2 Corinthians 5:14 -17 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Although outwardly you may appear to be the same person, when you received Christ you underwent a radical heart transplant. You literally become a “new person” (or “creation”) inside. This short passage of Scripture highlights some encouraging points as you endeavor to be obedient to God.
- As “new creations,” Christ love compels us to please God rather than ourselves.
- As “new creations,” we can look beyond the “packaging” of a person to what is inside.
- As “new creations,” we have become altogether different people.
- As “new creations,” we have been given a clean slate, a fresh start, and a new nature.
The new nature you have received is like a tender little flower. It takes time and effort to cultivate. You may find it hard at times to obey God and leave certain old habits behind at first. But as you cultivate that new nature by spending more time with God through activities like prayer and Bible study, you will notice changes as the weeks, months and years go by.
A man from India was heard to compare our new spiritual nature and our old selfish one to two dogs constantly fighting with each other. He went on to say that he could determine which dog would win. When asked how he determined which dog won, his response was, “The one I feed the most, of course.” When you take time to “feed” your new spiritual nature (as you are doing right now), you give it the edge in this ongoing conflict between good an evil.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | new creation
