A New Life

2 Corinthians 5:17 ~ "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Yesterday we saw that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. But the great joy of our hearts that comes from His salvation is also found in the fact that He does not leave us in our old condition. When we come to the Lord Jesus and trust Him by faith, we are made into a new creation. There are two qualities that exist in the Christian life--the first, the old has gone; the second, the new has come. 

And what are those "old" and "new" things that have changed within us?

The "old" is the life of sin that we once enjoyed. Our sinful desires are crucified with Christ, the old nature is coming to nothing and the new life of Christ is being formed within us through the working of the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Romans 6:6, "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." Again, the Apostle Paul told the church that they were taught with regard to their former way of life, "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires" (Ephesians 4:22).

Do you see your old corruptions fading away, dying within you even as the life of Christ and the desires of His Spirit are growing and making you new? That old nature will become less dominant as you walk with Christ, but it may never fully depart. Even Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, struggled against his old nature. Consider Romans 7:21-25, "So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."

But, beloved, there is a wonderful new life that grows within every believer. The transforming power of God's Spirit is at work with each of us to bring us to greater and greater holiness.

So, what are some of those new things? The Scriptures tell us:

We have new pursuits, "So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22). 

We walk in a new life. Romans 6:4 states, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

We live under a new covenant. Hebrews 8:13 declares, "In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." Also in 1 Corinthians 11:25, "In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'"

We will, ultimately, live within the new heaven and new earth, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more" (Revelation 21:1). Even as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:13, "But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

Though we cannot grasp the fullness of all that God has done for us (see 1 Corinthians 2:9), yet we can have our minds renewed so that we can grow in understanding and obedience to the Lord, having our lives transformed in holiness. Paul tells the church in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

As new creations in Christ, let every Christian rejoice that God, in His mercy and grace, does not leave us in our old condition. But through His Spirit working in us by the Word of God, we are being made new.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

---