2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation..."

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 RSV).

Question:

I have it tattooed on my neck and it holds special meaning to me.

Comment:

This is the heart of what Paul later (v. 18) describes as our “ministry of reconciliation”—the spiritual purpose for which we have come into human form. We are to reconcile the spiritual truth—the Christ—with the realm of human experiences. Following the example of Jesus Christ, we are to be “ambassadors of Christ” (v. 20) by allowing the Presence and Power of God to flow through us, transforming the human experience into an expression of the divine. Everything ‘becomes new’ when we see it from Christ consciousness, understand its purpose and place in the kingdom, and thus transform it into an expression of the kingdom. “Everything old” had its purpose—it was to allow us to engage in this ministry of reconciliation—and will now be reconciled through us into the kingdom.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed