The New Self - Genesis 1:2

Genesis 1:2 ESV 

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Colossians 3:5-11 ESV 

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

 The earth and heaven are created in the beginning, but the earth begins without form and empty. What might this mean? The presence of the Spirit of God hovering over the darkness could be viewed as a clue. 

The Spirit hovered over the face of the deep and He hovers over the darkness behind the face of each man. God is poised to fill us with His light and take us from a formless and empty state to the image of God. 

He overshadowed Mary to conceive the light of the world and in the same way He overshadows you and me to enter our flesh. Consider the word overshadow. This could describe the light rising above the shadow below. This could signify life entering into the shadow of the deep, even the darkness that resides in every man. The light of God prevails over the darkness of the earth when the seed of the word falls on good soil. From that seed comes the harvest sought by God. 

The earth is being renewed and a new self is taking shape after the image of God, which is Jesus Christ. We become sons of God, children of the light. We are the result of the light of God entering creation. We are the result of the purpose of God. 

The Fruit - Galatians 5:22-24

Galatians 5:22-24 ESV 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

It is the law that made sin abound. The lawless deeds of the flesh were very much present before the law was given, just as grace and mercy were present before Christ came into the world. 

Sin was revealed by the law. Grace was revealed by Jesus Christ. Both revelations came from God. 

We all know the fruit of the law, for the law reveals the fruit of the flesh and that is how we arrive in the world. Most will remain where they arrive, but some will go on to life. 

The fruit of the Spirit comes from God, crucifying the flesh and allowing the fruit of the Spirit to flourish. 

The law is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Spirit is the fruit of the tree of life. Pick this fruit and live. 

Who Do You Serve? - Romans 6:17-18

Romans 6:17-18 ESV 

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

This passage may remind us that we are going to serve someone. We follow the voice of someone. On the cosmic and spiritual level it's between the prince of darkness or the Lord of light. 

This is the beginning and end of creation. It is the word spoken in darkness and heard in the light. This is the life created by God and breathed into the body of every believer. 

This is the good news. 

The Old Has Passed Away - 2 Corinthians 5:16-19

2 Corinthians 5:16-19 ESV 

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The movement of creation is from darkness to light. The earth begins in the darkness. The day begins with the evening darkness and ends with the light of day. 

This might be considered as a meaning for "the day of the Lord", the movement from night to the light of the Lord. 

May that light ever shine on us. 

Spirit And Truth - John 4:23-24

John 4:23-24 ESV

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

It is our awakened spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit that enables the believer to reside in the kingdom of heaven, that moves us from the finite to the infinite which is the life of God. The finite man of earth is unable to perceive an infinite God. We are created for the infinite and only the infinite can fill our hearts, for we are created in the image of God. He comes and tells these things and His word will be fulfilled. 

Only He can satisfy our desires. He can be found when He is the object of our desire. This is spirit and truth. 

In The Light - 1 John 1:7-10

1 John 1:7-10 ESV 

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Does this passage contradict itself? No. How is that?

Jesus cleanses from all sin. It is not remembered, like it never happened. God can do that. 

So the past has been dealt with and we begin our new life in Christ. Will we continue to sin? Yes, but there is a way to remain clean in light of our failures. When we faithfully confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us. We then take another step in our walk with Him. To stop confessing is to stop walking in the light. This will only allow the darkness to draw closer. 

Remain in the light of fellowship with each other and with Jesus in the body of Christ. 

My Salvation - Isaiah 12:2

Isaiah 12:2 ESV 

“Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.”

The Hebrew word for salvation is transliterated as Yeshua. Our English equivalent is Jesus. 

From this verse we know Jesus is God and He is our salvation from God. That salvation has arrived and is present for all. He is with us and abides in the heart of the believer. 

This is the name above all names and the only name that offers the salvation of God, for He is God.