(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

A legacy can either be what we inherit from others who have gone before, or what we leave for others coming after us! We began in the last Gem to look at what we as Christians inherit especially from the One who has gone before us, Jesus Christ! The legacy that our Lord left us is that we be more and more transformed into His image as we live our Christian life! (see Romans 8:29; II Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:10-14) and in heaven with all its glories, “…we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (I John 3:2 – see also I Corinthians 15:42-54; Philippians 3:20, 21).

But let’s look at some other things that we, as Christians, inherit here and now!

• We inherit the abiding presence of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

   ✞   Matthew 28:20 – “...I am with you always, even to 
       the end of the world.”

   ✞   John 14:18 and 20 – “I will not leave you orphans; 
       I will come to you....At that day you will know that 
       I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

   ✞   Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; 
       it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in 
       me....”

   ✞   Ephesians 3:16 through 19:

           ...that He would grant you, according to the 
           riches of His glory, to be strengthened with 
           might through His Spirit in the inner man, 
           that Christ may dwell in your hearts through 
           faith; that you, being rooted and grounded 
           in love, may be able to comprehend with all 
           the saints what is the width and length and 
           depth and height — to know the love of Christ 
           which passes knowledge; that you may be fill-
           ed with all the fullness of God. 

   ✞   Colossians 1:27 – “...Christ in you, the hope of 
       glory.”

   ✞   Hebrews 13:5 – “I will never leave you nor forsake 
       you.”

   ✞   I John 3:24 – “...he who keeps His commandments 
       abides in Him. And by this we know that He abides 
       in us, by His Spirit whom He has given us.”

• We inherit the opportunity to escape a wasted life, and enter into abundant life! As it says in John 10:9 and 10:

       Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, 
       he will be saved, and will go in and out and find 
       pasture. The thief [Satan] does not come except to 
       steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that 
       they may have life, and that they may have it more 
       abundantly.”

• We inherit the ability to manifest the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 and 23 (International Standard Version) – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

   The alternative to the fruit of the Spirit is the works 
   of the flesh! These works are listed in Galatians 5:19 
   through 21 (see also Romans 1:24-32):

       ...the works of the flesh are evident, which are: 
       adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idol-
       atry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, 
       outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, 
       heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, 
       and the like....

   So, which list do you want your life to manifest, the 
   fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh? We can 
   choose either one. But by the legacy Christ has left us, 
   isn’t it preferable to choose the former and shun the 
   latter?

• We inherit victory! In my Junior year of high school, the varsity football squad [of which I was a lineman both on offence and defence] only triumphed in one game! That win was toward the end of the season, but, Wow! Did that victory feel great! What if we could constantly live a victorious life? We can, according to…

   ✞   ...I Corinthians 15:57 – “...thanks be to God, 
       who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
       Christ.”

   ✞   ...Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through 
       Christ who strengthens me.”

   ✞   ...I John 5:4 – “...whatever is born of God over-
       comes the world. And this is the victory that has 
       overcome the world — our faith.”

• We inherit God’s promises to supply our needs!

   ✞   Matthew 6:31 through 33 (Modern King James Version):

          Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What 
          shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, 
          With what shall we be clothed? For the 
          [heathen] nations seek after all these 
          things. For your heavenly Father knows 
          that you have need of all these things. 
          But seek first the kingdom of God and His 
          righteousness; and all these things shall 
          be added to you. 

   ✞   Philippians 4:19 – “...my God shall supply all 
       your need according to His riches in glory by 
       Christ Jesus.”

   ✞   II Peter 1:3 and 4:

          His divine power has given to us all things 
          that pertain to life and godliness, through 
          the knowledge of Him who called us by glory 
          and virtue, by which have been given to us 
          exceedingly great and precious promises, 
          that through these you may be partakers of 
          the divine nature, having escaped the cor-
          ruption that is in the world through lust. 

• We inherit the Lord’s promise to hear and answer our prayers!

   ✡   Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call to Me, and I will an-
        swer you, and show you great and mighty 
        things, which you do not know.”

   ✞   Luke 11:9 and 10:

          “And I [Jesus] say to you, ask, and it will 
          be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, 
          and it will be opened to you. For everyone 
          who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, 
          and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

   ✞   Hebrews 4:14 through 16:

          Seeing then that we have a great High Priest 
          who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the 
          Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 
          For we do not have a High Priest who cannot 
          sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in 
          all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 
          Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of 
          grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace 
          to help in time of need.

