Old Things Have Passed Away;
Behold All Things Have Become New

This month we are focusing on a new beginning. This scripture falls in line with the new, in that old things are passed away and all things are new. But what exactly was the Apostle Paul writing about in this chapter when he wrote these verses? Would we cross into a new year and everything reset and we start over?

Paul writes to the church in Corinth in 2 Cor. 5. He starts out assuring them of the heavenly body that we have if our earthly house (our body) is destroyed. He tells them that while here in this body we are absent from the Lord but we will have heavenly bodies for our eternal life.

Paul and his companions did all things to honor God. They did it not only because they had the "fear of the Lord" but because His great love for them caused them to want to please Him. Jesus had given His life for them and all mankind. Such love caused them to want to preach and live a life that was pleasing to Him. They had received His best, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

It is still true today. Jesus died and promised to endow us with power, the Holy Spirit. When we receive Him, we are given the Holy Spirit which brings new life. We are not the same anymore.

We have put on a new man/woman. We are re-created (a new creation) in Christ Jesus. We are now under the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is not like "turning over a new leaf" or New Year’s resolutions, it is a transformation.

That does not mean that you wake up and every old habit, problem, or desire immediately has fallen off of you or changed. God is able to do it, and does for some. But others have to surrender those things to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to change those desires, thoughts, habits, etc. We have to surrender them daily.

We are under a new order with Christ and a new covenant. This is not superficial but supernatural, a new way of looking at all things under Christ's authority. We have been forgiven and set free. We have to be renewed in our minds and changed from the inside out. We are no longer enemies of God but His beloved children. We have been made right with God.

God did it through sacrificing His Son, Jesus. Jesus shed His blood as an atonement for our sins. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are reconciled to God and under His authority. We are free, our sins are forgiven and we are walking in the newness of life. We have been made new and have a new beginning.

Thank God for all that He has done for us. We can let go of all those things that we did to please ourselves and live to please God. We can let go of those things that held us back or weigh us down, and walk in the newness of this life that Jesus died to give us.  

In John 10:10, Jesus says "10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  We don't have to allow the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy us. We can look to and depend of our Helper (the Holy Spirit) to teach us how to pray, wield the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God), and fight the good fight of faith.

So let's walk in the new and abundant life that Jesus died to give us.  Be blessed.