We are a New Creation

“And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV)

So, the Lord Jesus gives me a song to go with every one of these devotions. The songs are mostly all Christian songs, but occasionally he will give me a secular song which can have a Christian meaning to it, even if that was not what was originally intended. And so today’s song is one of those types of songs which can have both a secular and a Christian message, depending upon how you read the lyrics and how you interpret them. So I am going to share the song with you here, for I will be talking about those parallels.

I Can See Clearly Now 

By Johnny Nash

I can see clearly now the rain is gone 

I can see all obstacles in my way 

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind 

It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshinin' day 

Oh yes, I can make it now the pain is gone 

All of the bad feelings have disappeared 

Here is the rainbow I've been praying for 

It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshinin' day 

Look all around, there's nothing but blue skies 

Look straight ahead, there's nothing but blue skies 

And that is a picture of what it looks like, too, when we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, and when we are crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For the rain (anything) that was clouding our view of God is now gone. And that obstacle of sin and of unbelief, which we may have been blinded to before, is now visible to where, by the grace of God, we can now bypass it. 

The darkness (sin) which once blinded us spiritually is now gone, and now it is, and it is gonna be a bright (the Light) Son (Jesus Christ) shining day. For now the pain of slavery to sin is gone. And all the bad (wicked, evil, sinful) feelings have disappeared, by the grace of God, including all feelings of hate, lust, rebellion, pride, unforgiveness, resentment, and bitterness against God and against other humans, some of which may come out one piece at a time, for sometimes the light is shown on these areas one piece at a time.

For, the Christian life is a work in progress. We are clay in the hands of the Potter being molded and made into his likeness. It is the process of salvation and sanctification and of being made holy, providing that we are cooperating with God in his work of grace in our lives in changing our hearts and in making us more like him each day. We should be continually changing and becoming more and more like Jesus and moving in a forward direction (straight ahead) and not backwards (back to the darkness and obstacles). 

And this is what this passage of Scripture is describing, too, that when we believe in Jesus with God-persuaded faith in him, it is that we might now live for the Lord and no longer for ourselves; that we might now walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin. For our lives are not to continue as they once were. But the old us, the us which was once in slavery to sin, is now to be dead, gone, so that it can now be a bright (Light) Son (Jesus Christ) shining day for us.

For to be reconciled to God means that we change from being enemies of God who walk in darkness (sin) to now being in fellowship (partnership, participation, cooperation) with God who now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living. For when Jesus redeemed us with his blood, it was to buy us back for God out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now serve the Lord with our lives and honor him with our bodies. For this involves us being rescued from what once enslaved us so that we can now live for our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24] 

So, when Paul implored the people in Corinth to be reconciled to God, he was not imploring them to just make professions of faith in Jesus Christ. He was imploring them to have this life change (as described above) which is like a caterpillar being metamorphosized into a butterfly. We were one thing. Now we are something else that no longer looks like we did before. We are new creations in Christ Jesus, not like the creations that we were previously. We once walked in sin and not in obedience to God. Now we walk in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin, by the grace of God, in his power. We are not yet perfect (complete), but we will be one day.