Living Understanding Pt 14: New creation

2Corinthians 5:14-17            14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Romans 5:6-8                        6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

One died for all

The ancient Hebrews believed the Messiah would come as a warrior-king to free Israel from its oppressors through battle and restore Israel to prominence.  Such was not the case though, as God’s plan was to free his people from oppression by their sins and provide eternal salvation.  The doing of that requires that God’s people be made clean because a holy and righteous God cannot have fellowship with sinful people.

How was God to do that?  And why would God cause his Son to suffer death by crucifixion since…

 22 “If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree, 23 his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God — so that you will not defile your land, which ADONAI your God is giving you to inherit. (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) (CJB)

Certainly Christ never committed any sin nor any activity which would have caused him to be cursed.  So what curse would Christ have endured if it was not his own?  Every human being has a sin nature, everyone has sinned, and everyone deserves death.  But Christ went to the Cross so that he could endure God’s curse instead of us.  There is a fine point here:  Christ died not so much in place of us, but for the benefit of us.  The divine plan was that his death would heal us of our sin nature, free us from its consequence of death and give us eternal life.  Christ was punished for the sin he never carried, so that we through him, can experience the righteousness we never deserved.

A new creation

This is the thing that is so hard for people to understand.  Certainly, when they accept Christ as their Savior they recognize something has happened, but they are not quite sure what.  They are living in the same world, have the same struggles, and are burdened by the same addictions.

15The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)

When God placed Adam in the Garden He forbad Adam from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on the penalty of death.  And Adam did eat.  But he didn’t die, and in fact lived several hundred years.  So what happened?  Human beings are tripartite creatures; they have three parts to them—body, soul, and spirit.  Clearly, when Adam sinned his body didn’t die, nor did his soul, because he still had cognition.  The third part, his spirit, did die as it became disconnected from the God who had breathed into Adam at his creation.  It is that third part which comes alive again at the moment of salvation.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior the Holy Spirit enters our heart and energizes us again to communicate with the King.  We are indeed at that moment a new creation.

The old has gone, the new is here

So we are indeed a new thing, a new creation.  Now our point of view is different.  No longer is our evening focus towards bars or wanton activity.  No longer are we bound by inappropriate activity on the internet.  Suddenly, a question arises in our heart, “What can I do to please God?”  This question would never have occurred to us in our old state, but now is often paramount in our thinking.

But don’t get me wrong:  While the act (conversion) can be precipitous, the consequent changes that come are definitely not.  We still have our habits, and normal routines and these things often need to be put away because they interfere with our relationship with Jesus.  Our friends still call and say, “Let’s go to the bar!”, or “Let’s party!”  We have to have the courage to say no and risk the loss of that friend.  That loss might be a good thing, but it is still painful.

So the new might be here but we must manifest it in our hearts.  That requires prayer.  Before I was saved, I never prayed; didn’t know how.  There is a learning curve here, and Jesus helps us learn it.  Prayer is just communication after all and we have all learned how to do the secular version of that.  How about the supernatural?  I remember thinking, “I can never pray out loud.”  Then, “I could never pray for a whole hour.”  Now, I pray for hours every week.  See, it is OK to be intimidated by this; new things often are intimidating.  But all of a sudden, each of us believers has a partner in prayer:  The King of the universe Jesus Christ Himself.

What about me?

The question then becomes, “How do I do this?”  Well, my believing friend, I will never meet you IRL, but I can promise you one thing.  Christ is kind, gentle, and loving.  He will never abandon or forsake you.  You now have a partner for life.  You will certainly stumble along the way; you will have a struggle giving up that bad habit; you will think, “This isn’t worth it!”  But I promise you it is.  Maybe there will be two steps forward and one hard one back, but just remember.  Keep getting up, brushing yourself off, and moving on.