“ “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
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I remembered when I became a new believer in Christ. Yes, I saw this scripture alive in me. I saw a 360% change in my ways and a gradual transformation in every aspect of my being. I saw my old ways of doing things fading away. I saw how my passion for the things of God, his word, and presence grew daily.
Why a New Creation?? What was lost?
According to Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Being made in God’s image means we carry the character and attributes of God. This also means man has a unique place and relationship with God. This is where we derive our identity, uniqueness, and authority, different from other created things. After God created everything, he looked and liked what he saw. Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” However, when man sinned, the relationship between man and God was impacted. Genesis 3:23 “So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” This was the most horrible time in human history; the relationship with God changed due to sin. Man was thrown out of the place of fellowship, the secret place; man lost access to that place of meeting with God, his identity, authority, and dominion. Man had to face the consequences of his disobedience. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” The loving Father had a plan B, the second Adam- Jesus Christ- His death and resurrection gave man another opportunity to reconcile with God. This is the process of salvation, and when we put our faith in the completed work on the cross, we are made new in Christ Jesus. Let us go back now to our main bible reference, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ.”
In Christ, we have been given a new life transformed “in Christ”. No one can drink water outside the cup. The reference “in Christ” refers to a deep, spiritual relationship, a safe location, new identity where we are comfortable to relate with God. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. It must be only in Christ for that transformation to take place. In Christ we have a new convent and new identify.
“The New creation has come”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” This is the transformative work of the Holy Spirit, where man’s inner being is made new, creating a new platform where man can walk in obedience and fellowship with God
“The old has passed away.”
This is very straight forward; the old clothes are thrown out when new ones are brought. The past life of sin and death, the old ways of living, habits, ect., is exchanged at the cross and because the new and old cannot share space. Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” Colossians 3:9-10 “ 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
“Behold, the new has come.tc., is exchanged at the cross,”
This is good news, a new life has come, a transformed life, a new identity, indicated by our faith in Christ alone, with a holy and righteous walk to God’s glory. Ephesians 4:24 “ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”. Galatians 2:20 “ Ihave been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Romans 8:13 “ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live”. The new life in Christ gives man access to the power to overcome the flesh and all its practices because the old man has been crucified.
This new life in Christ means that our sins are wiped away, God resides within us by his Holy Spirit as seal and helper (Ephesians 1:13-14) no more condemnation (Romans 8:1), adopted into God’s family (John 1:12). We walk in freedom and have access to the place of fellowship (Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Ephesians 3:12 “ In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence”.) AND MUCH MORE
Prayer Points
Examine yourself, if this is not your life, you do not yet have a new life in Christ. You can exchange that old life today and receive a new life in Christ. Also, you have experienced this new life at some point, but you went back to the old lifestyle, you have another opportunity to do it again. Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” The old mustbe crucified.
Pray the grace to keep pressing on and not stand in one place as if you have arrived. Transformation is a process. Philippians 3:13-14 “13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus”.
This must be our daily declaration: Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
We can only do this by living in the word of God, ask God for grace to live a life in the word: Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Ask for the grace to put off all the old ways of life that bring no glory to God; gossip, prayerlessness, lack of bible reading/study, lies, etc. Ephesians 4: 22-24 “22 to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Declare your freedom in Christ Jesus: Romans 8:1-2 “1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Come into agreement with God, see and declare the new things he is doing in your life: Isaiah 43:18-19 “18“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. 19 Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”
Ask God for the grace to live in this word like Joshua: Joshua 1: 8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.