The person giving himself or herself completely to the true and living God, through the Son of God who is the gate of our salvation, becomes a new creation in the Messiah, as Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
2 Corinthians 5 (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!
In Romans 12, Paul exhorts believers to not be conformed to this world, but to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Being the persons God created us to be is the ultimate freedom. In John 8, Yeshua, Jesus, promises that if we hold to his teachings, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.
John 8 (NIV)
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Charles Wesley may have been moved by this great promise of freedom in the Messiah when in 1738 he penned this stanza:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
In addition to making each believer a new creation in the Messiah, God will soon be bringing forth a new heaven and new earth, in which he is making all things new.
Revelation 21 (NIV)
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”
In Isaiah 65, God describes the glory of this new creation in which he will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in his people.
Isaiah 65 (NIV)
17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
Believers in the Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, comprise the believing remnant of Israel to which these promises belong. In Romans 11, Paul compares the latter to branches from a wild olive tree being grafted into the cultivated olive tree. Yeshua describes his mission to all nations in John 3:16 (NKJV), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Believers who are new creations in Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will fulfill the new covenant described by the LORD Yehovah in Jeremiah 31:
Jeremiah 31
3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
6 There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’”
7 This is what the LORD says:
“Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
‘LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’
8 See, I will bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
a great throng will return.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 7/6/2011
Compelling Love 
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