NEW CREATURES! THAT’S WHAT WE ARE! 2 Corinthians 5:14-17

Look at the people around you. What do you see? You may see your wife or children. You may see a person that you don’t know from Adam. You may see cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. You may see someone that you dislike or have had some problems with. You may see someone who means very much to you, someone for whom you love and care deeply. You see people that you may know very well – you know their strengths and weaknesses. You see others that you don’t know anything about.

When you look at people do you ever consider them from God’s viewpoint? As you look around you today do you see all these people as special people, people for whom Jesus Christ died and rose from the grave? As we celebrate the third week of Easter the Apostle Paul turns our attention to how we view each other and all people. As we examine God’s Word we hear our Lord tell us New Creatures! That’s What You Are. Paul explains I) Who made us new and how. He then reveals to us II) How this impacts our lives.

WHO MADE US NEW AND HOW ?

When you and I came into this world we were damaged goods. We were broken and ruined. None of us like to hear that. We like to assume that we were pretty decent and good people. But that is not the truth. The truth is that we were filthy and unacceptable. That’s what God says about us. He says, “every inclination of man’s heart is evil from his childhood.” (Genesis 8:21b) Paul later writes, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.” (Romans 7:18a) We are so damaged that there is nothing that can be done to repair, overhaul or improve us. Often when a car is in a minor accident, the car can be repaired and made to look like new. But there was nothing that could be done to repair our sinful condition. There was no way that we could be improved or overhauled to make us right.

But God did something better. He made us new creatures. We still have the same physical bodies. We still have the same soul and mental abilities. But our attitudes have been changed. Our attitudes toward our relationship with God have been made new. We no longer view God as an angry judge and policeman that’s just waiting to catch us doing something wrong and throw the book at us. As Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18a)

How did God perform this amazing feat? Paul tells us. “one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (Vv. 14b-15) When Jesus Christ died on that cross God considered that we all died. Jesus suffering the punishment of hell was in God’s eyes our suffering the punishment of hell. Jesus being forsaken by his Father was our being forsaken by our heavenly Father. It doesn’t seem fair does it? Why should someone who is innocent and perfect have to suffer for the wrongs of someone else? That is one of the arguments that are used today against the death penalty. How can you be sure that this is the right criminal? How can you be absolutely positive that this person really did commit that crime worthy of death? You might be executing an innocent person. Well, that is exactly what happened on that Friday 1,967 years ago. A truly innocent person was put to death for the crimes of the whole human race.

Now the question: Did that death do any good? The empty grave on Easter morning booms the answer out for everyone. Yes, the death of Jesus did accomplish great things. By raising Jesus from the dead, God put his stamp of approval on what Jesus did. Our imperfections have been paid for. God’s justice and anger have been satisfied. God no longer views us as damned rebellious sinners worthy of eternal torment and punishment. Through Jesus we paid the penalty for our sins and we have been freed from the guilt of all of our sins. How often don’t we forget that liberating truth? How often don’t we condemn ourselves? How often doesn’t our guilt cripple us? But the Apostle John reminds us of a wonderful truth, “whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” (1 John 3:20) Our consciences and the devil may hurl accusations at us, but God is greater than the devil and our hearts. He knows all things. He has forgiven us. He has washed us and made us as white and clean as new fallen snow.

God has also raised us in Jesus. When Jesus was raised from the dead we were raised from the death of sin and given new life. We are new creations. We aren’t the same old people any longer. We are new. We have eternal life. As Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24) Too often we Christians think of eternal life as something we get when we die. We have it already. We are new creations. We have eternal life and we shall never perish. When we die physically we get to see our Savior face to face and we get to leave this world with all its sin and sorrow and experience eternal life in all its glory and triumph. But we already have eternal life.

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT MY LIFE ?

This is great news and it impacts your life and mine dramatically. In this section of Paul’s letter the apostle is defending himself against the attacks of his enemies. Paul was being criticized for his seeming fanaticism in getting this good news out to other people. Paul had been persecuted for his faith and yet he kept on going. Nothing seemed to be able to stop him. Some were saying that Paul was mad. They believed he had lost his mind. Paul says that what is driving him is Christ’s love for him. He writes, “For Christ’s love compels us.” (v. 14a) He then says, “those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (v. 15b)

The whole driving and motivating force in our lives is no longer me. It is Jesus. It is what Jesus has done for us. We strive to do the best in our jobs, in our relationships with other people, in our schoolwork, in our parenting, in our marriages. Why? Because Jesus’ love for me is the driving force in my life. As John wrote, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

This new creation that we are also influences how we view people. As Paul writes, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” (2 Corinthians 5:16) Paul says that at one time he had a different viewpoint of Jesus. He saw Jesus as a false Messiah. Jesus did not meet the expectations that Paul and other Jewish religious leaders had regarding the promised Savior of Israel. In fact, we know that Paul actively worked to stamp out this new religion that Jesus had started. He was there holding the cloaks of the people who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr, to death. He actively sought out Christians and threw them into prison. Paul confesses, “I had a wrong viewpoint of Jesus Christ.” However, God changed that in Paul’s life on the road to Damascus, Syria. There Jesus personally confronted Paul and changed Paul from the persecutor to Paul the world missionary. Paul then understood who Jesus really was and what he had accomplished for Paul and for all people. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut after that. He had to get that news out.

Paul’s view of other people also changed. He looked at people as ones whom God loved and had forgiven. He saw them as people who needed to hear this good news of what God had done for them.

Our view of people has changed too. We don’t look at people and consider them by the color of their hair, the color of their skin, or the language they speak. We don’t consider people because of their education, their income or net worth. We don’t look at people with a view of what they can do for me or what I can get out of them. Our viewpoint has changed. We view all people as special and important people for whom Jesus Christ died. We view them as people who need to hear the good news that they are new creations. No matter what situation people have gotten themselves into, we need to tell them about God’s love for them in Jesus Christ. Just consider how Jesus dealt with people. When the Jewish leaders brought to Jesus the woman caught in adultery, our Lord said, “I don’t condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11) When our Savior met Zacchaeus, the notorious corrupt tax collector, he said to him, “I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5b) Jesus didn’t worry about what people would think or say. He reached out to a hurting man and changed his life

You and I are new creations. We have a different attitude. We have a different attitude towards our God. We know him as a loving and forgiving Father who has rescued us and raised us up. We know him as a God who has made us new creations in Christ Jesus. We see each other from a different viewpoint too. We see all people as people who have been forgiven by our God and whom God wants to come to the knowledge of the truth and to be saved. And the force that changes you and me and drives us in our love for others is the amazing love that Jesus Christ has for each of us personally. As Paul says so forcefully, “For Christ’s love compels us.” (v. 14a)

Amen.