What is the New Creation?
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 KJV)
The new creation is a new kind of human being, spiritual rather than natural, the product of a distinct creative act of God, and having characteristics of the Spirit of God. We will examine each part of this definition in more detail to reveal the mysteries of 2 Cor. 5:17 above.
First, the new creation is a new kind of human being described as spiritual. This new being in Christ is a human being, not an angel or bodiless spirit( 2 Corinthians. 5:4). God has not eliminated humanity or replaced it with a different class of creation. No. Humanity is not going anywhere: God simply upgraded humankind to a new order—a heavenly.
Second, the new creation implies a distinct creative act of God. God completed His work of creation in Genesis; He continues to do miracles but does not create in the way He did in Genesis. Paul, with spiritual audacity, says God returns to His work of creation and recreates anyone who accepts Jesus today. This is not symbolic language. In Genesis 2:7, God created man’s spirit and His body. Today in Christ, He repeats the same act of creation, with a significant difference. He starts with the spirit and will complete the work when the spiritual body is given to us at the return of Jesus. Paul is not kidding: God has recreated us in Christ.
Finally, the new creation has the characteristics of the Spirit of God( 1 Cor. 15:44-45). Nothing in Christianity comes close to this blessing. The new creature is essentially God immersed in human beings: the new creations are still human, yet they exist and function as God. I cannot wrap my mind fully around this mysterious inheritance in Christ: the glory is beyond human comprehension. God has invited us to partake in the divine nature by His grace—He has called us into His eternal glory. And it starts now!
Read more: The Reality of the New Creation.
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What is the definition of the new creation given above? Can you explain to yourself what each part means?
You are a new creation now, though still a work in process. When Jesus returns and our spiritual bodies are given to us, we will glow with God’s glory forever. Be encouraged: let the new creation in you subdue the circumstances fighting against God’s purposes in your life now!
Thank the Lord Jesus for dying on the cross so could be new creations!