Dear Friend,

By His death on the cross, Jesus Christ accomplished a perfect redemption for us. God honoured His Son and exalted Him to the very throne of the universe. God has made Jesus Christ "Lord of all." The glorified Man, Jesus Christ, has all authority in heaven and earth.

Christ is the Head of God's New Family

God has not only made Jesus Christ Lord of all, but He has made Him the Head of a new family—"the children of God."

By natural birth we were in Adam's sinful family. Adam was our head. We shared in all that Adam was and all that he did.

When we were born again spiritually, God did a wonderful thing for us. He took us out of Adam's sinful family and put us into Christ's family. Christ is now our Head. We share in all that He is and all that He did.

Christ is the Beginning of God's New Creation

God not only has a new family in the world, but He also has a new creation. Christ is the Beginning and the Head of God's new creation.

God's old creation has been ruined by sin. Satan is called "the prince of this world" because he is the unseen ruler of the world system, which is based on lust, greed and power.

The Bible says that Jesus Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from the present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." (Galatians 1:4)

In order to save us, Christ came where we were, in this sinful world. He Himself was sinless, but on the cross He took our place. Our sins were laid on Him. He died, was buried and He rose again the third day in a glorious, new resurrection body.

Something else happened. He rose in an entirely new spiritual world—God's new creation. He is no longer in this world. He is the Beginning and the Head of God's new creation. Speaking of Christ, the Bible says that He is "the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence [first place]." (Colossians 1:18) God now has His second Man before Him—a new Man in a new place!

God's Great Salvation

In order for us to appreciate God's great salvation, we need to consider our condition before we were saved. When God looked at me in my lost condition, what did He see? He saw three things:

Now let us see how God has dealt with each of these three things.

God dealt with my sins by the precious blood of Christ

There is only one remedy for our sins—the blood of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus shed His precious blood for our sins, we are forgiven of all our sins. The Bible says,

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

God dealt with my sinful self by putting me in Christ

Just as there is only one remedy for our sins, there is only one remedy for our sinful self. That remedy is death! God's Word says, "The soul that sins, it shall die."

How did God deal with my sinful self? He dealt with my sinful self by putting me in Christ on the cross. The Bible says, "Of Him [God] are you in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 1:30)

God puts us in Christ on the cross. Our "old man"—our sinful self—was crucified with Christ. When He died, we died with Him.

The Bible says, "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him…" (Romans 6:6)

How can we be crucified with Christ? It might help us to understand this if we consider an illustration. Let us take a piece of paper and cut out a little man. Now take the little man and place him in a book. The little man is now in the book.

Suppose we placed the book on a table. Where is the little man? He is also on the table because he is in the book. Suppose we put the book on the floor. Where is the little man now? He is on the floor. Suppose we place the book on top of the piano. Where is the little man now? He is on the piano.

Now suppose we wrap the book with the little man in it and send it to another country. What happens to the little man? He goes to the other country also because he is in the book. Or again, suppose we hold the book under water. What happens to the little man? He goes under the water also. Whatever happens to the book happens also to the little man because he is in the book.

When God saved us, He put is in Christ on the cross. What happened to Him happened also to us because we were in Christ.

God brought us into His new creation

Now we come to one of the most amazing truths in the whole Bible. When Christ passed out of the old creation and into the new creation, He took us with Him. Why is this true? It is true because we are in Christ.

When Christ died, we died with Him. When He was buried, we were buried with Him. When He rose, we rose with Him.

By our death with Christ we passed out of the old creation. When Christ rose again in God's new creation, we rose with Him in God's new creation. The Bible says,

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

A more exact translation of the first part of this verse would be: "Therefore, if any one [be] in Christ, [there is] a new creation."

Christ is the Head of God's new creation, and we are in Christ. So if any one is in Christ, he is a new person in God's new creation. Nothing is more important for us as Christians than to understand that we are new persons in God's new creation. The Bible says,

"[God] has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:6

What is our place in God's new creation? Our place is with Christ because we are in Christ.

We were in Christ when He died, we were in Him when He rose from the dead, and we were in Him when He was exalted to the right hand of God, as the Head of God's new creation. The Bibles says,

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved! and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6 NET Bible)

Our Life is in Two Volumes

The history of every child of God can be looked at as being in two volumes.

Volume 1 of our life is "The Old Life in the Old Creation." The history of this part of our life began when we were born.

What is in Volume 1 of our life? The pages of this volume are filled with our sins and failures. But that history has been closed by our death with Christ. God puts us in Christ on the cross. When He died, we died with Him. Our old life in the old creation ended with our death with Christ.

Volume 2 of our life is "The New Life in God's New Creation." This life began when we were born again spiritually. When Christ rose from the dead, we rose with Him in newness of life. When He ascended into heaven, we ascended with Him. When He took His place at the right hand of God, we were seated there with Him.

