Bishop Keith Butler
Mar 29
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I want you to inspect one small word in 2 Corinthians 5:17. It’s the word new; this small word has great impact when we really understand what it means, especially in this context. If you’ve been born again, you’re not a “renovated” creature. Jesus did not come to make us better versions of what we already were. Jesus came to make us into something that has never been seen on earth before.
For thousands of years, humanity had to deal with sin and sin’s effects without being able to fully wipe their own slate clean. In a 33-year period, everything changed. When Jesus stepped into His creation by putting on human flesh, bearing our sins, and conquering death, He also brought us into a new way of living. Those who accept Christ become brand-new creations.
When the Holy Ghost came into the church like a freight train on the day of Pentecost, a seismic shift occurred. The power of God was no longer only on select individuals, such as the king, priest, and prophet of the Old Testament, but was on everyone who would receive.
God now deals with mankind differently than He did in the Old Testament. Instead of dealing with us from the outside in, he now deals with us from the inside out.
That's what Paul was trying to get us to understand in 2 Corinthians 5:17. The newness of life that we walk in is not just change on a surface level. It is an entire overhaul of our spiritual DNA. When we give our lives to Christ, our old sinful nature, with its lusts and desires, is killed off and we walk in a new life, infused with God's power to affect the world.
Embrace your identity as a new creation in Christ with confidence and boldness. Recognize that you are a child of God with a unique purpose and calling. Do not accept the lies of the enemy when he says you are not good enough, or that you were simply the sum of your past mistakes. You are a new creature; the old you is gone, along with its lusts and desires.