Made New in Christ
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
When you get born again, you are in Christ. John 14:20, Jesus said, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” When He came into us, we became a new creation. Ephesians 2:3 talks about our nature. Before we were born again, we were by nature children of wrath. When we got born again, we received a new nature, the nature of God. Now, we live by that new nature. We are no longer sinners; since we are saved, we are righteous children of God. Let’s live by our new nature.
The old man with its sinful nature has passed away. The old you is dead. The blood of Jesus has cleansed you and transformed you into a new creature. The old you is dead, and the memory of the old you is gone. God has removed your sins as far as the east is from the west. He has tossed your sins into a place they cannot be retrieved. You are a new creature.
When we are born again, everything becomes new; a transformation has taken place in your spirit. The Lord has changed you; God has given you Himself. He has placed His Spirit within your born-again spirit; He has made you new, just like Peter. Peter couldn’t witness or tell the truth because of fear that they would know he followed Jesus. Then suddenly, Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost. A man named Saul became Paul. He went from jailingChristians to teaching them the truth about Jesus. Everything became new for these men, and it will for you or anyone to whom you minister who gets born again.
Jesus, because of His death on the cross, reconciled us to the Father. Colossians 1:20 says, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Jesus made reconciliation for the sins of all people (Hebrews 2:17). We had a sin nature. We were sinners. The only cure was a Savior, a person who could reconcile the situation. Jesus was given the assignment to reconcile us back to Himself, and He did just that.
You have been given a word of reconciliation. You and I have the opportunity to speak to and share with people the Person of Jesus Christ, the One who reconciled us back to God. People must know that God is a good God, and He loves them and wants to change their life. Their lives cannot be changed until they get rid of the sin nature, and the only way to do that is through the new birth. It is time to take your place as a minister of reconciliation.