New Creations / Distorted Flesh
We have had a very busy summer and beginning to the school year as a group. We have many great reports from our time together, summer camp, and the spiritual growth we have seen in our students’ lives. It serves as a testimony to us about our Lord’s unfailing love and faithfulness.
Over the summer, we began a walkthrough of Old Testament narratives with this question at the heart of our study: where is the Gospel in this story? We’ve had some fruitful conversations, and humorous ones too! One of our students, when discussing the Lord shutting Noah and his family into the ark (Gen. 7:16), said He put some “Holy Flex Seal on the door.” It might be one of my favorite quotes thus far!
Additionally, we began noticing a pattern in the Scriptures that we’ve added as a second question to our study: where does God give and give and give? The repetition is intentional, for God’s faithfulness continues even in our doubt and the wickedness of our sin, moving forward in His will and plan of redemption. We serve an awesome and a mighty God.
However, as we’ve transitioned into the new year, we have also introduced an area of study to further equip and train our students. Pairing nicely with a rotating lesson plan of Old Testament narratives, we have embarked on a journey of understanding worldview and what the Christian worldview holds true, for the truth will set us free (Jn. 8:32). But we needed to first inquire about why there is so much tension in understanding the reality of the new and living way of Christ.
A fitting theme for the year, “New Creations | Distorted Flesh,” exposes the core of our struggle. The gospel is the most beautiful story ever told, and it promises forgiveness and cleansing through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We are freed from our captivity to sin (Rom. 6:20; Jn. 8:34), and 2 Corinthians 5:17 teaches us that we are new creations in Christ. This is wonderful news, but it leaves a pressing question on the table: if I am a new creation, why do I still sin? There is a very real tension that exists in the spiritual warfare of our world, and the Holy Spirit knew this better than anyone, inspiring the various authors of the Word of God to address this.
First, Jesus’ words reveal something about our flesh: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” (Mt. 11:29a, LSB). Learn from me! Think about it, we don’t have to be instructed to be selfish, prideful, and downright evil. My toddler knows selfishness better than he knows English! But Christ said we must learn from Him, that there is something in our nature that is so messed up, we must be instructed to follow Him. But He promises us an encouraging thing: “for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS” (Mt. 11:29b). The battle is great, but our Champion is greater.
Second, if there is something very wrong with our flesh, how do we understand this “problem” of being a new creation? (There is no real problem with this, but we must press into the Scriptures to understand this clearly) To start, let’s look at Romans 8:10: “But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” I’m sitting here writing this, my heart still beats, lungs still fill and deflate, so how is my body dead? I think the answer is found earlier in Romans 6:23, that “the wages of sin is death.” Our flesh is such that it is naturally working for death! It can produce no good (Rom. 3:10-12), it is corrupt (Gen. 9:12), the heart is wicked and evil, “desperately sick” (Gen. 9:5; Jer. 17:9), and, as Paul says again in Romans, “For the mind set on the flesh is death” (Rom. 8:6a). Hence the theme, “New Creations | Distorted Flesh.” To properly understand worldview, we must first start with understanding that this shell of a body loves death, but the Spirit of God has made us alive through Christ, of Whom we must learn from.
This is why Galatians 5:16-17 tells us to “walk by the Spirit [so that] you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you do not do the things that you want.” Therefore, we must kill the deeds of the flesh to walk in the Spirit, since “those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24).
Knowing this is a good starting point, but it leaves us with another question, doesn’t it? How do we kill the deeds of the flesh? Or in the words of John Owen, how do we “mortify” our sin? Two places come to mind when discussing this with our students: Romans 12 and James 5. Romans 12:1-3 command to do a few things in this new life. First, to present our bodies as living sacrifices; second, to not be conformed to this world; third, to be renewed by the transformation of our MIND; and lastly, to not be prideful but, instead, to examine ourselves honestly. James comes to mind because verse 16 encourages us in confession, that when we confess and pray for one another, we find healing.
There is so much more to cover in this. John Bunyan called it “Pilgrim’s Progress” for a reason. This is a journey, and a pilgrimage to our awaited home. It is not our journey or story, ultimately, and is why Christ tells us to learn from Him. Our redemption is not only the greatest act of love we know, but it is the story of God and His glory. To Him and Him alone it belongs, so may we be sheep who rely solely on our Good Shepherd and listen for His voice.
