The Good Land
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The New Life – 1. The New Life

Andrew Murray

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Christ is our life (Colossians 3:3-4)

We declare unto you the life, eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. (1 John 1:2)

God hath given us eternal life; and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life (1 John 5:11-12)

A glorious blessing is given to all who believe in the Lord Jesus. Along with a change in his disposition and manner of living, the believer also receives an entirely new life from God. He is born anew. Born of God. He has passed from death into life.

The believer also receives an entirely new life from God. This new life is nothing less than eternal life, nothing else than the very life of God, the life that He has had in Himself from eternity. This life is now the inheritance of every child of God.

This new life is nothing less than eternal life. This does not mean, as many suppose, that our life will no longer die, enduring into eternity. No, eternal life is nothing else than the very life of God. It is the life that He has had in Himself from eternity and that has been visibly revealed in Christ. This life is now the inheritance of every child of God.

This life is a life of inconceivable power. Whenever God gives life to a young plant or animal, that life has within itself the power to grow. The plant or animal as of itself becomes large. Life is power. In a new life—in your heart—there is the power of eternity. More certain than the healthful growth of any tree or animal is the growth and increase of the child of God who surrenders himself to the working of the new life.

Two things hinder this power and the reception of the new spiritual life. The one is ignorance of its nature—its laws and workings. Man, even the Christian, cannot conceive of the new life which comes from God. It surpasses all of his thoughts. His own distorted thoughts of the way to serve and to please God—namely, by what he does and is—are deeply rooted in him. Although he believes that he understands and receives God's Word, he still thinks humanly and carnally on divine things. God must give salvation and life. He must also give the Spirit to make us understand what He gives. He must point out the way to the land of Canaan. We must also, like the blind, be led by Him every day.

The young Christian must try to cherish a deep conviction of his ignorance concerning the new life, and of his inability to form correct thoughts about it. This will bring him to the meekness and to the childlike spirit of humility, to which the Lord will make His secret known.

In the life of every plant and every animal and every child of God, there lies sufficient power by which it can become big. In the new life, God has made the most glorious provision of a sufficient power.

There is a second hindrance in the way of faith. In the life of every plant and every animal and every child of God, there lies sufficient power by which it can become big. In the new life, God has made the most glorious provision of a sufficient power. With this power His child can grow and become all that he must be. Christ Himself is his life and his power of life. Yet, because this mighty life is not visible or cannot be felt, the young Christian often becomes doubtful. He then fails to believe that he will grow with divine power and certainty. He does not understand that the believing life is a life of faith. He must depend on the life that is in Christ for him, although he neither sees, feels, nor experiences anything.

Let everyone then that has received this new life cultivate these great convictions. It is eternal life that works in me. It works with divine power. I can and will become what God will have me be. Christ Himself is my life. I have to receive Him every day as my life, given to me by God, and He will be my life in full power.

Father, You have given me Your Son so that I may have life in Him. I thank You for the glorious new life that is now in me. I pray that You will teach me to properly know this new life. I will acknowledge my ignorance and the distorted thoughts which are in me concerning Your service. I will believe in the heavenly power of the new life that is in me. I will believe that my Lord Jesus, who Himself is my life, will, by His Spirit, teach me to know how I can walk in that life. Amen.

Notes

Try to understand and plant the following lessons in your heart:

  1. It is eternal life, the very life of God, that you have now received through faith.
  2. This new life is in Christ, and the Holy Spirit is in you to convey to you all that is in Christ. Christ lives in you through the Holy Spirit.
  3. This life is a life of wonderful power. However weak you may feel, you must believe in the divine power of the life that is in you.
  4. This life needs time to grow in you and to take possession of you. Give it time, it will surely increase.
  5. Do not forget that all the laws and rules of this new life are in conflict with all human thoughts of the way to please God. Be very much in dread of your own thoughts. Let Christ, who is your life and also your wisdom, teach you all things.

References

  1. John 1:12,13; 3:5,7; 5:24; 1 John 3:14; 5:1
  2. John 3:15,16,36; 6:40,51; 11:25,26; Rom. 6:11,23;8:2; 1 John 5:12,13
  3. 1 John 1:3; 3:1; 5:11
  4. John 10:10,28; Heb. 7:16,28; 11:25,26; 2 Cor. 12:9; 13:4; Col. 3:3,4; Phil. 4:13
  5. Josh. 3:4; Isa. 4:5,6; Matt. 16:23
  6. Ps. 25:5,8,9; 143:8; Isa. 42:16; 64:4; Matt. 11:25; 1 Cor. 1:18,19; 2:7,10,12; Heb. 11:8
  7. Ps. 18:2; 27:1; 36:8,9; John 14:19; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3,4
  8. Hab. 2:4; Matt. 6:27; Rom. 1: 17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10: 38

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