Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old
things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:15
ur God is in the “new” business. Did you ever stop to ponder that? About six thousand years ago God said, “Let there be. . ., let the waters . . ., let the earth . . . , let Us make . . .” (Genesis 1:3, 9, 24, 26) and in that first week everything that exists came into being by the word of God—brand new, pristine, pure and perfect. We all know that it didn’t remain that way long. The man and his wife disobeyed God and His new creation became corrupted. In fact, in Genesis 6:12 one reads that “all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” There were only eight righteous people left on the earth, and God had to send a universal flood to wash away all of the corruption, to purge it, and in a sense start over new again—albeit with a creation that still bore the curse of sin. In a sense, that’s what God does with us. The fall rendered mankind corrupt and depraved (2 Peter 2:19), spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), and separated from God (Isaiah 59:2). Then God promised a New Covenant. Among the benefits of those who would come under that covenant, the Lord said, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Furthermore he promised to sprinkle clean water on those who came under the covenant and to give them a new heart and put His Spirit in them (Ezekiel 36:25, 26, 27). If you read Hebrews 9:15, quoted at the beginning of this article, you learn that God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Mediator of that covenant. Once more, you are reminded that under the New Covenant there is redemption of transgressions and an eternal inheritance. All of God’s covenants were ratified with blood—and this one would be no exception. Except, in this case, it would not be animal blood that ratified this covenant. At His last Passover meal, our Lord let it be made known that the cup that was passed pictured His blood that would ratify the New Covenant on the morrow, for He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). Admittedly that covenant was made with the Jewish people, not Gentiles. But when they rejected Christ and refused to believe in Him, they were cut off from the place of privilege and Gentiles were grafted into that place (Romans 11:19-20). Second Corinthians 5:17, also at the beginning of this article, reveals that when one trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant, that one is made a new creation. Sometimes people wish for a new start. Well, with Christ you have that opportunity. He is in the business of making lost sinners into new creations! When you accepted Him as your Savior, in a sense you were much like the corrupt earth after the flood. You experienced the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5) and the Lord Jesus Christ by Himself purged your sins (Hebrews 1:3). A new creature, but not made entirely new, resembling the earth after the flood—still affected by the curse of sin. A new creature, but still housed in the flesh, in which sin dwells (Romans 7:17, 20). That is why Paul had to give the following exhortation in 1 Corinthians 5:7—a good exhortation to you as well at the beginning of this New Year: Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. He re-emphasized the importance of living as a new creation should in Ephesians 4:22, 24 as well: That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man . . . and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. Wouldn’t those two texts quoted immediately above be good New Year’s resolutions? We want you to know that God is not finished making things new. Certainly, every time another person accepts Christ, a new creation comes into being. But now we’re talking entirely new. In Revelation 1:5 the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Behold, I make all things new.” In 2 Peter 3:13, the apostle looked for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. In Revelation 21 the Apostle John was given a vision of a new heaven and a new earth and in verse 5 our Lord promised to bring them into being—entirely new, untouched by any of the effects of sin. In the same manner that God is going to make an entirely new heaven and earth, he is going to make you entirely new some day, entirely free from the corruption that you experience even as a new creation because of the presence of sin in your flesh. The Apostle Paul gave you that wonderful promise in 1 Corinthians 15:52-53 when he wrote:
in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. God Himself will do that by His power (1 Corinthians 6:14). Aren’t you glad that God is in the “new” business? (01/01/06) |
