In lesson 1 we considered nineteen aspects of our salvation. Some of these aspects include being forgiven, reconciled to God, made alive, set free, and being saved. But our salvation does not consist of merely these aspects. We also need to help new believers know the kind of persons we have become after being saved. There are at least eight points related to this matter of our salvation.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. We know that the universe is the old creation of God. Although there are many different items in the old creation, they do not have God’s element within. Even though they were created by God, they are not mingled or united with God. They were created by God, not begotten of God. They have been created by God’s power, not begotten of God’s life. They were out of God’s hand, not out of His nature.
But the new creation is completely different. Within the new creation there is the element of God because the new creation comes from the union and mingling of God with the created ones. The new creation was created by God and also begotten of God. Whereas the old creation was based on God’s power, the new creation is based on God’s life. God created the old creation with His infinite power, but He begot the new creation with His eternal life. The old creation is old because it did not have the element of God. It was defiled by sin and corrupted by Satan, thereby becoming old. The new creation is new because God’s element of newness has been added to it. Everything of God is new and eternally fresh. Therefore, in eternity future the New Jerusalem will exist forever and ever.
Every believer has God’s element mingled with him and, therefore, is a new creation. Although the new creation has the element of God’s power, the emphasis is on God’s life, not on His power. God regenerated us with the life of His resurrection power, thereby causing us to become the new creation. Therefore, the old things in us have passed away and have become new.
Since we are begotten of God, we are surely the children of God. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God.” Everyone who receives the Lord Jesus is not only saved; he also receives authority from the Lord, and this authority is of life. We have received a life from the Lord, and this life becomes the authority for us to become the children of God.
First John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and we are.” We are all children of our natural parents, and at the same time, many of us also have children. We know that the relationship between children and parents is altogether a relationship of life. This relationship gives unlimited rights to the children. The rights that the children enjoy before their parents are unlimited. As long as it is within the ability of the parents, there is nothing they will not do for their children. Not only so, the character, natural disposition, and life of the parents are in their children. This means all that the parents are and all that the parents have belong to the children. This also applies to the children of God. As those who have been saved and have become the children of God, we have received all that God is and all that God has as our inheritance. We have inherited what God is, and also we have inherited what God has. God Himself and all that He has are our portion.
Once we are saved, we become this kind of person. Previously we were God’s enemies, but now we are God’s children. In the past we had nothing to do with God and could not receive an inheritance from Him. All we could do was accept His judgment and His condemnation. But now we have become God’s children. We have not only escaped His judgment and condemnation, but we have also received God Himself and all that God has as our inheritance.
A child is a member of a family. We who have been saved are not only children begotten of God but also members of God’s household. Ephesians 2:19 says that we are “members of the household of God.”
However, this is not the experience of many believers. Many times when a person is brought to salvation to become a child of God, he does not have a home in reality. This can be compared to people who give birth to a child but who have no home for the child. Therefore, the child is taken to a child-care center or to an orphanage. The result of our bringing people to salvation may also be the same as sending them to a “child-care center” or to an “orphanage.”
This result is because the ones who preach the gospel do not have the church as their home. Since they do not have such a home, the children they beget cannot be taken to a home. If they had a home in reality, when the child was born, he would be born into a home and spontaneously become a member of a family.
Everyone admits that the household of God spoken of in Ephesians 2:19 is the church of God. First Timothy 3:15 says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God.” We should never think that after a person is saved, the church is a small matter. Those who are not properly living in the church are not in the house of God, even though they have the life of God and have become God’s children. Therefore, once we are saved, we should properly live in the church as members of God’s household.
It is truly a blessing for a child to have a home. The children in a home are often the most blessed. The riches of the home are their portion. Because it is their home, they can even enjoy things that their parents would not use for themselves. It is truly a pitiful situation if a child does not have a home. It is especially a blessing for little children to have a home. This also applies to God’s children. We should never be those who are saved, have become God’s children, and yet are a homeless people.