THE CHRISTIAN, A NEW CREATURE

II Cor. 5:17 ... "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

      In Rom. 3:1 Paul asks, "What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?" In the next verse he answers, "Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." There were great blessings involved in being a Jew. They were the people God chose to be His own possession; through them God made preparations to send the world a Redeemer; and for centuries God had revealed His will through them by inspired oracles. Paul's question may be taken and pointed toward another object more relevant to our modern situation: "What advantage has the Christian? Or what is the benefit of baptism?" We do not find the question phrased in these words anywhere in the New Testament. But if it were, there is little doubt the statement we find in II Cor. 5:17 would be its answer.

      To be in Christ is a Biblical phrase that means to be a Christian. Sometimes it is expressed as "in the Lord," since in New Testament vocabulary the Lord is Christ. As a person entered into a covenant with God as a Jew by circumcision, a person now becomes a Christian by being "baptized into Jesus Christ," (Rom. 6:3). With this initial act of obedience in response to faith, the advantages of being a Christian immediately begin.

      The first advantage is that the person becomes a "new creature." In Tit. 3:5 baptism is called "the washing of regeneration," that is, it is an act of spiritual cleansing by which a new creation is brought forth. If there is such a thing as a modern day miracle, it is the thing that occurs when a sinner is converted into a Christian. It was a miracle when God in the beginning created a man from earthly elements and then endowed him with a soul after God's own Image. Is it any the less a miracle when God today regenerates the sin-wasted soul of a person and brings forth a soul which is again pure and blameless? It is something only God can do, for creation requires a power that lies entirely within the province of God.

      The second advantage obtained when a person becomes a new creature in Christ, (a Christian), is that "old things (are) passed away." Gone are the wretched conditions that prevailed when sin ruled over the individual's life. These conditions are described in Ephesians 2. First, (v.3), "we all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."  Second, (v.12), "You were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." The former life of enslavement to lust, of enmity toward God, of alienation from divine favor, and of bleak hopelessness is gone. 

      With the dismissal of this terrible state of life comes the third advantage of being a Christian, which is expressed in the proclamation, "Behold! New things have come." As one enters into Christ, life takes on a whole new dimension.  It says in Rom. 6:4 that, as a person comes forth from baptism, he should "walk in newness of life." First, he becomes the son of a new Father, who is God, (Jno. 20:17). Before,  his father was his earthly, biological father. But now he is the son of the Creator of the universe and the omnipotent Ruler over all. Second, the Christian gains citizenship in a new kingdom, the Kingdom of God, (Col. 1:13). This is a kingdom that is eternal and will survive the destruction of the earth at the end of time. And third, the Christian receives a new hope, the hope that when this life is over and he must leave this world, he will be given eternal life in heaven, (Jno. 14:1-3).

OUTWARD DECLINE, INWARD RENEWAL

II Cor. 4:16 ... "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."

      The lives of the apostles and their assistants were hazardous. They were often publicly humiliated, threatened, arrested, imprisoned, beaten, stoned and expelled from cities where they were preaching. In Acts 7 Stephen was killed, and in Acts 12 James was beheaded. Beyond these external persecutions there was also the physical and mental strain that resulted from the intense labors of constant travel, of being poorly fed, clothed, and housed, and of spending long hours without rest in their daily ministries. As Christians today enjoy freedom of religion, worship in commodious buildings, and quick, easy, and comfortable mobility in fine automobiles, we have great difficulty in understanding or appreciating what these men of early Christianity had to endure. A little unexpected difficulty can easily discourage us from maintaining progress in serving Christ. For example, if the air conditioning malfunctions on a hot August Sunday, we might cut our worship service short in the morning and cancel it in the evening. Heavy rain on a Sunday nearly always diminishes the number of people who assemble for worship and Bible study. The constant and even severe opposition to the ministries of the apostles and their fellow workers offered great potential for paralyzing discouragement. This fourth chapter of II Corinthians deals with this great temptation, but throughout Paul gives reasons why in his case it did not bring him to a halt. In v.1 he reports that "since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart." 

      At this point the apostle makes an observation that has great meaning to every disciple of Jesus: "Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." The "outward man" is a code name that refers to one's physical body. No matter how hard we try to prevent it, as we grow older our physical body wears out, loses strength and energy, and gradually begins to malfunction in various ways. By the proper regimen of diet, rest, exercise, and temperate behavior we might delay this physical decline, but no one can prevent it. It happens to the most devout Christian as well as to the reprobate sinner. 

      But a human being is not constituted solely of a physical body. There is another part to our nature to which Paul applies another code name, the "inward man." This refers to the soul which is made in the image of God and which is eternal. It is not subject to wearing out and perishing like the body, but it can be abused, warped, and blighted by the action of sin. In Christ, however, we have the wonderful opportunity of having our souls "renewed day by day." We are informed in Eph. 3:16 that Christians are "strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man." Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is received at baptism and dwells within a Christian, (Acts 2:38), God supplies his soul with strength to prevent it from declining into weakness toward death as our bodies do. As we progress in the Christian experience, the Spirit develops "fruits" within us as we grow in "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control," (Gal. 5:22-23).

      As the body of a Christian wears out, his soul within has a reciprocal experience.  As his hair turns white, his body stoops, his eye dims and his hearing fades, his soul daily increases in spiritual strength, ability, and energy. His capacity to love grows and flourishes in deeper sincerity. The joy of  drawing closer to the Lord outweighs the sadness of losing his physical powers. He experiences more and more the "peace that passes understanding" and finds the ability to be patient in spite of every external disappointment. He is able to face each new day with more kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. And if the Lord prolongs his life until his body is exhausted by the toil of living and the progress of disease, he is spiritually ready to leave it behind and gladly enter a new life with the Lord beyond death.