The New!

The New!

2 Corinthians 5:17 AMPC

[17] Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

It is a new year. We are grateful to God for bringing us into 2025. It is a brand new year in terms of dates, but there is a uniqueness to the stability and consistency God represents, and form the basis of our confidence as we look ahead by faith to the amazing things God has in store for us. We read of His mercies that never cease, and His faithfulness that also never comes to an end. He gives brand new blessings each day, and He does not give to us based on what we first gave to Him. He has given us all of Himself, and with that, comes everything else. If He has given His life, what else can be bigger or greater than this? However, there is an exclusive benefit that is reserved for specific people, and this is for those who have been relocated and now planted in Christ. All of us are made in the likeness of God, but not have submitted their lives totally to God. This distinction is critical.

For all who are in Christ, we are referred to as 'new creation'. It is a process that the world or its nature cannot explain, because it does not know how it works. This new birth is a result of my pledging full allegiance to Christ, and no one else. As always, it is a conditional statement, where I get to choose how to react to the call of God. God does not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill. IF I will come to Him, I am sure I will not be cast away. Unfortunately  if I also reject His call, I cannot later turn around and blame Him for the consequences of my decision. He offers true Life; it is for me to take Him at His Word. The process of new birth is sorted by God; I cannot buy it with money. The process cannot be tampered with by the schemes of men; it is either I have it or not. It cannot be faked, and its presence or absence cannot be ignored, because the fruit will always be evident. 

If I say something is new, there will be a marked difference between the past and the now. If I am unable to point to a remarkable difference between what I once was, and what I am now, I need to go back and check the quality of the new life I claim to have. It cannot be more of the same in the new life; it cannot be business as usual. The old must give way to the new. The old must die, so that the new can thrive. Both the old and the new CANNOT co-exist side by side. Both are parallel lines that can never meet, no matter how hard you pull them or how long you draw them. As a new year starts, I must lay hold of the new that God has provided, and make sure it is a reality in my life. The verse above says the old has 'passed away', signifying death for the old. Is the old truly dead in my life? The new is here; may the reality of the new life in Christ be our experience. God's time of favour is here.