Jesus' Life, Your Life Made New

How would you like a makeover? A whole new life? You have one in Christ. Paul says, in 2 Cor. 5, that we have new bodies waiting for us at Jesus' return; and the older I get, the more I'm wanting one of those! He goes on to tell us in v. 17 that we are, already, a new creation! But I have to tell you,
some days I still feel way too much like the "old man." So did Paul mean to imply, if we are still bothered by our old self some days, we aren't really converted or saved?

Paul was speaking, first of all, of the "objective" or overall truth, of humanity being "in Christ." All of us are included in Jesus' life, which is resurrection life, new life, eternal life, a life suited for the kingdom of God. And since Jesus inaugurated that kingdom on earth, in his ministry, that new life we've been given fits within our place in that kingdom. In other words, through Christ's gift to us, we already have what we need to live as God wants us to live in this world. (This squares with Peter's statement in 2 Peter 1:3, "God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.")

But Paul didn't say we have a potential new life, or might get a good life if we try hard enough to please God by obeying his commands well enough. He said "anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" So let's look at one more point: this "new creation" is not just us, trying our best to become something God expects of us before we will gain his approval. The new creation is Christ himself, whom Paul also calls "the second Adam," within you as you are in him. It's not a potential new creation, it's actual and it's already here, and it's secure because it's a finished work in Christ.   

Now, I don't live up to that new life completely every day, and it's my guess you don't either. That doesn't mean it's no longer true of us, because our faithfulness or obedience is not the measure of God's truth about us in Christ. The only variable in the equation is our focus and our willingness to live into what Jesus has given us. So if we feel the 'old man' breathing down our necks, perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling us to pay more attention to the deepest truth about us -- our place "in Christ." If you want to pay more attention, there are spiritual disciplines that can help us focus, used by Christians for two thousand years. Learning to use a few of those tools every day will make a huge difference in how that "makeover" is working itself out, bearing kingdom fruit in our kingdom lives.