“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV).

If Anyone is in Christ, He is a New Creation …

When I was a new Christian, I remember reading the verse above and thinking ‘I sure don’t feel like I’m a new person living a brand new life.” My spirit was born again but I still had the same ol’ stinking thinking like I did before I surrendered to Christ.

So what did I do?

I set about, in my own strength, to become that new person. I tried hard to manage my thoughts and words. I strived to do more, serve more, love more and just plain BE more. But all that did was exhaust me and fill me with a deep sense of failure and defeat.

I didn’t understand that being in Christ wasn’t something I had to work for. 2 Cor 5:17 was written by the Apostle Paul to the Corinth Church and it is foundational to our Identity as Christians. In this verse, Paul is addressing if anyone is in Christ. Those who are in Christ have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and believe that He died on the cross for their sins. It is the rock solid truth of who God says we are, cemented in the finished work of His Son at Calvary and in His resurection.  If He tells us we are new creations in Christ, then that is the truth of who we are no matter how we feel in the moment …  

Being in Christ means we are deeply connected with our Lord and Savior and identify with Him in this:

• We are crucified with Christ. Galatians 2:20
• We are buried with Christ. Romans 6:4
• We are raised with Christ. Colossians 3:1
• We are seated with Christ in Heavenly places. Ephesians 2:6

We don’t need to work harder to be in Christ, we just need to grow into what is already ours. This sanctification process will last throughout our earthly life and we will stumble many times. But Paul encourages us to pick ourselves up, forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead (Phil 3:13).

In Eph 4:22-24, Paul also uses figurative language in admonishing us to put off our old selves, be made new in the attitude of our minds and put on our new selves as if like clothing. As Christians, we will still contend with our old sinful nature at times but we have the Holy Spirit to help us!  Embracing our new self is not behavior management but being intentional to take off our old self, renew our minds and put on our new selves daily, all while looking to Christ as our example. 

Being made new in the attitude of our minds …

Our minds play an important role if we want to experience the fullness of life that Jesus promises us in John 10:10. And Romans 12:2 tells us to not conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. As a new Christian, I strived to fix my thinking in my own strength but what I needed to do was begin to put on the mind of Christ.

But how do we do that? Well, just like in any healthy long term relationship, we need to listen well to get to know another person. What we need to do is dig deep into God’s Word so we can get to know Him, otherwise we can’t fight off the lies of the enemy as the Apostle Paul admonishes us to do in the following verse:

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV).

I think you will appreciate this awesome commentary from Charles Stanley:

“Not many people can say that on the day they were saved, someone explained the steps to spiritual growth. Unfortunately, some believers never hear how to grow. God’s desire is that believers be fashioned in the likeness of Christ. But we do not grow as a Christian without taking action. First, we are responsible for renewing our mind. (Romans 12:2) Though God saves us and gives us a new spirit, He does not give us a new brain. Our minds have many trenches that have been dug or worn by disobedience and rebellion. So we must meditate on the Bible, which is an expression of the thoughts of God. Meditating is more than reading – it involves thinking about what the words mean and applying scriptural truths. There is no way to grow spiritually without absorbing the Bible into our thinking.”

Will we get all this perfectly? Oh heck no lol! But the Lord is not expecting perfection from us! Jesus gave us Lam 3:22-23 as the foundational verses for our fresh grace for today blog and it promises that His compassions will never fail and His grace will be fresh and new every morning. This banner over our blog helps Susan and me to remember that our mistakes will never define us and every day is a new opportunity to begin again!  

Whenever I stumble now, God wants me to see it as falling forward rather than sliding backwards. He has been kinder to me than I am to myself. And He doesn’t want us to beat ourselves up for days or weeks because we made an honest mistake. Our Lord is a forward moving God and He wants us to pick ourselves up in those moments, ask for and receive His forgiveness, and keep moving forward in momentum with Him. I’ve discovered along the way that practicing ongoing repentance is a very sweet experience with the Lord …

The transformation of the butterfly …

When I think of being new creations in Christ, I think of the beautiful butterfly which was once “something else” too, just as we were before we had our Come to Jesus moment. The butterfly develops through a process called metamorphosis, a Greek word meaning transformation. 

Prior to this transformation, the Caterpillar’s job was to eat and eat and eat some more! As it grows, it splits its skin and sheds it 4 to 5 times, growing 100 times its size during this stage. When the caterpillar is fully grown and stops eating, it becomes a pupa or chrysalis, literally becoming a little bag filled with a rich fluid which is partially used to form a new body.

Then comes the moment when it struggles to break free of its cocoon. The caterpillar had tiny eyes, stubby legs and short antennae. But the butterfly emerges from the cocoon with long legs, long antennae, and compound eyes and can now fly using its large and colorful wings.

The caterpillar’s job was to eat and eat. And Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (NIV).  

God will bring the transformation but our job is to get into His presence and literally feed on His living Word. When we immerse ourselves in His Word, God will help us to shed off our old self, one layer at a time. The caterpillar didn’t wrestle while in the cocoon but instead, it yielded to its Maker and melted down in His hands. It will take yielding to the Holy Spirit’s work deep within us to bring a change. And what about the struggle to break free from the cocoon? A butterfly doesn’t struggle to become what it was created to be. Likewise, we will have struggles as well, but not to become who we already are. Instead, our struggles will be opportunities to press into Christ and emerge as victorious overcomers in Him. 

It reminds me of John 8:31-32 where Jesus tells us: “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (ESV).

In closing, you may not feel like the graceful butterfly right now. I know I sure don’t most days. But Sister, in His eyes, we ARE new creations in Christ! Let your faith trump your feelings, lean into Christ and let Him transform you one baby step at a time. Be assured, none of us will “arrive” until we pass through the veil into His inner sanctuary. But God is pleased to dwell within us here on earth and guide us home where we will see His beautiful face one day.

Live loved my friend,

Therefore, If Anyone is in Christ, He is a New Creation | 2 Corinthians 5:17  @ freshgracefortoday.com

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