NEW LIFE
Gladstone Pereira
God's Love was one of the most thoughtful verse from the Gospel of John, ch.3:16 "God so loved the world that He gave His only son as a ransom for our sins so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life." Why is it that word says in Gospel John "God so loved the world." The love of God the Father towards His only begotten Son was immense and immeasurable, beyond any grasp that the Father gave Himself fully to His son-his power, divinity, fullness of Grace. The Son was begotten and not made, thus goes our creed. His love towards His Son was so immense that all the powers rested, within the Father took their manifestation in and through His Son. The greatest power was to create. Therefore, Creation was out of love. The prime concern of the Father was His Son and that is why St. Paul says, "everything was created for Him and through Him. There was an urge within the Father to create. God the Father found everything He created to be good because everything was meant for His Son. Therefore, the love of God in creating this world is beyond human knowledge or understanding, nor it can be analyzed in any manner. Creation proceeds from God's wisdom and it is love and love alone which causes the manifestation of God's great power.
When God creates man, He says, 'Let us create the human kind in our image and likeness. God could have created man in a different form. But, why did God choose to create man in His image and likeness? Because, God is going to make the human kind as friends to his Son as His brothers. Jesus says in Jn.15:14-15 "you are my friends. I do not call you servants any longer. I have called you friends because I have heard from my Father." Therefore, the human kind has to be necessarily created in the image and likeness of God, the Father Himself. Look at that immense love of God chooses to lavish upon the mankind! And what is the image and likeness of God? God is Spirit. Therefore, it is His Own Grace and truth.
Our identity as the children of God and our right to call God, Abba Father was surely established in Creation itself. Man lived in Paradise in God’s Kingdom receiving and enjoying that fullness of grace. The proof that the image and likeness of God are grace and truth is found in the Gospel of Luke ch.2:52 which says, " Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour'. Jn.1:14 also says, he lived among us full of grace and truth." Therefore we see in Gospel of John lifts up the whole world to God the Father when He says "God so loved the world."
But man sinned and the paradise was lost, Look at the pain of the Father which the Son too shares from the very beginning. The Son knew Adam. Henceforth, the prime concern of the Father was to redeem the mankind and Son is named as the suffering lamb. "Behold the Lamb of God, who would take away the sins of the world," thus proclaimed John the Baptist.
On God's Salvation. The main recognition of one's old self and the new life. In Jn.12:32, we read, "And I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." By His death on the Cross, Jesus not only becomes victorious over sin and death, but reopens the doors of heaven when He says to good thief, "You shall be with Me today in Paradise." By this very moment itself, as He shed His precious blood on the cross, Jesus began reaping the fruits of His salvifie action. A thief converted, received in the Kingdom of God. And so the centurion who said, " Truly, He was the Son of God."
Our New Life Begins,
In Jn.10:10 “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”. Jesus is bringing back to us that fullness of grace and truth and these can be received by us only through forgiveness any through a transformation to a new creation by the power of the Holy Spirit. Even to the apostles, Jesus said, “remain in the city, until you have been clothed with power from above.” The meaning of new life can be understood more deeply only if we understand well the meaning of the resurrection of our Lord, because, As Paul says, “if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His spirit that dwells in you (Rom. 8:11). We were dead to sin, and hence we have to rise again to the glory of Jesus in spirit and truth. Paul says, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living spirit’ 1 Cor. 15:45. And Jesus himself is linking belief in the resurrection to His own person and says,” I am the resurrection and the life”.(Jn.11:25)
Jesus on the cross said, “it is accomplished and then commends His spirit into the hands of His father from who He proceeds giving back to him everything He had received. But God raised Him from the dead and gave Him all His glory and splendor. For Jesus then, as I said early, it was more a victory over sin and death for the sake of mankind, the restoration of the lost kingdom and this victory was possible only because Jesus had totally surrendered to the will of God, the Father. That the Son shall be lead like a lamb to the slaughter, be wounded and crushed, be bruised and afflicted in order that a new life shall be born out of Him, a new life that would bring about healing, unity, harmony, peace, joy and happiness to all those who draw near to Him.
Therefore, the call is to surrender totally to the Lord. Total surrender is to give oneself up to Him. Present yourself as you are and Jesus is ready to accept you at any state of your life. There is not time set for that, surrender to Jesus at this very moment because the Lord is waiting and knocking at your door.
Total surrender means that we truthfully and most willingly submit our body and soul to the power of God that His will may be accomplished in and through us not only for our benefit, but for the benefit of the whole community. Paul says in Romans 8:5 “for those who live according to the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace”. Hence, total surrender means to set aside everything that is worldly and look upto things that are from above. This is possible only through the intervention of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Himself says, “ no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from above.” To be born again in the Spirit means to offer oneself as a sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable, in order that God may put within us His Spirit that would renew our mind to discern the will of God, i.e. we may know what is good and acceptable and perfect. Hence, it is no longer you that live, but God who lives in you. That is the essence of new life, a life that Jesus leads in us and through us. To surrender means to acknowledge oneself as a sinner and asking the Lord to accept Him with all His blemishes. We have to seek His mercy that brings forgiveness and His grace that brings us new life. Let us thirst for the Holy Spirit, because it is in the Holy Spirit which is the source and cause of all renewal and transformation and the source of all wisdom and holiness. It is the Spirit that strengthens us and also gives us the grace to keep away from falling into sin again.
Paul, therefore, exhorts us in Romans 8:21 ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’.
