A New Creation

This morning at our See You At The Pole rally at Person High School, a girl read this well known verse:

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

God really illuminated a couple of things from that verse that seemed fresh to me this morning. I wanted to share those things. First, the phrase “…the old has passed away” really made me think about students. Here I was, standing just feet away from a doorway through which so many students today will pass through who are living in the old. I thought about how this verse should serve as a reminder to us as believers of what it was like to be blinded from the Gospel and held captive by our sin and the death penalty we were under. Instead, for so many believers, nothing much has changed. We are still living for many of the same things we were living for when we found ourselves in the old. And here, in this school, there are so many that find themselves in that same captivity from which we have been saved. They need to see examples of lives that have been gloriously and magnificently transformed through Jesus. May we be ever mindful of a couple of things: (1) that we have passed out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He wants to make a masterpiece out of our lives and empower us to do great things in building His Kingdom here on earth. and (2) of those that are still held captive and in darkness. We must develop a passion to see others come to know the saving grace of Jesus and trust Him alone as Savior.

The second thought is that new creatures (or creations) should never return to living for old purposes. I thought that, for the most part, if someone comes into a huge sum of money, which drastically changes their lifestyle, they probably are not quick to long to live life once again as a pauper. So many times we do just that. We exchange the grace that Jesus has poured out so lavishly upon us for the things of this earth that once held us captive. And, for what? Christ has raised us up to live a new life, with a radically new purpose. And He has promised us that this new purpose is for our most good and will prosper us. From example alone we know that all this world will do is give us heartache and pain. I thought about Paul declaring, “I do the very thing I don’t want to do.” As we grow deeper with Christ, though, we come to understand that He really does want to give us life more abundant, even if it means sacrifice that is painful. May we choose the new purpose that God has for us and foresake all else in doing so.

Well, these are just some thoughts I had this morning and wanted to share them. I hope that wherever you are, you participated in See You At The Pole and were blessed this morning. Just remember, showing up at an event like this is great, but it isn’t being radical for God. You become radical only when you choose to take that testimony into your school and live a life that honors God in front of those who need His grace the most.