New Creature

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote her famous novel, Frankenstien, in which a scientist gathers body parts from a cemetery and pieces them together in a laboratory and creates a living person. This novel has been adapted to film several times, but, perhaps, the most memorable scene is from the 1931 film, and Dr. Frankenstien proclaiming “It’s alive, it’s alive!”. Although the novel is a fictional story written by an eighteen-year-old, and the possibilities of being able to form a new life is impossible, the possibility of becoming a new creature is very much a reality and possibility. When one turns from a life of sin, and obeys the commands of Jesus, buries themselves in the watery grave of baptism, they are able to be raised a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). During the end of each year and as a new year begins, many are focused on becoming a new person, maybe some desire to form new (better, healthier) habits and begin to resolve to become new or, at the very least, better. In Christ, man is given the opportunity to be made new, but how does one become new, when does one become new, and what happens when one becomes new?

One is able to become a new creature when they are in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 explains that “if any man be in Christ…” then one is able to become a new creature. This leads into at least a couple of questions, what does it mean to be in Christ, and how does one enter into Christ, the answer to both is explained in Scripture. One can enter into Christ when they obey His commands. One is placed into Christ when they have kept the commands of Jesus, believing He is the Christ (John 8:24), repenting of sin (Acts 17:30; Luke 13:3,5), confessing Jesus is the Christ (Matt. 10:32; Matt. 16:13-16), and being baptized into Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). A person is on Christ when they have put Christ on and the process of putting Christ on takes place in the process of baptism (Gal. 3:26-27), which is also the process by which one is able to have their sins washed away (Acts 22:16). Throughout the book of Acts, the apostles, which were commissioned by Christ, went everywhere preaching the Gospel, and as those that heard the Gospel asked of them what was needed in order to be saved, the apostles simply replied to repent and be baptized (be in Christ) and those that did so were added to the body of Christ (Acts 2:47). The process by which a person can be made new has not changed, and the ability to be made new by being in Christ is still a possibility to all who will submit to Jesus’ commands and be placed in Him.

When one obeys the commands of Jesus and is placed in Him, old things are passed away. In order for one to be made new by Christ, first one must turn from the old life of sin. God commands “all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). When Jesus began His public ministry, the first recorded statement of His was that of repentance (Matt. 4:17). When the apostles preached the Gospel for the first time in the city of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, and when asked what was needed to be done in order to be saved, the apostles responded by telling everyone to “repent” (Acts 2:38). If we desire to become a new creature, by necessity, we must repent from our old life of sin which caused us to be separated from God and condemned to pay the wages of sin which is death (Isa. 59:2; Rom. 6:23). One cannot allow the old life of sin to be resurrected, but just as Christ was buried and then resurrected, those that bury their sins in the waters of baptism must be resurrected to walk in the newness of life and not in the continuation of the sins that condemn (Rom. 6:3-4). Having our sins washed away (Acts 22:16), we have now been purged of the old man of sin and now we are new creatures (Eph. 4:22). Becoming new demands that we put off the old.

What happens when one becomes a new creature? All things become new. When one is in Christ and all the old things have been buried, then one becomes a new creature. When one is in Christ, they have been reborn. Jesus had a conversation with Nicodemus regarding the process of being reborn, and in this conversation, Jesus stated that in order to see the kingdom of God, they must be reborn (describing the process of baptism). “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:3–6). After being made new, one begins to live differently, walking in the newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4), walking in love as Christ has loved us ((Eph. 5:1-2), walking in the light as Jesus is in the light (1 John 1:7ff.). Now that one has been made new, now they have different goals in life. They are no longer chasing after the flesh but are concerned with producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:19ff). Now that one has been made new, they are no longer living without hope (Eph. 2:11-14), but they have the hope of resurrection (1 Peter 1:3ff.). Now that one is made new, they are now a partaker with Christ (Heb. 3:14), they wear the name of Christ (Acts 4:12), and they have been given an inheritance in heaven because of Christ (1 Peter 1:4ff.; Gal. 3:26-27). Now that one has been made new by Christ, they are no longer concerned with living for self but are allowing Christ to live through them (Gal. 2:20; Gal. 1:10). One once was lost, but now is found, once guilty of sin but is now made new by the blood of Christ which was shed for the forgiveness of sin (Matt. 26:28).

Are you a new creature? Have you put all things away and become new? In Christ all things are made new, the former things have passed away, and now a new hope of heaven is available. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)