588. 2CO 5:17. THE CHRISTIAN A NEW CREATURE. (A NEW YEAR’S SKETCH.)

2Co_5:17. The Christian a New Creature. (A New Year’s Sketch.)

"Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."’972Co_5:17.

It is evident from Scripture that man does not come into the world a religious being. Neither is religion a something which takes possession of him as a matter of course. Nor is it necessarily imparted by parental instruction and example. The heart of man naturally is opposed to God. Far from God’97unlike God. So that religion is a great and manifest revolution in the soul. The overthrow of Satan’s empire, and the establishment of the kingdom of God in the heart. It is being engrafted into Christ. It is the renovation of all the moral powers. It is the recovery of the lost, and it is life from the dead. Our text is exceedingly graphic and forcible. "If any be in Christ," &c. Observe then,

I. The new moral creation. And,

II. Its unmistakable evidences.

I, The new moral creation. This is partly described, Eph_2:10. Now in the moral creation there are several resemblances to the Divine mode of operation in the creation of the world.

1. It is effected by his word. "He spake," &c. "By the word of the Lord," &c. So is it in the new creation. He effects the conversion of the soul by his word. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Hence the children of God are born again of the incorruptible seed, even of the Word of God. Hence the apostle says, "Our word came not unto you," &c. "Ye shall know the truth," &c. The Divine word is the sword of the spirit by which he wounds, and it is the hearing balm by which peace is whispered to the soul. As in the old creation,

2. The first production is light. The first mandate that disturbed the silence of untold ages was, "Let there be light!" So it is in the new creation. The work of grace begins by the opening of the eyes of the understanding. A sight of our sin, and misery, and peril, and helplessness. And then a sight of God’s love, Christ’s merits, and the way of salvation by faith in his name. Ye who were sometime darkness, are now light, &c. Children of the day, &c. As in the old creation,

3. It is holy and good. All God’s works reflected his glory and declared his praise. "The heavens," &c. So this more especially. It is the renewal of the mind in the Divine likeness. A new heart is given, and a holy spirit. There is now order instead of confusion and chaos,’97beauty instead of deformity,’97righteousness instead of sin,’97goodness instead of enmity and malevolence. There is the loveliness, docility, and sweetness of the little child. Now observe,

II. The unmistakable evidences of this new creation. Now the evidences are not equally striking and sudden. Some are moral and gentle by nature and habit. Then the process is exceedingly gradual, and almost imperceptible. Others profligate and abandoned, and the change is sudden and deeply marked. We may see this difference in Lydia and Saul. Still the evidences of conversion are represented in the text as being,

1. Palpable. Old things depart,’97chaos, darkness, &c., pass away. Light, and order, and beauty, are introduced. The desert and the thorn pass away. The garden and the figtree appear. The valley of dry bones passes away. The living army, the host of God’s elect, appear. The corpse, and its corruption, and its putrescence, pass away, and the living man appears.

2. Universal. "Old things." The whole of them, and all things become new. This change extends the mind and its faculties,’97all are renewed. To the heart, and its passions, all are changed. To the spirit, and its emotions, all are renovated. Then the change will be indicated in the conversation and daily walk. "All things," &c. It is a change,

3. Most admirable. Hence the exclamation, Behold! It is worthy of the gaze and attention of all intellectual beings. God beholds, and promises his work to be good. The Saviour beholds, and sees of the travail of his soul, &c. The Spirit beholds, and takes up his abode in the hallowed temple of the newborn Spirit. Angels behold, and there is joy, &c. The pious behold, and glorify God in them and over them. But let us enlarge on some points of this new creation.

(1.) There will be new habits. Who were his companions? Where did he spend his time? What was his reading? What the end of his life? Now, behold, they are all new.

(2.) There will be new dispositions. Formerly disposed to pride. Now to humility. To vanity and praise of men,’97now the honor of God. Formerly avaricious,’97now liberal. Formerly selfish,’97now good and generous. "All things," &c.

(3.) There will be new tempers. Some do think that religion will change every thing but the temper. If the temper be not changed, there is no religion. It is a delusion’97a great, egregious fallacy. There is that angry temper. There is that wrathful temper. There is that sullen temper. There is that ungovernable, &c. Are these evidence of religion? What a libel! What a farce! What a cheat! It is the religion of the devil of darkness and of perdition. Such Christians are a byword to scoffers’97a curse to their families’97a stumbling-block to inquirers, and a reproach to religion. No! my text is true. "All things," &c. There will be meekness. There will be mercy. There will be the lovely and the good reflected. There will be self-government.

(4.) There will be new purposes and designs. The natural man liveth to himself. He seeketh his own, &c. The new man seeks to glorify God. He desires and purposes to please him. Whatsoever he does, &c. He liveth to the Lord, &c.

(5.) New expectations and hopes. Ask the careless about his destiny, &c. He is like a man in the dark. Or a mariner whose vessel is driven hither, &c. All is involved in perplexing uncertainty. The new creature is the subject of a Divine hope. Begotten again to a lively hope. He is looking for that blessed hope, &c. And this hope maketh not ashamed, &c. Finally,’97new pleasures and joys. Those of old were the pleasures of sense, and sin’97sensual, shortlived, followed by remorse and bitterness. Like the crackling of thorns, &c. The Christian’s pleasures are spiritual, heavenly, and divine. They are often unspeakable and full of glory. Yet they are but the drops from the eternal source. "For in thy presence," &c.

Application

1. To whom does the text apply? How exalted, blessed, and happy.

2. Who will seek this state on this day? It is attainable. Now, by all. On gracious terms. "To as many as received him," &c.

3. This state is essential to eternal life. "Except a man be born again," &c.

Autor: JABEZ BURNS