Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
We are a new creation. Kainos, the Greek word new, refers to a new or different nature. It is not time bound, as in old versus new. This new nature will always be new, whether I’m 90 and walk with God for decades or if I began my walk with Him yesterday.
For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Galatians 6:15
God creates - re-creates - in us something out of what used to be there. Our old nature died. It has been nailed to the cross. It is gone. But God creates in us something new and beautiful, no longer captive to sin.
We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4
This new creation is true and real from the moment we are redeemed. But we are not yet perfect. We still sin, but it no longer has power over us. Though we walk in this process of sanctification, it is never complete until we reach eternal glory. We as new creations, in fact a new and different kind of creation, will get to dwell in God’s new heaven and earth.
Why does our identity in Christ as a new creation matter? Because we can now fully live for Christ. It is no longer ourselves that we live for, but Him. We can be freed from our old prison sin nature. The verses that follow to the Corinthians remind us that, since we are a new creation, we can be reconciled to God. We are forgiven and are now ambassadors for Him. We must take on this mantle and live according to the freedom given by our new nature.
Glory to God.
… and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:24
