Remember, all
the reasoning of the heart, and human logic of this world cannot know or
discover the things of God without the illumination of His Spirit into hearts
(I Corinthians 2:11; II Corinthians 4:6).
D. The Fruit of the
Spirit
When the Spirit of God
is resident in the heart, it will produce a harvest of love, joy, peace,
gentleness, goodness, longsuffering, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians
5:22-23). His Spirit within will conquer the things that were formerly destroying. Unbelief is
conquered by faith; hatred is conquered by love; wrath and strife by
longsuffering and temperance; fear, by love and patience; bondage, by
deliverance, and on and on. What a tremendous experience to see God completely
change the old man into a brand new man, who flowers into the true image of God
(Ephesians 4:24).
1. Formula for
Abundant Life
Paul gave the formula
for abundant life—"Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with
good" (Romans 12:21). Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 6:43-45. "For
a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns
men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man
out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. An
evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." So, to bring
forth good things, it is necessary to have a new heart for it is the fountain
of all the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). Is it any wonder that Christians
speak praises and adoration in other tongues, since these praises flow from the
heart where Jesus now lives? (See Romans 8:26.) This language of the Spirit is
a truly undeniable sign that one has received a new heart. "For a man's
mouth speaks what his heart is full of" (Today's English Version, Luke
6:45.)
2. The Aim of God
for His People
It is the ultimate aim
of God to bring forth the "fruit of His Spirit" cultivated in the
hearts of His people (John 15:8). He knows that a life abounding with the fruit
of His Spirit is a meaningful and complete life. There will, however, be
opposition to His work in each heart by the old man (sinful nature); (II
Corinthians 10:3-5) for now there is a dual nature—the nature of God and
the sinful nature of the flesh (Galatians 4:29). Paul said this sinful nature
must be overcome. Sometimes a struggle within man ends in failure but if he
keeps trusting in God, he will have victory. Children fall many times before
they are finally able to walk. Even so, God is not angry when His children make
mistakes and fall, but He has promised forgiveness and strength to rise and walk
again (Hebrews 12:3-4; I John 1:9; Hebrews 4:15-16).
3.
Paul's Advice
Paul
admonished the Roman Christians that during these struggles they suddenly let
the old man get the upperhand. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,
that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:12-13).