   ✞   I Peter 3:12 (quoting Psalm 34:15) – “...the eyes 
       of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are 
       open to their prayers.”

Of course, the best part of God’s legacy that He has given us, is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ dying to pay for our sins, and raised to life again so we also can also live eternally!

• John 5:24:

       “Most assuredly I [Jesus] say to you, he who hears 
       My word and believes in Him who sent Me has ever-
       lasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but 
       has passed [already] from death to life.”

• I John 5:11 through 13:

       And this is the testimony: that God has given us 
       eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who 
       has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son 
       of God does not have life. These things I have 
       written to you who believe in the name of the Son 
       of God, that you may know that you have eternal 
       life....”

There is so much more that those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ possess, it would take many additional pages to begin to enumerate all the benefits! I suggest, and the Word of God commands it, to read and study your Bible to discern all the wonderful parts of the legacy (the inheritance) that God has given us in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ!

As it says in…

• …Colossians 3:16 – “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly….”

• …II Timothy 2:15 (1899 Douay-Rheims Bible) – “Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

• …Hebrews 4:12:

       For the word of God is living and powerful, and 
       sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even 
       to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints 
       and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts 
       and intents of the heart.   

So get to it! And make it a daily habit!

Acts 20:32

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

A synonym for the word ‘legacy’ is ‘inheritance.’ An inheritance brings to mind what I might get when my wealthy uncle dies! Unfortunately, I have never had a rich uncle, or any other rich family member. Consequently, my wife and I didn’t inherit riches; we have had to build our own nest egg. But there is another side to a legacy – what you can pass on to succeeding generations! Let’s look at both of these ideas over the next couple of Gems.

In Acts 20:15 through 38 is the record of the homeward trip of Saint Paul’s third missionary journey. From Philippi, a coastal city in the northeastern part of Greece called Macedonia, Paul set sail across the Agean Sea and, with a couple of stops along the way, landed at the city of Miletus, on the western coast of what is now the country of Turkey.

• He had sailed pass Ephesus, about 30 miles north, where he ministered with great success for two years and three months (see Acts 19:8-10; 17-20).

   ✞   From Miletus, he sent word to the Ephesian church 
       leaders to come and see him (see Acts 20:17).

   ✞   Why did he not stop at Ephesus and save the elders 
       a rather long walk to Miletus? We are told in Acts 
       20:16, “...Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, 
       so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; 
       for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem ...on the 
       Day of Pentecost.” Perhaps he reasoned that the 
       many believers in Ephesus would want to see, greet, 
       and talk with him, and that would result in a 
       lengthy delay in arriving at Jerusalem in time to 
       celebrate Pentecost at the temple.

   ✞   His interaction with the Ephesian elders is recorded 
       in Acts 20:20 through 38.

• But it is one verse I want to highlight, right towards the end of his farewell comments – Acts 20:32:

     And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to 
     the word of His grace, which is able to build 
     you up and give you an inheritance among all 
     those who are sanctified.

How does this verse apply to our legacy, our inheritance?

• First of all, our inheritance starts and finishes with God through Jesus Christ! He is “…the Alpha, and the Omega [the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet], the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 22:13). Without being reconciled to God through the shed blood of Christ, the only inheritance that awaits is “…the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death…[where] the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night…” (Revelation 21:8; 14:11).

• The Christian’s inheritance, according to Acts 20:32 above, is what those who are sanctified are enjoying!

   ✞   This could refer to those who have left this 
       earthly plane and are now enjoying heaven. Be-
       cause it does say in I John 3:2: 

         Beloved, now we are the children of God; 
         and it has not yet been revealed what we 
         shall be, but we know that when He is re-
         vealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall 
         see Him as He is.

   Beholding Jesus Christ in His glory, will transform us 
   “...glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 
   (II Corinthians 3:18). God’s goal for every believer is 
   to manifest the image (the godly character) of Jesus 
   Christ!

       ➔   It is an ongoing process now, in this earthly 
            life; as Paul wrote in II Corinthians 3:18 
            above: “...glory to glory....” The apostle 
            could have added a few more glories to empha-
            size the ongoing nature of the process – 
            “...glory to glory to glory to glory...”!

       ➔   But the process will be complete when we “...
            see Him as He is...” in heaven. It is then 
            that we will completely leave behind the sin-
            ful nature and only manifest the Lord’s nature! 
            That nature will not, cannot, will never sin! 
            For it is written in... 

