Post by David on Jul 20, 2006 11:53:43 GMT -5
Here is a small portion of a serman by C.H. Spurgeon. Check it out.
In addition to the new covenant, Christ has been pleased to make us new men. His saints are “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” They have a new nature. God has breathed into them a new life. The Holy Spirit, though the old nature is still there, has been pleased to put within them a new nature. There is now a contending force within them—the old carnal nature inclining to evil, and the new God–given nature panting after perfection. They are new men, “begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This new nature is moved by new principles. The old nature needed to be awed with threatenings or bribed with rewards; the new nature feels the impulse of love. Gratitude is its mainspring: “We love him because he first loved us.” No mercenary motive now stirs the new creature:
“My God, I love thee not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love thee not
Must burn eternally.”
I love thee, O my Savior, because on the cross thou didst bear shame, and spitting, and manifold disgrace for me. New principles stir the new nature which God has given. And this new nature is conscious of new emotions. It loves what once it hated; it hates what once it loved. It finds blight where once it sought for bliss and finds bliss where once it found nothing but bitterness. It leaps at the sound which was once dull to its ears—the name of a precious Christ. It rejoices in hopes which once seemed idle as dreams. It is filled with a divine enthusiasm which it once rejected as fanatical. It is conscious now of living in a new element, breathing a fresh air, partaking of new food, drinking out of new wells not digged by men or filled from the earth. The man is new—new in principles and new in emotions.
And now the man is also new in relationship. He was an heir to wrath; he is now a child of God. He was a bond–slave; he is now a freeman. He was the Ishmael who dwelt in the wilderness; he is now the Isaac and dwells with Sarah after the tenor of the new covenant. He rejoices in Christ Jesus and feasts to the full. He was the citizen of earth once; he is now a citizen of heaven. He once found his all beneath the clouds; but now his all is beyond the stars. He has new relationships. Christ is his brother; God is his father; the angels are his friends; and the despised people of God are his best and nearest kinsfolk. And hence the man has new aspirations. He now pants to glorify God. What cared he about the glory of God once? He now pants to see God; once he would have paid the fare, if it had cost his life, that he might escape from the presence of the Lord. Now he hungers and thirsts after the living God; yea, if his soul had wings and he could break the fetters of this mortality, he would mount at once to dwell where Jesus is. Dear friends, are you new men? If you are, you understand what it is; if you are not, I know I cannot explain it to you. Oh! to be born again is a great mystery; blessed is the soul that comprehends it! But he who knows it not will never learn it by the lip; he can only know it by the Spirit of God causing him also to be made a new creature in Christ Jesus.
This stuff is amazing! Isn't it wonderful that we are made new!!!
some would argue(I would tend to as well) that the phrase, " though the old nature is still there" is not accurate, that we can't actually have two natures. Even Jerry Bridges agreed when my dad asked him if it is true that we have only one nature. Of course we do have temptation and inclination to sin, but it's possible to find a better word for it than nature, perhaps "flesh" would be more accurate.
Any thoughts on this?
In addition to the new covenant, Christ has been pleased to make us new men. His saints are “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” They have a new nature. God has breathed into them a new life. The Holy Spirit, though the old nature is still there, has been pleased to put within them a new nature. There is now a contending force within them—the old carnal nature inclining to evil, and the new God–given nature panting after perfection. They are new men, “begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This new nature is moved by new principles. The old nature needed to be awed with threatenings or bribed with rewards; the new nature feels the impulse of love. Gratitude is its mainspring: “We love him because he first loved us.” No mercenary motive now stirs the new creature:
“My God, I love thee not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love thee not
Must burn eternally.”
I love thee, O my Savior, because on the cross thou didst bear shame, and spitting, and manifold disgrace for me. New principles stir the new nature which God has given. And this new nature is conscious of new emotions. It loves what once it hated; it hates what once it loved. It finds blight where once it sought for bliss and finds bliss where once it found nothing but bitterness. It leaps at the sound which was once dull to its ears—the name of a precious Christ. It rejoices in hopes which once seemed idle as dreams. It is filled with a divine enthusiasm which it once rejected as fanatical. It is conscious now of living in a new element, breathing a fresh air, partaking of new food, drinking out of new wells not digged by men or filled from the earth. The man is new—new in principles and new in emotions.
And now the man is also new in relationship. He was an heir to wrath; he is now a child of God. He was a bond–slave; he is now a freeman. He was the Ishmael who dwelt in the wilderness; he is now the Isaac and dwells with Sarah after the tenor of the new covenant. He rejoices in Christ Jesus and feasts to the full. He was the citizen of earth once; he is now a citizen of heaven. He once found his all beneath the clouds; but now his all is beyond the stars. He has new relationships. Christ is his brother; God is his father; the angels are his friends; and the despised people of God are his best and nearest kinsfolk. And hence the man has new aspirations. He now pants to glorify God. What cared he about the glory of God once? He now pants to see God; once he would have paid the fare, if it had cost his life, that he might escape from the presence of the Lord. Now he hungers and thirsts after the living God; yea, if his soul had wings and he could break the fetters of this mortality, he would mount at once to dwell where Jesus is. Dear friends, are you new men? If you are, you understand what it is; if you are not, I know I cannot explain it to you. Oh! to be born again is a great mystery; blessed is the soul that comprehends it! But he who knows it not will never learn it by the lip; he can only know it by the Spirit of God causing him also to be made a new creature in Christ Jesus.
This stuff is amazing! Isn't it wonderful that we are made new!!!
some would argue(I would tend to as well) that the phrase, " though the old nature is still there" is not accurate, that we can't actually have two natures. Even Jerry Bridges agreed when my dad asked him if it is true that we have only one nature. Of course we do have temptation and inclination to sin, but it's possible to find a better word for it than nature, perhaps "flesh" would be more accurate.
Any thoughts on this?