The Superior Man in Christ

"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). The first day you received and confessed Jesus Christ as the Lord over your life you became a new type of man. Physically, you might look the same but in the Spirit, you're different. As you become conscious of this fact and begin to walk in it, your body will begin to experience changes. The Greek rendering of this Scripture says, "If any man be in Christ he is a new species of being." It's not merely referring to a new life that has just begun, but also to newness in type; a being with a total difference! The new creation is a new type of man and he belongs to a new race. He's not just a fresh breed or a fresh one of the same kind; rather, he's one of a kind that never existed before! He's a fresh one of a new type of man! He's "The New Superman in Christ."

Jesus is the first among this class of supermen! "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18). "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelation 1:5). He is the second Adam and the Bible says we all have been born according to His similitude, meaning we're like Him. How blessed it is to know who you are in Christ. Jesus is the Head of this new type of man from this new race. He is the Head of the Body, the Church. This new type of man is neither subject to Satan nor needs deliverance. Jesus, "having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:15). The devil has no power! Jesus also said in John 12:31, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

Ephesians 4:8 puts it beautifully: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." This new man doesn't need faith either for "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). He was born with faith; he was created with the measure of faith. He's a superior being! This new type of man doesn't have a problem with sin. In other words, he can choose not to lie and he won't. Sin doesn't have dominion over him. You may ask, "But why is it that some Christians struggle to quit certain habits?" Any Christian who has problems with sin is not yet acquainted with the doctrine of righteousness. He's yet to discover who he truly is; that's why he still struggles with certain habits. When you're born again, you're not someone who turned a new leaf or changed from living the bad life to a good life. No! The day you received Christ, you became a new creation; you received a new life.

That man who's still struggling with certain habits is new in Christ and that's why Bible says, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2). "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2). This takes place when this man feeds constantly on the Word of God. His mind is renewed as he continues to imbibe the Word. Observe what the scripture says, "...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature..." This means that he's not going to be, he is! "Is" is a "now" word, a present-hour reality! That man may be making mistakes but he's being perfected as he feeds on the Word of God; he's being changed. Remember the new creation is not going to be born again when he gets to heaven; he's a new creation here and now!

When you got born again, the life you received from your parents was supplanted by the very life of God. You're no longer what your mother gave birth to or what your daddy used to know; you're a new creation, one who never existed before. You don't have a past. This may seem illogical but as far as God is concerned, your life started the day you made Jesus your Lord. You're a new type of man; you have a new life in Christ. Brace up to this truth and begin to walk in this newness of life! Did you know that you are a god? I don't really know if you've come across this but you are. "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" (John 10:34). "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High" (Psalm 82:6). Bible also says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). As long as God gave birth to you, you're His offspring and a god.

The word of God says that we are gods. It doesn't matter what the natural man may say, we are gods. We also learn that we're His temple, His dwelling place. Wow! The only thing is that you live in a body and that's what sometimes limits you, yet you can live a supernatural life. The flesh dies for it is weak and sinful. When we die and are resurrected, we shall be like the angels and shall die no more. "Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection" (Luke 20:36). I can't wait to see that day! As a new creation, you've got to walk as bold as the one who gave birth to you is. You have His nature and His Word says "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1). Being bold is a character of the recreated human spirit. It's the result of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in a man.

In other words, you can't be bold without the Holy Spirit. If you're born again and not yet filled with Holy Spirit, desire for Him and ask God in faith and you'll be filled with Him. The Bible says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). We have the spirit of boldness. You don't have to prove to anyone that you're bold or that God is with you. Rather the Spirit of boldness will rise up in you exactly when you need Him to. Be bold in everything you do; refuse to give place to fear. Sometimes situations you would like to change would behave as though it were stubborn but you've got a stubborn faith. Don't give up! Recognize who you are and operate with an attitude of boldness. Here was a woman who was dead, but Rev. Smith Wigglesworth stopped her from being buried. He said he wouldn't allow them to bury the woman but rather, he would pray for her to come back to life.

He prayed and prayed and prayed but nothing seemed to happen. He said it appeared as if God would say no and he was told to forget it. But as he continued to pray, suddenly, he was awakened to the realm of the spirit, his heart gained supremacy, and he said, "Yes! Yes! Yes! She's alive!" Then he carried the woman, stood her up straight against the wall, and said, "In the Name of Jesus, I command you to walk!" Immediately the woman started to walk; Hallelujah! I also read about the testimony of a lady's encounter with an armed robber who wanted to steal her car. This armed bandit ordered her to stop and get out of her car. Suddenly, boldness welled up from within her and instead of obeying the man, she looked at him eyeball-to-eyeball and said, "You can't take my car. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave this place!" The man threatened to shoot her if she didn't comply with his demands.

