NEW CREATION

An old friend reunited me with an old friend who reunited me with an old friend.  Yesterday, I had a visit with a friend I went to high school with.  He brought a book by Thomas Kelly, titled, A Testimony of Devotion, in which reading brought me a very, very familiar Scripture verse.  (Do you see the three old friends here?)

By the way, if you have never read the small devotional book by Thomas Kelly that I mentioned (Testament), pick up or borrow a copy and do not read it.  Slow down and savor it--take it slowly, ponder it, meditate on what is within as God reveals Himself to you through this Quaker writer of the 20th century.

The third old friend, the Scripture verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17, is what I blog about today.  I've read it, quoted it, thought about it (I guess not enough--though there is always more "meat" from Scripture, as we meditate further upon it.), and shared it with others.  But today, God brought new insights.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature."  Another version says "new creation."

Creation--where God created "out of nothing."  Where God made things He'd not made before.  Where God uniquely made each thing upon this earth, including human beings--woman and man. 

Creation--where God brought order out of chaos--where He brought form out of nothingness.

2 Corinthians 5:17  We often think of this as a transformation of the person who accepts Christ as Saviour--but does that go far enough?  Think of the descriptions of creation and even creature.  Something unique to itself--something totally new--something unlike what it was like before.

When a person comes to Christ as Saviour, there is a total change, not a reforming of what was.  There is a creation out of nothing--a totally different creature unlike the one before--a bringing order out of the chaos of one's life.

I often just seek change without changing the inner core.  God seeks the total change--total creation of a totally different creature from the one before.  That is a much bigger change than most of us want or are willing to seek.

Are you a totally different "creature" than you were before accepting Jesus?  Are you totally refocused from self to Christ?  That's what God did in "salvation" and coming to be "in Christ."  Are you allowing Him to continue to do that process of "total creation" in you?

Don't get overly familiar with "old friends"--so overly familiar that you are not willing to be changed by new insights they may want to bring you--or that God may want to bring you.

"If anyone is in Christ, he/she is a totally new creature--totally new creation of God."