Can you recall being away from a place for a long time, and after returning or perhaps for a visit you run into someone who has not seen you in years. Maybe it’s a friend, an old teacher or one of your parents’ friends and they say to you, “Look at you, you are all grown up now. Look at what you have become.” They were excited, because not only had they not seen you in a while, but they recognized that you were a different person from who they remember. Perhaps you were shorter, but now taller, or maybe you were headed down the wrong road, but now you have got your life together and headed in the right direction. They see you as a new person and it does not only reflect on the outside, but on the inside as well. The old was not recognized, because the new person you had become shined through.
In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church he wanted to drive home the fact that since they were now followers of Christ, things were different, and he wanted believers to understand that they were a new creation in Christ. They were to examine themselves to see who they had become, a new creation, and realize that old things had passed away. Their pre-conversion lifestyle was history and they were now to live in a manner worthy of their calling in Christ. They had become a people who had a new authority over their lives, a new way to love, a new perspective on trials, and a new attitude. Everything about them was to become new.
As Christians, we have become new in Christ and that means the old has to pass away. This does not mean old habits and ways of thinking will be changed immediately once you accept Christ, but it does mean you are immediately equipped with the power to let go of those old things. The old things no longer attract, because the new things have taken their place through Christ. When we view ourselves as the new creation we have become, it is easy to walk in that light. As long as you see yourself as unchanged, then that is how you will live. Walk tall in the Lord; knowing without a doubt you are His new creation, the old no longer has power and dominion over you!
Scriptural Challenge: Each morning remind yourself that you are a new creation in Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in new ways.
Shad Comeaux is a native of Port Arthur, TX. Shad earned his bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Texas A&M University, his Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Arlington, and pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Shad is licensed he and his family have been members of the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Houston where he teaches Sunday School and Discovery classes. Shad and his wife Carranda have been married for seven years. They have a soon to be four-year old daughter, Carsyn, and two-year old son, Shad Elijah.
