A New Creation

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:17

When writing his second letter to the people of the church in Corinth, Paul tried to explain the permanence of the next life that awaits us as compared to the fragility of this life on earth. He wants to assure them that even "if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1) He wants to comfort them, to help them understand that no matter what happens in this life, that what is to come will be all new, not formed by human hands, not subject to rot or decay or erosion. All we have to do is believe in Christ as our Savior and follow His commandment to love each other, and we will be recreated anew! We don't even have to wait for the next life, it happens as soon as we become one in Christ.

Think about that a moment. Let me repeat this simple sentence. When we are in Christ, when we know Him as our Savior, the true Messiah, then we become a new creation. The old us is gone and a new person stands in our place. Now, of course, this does not mean that we change dramatically physically, although we will be prone to smile more often, to weep more often, to show care and feelings on our faces more often. No, the change occurs within us. We are new, no longer created by hands, but formed of heaven. Our souls are no longer subject to the rot and decay that is the domain of Lucifer, but can better resist his attempts to erode our faith in the Lord.

This eloquent verse carries even more beauty in other translations. The New Living Translation of the Bible gives it as "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" This tells us that our old life, our old ways, are over. What we did in the past is long gone. We have begun a new life, and with it come new ways of dealing with life, of treating our brothers and sisters in this walk upon the earth. When we are filled with Jesus, when we follow His commandment, we must look upon others with a new heart. We feel the blessings of our Lord, and the urge to share those blessings grows ever stronger with our love of Christ, with our new life in Him.

The Contemporary English Version offers blessed assurance when it presents this verse as "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new." This carries the addition, and most wonderful message that all our past sins are not only forgiven once we truly proclaim our faith in Jesus, but they are also forgotten! Jesus has stood for us and God will now not even remember our past failures! By our Savior's grace we are made clean, fresh, and new before His Father.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making of me a new creation! Amen!