Again, she repeated the same thing. Then the man squeezed the trigger of his gun, but nothing happened. He tried it again, still nothing happened and he became afraid. The lady quickly raised an alarm and the man was arrested by the police. Glory to God! What am I trying to say to you? Sometimes situations may seem as though they wouldn't change as we make declarations concerning them. But as we hold on to the Word of God, we shall have our heart desire. God said, "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10-11). God is saying here that His Words carry the power to accomplish what His heart desires.

Acts 17:28 says "for in him (God) we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" If in God you move, live and have your being and you're His offspring, then you've got to believe in your words as God does. You have His nature. A cat gives birth to a cat, an elephant gives birth to an elephant, a dog gives birth to a dog... and a God gives birth to a god. You're a reflector of the personality of God on this earth. No wonder Bible says we're His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), meaning, we're His representatives. So believe in your words, don't give up! God says He knows that when He speaks things happen; this ought to be your mentality too. God has given you the boldness to walk in knowledge, wisdom and understanding. In Acts 4:13, the Bible records that the apostles Peter and John were associated with Jesus for their boldness. Boldness is an evidence of the sons of God!

You're born free by the Word of God which lives and abide forever! "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17). Since the fall, man has always sought for freedom. Right from the time of Adam to the present, men have sought and even fought for freedom from their oppressors. Man came into bondage right from the time Adam sold out to the devil. Bondage to sin had become his normal course of life until God Himself fought the biggest and most vital freedom fight on behalf of man, when His Son, through His death on the cross, freed us from the bondage of sin and death. Jesus Christ put an end to man's bondage. It's so sad most people end up at the wrong places in search for freedom. Jesus put it plain, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

Jesus came to give life to the overflow. The one who's born anew is already dead to sin so the Bible says in Romans 6:7, 10-11, "For he that is dead is freed from sin... For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." From Matthew 11:28-30, ever before the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, He invited man to come to Him with his entire burden. He gave us the invitation to exchange our heavy burden with the freedom He purchased for us. This freedom is in the second birth, which we personally decide upon by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour (Romans 10: 9-10). Every man born into this world is born into bondage because of his Adamic nature and this is the reason everyone isn't enjoying this liberty. Any man that receives the second birth in Christ Jesus is automatically catapulted into this liberty from the bondage of sin and death.

Now, we're born free, living in true freedom because Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. You're not flesh and blood but a spirit. Jesus said in John 3:6-8, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Do you see why the world does not understand the way we talk and behave? Jesus said they know not the source of our life; they don't know where this character springs up from. You've got to be aware of some theologians who think they know something but know nothing at all. They think through the Word of God with their limited minds and think that's all.

I'm sorry for those who follow their teachings. When Jesus said "the wind bloweth where it listeth" etc, most commentators have held that this means: "As the wind moves mysteriously, so does the Spirit, and it breathes upon whom it will, effecting the inward change called the birth of the Spirit arbitrarily." This view I believe due to a wrong translation, sanctioned, not by Greek, but by current theology.

Let it be noted that:

Exactly the same Greek term "pneuma" is rendered "wind" and "Spirit" in this verse. It is a violation of all law that the same word should experience so radical a change of meaning in the same sentence.
That the word "pneuma" is not translated "wind" elsewhere, although it occurs scores of times in the New Testament, but is always rendered "Spirit".
Another word in the Greek, "anemos," is usually used to represent "wind."
The erroneous idea creates a confusion of figures. It makes Christ to say: "The wind bloweth where it listeth; so is (not the Spirit, but) every one born of the Spirit." It affirms of him who is born just what is affirmed of the wind, a thing the Savior never did.

These facts are sufficient to show that the rendering "wind" is wrong. All we have to do is to translate "pneuma" here, as is done in the latter part of the verse and elsewhere in the New Testament. The verse then reads: "The Spirit ("pneuma") breathes where it pleases and thou hearest the voice thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes nor whither it goes. So (by hearing its voice) is every one born of the Spirit" ("pneuma")." The meaning is: The Spirit breathes where it wills and you recognize its manifestation by its voice; by the words spoken by men of God as the Holy Spirit gives them utterance. You cannot tell whence the Spirit comes to whither it goes, but you can hear its voice when it does come. So by hearing the voice of the Spirit is every one born of the Spirit. He who receives by faith the communications of the Spirit is born of the Spirit. The birth of the Spirit is not the same thing as the gift of the Spirit.

To those who are born of the Spirit is given. "Because ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). Hence, in harmony with the above view, Peter says, "Being born again, not by corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23). You're not only born to be free but called to be free! "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). God has ordained for you to live completely independent of circumstances. Do you know why some experience things like poverty, sickness, disease, or death? We all suffered from them due to sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He dealt with sin, which is the root of sickness, poverty, disease, and death. He died to make you free, and he who the Son has set free is free indeed! (John 8:36).

Jesus made you the righteousness of God. Due to this, you're not supposed to remain in these bitter circumstances; only sinners are to find themselves there. So what have you as a righteous man got to do with them? You must not find yourself living in bondage to them! The Bible says sin shall not have dominion over you; you've been called into a life of total freedom; you must remain in that liberty.