           ❏   ...I John 3:9, “Whoever has been born of 
                God does not sin, for His seed remains in 
                him, and he cannot sin, because he has 
                been born of God.”   

           ❏   ...I John 5:18, “We know that whoever is 
                born of God does not sin; but he who has 
                been born of God keeps himself, and the 
                wicked one does not touch him.”

   ✞   But the “...inheritance among those who are sancti-
       fied...” could also mean what we inherit NOW, and 
       not just then!

       ➔   In our featured Scripture of Acts 20:32, Paul 
            commends the Ephesian elders, “...to the word 
            of His grace, which is able to build you up 
            and give you an inheritance among all those 
            who are sanctified.”

       ➔   According to...

           ❏   ...Thayer’s Greek Definitions: to sanctify 
                means to “...separate from profane things 
                and...consecrate things to God...dedicate 
                people to God.”

           ❏   ...Strong’s Greek Dictionary: to sanctify 
                means “...to make holy, that is, (ceremon-
                ially) purify or consecrate.”

   It is to the believers living in the here and now that 
   Paul writes to in Romans 6:11 through 14:

       Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead in-
       deed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our 
       Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal 
       body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do 
       not present your members as instruments of unright-
       eousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as 
       being alive from the dead, and your members as in-
       struments of righteousness to God. For sin shall 
       not have dominion over you....

   He is referring here to holy living by sanctified (con-
   secrated, set apart, purified, holy) believers in this 
   earthly phase of life!

       ➔   What is our inheritance (our legacy) now? 
            It is to let the image of God in Jesus 
            Christ through the Holy Spirit so shine 
            in and through our lives that others will 
            see Jesus and want what we have!

       ➔   Our inheritance is to have what I call GO 
            instead of BO! (Gospel Odor instead of Body 
            Odor)! As it says in II Corinthians 2:15 
            and 16:

               For we are to God the fragrance of 
               Christ among those who are perishing. 
               To the one we are the aroma of death 
               to death, and to the other the aroma 
               of life to life. And who is sufficient 
               for these things?

   That aroma will either draw others to Jesus or at least 
   give them warning of where they stand without Him!

So, our inheritance spans both this life and the next!

More on our inheritance in our next Gem.

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

In my first church, many years ago, I was the newly installed pastor. A few weeks in we had our first deacons’ meeting. Seven of the men of the church, comprising the deacon board, sat with me at a church basement table. I chose one of them, and asked, “Bob, will you open the meeting with prayer?” I considered that a reasonable request for a long-standing deacon. Bob was silent for a moment or two, then he looked at me and said, “Couldn’t say a word.” I was taken aback! I certainly didn’t expect that answer! But not to belabor what I considered an embarrassing moment, I then asked another deacon, and he opened the meeting with prayer.

Bob was a man in his 70’s. He had been a deacon in that church for fifty years! And he “Couldn’t say a word…” of prayer to open a deacons’ meeting? I kept an eye on Bob, and after interacting with him over the next months, I discovered a shy but faithful churchman who had been a member of the church since he was baptized at around twelve years old. After that first deacons’ meeting, I didn’t ask him to pray again……….until………

About three years into my pastorate, I contacted a husband and wife evangelistic team to come to our church for revival services each night for a week. Bob and Peggy Boyd, whom I knew from a few years before, agreed to come. Weeks before we planned for a successful seven days of services and, for a small church of about 60 active members, the meetings were well attended.

Some background: We had a vibrant Bible study group of young adults each week at the parsonage. I had been invited to a Bible study at the Catholic church in town led by a young Deacon who was soon to be ordained as a priest. I became friends with this young man, about my age, and I was pleased to attend his ordination. But he was to be assigned to another parish, so he asked the other priests and Deacons in the large parish to take over his Bible study, but no one wanted the added responsibility! So he asked me! The next week about six young adult Catholics met at the Baptist parsonage! The Bible study grew over the next three years to over 20 young adults and teens, most of them Catholic!

Highlights of the revival week of meetings:

• Bob Boyd, the evangelist, preached powerful sermons! At the close of the service every night he gave an invitation. Anyone so moved was to come forward…

   ✞   ...anyone who wanted to accept Jesus as their 
       Savior! And Bob (or I) would further explore 
       their decision and pray with them.

   ✞   ...anyone who had drifted away from the Lord, 
       and desired to re-commit their life to Him! We 
       would question those who responded and pray 
       with them.

   ✞   ...anyone with other burdens with which they 
       needed help! We would counsel with them and 
       pray.

