Supernatural Transformation: Change Your Heart Into God’s Heart (26 page)

Christ executed the old nature on the cross so that we could receive a new nature in Him.

2. “Put On the New Man”

“Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”
(Ephesians 4:24). This mystery of “putting on the new man” must be understood and carried out through revelation by the Holy Spirit. It cannot be analyzed in the mind, because the intellect cannot possibly comprehend it. It has to do with a freewill act that consciously applies the life of the resurrected Christ to us. On the cross, our old nature died. Through the resurrection, we receive a new nature. We must confirm this reality each day, putting on the
“new man”
by asking the Holy Spirit to activate the life of Christ in us. Jesus has already done the work for us. He defeated sin and death, and He rose victoriously as the new Man. The rest—applying that work—is up to us! Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes so that you can receive a clear revelation of what it means to “put on the new man.”

Characteristics of the “New Man”

• The “new man” comes from the new birth.
  When we accept the gospel of the kingdom, repent, and experience the new birth through the Holy Spirit, we receive a new nature.
  

• The “new man” was produced by God.
  A human being cannot produce a new nature by his own strength; neither can laws, religion, good works, or anything else that originates in human methods. The new nature is produced in us solely by God.
  

• The “new man” was created in God’s likeness—in righteousness and holiness.
  It was God’s purpose through Christ that a new human race would be born, in which His nature would be restored according to His original plan. (See, for example, Romans 8:29.)
  

• The “new man” has an incorruptible nature.
  The nature of the new man cannot be corrupted, because it was born of the seed of God, through His everlasting Word:
  “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever”
  (1 Peter 1:23). The seed of which we were born again is incorruptible; therefore, our new nature is incorruptible. Only God could have accomplished this in us. I am not saying that a born-again Christian will never sin. What I am saying is that we have a divine nature that has the capacity not to sin—a nature that was produced in us by Jesus, the Word of God, accomplished through the supernatural exchange of righteousness for sin that Christ effected on the cross and by His resurrection life.
  

3. Apply God’s Supernatural Grace

The old nature expresses itself through rebellion; the new nature expresses itself through obedience. The decision to deny and crucify our old nature is our own. No one can do it for us. However, once we decide to die to “self,” the Holy Spirit will empower us with His supernatural grace to carry out the “execution.” Again, we cannot transform ourselves in our own strength; when we try to do so, the fruit we produce is dead works. But when we are transformed according to God’s grace and strength, we produce the fruit of the Spirit in abundance.

God’s supernatural grace enables us to do what we can’t do
in our own strength.

4. Restore God’s Original Intent

The two primary reasons God created human beings are as follows:

• To reproduce in us the image and likeness of God:
  “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26).
  

• To give us dominion, power, and authority over the created world:
  “
  God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it’
  ”
  (Genesis 1:28).
  

When God restored humanity, He gave us the new nature for those same reasons. Understanding these two purposes is essential to walking in obedience to God. If we know that we were created for these reasons, and if we pursue them in the Spirit, we will automatically live in a way that is pleasing to God.

“‘
The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit”
(1 Corinthians 15:45). Jesus Christ came as the
“last Adam”
to end the legacy of sin and corruption in the human race due to the first Adam’s disobedience, so that we could carry out our two original purposes. We believers have the responsibility of reflecting the image of God on earth and of exercising dominion and lordship over the natural world and over the kingdom of darkness.
“
For whom [God] foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren
”
(Romans 8:29). Do you want to be one of those
“brethren”
who are formed in the image of God’s Son? Will you make a commitment today to reject the sinful nature and to obey God’s will?

The following testimony is about a husband and wife who decided to die to the old nature that was corrupting them. Jessica and her husband had practiced witchcraft for ten years. Jessica testifies that while her husband was in prison, he met Christians who preached Jesus to him and made him “crazy.” But, one day, he came across my book
How to Walk in the Supernatural Power of God
and was so impacted by reading it that he gave his life to Christ. Then, he called his wife and told her that she needed to find King Jesus Ministry and begin to attend church there.

Jessica said that due to their practice of witchcraft, she would hear voices and footsteps in her home that frightened her and didn’t let her sleep in peace. Since she was already attending King Jesus church, a team from the church went to her apartment one day to pray and spiritually cleanse the atmosphere there. Later, the team testified that demons manifested in that place in such a strong way that even the necklaces used in the practice of witchcraft moved on their own. They removed over sixty industrial-sized garbage bags full of objects the couple had used in Santería—books, music, images, outfits, necklaces, drums, dolls, altars, and much more—with a value of approximately $120,000. God’s power entered that apartment, and, ever since, there have been no more voices or footsteps. Jessica is happy with the peace in her home today. And, as a result of that deliverance and transformation, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law have also given their lives to Jesus.

