therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. the old has passed away; behold, the new has come. [2 corinthians 5:17]
in Christ, i am made new. yesterday, we saw several verses talking about our new identity in Christ Jesus. today, we want to focus on the old. the lostness, the brokenness, the blindness, the deadness, that Christ took upon himself and nailed it to the cross, so that he could save us out of it. we look at this, not to take us back to a place of condemnation. we’re free from it. but to see the power of Christ, the goodness of God, and the love which he lavishes on us, we look back in thanksgiving, seeing broken chains, scales fallen from our eyes, and a heart of stone, lying powerless in the tracks we once left on the path to destruction.
before Christ…
i hated God. 1 john 4:20
i was incapable of love. 1 john 4:8
i was an orphan. john 1:12
i was perishing. 2 corinthians 4:3-4
i had no hope. ephesians 2:12
i was an enemy of God. james 4:4
i was under God’s wrath. ezra 8:22
i was corrupt and full of sinful desire. 2 peter 1:4
i had a heart of stone. ezekiel 36:26
the gospel was veiled to me. 2 corinthians 4:3-4
i could not understand God’s word. 1 corinthians 2:14
i walked in darkness. isaiah 9:2
i was separated from God. ephesians 2:12
i lived only for my fleshly desires. romans 8:5
i was a stranger to God. ephesians 2:19
i was a follower of satan. ephesians 2:2
i was dead in my sin. ephesians 2:5
i was a slave to sin. romans 6:6
i was condemned under the law. romans 4:15
but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [ephesians 2:4-7]
don’t be fooled by the enemy, who tells us these verses still define us. the old has passed away; behold the new has come! thank you, Father, for making me a new creation. by your grace, let me walk in newness of life. amen.
~arwen eastman