• The second night, when the invitation was given…

   ✞   ...Cathy came forward in tears, needing for-
       giveness and restoration into her faith. 

   ✞   ...Linda, from our Bible study, came down the 
       side isle all smiles, wanting to publicly de-
       clare her decision to trust Christ as her Savior 
       and Lord! 

• The people who attended each night seemed to enjoy the services. But not much else was happening as we neared the final day of meeting! I was concerned because I felt my congregants and guests needed to be renewed in their Christian faith to a more dynamic level. So I fasted and prayed Friday night and through Saturday, asking God to pour powerful blessings on that last service!

• That last night, as Bob Boyd gave the invitation, I asked to speak. With tears I told the congregation of my concerns that after the revival meetings, the spiritual life of the church would continue pretty much as it was before……rather dead!

• The invitation continued. I looked up and saw Bob, the deacon, coming forward! I asked him, “Bob, why are you coming?” He told me, “I want to accept Jesus as my Savior!” I about fell over! But I quickly recovered and led him in prayer as he asked the Lord to come into his heart and life – this man who was a deacon in the church for fifty years……without being connected to God through Jesus Christ!

Bob’s life changed! I could see Christ being formed in him day by day! And thereafter, he had no problem with vocal prayer! What happened? It is the fulfillment of II Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

By the way, his son, Bob, was an early member of the Bible study, and is a dedicated Christian man to this day.

Galatians 5:16, 17

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

Galatians chapter 5 is a primary Scripture to understand the two natures in every Christian, the old and the new! We’ll start with Galatians 5:16 and 17:

   Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the 
   lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the 
   Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these 
   are contrary to one another, so that you do not do 
   the things that you wish.

We are all born with the old nature, which is also called the flesh (see Galatians 5:16 above; and many other Scriptures); sinful flesh (see Romans 8:3); the old man (see Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9); and sin that dwells in me (see Romans 7:17, 20).

How did we acquire this sinful nature?

• According to Genesis chapters 1 and 2, God made man perfect. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness….So God made man in His own image; in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26, 27).

• Man, perfect but untested, was then tested. Satan tempted him, and he fell! In falling into that first sin, he acquired a sinful nature. Adam, being the Federal Head of the human race passed that sin nature to every human being since!

   ✡   “Federal headship states that God sovereignly 
        appointed Adam as the representative head of 
        the human race, so that whatever obedience or 
        disobedience Adam chose would be imputed to 
        his posterity” (sharperiron.org/article/fed-
        eral-and-natural-headship).

   ✡   Romans 5:12 is the Scripture that lays out the 
        result of Adam’s fall into sin (this is from 
        the Lexham English Bible): “...just as sin en-
        tered into the world through one man, and death 
        through sin, so also death spread to all people 
        because all sinned.”

   ✡   So we all are born with a sin nature!

How does this sin nature manifest itself in humanity? Paul describes the manifestation this way in Galatians 5:19-21:

   Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: 
   adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idol-
   atry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, out-
   bursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, 
   heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, 
   and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just 
   as I also told you in time past, that those who 
   practice such things will not inherit the kingdom 
   of God. 

Did you notice the way Paul finished his list of 18 sins? “…and the like….” There are more manifestations! Paul gives another longer list of 25 manifestations of the sin nature in Romans 1:28 through 32. We should then discern that the sin nature is utterly corrupted and rotten, controlled by Satan!

In God’s eyes, our sin nature is beyond renovation and redemption! That’s why when we accept His Son Jesus into our hearts and lives as our Savior, He creates in us an entirely new nature! As it says in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away, all things have become new.”

• Well, the old things, the old nature, is not entirely passed away………yet! It will be someday when we leave our mortal bodies behind at death or the Rapture! (see I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I John 3:2, 3).

• Until then, Christians have both the old sinful nature and a new godly nature!

The new godly nature manifests itself through believers also! But instead of works that manifest through the flesh, the godly nature is designed to produce the fruit of the Spirit! Here is what Paul says in Galatians 5:22 through 25:

   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
   longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
   gentleness, self-control. Against such there is 
   no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified 
   the flesh with its passions and desires. If we 
   live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

The Christian WILL manifest either the fruit of the Spirit in their life, or the works of the flesh!

• I will again quote our featured Scripture of Galatians 5:15 and 16, but this time from the Easy-to-Read Version :

   So I tell you, live the way the Spirit leads 
   you. Then you will not do the evil things your 
   sinful self wants. The sinful self wants what 
   is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants 
   what is against the sinful self. They are al-
   ways fighting against each other, so that you 
   don't do what you really want to do. 