Dear friend, it is time for you to make a decision. Have you been persuaded by God’s promises for you? Are you convinced that He will do what He has said? If your own life is manifesting the works of the sinful nature more than the works of the Spirit, then what Jesus accomplished on the cross has been mainly theoretical to you, and you haven’t allowed God’s power to transform your life. You need to apply the work of Christ, crucifying the old nature, so that you can live according to your new nature. God is waiting for you to make the decision to obey Him before you experience the consequences of your disobedience. Now is the time for you to straighten your path so that you may reflect the image of your loving Creator and start to exercise dominion and lordship over the earth, according to the authority of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. If you want to exchange your disobedient heart for an obedient one, pray the following prayer of commitment to God’s will—and begin to be transformed!

Prayer of Obedience

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Son Jesus Christ, who crucified the old nature on the cross so that I could receive a new nature through Him. I ask You to forgive me for living to please the desires of my sinful nature and for not denying them in order to pursue Your purposes. Today, of my own free will, I choose to “put off the old man” and to “put on the new man” in order to live a lifestyle of obedience to You. I desire to obey You always, regardless of whether it is “convenient,” “reasonable,” or “profitable” for me. Since I know that I cannot do this in my own strength, I appeal to You to accomplish it in me through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Grant me the grace to yield my will to Yours and to exchange my priorities for Yours in regard to every goal and decision I make. I declare that, from this day forward, I will obey Your will and pursue Your purposes. In Jesus’ name, amen!

8

S
urrender. Submission. Yielding. Sacrifice. Holiness. Today, inside the church as well as outside it, these concepts are unpopular or incomprehensible to most people. Additionally, many who do understand these ideas are afraid of them because they involve the denial of self. The greatest struggle people have with God is accepting and obeying His command to die to “self” and to surrender to Him wholeheartedly.

As we previously discussed, modern psychology and psychiatry have tried for years to provide a cure for people’s mental and emotional problems through treatments that empower their ego. These treatments do not take into consideration the human need for total surrender to the Creator or the healing people can receive when they yield to Him. Similarly, in the church, some people have adopted an extreme view of God’s grace that produces egocentric and selfish believers who seek instant gratification. Many of these believers do not appreciate the nature of Jesus’ sacrifice for them or the lifestyle of surrender to God that He set as a pattern for us. They don’t believe they need to give up anything to God; they think they should just receive from Him without fulfilling any responsibility on their part.

God Requires Continuous Surrender

The only way to experience ongoing transformation of the heart and to receive God’s blessings is through daily surrender to Him. Jesus said:

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
(John 12:24–26)

God requires total and continuous surrender on our part. Yet He does not ask us to do anything that He is not willing to do Himself and that He has not already done. From eternity, the God of the universe has surrendered Himself on our behalf. The Father surrendered His Son to be the Savior of the world. The Son yielded His will to the Father throughout His life on earth, culminating at Gethsemane and the cross. And the Holy Spirit yields Himself to the Son. Jesus said,
“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for
He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak.…He will glorify Me
, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”
(John 16:13–14). And we are to follow God’s example.
“Be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma”
(Ephesians 5:1–2).

The act of surrender, or the giving up of oneself or something that is a part of oneself, is a concept found in the heart of God. The “law of surrender” applies to God, as well to humans, because to sacrifice oneself for the sake of others is an intrinsic part of His nature. I believe that of all God’s characteristics, attitudes, and actions, this aspect of surrender reflects the deepest part of Him. Christ was never higher than when He surrendered Himself to become the lowest for us.
“
[Christ]
made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men”
(Philippians 2:7). Since surrender and sacrifice are aspects of God’s nature, and we know that Jesus surrendered Himself fully to the Father, especially in sacrificing Himself for our sake, why do we look for excuses and justifications—including theological ones—not to surrender ourselves to God? Surrender brings us into harmony with Him and with the nature of His kingdom.

God does not ask us to do anything that He is not willing to do Himself and that He has not already done.

The Surrendered Heart Reminds God of His Son’s Sacrifice

Just as our redemption came through Christ’s surrender to God’s will on the cross, most of what God gives us comes through a “death,” or surrender, to Him. I believe that when God sees a person whose heart is truly yielded to Him, He sees Jesus’ crucifixion anew; and wherever there is such a crucifixion, God imparts a resurrection! Surrender is the path that Christ walked, and He has paved the way for us to follow Him on that path, which will lead us to supreme exaltation in Him.
“
[Jesus]
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him…”
(Philippians 2:8–9). The way “up” to God always starts by going “down” in surrender and humility before Him.

Many people believe in God, go to church, and worship Him, but they don’t commit to Him beyond attending Sunday morning services. They don’t want to follow the path of surrender that Christ paved for them because it involves giving up “self,” subjugating the ego, making spiritual sacrifices to God, and undergoing the transformation of the heart. People don’t want to give up their sinful practices or indulgent lifestyle, and they don’t want to share in the sufferings of Christ, something that the apostle Paul sought as a vital aspect of his relationship with Jesus. (See Philippians 3:10 niv.)