New Creation
“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
“I am not who I was, nor am I what I will be, but as long as I know that Christ is in me, one day I’ll be what God purchased me to be.”
In the battle against sin, a transformation occurs: We who were once God’s enemies were brought near, transformed, and all of our sins were washed away. We were taken from the camp of Satan to God’s camp where we were given His Holy Spirit, clothed with Christ’s righteousness, and given the armor of God to defend ourselves against Satan’s deadly onslaughts. One of the tactics of Satan is to remind us of our past, to hold it up against us, in order to intimidate us, make us believe that we cannot change, that we are forever imprisoned by the sins that have so plagued and tormented our souls. But Satan is a defeated foe, the master manipulator and the father of lies. He doesn’t speak truth; rather, he seeks to use whatever means necessary to keep us from living our new life in Christ.
What we need to remember is that our past was nailed with Christ on the cross. Nothing can wipe that away; there is no delete button to remove what God has done, nor is there any way to hide what Christ did on Calvary, no more than a man can hide the sun from the noonday sky. Jesus paid the price for our sins and has taken them away from us. As the Psalmist wrote, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us”—Psalm 103:12. We have a north pole and a south pole, but no poles to document where east is east and where west is west. They are continually apart from one another; so too does God take our sins away from us. Secondly, He will “cast all our sins into the depths of the sea”—Micah 7:19. It’s amazing that we can go to the farthest reaches of space, yet scientists still aren’t able to go to the farthest recesses of the deep on our own planet. The pressure is too great. God doesn’t hold our past sins against us; He removes them far from us. We are clean in the sight of God because of what Jesus has done. He paid for them on the cross. What God did was give us new life and make us into new creations. We are new, brand new, no longer under God’s condemnation, but transformed forever. As Paul wrote to the church of Corinth,
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”—1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
They were guilty of sin and ready for condemnation, but Paul goes on, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”—1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
Did you see it? He says, “And such were some of you.” They were no longer who they once were! They had been transformed! Made alive by the Spirit of God! They had been cleansed of their past sins and made holy in the sight of Almighty God! Hallelujah!
What about you? Have you been living according to your old manner of life? Have you given into the lie that God can’t change you? Then repent! Take hold of that which God has promised to those who trust in Him—forgiveness and eternal life with Him! Amen.
“I am not who I was, nor am I what I will be, but as long as I know that Christ is in me, one day I’ll be what God purchased me to be.”
In the battle against sin, a transformation occurs: We who were once God’s enemies were brought near, transformed, and all of our sins were washed away. We were taken from the camp of Satan to God’s camp where we were given His Holy Spirit, clothed with Christ’s righteousness, and given the armor of God to defend ourselves against Satan’s deadly onslaughts. One of the tactics of Satan is to remind us of our past, to hold it up against us, in order to intimidate us, make us believe that we cannot change, that we are forever imprisoned by the sins that have so plagued and tormented our souls. But Satan is a defeated foe, the master manipulator and the father of lies. He doesn’t speak truth; rather, he seeks to use whatever means necessary to keep us from living our new life in Christ.
What we need to remember is that our past was nailed with Christ on the cross. Nothing can wipe that away; there is no delete button to remove what God has done, nor is there any way to hide what Christ did on Calvary, no more than a man can hide the sun from the noonday sky. Jesus paid the price for our sins and has taken them away from us. As the Psalmist wrote, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us”—Psalm 103:12. We have a north pole and a south pole, but no poles to document where east is east and where west is west. They are continually apart from one another; so too does God take our sins away from us. Secondly, He will “cast all our sins into the depths of the sea”—Micah 7:19. It’s amazing that we can go to the farthest reaches of space, yet scientists still aren’t able to go to the farthest recesses of the deep on our own planet. The pressure is too great. God doesn’t hold our past sins against us; He removes them far from us. We are clean in the sight of God because of what Jesus has done. He paid for them on the cross. What God did was give us new life and make us into new creations. We are new, brand new, no longer under God’s condemnation, but transformed forever. As Paul wrote to the church of Corinth,
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”—1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
They were guilty of sin and ready for condemnation, but Paul goes on, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”—1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
Did you see it? He says, “And such were some of you.” They were no longer who they once were! They had been transformed! Made alive by the Spirit of God! They had been cleansed of their past sins and made holy in the sight of Almighty God! Hallelujah!
What about you? Have you been living according to your old manner of life? Have you given into the lie that God can’t change you? Then repent! Take hold of that which God has promised to those who trust in Him—forgiveness and eternal life with Him! Amen.
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