New Creatures

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A New Creation

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (ESV)

16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Devotion:

          These verses may be familiar to you as they are to me. This situation can cause us to read right past them in our daily reading of Scripture. I want us to pause on this great truth from scripture right now and consider its full meaning.

          Paul here wants us to stop seeing others primarily as flesh and bones, but he is, I believe, urging us to take a more spiritual view of our neighbors. The reason this is important is that because while Jesus walked this earth, we viewed him as human. We viewed him as just flesh and bones. Now, however, we who believe in his resurrection see him as more than a mere human but as a resurrected being who has a body that transcends mere human categories. We truly worship him as the second member of the triune God. Co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

          Since we now see Jesus in this way our view of the humans that walk this earth with us must be changed as well. Just as our view of others must change so must our view of ourselves must also be changed. God makes those who know and worship him into different sorts of humans. This happens even though we may not always feel the difference that having Christ in our lives has made. Our feelings are not always to be trusted in this matter. We must trust the word of God that we are made into new creatures when we come to faith in him.

          God will be faithful to change us into creatures that resemble him spiritually. God grants us his Holy Spirit at the time of our conversion and that Spirit will change us. Sometimes God does the work of transformation in more obvious ways immediately, while other times the work of the Spirit is very gradual. With me it was the second way. I am still being changed slowly and being renewed in body, mind and spirit each day. It can be tempting to doubt if the spirit is really at work. But we can be assured that Christ is working his change in us. We must be patient with the process. God is faithful to the children who call upon his holy name.

Prayer:

          O Lord hear our prayer and help us to see your work in our lives. Keep us by your mighty power. We pray for patience as we are changed more and more into your likeness. We ask you, O Lord, to make us living replicas of our Savior. Purify us, that we may be worthy of the name of Christian. Amen.

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