BRAND NEW CREATION IN CHRIST

“Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a NEW CREATION…” – 2 Corinthians 5:17a

The Believer is a BRAND NEW CREATION IN CHRIST: “Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a NEW CREATION; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor.5:17). The Living Bible says, "When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!" (2Cor.5:17, TLB). Our identity is IN CHRIST. Without Him, we are disasters waiting to happen; wretched sinners strolling to hell: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jh.3:18).

When we really understand our identity in Christ – who we are in Him – it transforms the way we think and live. When Jesus died and rose again, He promised to send His Spirit to dwell within those who confess Him as Lord and Saviour. With His Spirit coming to live inside us, we become “new creations” – made clean spiritually from sin and shame. Before we were in Christ, we were destined for death and destruction; now we have eternal life: “And this is the promise that He has promised us – eternal life” (1 Jh. 2:25). Before, we were subject to despair and degradation; but in Christ, we are destined to have life and have it abundantly (Jh. 10:10). Outside of Christ, we were useless to divinity; in Him we are useful for all of eternity.

The new birth that comes with faith in Jesus is similar to the creation of the world. God took nothing and breathed newness of life and light into the darkness. It is the same for us! Through Christ, God doesn’t only clean us up – He creates our lives brand new. Our old sins are gone forever, forgiven and forgotten. The things of the world that filled our lives – pride, sin, lusts, gossip, habits, and passions – are deleted and replaced with the new person in Christ Jesus. As new creatures, we live for God rather than ourselves. The old things have died – nailed to the cross along with the sin nature. Paul wanted to remind these young believers in Corinth of their status as a new creation – clean, pure, and hopeful before God, while the world around them seemed dark.

At the new birth, we are declared to be the righteousness of God in Christ: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). We exchange our old life for a new one: sin for forgiveness, pride for humility, legalism for grace, fear for love, weakness for strength, sorrow for joy, and sadness for gladness. Once we surrender our lives to God, His Holy Spirit begins to dwell within us and commence a process of transformation:  “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Cor.3:18).

Though we were originally created by God in His image, sin tainted how we viewed God and how we saw ourselves. But once His Spirit comes to live within us, God begins to peel back the layers of deceit and doubt that cloud our vision of Him and which prevent us from reflecting His image in our lives. Day by day, as we behold His Glory in His Word, He strips off the old habits and old thoughts that kept us blind and replaces it with transforming truth. Though God does the work, we are called to surrender every area of our life and live in obedience to His will. 

As a Believer in Christ, I am not just a renovated or improved version of my old self, but a BRAND NEW CREATION!

Beloved, when you understand your status and identity as a new creation, tomorrow and eternity are full of promise and hope!