We begin our new life in Christ, seated with Christ in "heavenly places." This is our new starting point. This is our true spiritual position. This is the way God looks at us.

What is in Volume 2 of our life? The pages of this volume are filled with the perfections of Christ and our blessedness as being in Christ. This volume will never end! We will reign forever with Christ.

What about our sins? They belong to the old creation. They are gone forever in the death of Christ.

What about my sinful self? It, too, belongs to the old creation. My old life ended on the cross.

What about the old creation? The old creation has not passed away yet. It still exists, but I am no longer part of it. I have passed from the old creation into God's new creation. Jesus said, "He who hears My word, and believes on Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come in condemnation but is passed from death into life." (John 5:24)

We passed out of the old creation of sin and death by our death with Christ. We came into the new creation of resurrection life when we were raised with Christ. We have passed "from death into life."

In the old creation we are said to be "in the flesh." In the new creation we are said to be "in the Spirit." The moment we are born again, we leave the region of the flesh and come into the region of the Spirit—God's new creation. The Bible says,

"You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you…" Romans 8:9

When God looks at us now, what does He see? He sees us as a new persons in His new creation. Where are our sins? They are gone forever. What happened to "the sinner"? He was crucified with Christ and buried with Christ. What happened to the sinful world? It is still there, but as new persons we are no longer part of this world. We are in God's new creation.

All of this is true of us because we are in Christ. Once you are in Christ, you are there forever. You are forever joined to Christ. God always looks at us as being in Christ; He never sees us otherwise. We are forever one with Christ in God's new creation.

Our "Citizenship" is in Heaven

There is a company of people—Christ's believers—who have been brought into God's new creation and yet left in the world for the time being. We are in the world but not of the world. Our "citizenship" is in heaven.

Jesus gave His disciples authority over evil spirits, but He told them not to rejoice in their power over evil spirits "but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20)

The point is not that we are going to heaven some day, but that we are citizens of heaven now, at this present moment. Our names are written there now. We are on the roll of heaven now. The Bible says, "For our citizenship is in heaven." (Philippians 3:20)

If you could look at the roll or list of citizens of heaven, you would find the names of all who know and love the Lord Jesus inscribed there as present citizens of heaven.

Believers live in Two Worlds

Our difficulty is that we belong to God's new creation, but we still live in the old creation, which the Bible calls "this present evil world." The prophet Isaiah records a painful experience which we likewise share. He said, "…I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips…" (Isaiah 6:5)

Though we must live in this world for the time being, it is not our home. In our spirit we can live in the new creation right now.

God's new creation is not visible to human eyes; nevertheless, it is real. Though everything connected with Christ's exaltation is hidden from public view, we know that, right now, Christ is crowned with glory and honour as the Head of God's new creation. The Bible says,

"At present we do not yet see all things under his control, but we see Jesus…crowned with glory and honor…" Hebrews 2:8-9

Many of God's children do not understand God's plans. They are looking to God to solve the problems of this world and to improve things here. But this is not God's plan.

The world-system is under the control of Satan. He is its unseen ruler behind the scenes. He is called "the god of this world." (2 Corinthians 4:4) This world has no place for God, nor His Son; it is, therefore, under the judgment of God. One day Satan's world-system will be completely destroyed.

The risen Christ is the glorious Head of God's new creation. The Bible says that the Man, Jesus Christ, is "the Heir of all things." This means that He has inherited all that God has!

One day Christ will come in great power and glory and take public possession of all that is in God's universe. He will reign as God's glorious King.

We are looking for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. At His coming He will give us a resurrection body like His glorious body. The Bible says,

"But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21

To Summarize:

God now has in Christ a new man in a new place! He is the Beginning and the Head of God's new creation.

Is Jesus Christ living today? Yes, He surely is! If He is living, where is He living? He is living in God's new creation. It is a great thing to see and know that there is a new order of things, a heavenly system, of which Christ is the Centre and Head.

This great truth lies at the root of Christianity. Christ died and was buried; He was raised in a new condition, absolutely apart from this world. If we are in Christ, we are with Him, where He is.

In the old creation we were spiritually dead, we were "in the flesh," we were in Satan's kingdom of darkness. In the new creation, we are spiritually alive, we are "in the Spirit," we are "in the kingdom of God's dear Son." Old things have passed away; all things have become new. The Bible says,

"Giving thanks unto the Father…who has delivered us from the power [authority] of darkness, and has translated [transported] us into the kingdom of His dear Son." Colossians 1:12-13

God has delivered us out of this world, but into what? Is it heaven? No. It says that we have been transported us into "the kingdom of God's dear Son." We are in Christ's kingdom now.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the great and glorious Head of the new creation. God's new creation is not something way off in the future. It is a present reality. Christ is now enthroned at the right hand of God. We are now under His administration. Say with me, "I am a new person in a new place!"

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