We are to subdue the sinful self and pursue what the Spirit lead us to do! It is part of learning Spiritual Warfare! Between May 6 and June 21, 2013, I posted on Gems for Living 21 Gems entitled “Know Your Enemy!” This is a good beginner’s course on Spiritual Warfare! But a good synopsis of subduing the sinful self and pursuing what the Spirit leads us to do follows:

• Starve the old sinful self!

   ✞   Romans 6:11 through 14:

       Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be 
       dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in 
       Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let 
       sin reign in your mortal body, that you 
       should obey it in its lusts. And do not 
       present your members as instruments of un-
       righteousness to sin, but present your-
       selves to God as being alive from the dead, 
       and your members as instruments of right-
       eousness to God. For sin shall not have 
       dominion over you...

   ✞   Colossians 3:1 through 3:

       If then you were raised with Christ, seek 
       those things which are above, where Christ 
       is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set 
       your mind on things above, not on things on 
       the earth. For you died, and your life is 
       hidden with Christ in God.

   ✞   I John 2:15 through 17:

       Do not love the world or the things in the 
       world. If anyone loves the world, the love 
       of the Father is not in him. For all that 
       is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the 
       lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – 
       is not of the Father but is of the world. 
       And the world is passing away, and the lust 
       of it; but he who does the will of God abides 
       forever. 

• Feed the new godly self !

   ✞   Mark 12:29 through 31:

       Jesus answered...“The first of all the com-
       mandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
       God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the 
       Lord your God with all your heart, with all 
       your soul, with all your mind, and with all 
       your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 
       And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall 
       love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no 
       other commandment greater than these.”   

In John 14:15 Jesus also said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” So
the first of all the commandments could read like this: “…you shall OBEY
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.”

We can’t love and obey the Lord perfectly, but we can ask Him for His help
as we try! (see Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:12, 13).

   ✞   Philippians 4:8:

       ...whatever things are true, whatever things 
       are noble, whatever things are just, whatever 
       things are pure, whatever things are lovely, 
       whatever things are of good report, if there 
       is any virtue and if there is anything praise-
       worthy — meditate  on these things.

   ✞   Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ 
       [the Bible] dwell in you richly....”

   ✞   I Thessalonians 5:14 through 22:

       Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who 
       are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold 
       the weak, be patient with all. See that no 
       one renders evil for evil to anyone, but al-
       ways pursue what is good both for yourselves 
       and for all. Rejoice always, pray without 
       ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this 
       is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
       Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise 
       prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what 
       is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

There is so much more in the Bible concerning those things we should be
doing, and things from which we should abstain! And in it all, the Lord’s
powerful help to live a life pleasing to Him!

The sinful nature or the godly nature:
we WILL manifest one or the other!

Revelation 21:3-5

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

We are considering Revelation 21:3 through 5 where God has shown the Apostle John a vision of “…a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (Revelation 21:1). We have seen in the last Gem why the Lord is going to make a new heaven and earth. But this is not the only new creation God is making or has already made! It might be of value to review the last Gem where it is explained why He has created a new godly nature, called the new man in Ephesians 4:24.

In II Corinthians 5:17 Paul writes, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” But there are several new things that lead up to or flow out of this new creation!

• The old naturally-born person is infected by a sin nature! As it is written in Isaiah 64:6, “…we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…” (see also Isaiah 59:2). “…our rigthteousnesses…” are the very best we can do in our own strength! ‘Fithy rags righteousnesses’ are unacceptable before our holy God! What, then, is acceptable before Him?

   ✞   God’s standard is shown in Matthew 5:48 – “Therefore 
       you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven 
       is perfect.” No human being can achieve such perfec-
       tion...

   ✞   ...except One! That One is He who, being God, also 
       became a human being! Jesus’ righteousness is per-
       fect!

   ✞   Having taken our sins (our filthy rags) upon Himself 
       and fully paying for them by dying in our place, He 
       now offers us His perfection as a clean white robe 
       for us to wear forevermore! This exchange is beauti-
       fully shown in II Corinthians 5:21 – “For He [the 
       Father] made Him [the Son] who knew no sin to be sin 
       for us, that we might be made the righteousness of 
       God in Him.”

• To accomplish this new creation the LORD gives the repentant sinner a new heart and spirit! Here is what is written in Ezekiel 36:25 and 26 (see also Ezekiel 11:19):

     Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall 
     be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 
     and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart 
     and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart 
     of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of 
     flesh.

