"..everything has become fresh and new" - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (PHILLIPS)

Here is the beauty of the cross, even though it was a horror to behold a death in such a violent way, it purchased new life for us all. 

I will be using the term "old life" as the scripture does, describing our old sinful nature. Our old life has been exchanged, much like the changing of our clothing, we exchange our old clothes for something new and put it on. We put on Christ, and the old is gone in the exchange.

The reason I like particularly enjoy the PHILLIPS translation for this passage in 2 Corinthians 5 is it says "the past is finished and gone," Paul is saying that our old views and concepts concerning ourselves, the world, and how we view others are now gone, and that "everything has become fresh and new."  (emphasis mine)

Firstly, we are new creatures in Christ; we are no longer bound by our past life of how we viewed ourselves, our childhood, as well as our adult life, with its fears, trauma, and pain, everything is brought into this new life in Christ. 

God takes possession of this old life and embraces this old nature and injects His love to redeem the damage done through this old life and begins to heal and restore our lives so that our new life in Him may emerge.

Some people believe we are to compartmentalize our old nature, which is our way of locking up the old life in a box and never to be touched again, which is not what Paul had in mind when he wrote this passage.  If that is what Paul had meant then it would have articulated it that way.

As we take off the old nature we are surrendering the old ways to Christ Jesus that He may gently and tenderly receive our garments which previously labeled and identified us, these old garments we considered to be our protection, but in actuality only became a burden for us. 

These new garments take the faith of Christ to put on; we must trust in Jesus to give us a new name with this new clothing because we have been made new in Him. Our identity is established as we put on Christ, we are now a friend of God. As we wear this new clothing He has given us, a new identity takes hold as proof that we are transformed. 

Paul states very clearly that "all of this is God's doing," it is for a specific purpose that God set us free, it was because of His love for us.

"Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past." Galatians 5:1 (TPT)

Again stating that this is the beauty of the cross for what it has afforded us, yet, we are not obligated to follow this path, our Lord has given us a choice to walk with Him in freedom or not. He desires nothing less than a willing heart to receive this marvelous gift of freedom that we may unashamedly and confidently stand before Him clothed in His righteousness.

"For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him." 2 Corinthians 5:21 (TPT)

This new identity in Christ bearing His righteousness has reconciled us to God and brought us very near to the heart of the Lord. 

Our purpose for living has also changed, even though we still go to our jobs, school, and interact with others, "he has made us agents of reconciliation," our message is what He has done for us. He can do the same for others, and our testimony and new name are our proof that God is real and loves us wholeheartedly.

Paul states that "God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them." God is demonstrating mercy to us by loving us and not requiring us to become anything other than what we are. We have all been sinners who have missed the high mark of God's righteousness. Even though we still sin, we have an advocate with the Father that forgives us and does not hold our sin against us but forgives us freely.

With this great love freely given to us, we not only have:

• His righteousness
• A new identity in Christ
• A new commission

"(He) has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation." Paul tells us that this new life has given us the message of telling others about this wondrous gift. 

There is a world which is as lost as we were before we knew Jesus, this message it truly our testimony of how we have been changed. We are transformed into the likeness of Christ as we put on His righteousness like new garments; this is true for anyone else who receives Christ Jesus. 

We have been adopted into His family as heirs of righteousness. It is the goodness of God alive and working through our lives as we are called by Him to become more than we are; we are called the sons and daughters of God.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett