2 Corinthians 5:17

New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

What does it mean to be “New” in Christ?

new creation emerges out of the old, thus rendering the old inoperative in the presence of the new. The process is redemptive, not destructive, for the new creation does not destroy the old, but recreates it.”

Acorn Analogy

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Our being made new is directly linked to our Faith in Jesus’s work on the cross. Our old selves have died and now Christ who died and rose and conquered death also ROSE so that He could live in me.

Him in me is my New Creation self.My New Identity!

We live in a time and an age where social media is used as a platform to teach us about what acceptable living is. Trending moral or social positions quickly become the standards by which people shape their moral identity.

What are some ways that you see or have fallen prey to that media has swayed your thinking?

But Jesus says I want you to be shaped by MY love.

seeking to discern right from wrong, and mere trends from important ideological shifts, we cannot abandon our identity in Christ. we must aspire to godliness and obedience, imitating Christ. Our greatest pursuit as Christians must always be to be like Jesus. Let God’s Word guide both personal and societal transformation.

The result of partaking in HIS work by FAITH is a new creation

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Why do we need to be re-created?

The need for re-creation is due to the brokenness of the world and the sinfulness of man.

“What is God doing about the evil in the world?” is this: “He is re-creating the world.

Activity:

get with a partner and read through your verse together.

What does this verse say about how we should live or what God has done in us as a New Creation?

Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Ephesians 4:23–24 “and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:51–53 “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

Colossians 3:10 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

Going Deeper:

Knowing our true identity is what will ignite our souls to want to grow and be more like Jesus and to love him with all our hearts: Here are some verses that say who we are. Read them over and write down one or two things about what God shows you about your New identity through Jesus.

1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

1 Peter 1:3–4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”

Ephesians 1:3–4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

If any of these verses have stuck out to you, write out a prayer to God and share your thoughts with him or praise him for his goodness.