Day 28 TLT – New Creations in Christ (Salvation Illustrated)

Genesis 1:1-2, 9, 11 is the primary text for the lesson today.

Mr. Cleveland does a masterful job in drawing out the parallels in the creation passage that apply to our lives as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

If you look at the creation passage, you can see the condition of the earth before the Lord spoke over it. It was formless, void, in darkness, and submerged underneath the water. The lesson has us analyze our former habits of overindulging in food. As I did this, this is what I came up with:

My life was chaotic. I knew what I was supposed to do, but didn’t do it, so I lived in constant tension…the “formless,” aimless, confused reference in the Genesis account applies. I was empty and looked to food to fill the “void,” but the emptiness remained or even grew. I was in darkness as my willingness to continue in sin knowingly was a very great darkness keeping my eyes from seeing the light of the glory of God so very often. I felt like I was drowning, submerged beneath my sin, shame, and hopelessness.

Can you relate? As you look at the Genesis passage, in what ways is your life of overeating (either formerly or now if it is applies) like the description of the earth before the Lord spoke over it?

God spoke over the earth and brought light through His Word.

So, we were indeed confused, empty, in darkness, and buried in sin. But the Holy Spirit was “hovering” over us and God said, “let there be light.” And the Word brought light into our hearts. (TLT, p. 90)

The earth was brought up out of the water and became fruitful, all because the presence of the Lord and His spoken Word! This is us, too, if we are in Christ. The Lord breathes His Word over us and we come up out of the darkness, up out of the submerged place we were in. He brings order to our chaos and floods us full so that our emptiness is filled with His presence. He makes us fruitful in Him as well!

God has made us new creations in Christ. Often we don’t live according to this truth. For me, that is one meaning of these words of Jesus’:

If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23b)

I KNEW the truth and I knew the way to be out of my bondage, out of the darkness, out of the chaos…but I refused to live according to that light. So the light within me was darkness…therefore the darkness was SO great!

I praise the Lord that I have burst up out of that place by HIS power…a resurrection of sorts! There IS hope for you, Dear One! Just as there is for me! If you feel like the earth before God spoke His Word over it…formless, void, darkened, and submerged…allow the Word to have it’s transformational affect. His grace speaks it over us each time we need it!

Take these words to heart from Soul Revolution by John Burke: “God could care less about how messed up you are, how far you’ve fallen, or how ‘good’ you’ve been. What he wants to know is, ‘How willing are you right now–in this moment?'” (p. 13)