2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us: “Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” If a
person is in Christ, they are a new creation – the old is gone.
The question has to be asked of those who claim Christ as their Savior, are you a new creation? Is the old gone –
that old life of selfishness, continual sin, and living for self, rather than
for others? An observation of 37 years of living life around “Christians” is
that for most, Christ is an “add-on” to their lives, not an integral part of
their lives. They may go to church on Sundays, they may pray at meals, and they
may even go to a Bible study or serve in ministry, but their lives do not
demonstrate anything different than a somewhat sanitized version of the non-Christian
life. Some put on the church face outside the home, but their home life is one
of sin, spousal or child abuse, or drug or alcohol abuse.
The New Testament tells the stories of people that accepted
Christ and became new creations in
Him. Paul when from a persecutor and killer of Christians to the chief
proponent of Christ – giving up a life of privilege to travel the known world
preaching the Gospel. There were the Bereans who “examined the Scriptures every
day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11) Acts 4 relates that all the believers were one in heart and mind.
They carried each other’s burdens and helped one another - there were no needy persons among them. Stephen forgave those who stoned him to death
for his faith in Christ. (Acts 7:60) The Apostles gave up everything they had to follow Jesus (Mark 10). Paul commended the
Corinthians for their generous giving in 2 Corinthians 9.
The New Testament Christians weren’t perfect and we aren’t
going to be perfect either, but there was a difference between the New
Testament Christians and the pagans who lived around them. Is there a
difference between you and the pagans (non-Christians) who live around you? Is
your life consumed with materialist things? Are you striving to get ahead more than you are striving to
live a life for Christ? The Fruit of the Spirit is not a list of things to live
up to, but an assessment of where we are in our walk with Christ. Love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control should characterize the
new creation in Christ. Do they characterize you? Peter wrote that Christians are to be holy because God is holy
– holy is to be set apart – different.
It is living as a new creation.
