New Creation

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 Corinthians 5:17

IT’S EASY AND NATURAL TO hang on to the past. After all, God has given us the gift of memory, and there are a lot of things worth remembering. (God’s faithfulness being foremost among them.) Certainly, the past informs our present and to some degree shapes it. And without the past, we don’t have much context for understanding the present or wisdom for how to proceed in the future.

If you’re a Christian, your past sins have been forgiven. And they should be forgotten, too. (Of course, we still need to confess and repent of our sins and accept God’s forgiveness.) Whether you feel like it or not, you are a new creation with a new life. Colossians 1:13 describes the change that has taken place: “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”

We experience the “new life” that God promises when we believe what He says in His Word. For instance, the apostle Paul tells us to “consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11, HCSB). Because of your new identity in Christ, you are dead to sin and alive to God. You don’t have to give in to temptation. You are not a helpless victim of uncontrollable desires. You have been set free, but you need to believe that and consider it true. Remember, the enemy will be telling you a different story.

BOTTOM LINE

Declare your freedom in Christ. God has made you a new creation. By faith, choose to believe your new identity, and live it out.

Moment of Strength: Romans 6:12-14