Thursday, February 16, 2006

Being a new creation

Craig Williams, conveying thoughts from Jerry Sittser, gives an excellent illustration of 2 Cor. 5:17 and what it means be (not just become) new creations in Christ.

posted by Milton Stanley at 6:01 AM

2 Comments:

Blogger Dan McGowan said...

I like to have fun - and I like to be funny - - that's who I am... but let me drift a bit into the realm of serious for this comment...

we ARE "new" - not "becoming" new... that is a huge revelation when it finally hits home... Practically all of Christiandom perpetuates the thinking that we are "in the process of becoming..." which, on one hand, is true - IF we choose not to believe that we are ALREADY made new in Christ.

It's difficult to "own" this reality because every one of us sins. We keep sinning - even though we love Christ and call Him our Lord and have asked Him to dwell within us - and even though we have died and risen WITH Him - and even though when God looks at me, He SEES Christ - I still sin - sometimes. And that's why I (we) have a hard time honestly believing that we are ALREADY new...

In my book (I won't officially plug it here) I talk about holiness being an important aspect of true worship. And in talking about holiness, I comment that I see it as both a noun and a verb... it is a noun, because WE ARE HOLY (in Christ). It's a done deal. We ARE ALREADY new, in other words... but, at the same time, I think holiness is also a VERB - because even though we are brand new - it takes time for that reality to sink in - for many, it takes an entire lifetime - and during that lifetime, we make choices - hopefully we make more choices that are in line with the REAL us... the NEW us...

Perhaps this is why chubby people like myself don't lose all their weight overnight - maybe if we did, we might not REALLY view ourselves as a "thin person" - even though that would be the new reality. We sould still CONSIDER OURSELVES "chubby." (This sounds like a new blog entry over at my blog...)

I am NEW. You are NEW. We (who know Christ) are NEW! Let's believe it, celebrate it, and above all - let's LIVE IT!

8:49 AM, February 16, 2006  
Blogger Milton Stanley said...

Amen, Dan. We are new, and a big part of discipleship is learning to live like it. It's interesting you should mention chubbiness, because that's one of the big ways (the poor eating habits, not the fat itself) if not the biggest way I still act like the old man.

2:40 PM, February 16, 2006  

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