A New Creation

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, …” (II Cor. 5:17-18a)

The word “new” has the idea of having been freshly or recently made. The word “creature” from the language refers to having been caused to come into existence, or to originate a formation. Living organisms produce offspring from that which already exists. This new creation is an original formation by the sole act of the sovereignty of God.

The new living spiritual person within each believer required God to create and insert him into a fleshly body. It is placed there on a temporary basis, which some have referred to as an incubation period (a time for growth). The idea is that the newly created spiritual being, which has the eternal nature of God by birth and its purity by the blood of Christ, was by divine purpose tabernacled in a fleshly body to await the unveiling of the Sons of God. God specially designed this freshly created entity for the state of a holy eternity. It could not exist in harmony with God without His creative act, for any act of man would leave him at enmity with God.

With the new creature “all things are become new.” “And” these “all things are of God.” The grossly sinful flesh of man has no appeal to the holy character of God. The body is a putrefying stench in the nostrils of the holy purity of the heaven of heavens’ righteousness. The body is sin and cannot co-exist with our sinless Redeemer. Therefore, everything about the new creation of God in the believer must of necessity come down from the Father, because all must be holy as He is holy, and man is incapable of the production of the minutest hint of true godliness. Hence, God equips His new creation with all that is required of him. He is engulfed in a protective shell of the purity of God and His Christ.

In Christ, a New Creation

Day By Day By Grace
Bob Hoekstra
March 31, 2011

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:15)

In the relationship we have with the Lord through the new covenant of grace, there is intimacy, fullness of life, spiritual victory, and so much more. These blessings (not available to those who are related to Adam) are aspects of the new life that comes to new creatures "in Christ."

"In Christ," everything is so different from how it was "in Adam." The family of man, having only natural life from Adam, puts great significance in human heritage or personal inclinations. Whether a person is a Jew or a Gentile can be of enormous consequence to many among the unredeemed community. Whether a person is religiously inclined or secularly motivated avails much with many unsaved people. On the other hand, those who have been brought into union with Christ can learn that God's perspective on such matters is vastly different. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything."

In the kingdom of heaven, these distinctives among the sons of Adam mean nothing. Human differences do not cause the work of God or the will of God to be advanced or prevented. They avail nothing. What matters for all who are "in Christ Jesus" is not a "human category," "but a new creation."

When we come to know Christ by grace through faith, He gives us new birth. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again" (1 Peter 1:3). We are created anew. We become a new spiritual being before the Lord. We have "put on the new man" (Colossians 3:10). In this heavenly kingdom of new men and women, "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:11). All that ultimately matters is that the Lord Jesus Christ dwells in all of His people, and He wants to be all that they will ever need. All that matters is that the Spirit of Christ is the living water that we have begun to partake of and that He makes us one.. "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). Any person in any human category who will cry out to the Lord in faith can experience this richness. "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him" (Romans 10:12).

Dear Lord, giver of new life, my heart celebrates the wondrous fact that I am a new creation in Christ. I am delighted that my old human categories could not prevent Your work of grace toward me. I praise You for the richness of Your grace, Amen.