“For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” – 2Corinthians 5:17
LIGHT FOR NOW: The divine nature inaugurates an entirely new creation. Salvation is not the improvement of the old life but the impartation of a new life in Christ.
Few verses summarize the miracle of the new birth more beautifully than 2Corinthians 5:17. Paul writes: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”. Notice that he does not say the believer is becoming a new creature. He declares that the believer is a new creature. This is a present reality. The phrase “in Christ” is one of Paul’s favourite expressions. It speaks of our union with Christ. Everything that belongs to Christ by virtue of His redemptive work becomes the believer’s inheritance because we are united with Him.
Our righteousness, our acceptance, our sonship, our peace, our hope, and our eternal life all flow from being in Christ. Paul then uses the expression: “A new creature”. The Greek phrase is kaine ktisis. Kaine means new in kind, new in quality, unprecedented, something that has never existed before. Ktisis means creation. Paul is announcing that the believer is part of God’s new creation. This is not merely a repaired version of the old humanity. It is an entirely new order of existence brought into being through the resurrection of Christ. This explains why Christianity cannot be reduced to moral reform.
God did not merely renovate the old man; He created a new man. The old life inherited from Adam could never produce righteousness. Therefore, God introduced a completely new humanity in Christ. Paul continues: “Old things are passed away”. What are these old things? We had explained this in this series contextually as the letter that killeth or the ministration of condemnation, that is, the identity of man defined by the law of dead works have passed away.
Then comes Paul’s triumphant declaration: “Behold, all things are become new”. Notice the word: “Behold”. It is a call to stop and carefully consider this astonishing reality. Everything essential to our relationship with God has become new. We have a new covenant, a new heart, a new spirit, a new family, a new citizenship, a new inheritance, a new hope, and above all, a new life. This is the practical meaning of being a partaker of the divine nature.
The believer now lives from an entirely different source. His identity is no longer determined by Adam but by Christ. His future is no longer controlled by his past. His failures no longer define him. His mistakes no longer determine his destiny. Christ has introduced him into a completely new creation. This truth should completely reshape how believers think. Too many Christians continue identifying themselves by what they once were. They constantly speak the language of the old creation. But the Word calls us to see ourselves through the finished work of Christ.
The new creation is not a future promise; it is a present reality. As our minds are renewed to this truth, our daily conduct increasingly aligns with our new identity. We stop striving to become what we already are. Instead, we learn to walk in the reality of the divine nature God has graciously imparted to us. Today, refuse to define yourself by your history. Define yourself by your union with Christ. For the greatest thing about you is not where you came from. It is Who now lives within you. You are a new creation. You are a partaker of the divine nature. And your life now belongs to the new order established by the risen Christ. Hallelujah!
INSTRUCTION: Whenever thoughts of your past attempt to condemn or discourage you today, answer them with God’s Word. Declare your identity as a new creation in Christ and choose to live from that reality.
CONFESSION: Father, thank You that through Jesus Christ I am a new creation. The old has passed away, and all things have become new. Help me to see myself according to Your Word and to live each day from the reality of the divine nature You have placed within me. I refuse to be defined by my past because my life is now hidden with Christ in You, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Glory!
For More Light; get the message, “Now we are in Christ” by Dr. John Linus
QUOTE: The new birth does not give the old man a second chance; it brings forth an entirely new creation in Christ.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: 2CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5; EVENING: COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 3:1-17
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 