NEWNESS AND LIFE OUT OF DEATH

J. Harthill

Genesis 1: 9–13; John 12: 20–24; Romans 6: 4

The exercise I have, beloved brethren, is the thought of newness, and the great value of life out of death. It was a very touching matter brought before us on Lord’s day morning as to the life of Jesus. There is no life like the life of Jesus; it was a life of a new order of man altogether. As to His incoming, only He could be so spoken of as to the way He came in; and then He fulfilled the will of God. That perfect life under the eye of God was entirely new; it was a new order of man entirely. The question was raised, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”, Matthew 8: 27. There was never another man like that, the Creator, the elements obeying Him as He spoke, a Man of another order delightful here under the eye of God.

So it has come to me in this regard to speak over how we come into this great matter of life out of death, and how the foundation of this great principle of newness is laid in our souls. I believe that is the epistle to the Romans; the foundation for newness, life out of death, and its great value to God, is known, I believe, in that epistle. In the very first chapter of the Scriptures we have illustrated this newness of life. In the creation we have the first day, then the second day, then the third day. It tells us that the earth had been submerged, it was sunk, so to speak, in the waters of death. On the third day the dry land appeared and God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas, and God saw that it was good. The eye of God was upon that, upon His creation.

Then, “And God said, Let the earth cause grass to spring up”, and so on, the third day. We, each one of us, know how the blessed Lord Jesus, the blessed Saviour, was in death three days and three nights. So I think it is clear that the illustration here is of resurrection, beloved brethren, that everything for God, every result for God, is in resurrection, is in life out of death. We have here that the earth caused grass to spring up; think of the freshness and newness on the third day. Clearly the earth had the element of life in it, so it is productive and the grass springs up; the herb producing seed comes into view, and then the fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kind, they come forth, and then it says, “And God saw that it was good”.

This shows us how life out of death is satisfying to the heart of God. There was no animal, no man, here at this point, but God would look upon the earth come up out of the waters of death, and on the third day there was this springing up of life and beauty and freshness. Well, our hearts thrill as we think about these things, these wonderful things, newness, freshness, life out of death. It is clear that we would at once feel. How do we come into these things? How can life out of death mark us? How can there be delight for God with me? each one of us would ask.

Well, I thought of reading the scripture in John’s gospel to give us life out of death with our Saviour Himself. The Greeks came up and they desired to see Jesus, and then there are these two disciples; one speaks to the other, and then they tell Jesus, and He said, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit”. It is just what we have in the first chapter of the Scriptures. That “much fruit” is for God; that is what we saw at the beginning; it is for the satisfaction of the heart of God. You and I are part of the much fruit. We sing sometimes on Lord’s day morning—

‘Out of Thy death has sprung

A wondrous living throng—

All, all to Thee belong,

And in Thee live’. (Hymn 152)

There it is; and the assembly is out of Christ, out of His death; there is the much fruit. It is wondrous to think of these things, and of the much fruit for the heart of God.

Romans 6 shows us clearly how we come in as persons who have been converted and have given their hearts to Christ, who have received the Spirit of God. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Are we going to go on as we have done before? No! “Far be the thought”.

Paul says, ‘Far be the thought that this should be so’, and then he says, “As many as have been baptised unto Christ Jesus, have been baptised unto his death. We have been buried therefore with him by baptism unto death”; that is where death comes in with us. Then he goes on to say something that is not said anywhere else, I think, in the Scriptures, “In order that, even as Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life”. That was illustrated in Genesis 1. The saints, believers here, all the saints, aged people and young, are to walk in newness of life, as those who have been baptised unto Christ Jesus, baptised unto His death.

And then this wonderful thing, “even as Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father”—think of that life, that life which was taken from the earth; that is what the scripture says, “and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth”, Acts 8: 33. Think of that life, that precious life—never a life like that, the life of Jesus. But then He is raised dap from among the dead by the glory of the Father, the Father’s affections, as often referred to, entering into it; and then the apostle says, even as He has been raised up from among the dead, “so we also should walk in newness of life”.

