A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things

have passed away;  behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

 

                When I became a Christian I found great freedom in 2 Cor. 5:17.  I felt like I’d hit the proverbial jackpot!  Since I had so much ugliness and sin in my past, the thought of it being forever gone, never to haunt me again, gave me wings.  For months I went around telling myself, “You are a new creation!  You are a new creation,” not really understanding the depth of what it meant, but rejoicing in the delight it brought me.  

                Since then, I’ve learned more concerning God’s promise in 2 Cor. 5:17.  The phrase ‘new creation’ refers to God creating a new history in the believer.  In a physical sense, nothing changes, since the past cannot be altered.  Spiritually, however, the new believer’s past takes on an altered context, as well as a changed future.

In the Hebrew, ‘create’ (bara) refers to an activity that only God can perform.  And when we receive Christ as our Savior and ask the Holy Spirit to indwell us, this allows the Spirit of God to nurture our lives, and we become a new creation.

                As a result, we are given a new name (Revalation 2:17), which also implies a new reputation, authority, identity, and character.  I am no longer simply Leslie Montgomery.   I am now Leslie Montgomery, daughter of the King.  With that, I have all the rights that come with knowing Jesus.   I am no longer a sinner, but  a sinner saved by grace, a Saint.  I am no longer an old man, but a new man.  I am no longer an enemy of God, but His Bride.   My reputation is not based on what I did in my past, but who I am in Christ.  I am no longer a citizen of hell, but a citizen of heaven (Eph. 1:21;  Php 2:9).   I am His and He is mine, and He has given me a seal or dowry to solidify this fact by placing the Holy Spirit in me.

                The Holy Spirit is the very One who renews us and makes us a new creation.  Furthermore, He serves as our Teacher, Counselor, Healer, the One who convicts us of our sin and more.  It’s His presence in my life that continually assures me of who I am in Christ and what God’s done with me: made me new, pure, holy, and righteous.  And it’s the Holy Spirit that will enable me to carry out these high standards of integrity in my life. 

                I’ve wondered how this verse applies to me in a practical, daily way and I am reminded that God’s mercies are new every morning.  That means that every day when I wake up God is waiting for me to come to Him in prayer and offer mercy for the sins of the day before.  In essence, His mercies and forgiveness make me a new creation each and every day that I go to Him.  You cannot be in the presence of the Lord and not be changed.  After all, our goal in life is to become more Christ-like, and there’s no better place to do that than in prayer on the throne room floor.

                You too are a new creation in Christ if you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior.  If you haven’t, this is your opportunity to make all things new.  Do not hesitate to fall on your knees and ask Jesus to come into your heart, and then tell someone who can further minister God’s truths to you and get you connected to a good, Bible-based church.  You will find that there is nothing more freeing that leaving your past where it belongs: in the past.