Gifted with New Relationships

You may be thinking, "But I already have lots of people in my life—that's part of the problem!" We all have relationships with other people, but that's not what the new birth brings us. It doesn't bring us more of the same; it radically changes what we have had in every dimension. Here's how:

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh… Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

Three Transformed Relationships

It's likely that you didn't see this coming, either. Many of us sought the Lord to get free of our personal hell on earth, or to escape the hell waiting to claim us down the road. We wanted salvation! We didn't realize that God's way of saving us would transform every relationship we had and bring new ones into play we didn't know existed.

1. Your Relationship with God

You have had a relationship with God all of your life and likely didn't know it.[1] He has always been there—in your life and in your mind.[2] Now that God is in your heart, revealing Himself to you through the Person of His Son, you are entering into a whole new level of relationship with Him. It's an eye open, ear open, heart open communion and communication with God Himself. This was not possible before faith removed the veil.[3]

God has given you a true knowledge of Himself through your new-found faith in Jesus. However, don't make the mistake of thinking that now that you are born again you know who Jesus is—as if you know all that is necessary about Him. You know Him truly, but you don't know Him fully. In any moment of life—if we know Jesus as fully as we need to in that moment—there would only be perfect peace and joy going off inside, no matter what might be happening around us.[4] God is a huge Mystery. The adventure of discovering who He is more fully has now begun![5]

2. Your Relationship with Others

You have known people all of your life, but you have only known them "according to the flesh"—right up to the moment that Jesus came to save you. Now that Jesus is living inside you several things have radically changed. First of all, you are now united in an eternal family with everyone else that He is saving. The Body of Christ stretches from here to heaven.[6] The number of your "Blood relatives" instantly leapt into the untold millions! And they are all alive in the Spirit, especially the ones in heaven. Those are the ones who are most fully and gloriously alive. All of them are alive to Christ—that's the key and it unlocks the second radical change.

People are a vast mystery! You can only truly understand, relate to and know other people now through Him.[7] He is the measure of all things! You are going to want to learn how to gain His heart for the lost, His compassion for the broken and His chaste love for the lovely. There is no one He doesn't love and no one He loves in a wrong way. And he is now inside you, resisting all of your wrong ways of relating to people and blessing all of your right ones.

3. Your Relationship with Yourself

Here you might be thinking, "Well, at least I know myself!" Oh really? You were actually dead from God's point of view before Jesus came to live in you. Even your spirit was dead. Did you know that? That old you has now died—even if it still seems to be alive and kicking. [8] Who you really are now is a mystery hidden with Christ in God.[9]

Jesus in you is the absolute game changer! You are destined to become just like Him.[10] In fact the New Testament is very bold in stating that that new you is already inside of you! Anything in you that doesn't match up with Jesus is not you—not the real you, the you that will live forever. That would be the old you, the you that is passing away.[11] You will end up repenting if you go along with any attitude that doesn't match up with Him. No matter how long you have held it, it is still not the real you, because the new you wants to break through to the surface. The real you wants to get the old you out of the way! Shakes hands with the mystery of you!

What a gift! All three possible kinds of personal relationships transformed: with God, with others and with ourselves. Certainly, none of them are restored yet in anything like the fullness to come. Some are still in need of tremendous repair. Nevertheless, with faith and grace now working for us, and with renewed hearts to work with, we can at last make headway on the great purpose of our lives: to love God to the uttermost and to love others as ourselves. And did you notice the restoration of Mystery surrounding all three? It had always been there, but in our cynical, know-it-all way, we thought we knew ourselves and others. Now, we know that limitless exploration and adventure lies ahead.

Next "Free Gift" to Open

Gifted with Repentance  Have you ever thought of repentance is a gift? It sure doesn't feel that way! Usually, when we realize that we have done wrong, we feel guilt which feels lousy—not at all like receiving a present. We may also feel fear ("What kind of trouble am I in now?  Is God going to be mad at me?"). That certainly doesn't feel like a blessing! We may also feel the sting of wounded pride and shame ("How could I have done that? I'll just die if _____ finds out!"). Not good, right? Just guessing, but you probably didn’t like to take your medicine either.

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Relationship Scriptures

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Romans 7:15-20

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27-28

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. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may  attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8, 10-11

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27

Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, Justified in the spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, And received up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16 WEB