Just think of our every-day lives being taken account of in that way. There is to be a definite change with us; perhaps no change in our circumstances; a brother would still be a husband, and a sister a mother, and then children and young people would be members of the family; we may be masters or servants; there it is, just as we were before, but there is to be newness of life, a change; we are now different. Think of what that is for God, just at the beginning of our Christian experience as saved persons, that we should be marked by newness of life. Our daily walk and ways are different, and the heart of God would delight in that. “If any one love God, he is known of him”, 1 Corinthians 8: 3. Think of going down the street and having a sense that you are known of God, a lover of God. But, oh, just the thought of being different, how essential it is; we are changed; there is newness of life; that is an outward thing.

Then in the next chapter it speaks about “newness of spirit” (Romans 7: 6); that is clearly an inward thing. Newness of life, that would be the whole course of the every-day walk, but then there is to be newness of spirit with us, and that is inward and relates to service; we are not to

serve in the oldness of the letter, but we are to serve in newness of spirit. It occurred to me, beloved brethren, that as there is a change with us, as there is newness of life with us in our walk day by day, when we come to the Supper, leading on to the service of God, we shall find our part in the service of God marked by newness of spirit. We shall not go on with the oldness of the letter. That is what is all around us—some of us have had our part in these things, but the light of God has come to us with regard to the systems of men; it did to me.

There is so much of the oldness of the letter, but think of this newness of spirit, every brother and sister singing with the spirit, singing with the understanding. There it is, taking part in the singing there is newness of spirit; there is the understanding of what you are singing, what you are saying. How precious it is to have part in newness of spirit!

Going on to Romans 12, it speaks in verse 2 of not being conformed to this world. It is a serious word; you feel what a challenge it is, “be not conformed to this world”. How much this world holds out! We can see the emptiness of it, yet there is the glitter and the glamour; how much it holds out, as we all know. But it says, “And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. The mind is fed by the books we read, the literature we read, so it says, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. I believe it means, as we look back on our own experience—I am sure that everyone here would be the same—that when you began to be interested in the Scriptures and in the ministry you found you gradually acquired a new taste; you had a renewed mind that was capable by the Spirit of taking in divine things. How wonderful it is! The more we are on that line, beloved brethren, the greater the delight and pleasure divine Persons will have in us.

I just say these things for I believe truly that the foundation is laid in our souls as we come into the gain of the epistle to the Romans and are formed by it in the power of the Spirit. If that is so, the element of what is new has been laid in our souls, and that is going to culminate in the city, a city that is going to come down out of heaven from God, the holy city, new Jerusalem. Think of it; these elements that are laid in our souls are all going to lead into the city. The epistle to the Colossians tells us about the new man, so does the epistle to the Ephesians.

The new man is the work of God in all the saints, one whole. In Colossians it is marked by freshness, newness; it says, “and having put on the new (man), renewed into full knowledge according to the image of him that has created him”, Colossians 3: 10. That is the new man, the features of Christ found in the saints, the continuation of that life. Then Paul goes further and speaks of being renewed in the spirit of our mind and of our having put on the new man “which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness”, Ephesians 4: 24.

Well, we desire to know more about these wonderful things, truthful righteousness and holiness, and the spirit of our mind. I cannot say much about that, but I do believe that if we were renewed in the spirit of our mind we would be very sensitive and if anything wrong was said, at once we would realise, ‘That is not right’; and if we leave certain wrong positions, instinctively we know what is right, and know what is wrong. It is wonderful, the new man, features of Christ continued in the saints down here, and it is all leading on to the new heaven and the new earth.

Oh, how God delights in what is new! We can see it, the Scripture is full of it. In the Revelation the voice from off the throne says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21: 5). That is the voice of power from off the throne; finally everything will be new. Peter says that is what we look for, “We wait for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness”, 2 Peter 3: 13. Well, beloved brethren, how important it is that we should value what is new. The Scriptures are full of it and instruct us in it—how we should value life out of death; how we should be marked by newness of life, newness of spirit. It is wonderful to think of that; God would have us answer more and more to these wondrous things, to find our part in what is new. It will be entirely new and fresh as the city comes down as a bride adorned for her husband, fresh after a thousand years and marked by glory, and the scene will be entirely fresh, entirely new,

‘Perpetual freshness marks th’eternal day’. May our hearts be affected by it, beloved brethren, and may we, as helped of the blessed God, remain in it for His glory, for His name’s sake. Amen.

Word in meeting for ministry, Glasgow
6 December 1983