What does it mean that a Christian is a new creation?

What does it mean that a Christian is a new creation?

We're going to answer that question.

The new creation is described in 2 Corinthians 5 17.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has gone, the new has come.

In context, Paul tells us that all believers have died with Christ and no longer live for

themselves.

Our death is that of the old sin nature, which was nailed to the cross with Christ.

Just as he was raised up by the Father, so are we raised up to walk in newness of life.

That new person is the new creation.

To understand the new creation, we must first grasp that it is in fact a creation, something

created by God.

John 1 13 tells us that this new birth was brought about by the will of God.

We did not inherit the new nature or recreate ourselves anew.

Neither did God simply clean up our old nature.

He created something entirely fresh and unique.

The new creation is completely new, brought about from nothing, just like the universe.

Only the Creator could accomplish such a feat.

Second, old things have passed away refers to everything that is part of our old nature.

Natural pride, love of sin, reliance on works, our former opinions, habits, and passions, the

supreme love of self, self -righteousness, self -promotion, and self -justification.

The new creature looks outwardly toward Christ instead of inwardly toward self.

The old things died, nailed to the cross with our sin nature.

The new has come.

Old dead things are replaced with new things.

Our purposes, feelings, desires, and understandings are fresh and different.

We see the world differently.

The Bible seems to be a new book.

There is a beauty about it, which we never saw before.

The heavens and the earth are filled with new wonders, and all things seem to now speak forth the praise of

God.

There are new feelings toward all people, a new kind of love toward family and friends, a new

compassion never before felt for enemies, and a new love for all mankind.

The things we once loved, we now detest.

The sin we once held onto, we now desire to put away forever.

We put off the old man with his deeds, and we put on the new self created to be

like God in true righteousness and holiness.

What about the Christian who continues to sin?

There is a difference between continuing to sin and continuing to live in sin.

No one reaches sinless perfection in this life, but the redeemed Christian is being sanctified,

made holy day by day, sinning less and hating it more each time he fails.

The difference is that the new creation is now freed from sin.

We now have the choice to let sin reign, or to count ourselves dead to sin but alive to

God in Christ Jesus.

The new creation is a wondrous thing, formed in the mind of God, and created by His power

and for His glory.

If that answers the question, what does it mean that a Christian is a new creation?

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