“If Anyone is in Christ, This Person Is a New Creation”

 Part II of “Springtime Scriptures”

This week, I’m looking at “Springtime Scriptures.” These five passages deal with the newness that God works in us as we follow His way. Today, we look at Paul’s familiar encouragement: if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation!

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Something New: A New Creation in Christ

Today’s passage continues yesterday’s theme – God doing a new thing. Yesterday, we saw that God promised that He would “do a new thing” through the coming of His Son. “Forget the former things; I am doing a new thing.” The deliverance God promised would not come from a powerful military leader or through a new government.  It would come through God’s Servant, the Messiah.

At the heart of today’s passage we find a familiar and encouraging promise. “If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” However, we cannot stop with that promise. We need to examine what Paul means when he calls us “new creations.”

A New Creation Through Jesus’s Death and Resurrection

Paul  explains the way in which Jesus makes us new creations: “One died for all, therefore all died.”  Jesus died on the cross to defeat sin’s power. When we accept the salvation He offers, we “die to sin.” That’s what Paul means when he says that “all died.” In his letter to the Galatians he puts this plainly.  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). We no longer live according to the flesh; we are new creations who live by faith.

A New Way of Looking at Everything

Paul then goes on to identify one of the ways in which we have become new creations: Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh (verse 16). I like the way the New International Version translates this verse: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” The New Living Translation says, “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.” Because we are new creations, we are different; that also means that we see others differently.

What is this “human” or “worldly” point of view that we reject? I think it’s a selfish point of view. We don’t look at others in terms of what they can do for us. Christians don’t see other people as “competition.” We replace that selfish viewpoint with a Christ-like view; we see others as people for whom Christ died, whether or not they have accepted Him as their Savior and Lord. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus talks about dividing “the sheep from the goats” at the judgment based on how they treated “the least of these” (see “What Does It Mean to Be Ready?”). I like to sum up Jesus’ teaching this way: we’re called to see Jesus in everyone, and to be Jesus to everyone. We don’t see them from a worldly point of view!

This selfish viewpoint even extends to the way that we view Christ. How many times have we been guilty of thinking about what God can (or should) “give” us? Why not focus instead on what He has already done? Unfortunately, even some Bible teachers head down this path. God promises spiritual life in His Kingdom. Too often focus on material blessings instead. Fix your eyes on Jesus and your new life in Him!

New Creation: Reconciled to God through Christ

Because we are new creations, God has reconciled us to Himself through Christ. The point of this new work that God does in us is to reconcile us. Sin separates us from God; Christ reconciles us to God. As Paul sums up in verse 21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has done all that needed to be done to make our reconciliation possible. As long as we are “in Christ,” He reconciles us to God.

Something New: New Creations Help Others Be Reconciled to God

So what is our response? Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. God calls us to tell others about the forgiveness and life that we have in Christ. Verse 20 gives us the model: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. The word “beg” also means “implore” or “beseech.”  Paul urgently calls us to tell others, just as he does. He begs people to be reconciled to God; once they do, he begs them to tell others.

And the same goes for us! When we recognize the depth of God’s “something new,” we can’t help but talk about it!