Threshing Floor Tabernacle

“Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new.” II Cor 5:16-17 MSG

With January being the Gateway to 2014, our focus and theme has been “I will do a new thing” while also concentrating on “The Tongue”.  We firmly believe that, “All Things are Possible to the One who Believes.” We believe the Word of God when it says “we are a new creation” and we are determined to have that word become flesh within us. This is what the Word says in II Corinthians 5:17 from the MSG Bible, “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new.” The King James version uses the words “new creation” which means “fresh original formation”. This means that God the Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has been granted ownership (redeemed by Jesus’ Blood) of our lives to invent or create a new creation altogether. This may not mean much to some but think about being incarcerated for life for a crime you did commit, or weighed down by a long painful illness you brought upon yourself, or starving for food because you blew your money gambling, or on a cold wintry night you had no place to stay and no clothes to wear because you were fired from your job due to drug use; then all of a sudden someone comes into your life and says, “I’m going to give you a fresh start.” This is exactly what happens when Jesus comes into our life.

That verse goes on to say, “The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. II Cor 5:17-20 MSG

 This new life consists of “dying to ourselves” and “living for Jesus” who died for us. That’s a dagger for many because on the one hand we want Jesus for salvation, healing, provision, and to go to heaven when we die, BUT on the other hand we still want to live our own lives based on conventional worldly wisdom rather than the wisdom from God. This new life in Christ consists of the cross or crucified life which is part of the new creation. Jesus gave us no other choice (see Mt 16:24). Apart from living a crucified life we prove to ourselves and others that we’re really not His. The crucified life does not save us but it confirms that we belong to Jesus.