   Jesus referred to this in John 3:3 and 5 as being born 
   again! (see also I Peter 1:23).

   ✡   In ancient Hebrew thinking, the heart was much more 
        than the organ that pumps blood through the body. 
        Here is how the jewishencyclopedia.com explains the 
        Biblical concept:

	   The seat of the emotional and intellectual life. 
           "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of 
           it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23), re-
           fers to the moral and spiritual as well as the 
           physical life....The three special functions, 
           knowing, feeling, and willing, ascribed by mo-
           dern psychologists to the mind, were attributed 
           to the heart by the Biblical writers....The 
           heart [is]...the seat of thought [,]...the seat 
           of emotion [and]...also the seat of volition. 
           It is self-directing and self-determining.

   ✡   The heart of stone is a heart hardened to the spir-
        itual things of God. The heart of flesh is a heart 
        tender and open to the things of the Lord. 

So having “…a new heart and…a new spirit within you…” (Ezekiel 36:26), what other new things should appear?

• A new way of thinking! Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8:

     Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever 
     things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever 
     things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever 
     things are of good report, if there is any virtue and 
     if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate [think] 
     on these things. 

• A new way of talking and acting! Here is what the apostle said in Ephesians 4:29 through 32:

     Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but 
     what is good for necessary edification, that it may 
     impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the 
     Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the 
     day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, 
     clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with 
     all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, 
     forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave 
     you.

• A new radiance! Now what can this mean? Consider Phlippians 2:14 and 15

     Do all things without complaining and disputing, 
     that you may become blameless and harmless, child-
     ren of God without fault in the midst of a crooked 
     and perverse generation, among whom you shine as 
     lights in the world....

   We all shine as lights in the world in one way or 
   another! For Jesus said in Matthew 6:22 and 23:

     The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your 
     eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 
     But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full 
     of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you 
     is darkness, how great is that darkness! 

   God forbid that we shine darkly! I wrote a Gem on April 
   17, 2013 called Black Light Christians. In it I explain 
   more fully this concept of our radiance.

• A new song! Psalm 40:1 through 4 is a good example (see also Psalms 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa 42:10; and Revelation 5:9):

     I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to 
     me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a 
     horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet 
     upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a 
     new song in my mouth — praise to our God; many will 
     see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord. Blessed 
     is that man who makes the Lord his trust....

• New friends! When I became a Christian at age 19, I stopped associating with several of my old friends and acquired new friends. You see, with my former friends, we got into a lot of trouble – drinking, stealing, lying, fighting, taking advantage of others, etc. And so a warning in…

   ✞   ...I Corinthians 15:33 – “Do not be deceived: 
       Evil company corrupts good habits.”

   ✞   ...I Peter 4:4 (Easy-to-Read Version) – “Now 
       those ‘friends’ think it is strange that you no 
       longer join them in all the wild and wasteful 
       things they do. And so they say bad things about 
       you.”

These are just a few of the new things that God creates in and through us! But a word of caution: We will manifest this “…new and living way…” (Hebrews 10:20) only as we allow Him to do His work in our lives! For we can resist Him, and fight Him, and push Him away…and He permits us to oppose His will if we so choose! Remember, we have a new godly nature, but we also have our old sinful nature, and the old battles against the new! We will look at this further in the next Gem.

Revelation 21:3-5

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

In our featured Scripture of Revelation 21:3 through 5, God has shown the Apostle John a vision of “…a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (Revelation 21:1). But why are the first heaven and earth not acceptable in the Lord’s sight, so much so that He has to make heaven and earth totally new? After all, the first heaven and earth apparently are acceptable in His eyes during the thousand-year (Millennial) Kingdom (see Revelation 20:4, 6).

There are two pertinent Greek words that are translated ‘new’:

• καινός (pronounced kahee-nos’) and meaning, “…new (especially in freshness)….” Strong’s Greek Dictionary.

• νεώτερος (pronounced neh-o-ter’-os) and meaning, “…recently born, young, youthful…” Thayer’s Greek Definitions.

It is the first of the two, καινός , that is used to describe the new heaven and earth. This is important because it can mean that the new is very similar to the old heaven and earth, but totally refreshed! It is not the old made over, but the new will not be unfamiliar to us who inhabit the new heavens and the new earth!

