hatchcreek.com Bible blog

II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

When we know Christ personally he makes us new persons. Our sin debt has
been paid, and our old selves have been crucified in Christ. This takes place
on the inside of us in our spirits.

Since the old self has been “put off” and the new self has been “put on,” we
are totally new people and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be conformed to
his image. Because of this we are directed by God’s Spirit and are able to understand the things of God which are revealed to us in the Word.

The hope within us is that we can change. This is really important to
understand. Christians are different when we fight the battle of fear because we
have a special power inside us for the fight. God wants us to become more like
him, and with his enabling power we can. He doesn’t want us to be slaves to fear.
It is his will that we change. We can hang onto this hope!

There is one problem with the above scripture. It sounds as though we are a
new and fully capable creation instantly. Actually, we are new in our inner spirit,
but we still have to learn how to apply the teachings of the Bible to our lives. As
we begin to do that we will begin to see the new creation that God gave us
surface to the outside. It is a process.

The old things will pass away and new things will take their place. We will
begin to think differently having more healthy thoughts.

I trust this scripture thought today will help fill your heart with a new hope!