SO GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED HIM; MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM
(Genesis 1:27).

What was man like right after God created him?  What was it like to not only be created in the image of God, but to be living in the image of God and acting in the image of God, as well?  It must have been a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

But, something changed. The father-of-lies instilled an OLD MAN in us. This OLD MAN, the body of sin, consists of its own beliefs, its own nature, its own desires, its own emotions, its own will, its own deeds, and its own purpose. The OLD MAN lives in us and through us. He uses our minds as the tool to think his negative, destructive beliefs of abandonment, shame, condemnation, and rejection. He uses our emotions as the catalyst to feel his feelings of disappointment, shame, fear, anxiety, hatred, jealousy, and resentment. He uses our hearts as the vehicle to execute deceitful desires that only benefit him. He uses our personalities as the mechanism through which he lives his nature—the pitiful, pathetic victim-nature, the guilt-ridden, unworthy blame-nature, the negative, lamenting doom-nature, and the fake, alluring show-off nature. He uses our wills as the launcher of his own spiteful, rebellious will. And he uses our bodies as his instruments of unrighteousness—the sinful deeds of the OLD MAN. The image of God in man was forever distorted…maimed…disabled when the OLD MAN body of sin moved in, because when the OLD MAN moved in, God moved out.

 AND HAVE PUT ON THE NEW MAN, WHICH IS RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE AFTER THE IMAGE OF HIM THAT CREATED HIM
(Colossians 3:10).

But then, God sent us a NEW MAN—the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. Not only is He created in God’s image, but He also lives in God’s image and acts in God’s image, as well. And He came to live His Life in us—His Beliefs with His Emotions, His Nature, His Desires, His Will, His Purpose with His Deeds.

THEREFORE, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, THE NEW CREATION HAS COME: THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW IS HERE!
(2 Corinthians 5:17).

Invite the Lord Jesus to replace the old in you with the new. Then, you will finally be able to live a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I desire for everything in me to become new. I desire a new nature, a new will, new desires, new beliefs, new emotions, and a new purpose with new deeds. I know that the only way to change is to be exchanged—the old for the new. Therefore, come and live Your Life in me, Lord Jesus, in the place of the OLD MAN…and make everything new in me.