It is much like the concept of what is called the old man and the new man in Ephesians 4:20, and 22 through 24 (1965 Bible in Basic English) concerning…

   ...the teaching of Christ which was given to you....that 
   you are to put away, in relation to your earlier way of 
   life, the old man, which has become evil by love of de-
   ceit; and be made new in the spirit of your mind, and 
   put on the new man, to which God has given life, in 
   righteousness and a true and holy way of living. 

We are made new when we put our faith in Jesus Christ! This is how Paul describes it in II Corinthians 5:17: “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

• Just as we were born into our humanity through the conception of our parents; and then birthed into the world nine months later from our mother’s womb, so this new creation is birthed by the Holy Spirit into the image of our God!

   ✞   That’s why Jesus, when talking with Nicodemus in 
       John 3:3, 5 and 6, said this: 

          Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is 
          born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God
          ...he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
          That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that 
          which is born of Spirit is spirit.

       And you can’t get a spiritual being from fleshly 
       (human) progeneration!

   ✞   In order to be spiritually born again, we must...

       ➔   ...recognize that we are sinners (see Romans 
            3:10-19, 23; Ephesians 4:22), in rebellion 
            against God (see Isaiah 48:8; Colossians 1:
            21), and under His condemnation! (see John 
            3:18).

       ➔   ...accept Jesus Christ as our Savior (see 
            Luke 2:11), confess our sins to Him (see 
            I John 1:9), trusting that His sacrifice 
            on the cross was totally sufficient to 
            take away our sins! (see I Peter 1:18, 19; 
            I John 1:7). 

   ✞   As it says in John 1:12, “...as many as received 
       Him, to them He gave the right to become children 
       of God, to those who believe in His name.”

• We are all sinners, shot through and through with sin! God had to give us a new nature, a godly nature (by a new birth) to be reconciled to Him!

If we apply the same reasoning to “…a new heaven and the new earth…” (Revelation 21:1), perhaps we can begin to understand why God will “…make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5).

• The devil (Satan, Lucifer) is also called “…the god of this world…” (II Corinthians 4:4 – in 9 of the 17 versions I have on my e-Sword Bible computer application). How did he become the “…god of this world…”?

   ✡   In Genesis 1:26, “...God said...”

          “...Let us make man in Our image, according 
          to our likeness; let them have dominion over 
          the fish of the sea, over the birds of the 
          air, and over the cattle, over all the earth 
          and over every creeping thing that creeps on 
          the earth.”

   ✡   Man and woman, God’s highest creation, was given 
        dominion over all the earth! But that dominion 
        was transferred!

       ➔   When Adam obeyed Satan instead of God 
            (read Genesis chapter 3), that dominion 
            became the devil’s!

       ➔   That’s why, when Jesus was tempted on 
            the mountain, in Luke 4:5 through 7 it 
            is written:

              Then the devil, taking Him up on a high 
              mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms 
              of the world in a moment of time. And 
              the devil said to Him, “All this author-
              ity I will give You, and their glory; 
              for this has been delivered to me, and 
              I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, 
              if You will worship before me, all will 
              be Yours.”

    Satan could not have offered Jesus authority over all 
    the kingdoms of the world, if it was not his to give! 

       ➔   Just consider the devastation the world is 
            experiencing now and through the ages. If 
            our Heavenly Father was directly in charge 
            of the world, He would be a pretty poor God! 
            But He has allowed the devil to rule for a 
            time until, as it says in Revelation 11:15, 
            “The kingdoms of this world have become the 
            kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and 
            He shall reign forever and ever!”

• The world, like our old sinful nature, is shot through and through with sin! God is not going to ‘repair’ the old world! You might say, “It is beyond repair!” He is going to create “…new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (II Peter 3:13).

We will continue to see the new things God creates in the next Gem.

Revelation 21:3-5

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

Revelation 21:3 through 5 is what I have chosen for our featured Scripture. And I can’t think of a better three verses to challenge us in the new year of 2022!

   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. 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.”  
   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.” 

Why did I select this Scripture?

 It is the New Year!
   New resolutions are made in the New Year!
     Many people would like to turn over a new leaf!
       Only ONE can honestly say, “I make all things new.”
         And only ONE can make it happen in the New Year!

Now I know that if we take the book of Revelation in a somewhat chronological order, Revelation 21 belongs to the Milleniel Kingdom established after Jesus Christ returns to rule the earth! But the lessons these verses can teach us can be a great engouragement here and now!

Revelation 21:3 – “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.”

What did God say in Revelation 21:3?