In the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, we find that Jesus was attacked by the devil from three different angles. In the first case the devil tells Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’. But Jesus answered, ‘one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”. Here, Jesus is teaching us that in order to resist temptation, we should have recourse to the word of God, because the word of God is power in itself and the devil can never stand before the utterance of God’s word. In the second temptation the satan shows the whole kingdom of the world to Jesus, and tells Him, “all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” But Jesus said to him, “worship the Lord your God and serve only Him”. Now in the second temptation, Jesus tells us that we should not go behind worldly pleasures and these are against the Spirit of God who gives us joy and happiness, love and kindness, compassion and forgiveness, peace and harmony. These gifts do not rest with the world but rest with the Holy Spirit. In the third temptation, the devil after showing the whole city from the pinnacle of the temple, says, ‘if You are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, the angels will bear you on their hands and you will not dash your foot against a stone’. Here, Jesus is teaching us that we should not take hasty decisions in our life without discerning the will of God and say God will look after everything, and if our effort fail, then put the blame on God. That is why Jesus replies, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”. We should thirst for the Holy Spirit because the Spirit takes control of everything in our life. Therefore, the need to be born again in Spirit takes a new meaning, a new three fold meaning as we find in the message given to us by the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
The new life, the born again life in the Spirit of the Lord gives us the opportunity to enter through the gate to reach the Father and Jesus is the gate, It is only with the help of the Holy Spirit one can enter through the gate because Jesus is the only means of our salvation. This is an aspect of our new life in the Spirit which helps us to listen to the inner voice of the Lord which would tell us, ‘more, this is the way, this is the way.’ And that will be the way the Lord will lead you. (Ref. Is. 30:19-21)
When we speak about new life, we must also equally understand those things that prevent us from building up a life that would deny the inclinations of our old self. A few examples would illustrate the above.
In Mt. 15:19 we read, “For out of the heart comes evil intentions”. And so, we need the Holy Spirit to cleanse us. It is very necessary to keep our hearts free from all evil thoughts that leads us to temptations which sometimes result in committing actual sins. We must keep away from sinful circumstances.
The thought of one’s affliction and homelessness is like poison that remains in the mind of an individual. This would prevent the Spirit to enter into our body and the Holy Spirit is afflicted within. Some of us are really afflicted in our minds our continuous thoughts of what had happened in the past in our life. We should remove these thoughts from our minds and come into the love of God that saves us from all dangers in life. Lam.3:19.
Do not give yourself over to sorrow and do not distress yourself or pain yourself deliberately. Unnecessary sorrow and anxiety take control of your thoughts and this is against the gift of the Holy Spirit because Holy Spirit gives us a joyful heard which is life itself. Sirach 30:21-24 clearly says “Do not give yourself over to sorrow, for sorrow has destroyed many”. Jealousy and anger shorten life, and anxiety brings premature old age! We must avoid these situations in our life because Holy Spirit is gentle, meek, slow to anger and rich in mercy.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that realization is the beginning of a new life and you grow in it from strength to strength. The moment you find a set back in your spiritual life, immediately realize that you could be in a state of sin. Your mind does not work properly and the decisions you take go wrong and you feel dejected, a sort of disappointment. You also experience physical fatigue. This is a clear indication that you need examine yourself, need to repent and so go for the sacrament of reconciliation and be back once again in the grace of Jesus . The scripture says, “For he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone;” Lam.3:33 .
An another area we should take care is one lamenting or mourning over the death of his or her dear or dearest one . Sir. 38:16-23. It says you may mourn over the dead may be for a day or two to avoid criticism and then be comforted for your grief. For grief may result in death and a sorrowful heart says one’s strength. So, these kind of thoughts prevent the Holy Spirit in renewing your life into a life of pace and hope in the Lord.
In Prov. 25:21-22 we read, “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat, and if they are thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the Lord will reward you! It means as Jesus said love your enemy. The moment you start helping your enemy that makes him to think whether to continue in enemity or to reconcile. The more you help and love, the quicker he would change and reconcile with you.
Jesus make a question in Mark 12:24. Jesus said, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?” Jesus tells us very clearly that we should know the scriptures in order to follows the right path and keep away from doing wrong. Therefore, the knowledge of the word of God from listening, and reading of the Bible is a must to lead a new Christian life.
Fear about certain matters, fear of certain persons, circumstances, events that took place would prevent one form submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. He should submit all these areas of fear to the Lord in order that the Lord will deliver him from all fears. Ps. 34:4-5 says, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to Him and be radiant! To be radiant means to shine in the grace of God that envelops our life and protects it from every assault of the evil one.
St. Peter tells us in 1 Pet.3:16 “keep your conscience clear”. We can define conscience as a power or Spirit put within us by God to discern what is good and what is evil, an inner voice or inner strength which helps us to make a right turn when we are really sure to fall into a mistake. It is in prayer and specially in personal prayer that we can receive this greater power of discernment a clear conscience. It stresses the need of personal prayer in one’s daily life.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your insight! Prov.3:5. We often depend on your own intelligence and never submit to the Spirit to guide us. Mistakes are made one after the other.
St. Paul says in a very clear language that “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him” Rom.8:9 and “all who are lead by the Spirit of God are children of God! Therefore our Christian life is committed to the working of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us constantly.
As a conclusion, I wish to quote from Mt. 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”. Purity of heart is the greatest achievement in the new life one receives by accepting Jesus as Lord and Master. The promise is that you will see God.
Praise the Lord.
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