November’s about to close, and this is what I have after 4 Sundays of content:
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man”
-Acts 17:24
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
-Lamentations 3:22-23
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
-2 Corinthians 5:16-17
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I am thankful, and equally jubilant that we were able to pull this off. I am thinking of revisiting what I typed on here, fixing it all up and just putting it all together, and publishing it as a free e-Book. Maybe my first venture into Gumroad.
I feel as if what was brought up, and what was discussed was what I more or less wanted to tackle when I came up with the themes of ‘Villain’ and ‘Novus Ordo Aeternum’ in the years prior. I’m seeing now that those themes seem more as outlooks that have been birthed from this central message, or what we came up with this month.
For see, we are truly made new creations. As we’ve come up with yesterday, we’re no longer sarx – that is, the fleshly nature which is prone to sin and not only apart from the divine influence of God but is also opposed to Him; No, Christ became sarx in order for us to be His righteousness. We’ve died to sin and been made alive to righteousness unto eternal life, and not only that, but we’re also made charitoo – that is, to be greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved by God.
As a congregation they all said in unison, when I asked them to repeat after me in agreement – We are no longer sarx. We are charitoo. Therefore, being made new, we are not only no longer our old identity… Once opposed to God, now reconciled to Him – it’s no wonder that those who are still under the bondage of sin may have the tendency of lashing out against us; Apparently, this dying reality lashes out against the new creation.
We are, in this sense, Villains.
On top of this, we are to understand that our being made righteous has not only rendered us completely new, and no longer of the old – no, we have also been ushered into a new community. Now that I think of it we were once trapped in sin, in a kingdom of darkness where we all share the same fate – infected by sin, we were doomed to die and to face total oblivion.
To keep it simple, we’ve not only had curse taken out of us, but we have been brought out of an accursed reality. But it’s not to say that we would witness, with our eyes and our senses, how we are now blessed and therefore in a blessed reality. No, our blessed reality begins in the peace that we have beyond all understanding, which reigns first and foremost in our minds. As we continue to live and learn in this reality we continue to realize how we have something far more valuable and more pleasurable than a life just full of pleasure and free from pain; above all this we have a peace that goes beyond understanding, based on a love that would not let us go.
It’s a peace that keeps us, first and foremost, in our minds – It’s a peace that is present in our minds through what people may regard as the greatest things that could ever happen to us in this life, and it’s a peace that keeps us through the most painful of circumstances that people would ever wish upon us. It’s a peace that keeps us, because it is a peace present, and therefore infinitely superior to the painful moments, and the pleasurable times.
And while we may enjoy this peace as individuals, I find that we would be so pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s a peace present with all who believe in Christ – for He is, after all, our Prince of Peace. Once we were all on a highway to hell; Now, we’re united by the Spirit, kept in unity and in the bond of peace… and it’s all because of Christ, who is our Prince of Peace.
We’re not only new creations, and enemies of this dying reality – we are also part of a community, and more than a community, we are one with the body of Christ.
We’re part of a community held together by the Son of God, who has shown us the everlasting love of God, by giving us everything through His body, and committing to be with us forever through His blood. His resurrection is proof and confirmation of God’s glory and grace. Because of all He has done, He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Firstborn presiding over what I call the Empire of all Empires, and Order of all Orders.
In this sense, we are part of a more superior order; a new One that is always new, One that goes beyond this world, unto eternity..
Novus Ordo Aeternum.
I’m enjoying this so far as I was not necessarily satisfied with whatever write-ups I had with those themes, and just to revisit them now and to add further clarification based on the revelations given to us this month… well, it is pretty thrilling to ponder on.
We regard ourselves as moving on from our old identities, and the world calls us enemies – we are villains. On the other hand, we embrace our being new creations, and it’s not without thinking of Who we belong to. I used to think of our exploits as individuals, knowing we are new creations… but now I understand there are no exploits and conquests to be done alone; We’d be fooling ourselves if we thought that we were alone after believing in Christ.
So we go forth, knowing we are in Christ, and Christ is in us… and we love one another in the body of Christ, celebrating how we are loved. The New Creation is not without the New Order.
The world calls us enemies, for we were made champions of eternity.
Sorry, still running my mind through all this.
Until the next post, God bless you.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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