• “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men….” The word tabernacle can be used either as a noun or a verb. This is shown in Revelation 21:3 from the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible:

      And I heard a great voice out of Heaven, saying, 
      Behold, the tabernacle [noun] of God with men! 
      And He will tabernacle [verb] with them, and they 
      will be His people, and God Himself will be with 
      them as their God.    

   ✡   This is what God did in the Old Testament! He 
        directed through Moses to build the tabernacle, 
        the tent in the middle of their encampment in 
        the wilderness where the LORD would meet and 
        talk with Israel’s leaders (see Exodus 40:34 
        and 38). 

   ✞   And this is what Jesus did in the New Testament! 
       It is recorded in John 1:1 and 14 (Modern King 
       James Version): “In the beginning was the Word, 
       and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
       ....And the Word was made flesh and tabernacled 
       among us....”

       ➔   He took on the tabernacle (the tent) of 
            the flesh of mankind and dwelt in that 
            tabernacle of flesh on earth; and has 
            tabernacled thereafter in that human 
            body, now glorified in heaven!

       ➔   What truly encourages me is Jesus now 
            tabernacles in me by His Holy Spirit, 
            and will someday give me that glorified 
            body so I can tabernacle with Him for-
            evermore!

• “…and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”

   ✡   A similar command was originally given to the Jews: 

       ➔   Exodus 19 – “...obey My voice and keep 
            My covenant, then you shall be a special 
            treasure to Me....”  

       ➔   Leviticus 26:12 – “...let them make Me a 
            sanctuary, that I may dwell among them....”

   ✞   Didn’t Jesus tell us in Hebrews 13:5 and Matthew 
       28:20? “I will never leave you nor forsake you....
       I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

   ✞   What does this mean for me and other Christians in 
       the future?

       ➔   Revelation 20:2 – In His kingdom we will 
            “...live and reign with Him a thousand 
            years...” 

       ➔   I Thessalonians 4:17 – “...we shall always 
            be with the Lord.”

Revelation 21:4 – “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things are passed away.”

• In this phase of life, there certainly is death, sorrow, crying, and pain! All of these too often characterize this earthly life.

   ☹   And these four characteristics are heightened by 
        the Covid pandemic! 

   ☹   But many other human conditions can cause  death, 
        sorrow, crying, and pain! 

       ➔   economic hardships  

       ➔   dysfunctional family relationships

       ➔   disease (other than Covid) that ravaged 
            those who are dear to us.

       ➔   personal crises, such as addiction, mental 
            illness, low self esteem, and many other 
            things that can seem out of control!

   ☹   I have dealt with chronic pain from degenerative 
        joints, as well as clinical depression for most 
        of my adult life! By the way, I am doing quite 
        well with good doctors and counselors, proper 
        medication, a wonderful understanding wife, and 
        of course a great God! 

• Oh, what a blessing to be forever in a place with my Lord, and free from death, sorrow, crying, and pain! Praise God, “…the former things [the things that cause death, sorrow, crying, and pain] are passed away.”

Revelation 21:5 – “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.”

• “…He who sat on the throne…”

   ✞   God the Father in heaven is enthroned with Jesus 
       at His right hand! (see Hebrews 1:2, 3). He is 
       the ultimate ruler!

   ✡   Psalm 2:12 – And the human rulers of earth are 
        cautioned to “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, 
        and you perish in the way, when His wrath is 
        kindled but a little. Blessed are all those 
        who put their trust in Him.”  

• “Behold, I make all things new.”

   ✞   Revelation 21:1 – “And I saw a new heaven and a 
       new earth, for the first heaven and the first 
       earth had passed away....”

       ➔   II Peter 3:10 – “...the heavens will pass 
            away with a great noise, and the elements 
            will melt with fervent heat; both the earth 
            and the works that are in it will be burned 
            up.”

       ➔   II Peter 3:13 – “Nevertheless we, according 
            to His promise, look for a new heaven and a 
            new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

   ✞   But those who have put their faith in the Lord 
       Jesus Christ will not perish (see John 3:14-16).

       ➔   We will be transferred to that “...new 
            heaven and new earth...” 

       ➔   We “...shall reign forever and ever.” 
            (Revelation 22:5).

• “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Praise God! We can depend on what our Lord says!

I took some extra time to write and post this Gem because I wrote it twice! I worked on the first one for three days, but I didn’t like the direction it was going, so I did not complete it. I took extra time to write this one, the first of a two or three part series. I will post this first Gem of the series for Tuesday, January 4th.