A New Creation

 By Bishop Brian Maas

2 Corinthians 5:17--So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!




Paul proclaims good news that is doubly good. 
On the one hand, Paul is calling us to look at our fellow believers (those who are “in Christ”) not according to the world’s measure, standard or expectations, but rather to see them as new creations, whose primary identity is Child of God. That’s great news for the others with whom we live, though it can prove challenging for us.

I have no problem seeing everyone in the sanctuary on Sunday as a Child of God. But if one of them happens to cut me off on the way out of the parking lot, “Child of God” isn’t usually part of what pops out of my mouth. It’s hard to sustain a view of others as new creations, especially when we know so much of their old behaviors, old patterns, old ways of being—their history in relationship with us. 

But Paul says we’re to see past that, to see in them new creations. In its own way, it’s a form of freedom for them and for me. I don’t have to drag around my old experiences, my frustrations or disappointments regarding that other person. I have been given the gift of seeing in them a new creation—a new creature, a Child of God. 
And it’s good news in another way, for me. I too get to be a new creation because I’m in Christ. All of my anxiety, shame, regret of what happened yesterday (or 30 years ago) can be released. I am a new creation!

Of course it’s not that easy; we’re too used to hanging on to unhelpful and unhealthy parts of our identity. But discipleship is never about easy—it’s about growth and change and freedom.
Martin Luther made a point of this when he wrote in his Small Catechism that for those who are in Christ, baptism means that “daily a new person is to come forth and rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” 

Luther suggested remembering that baptismal gift as soon as we wash our face in the morning. That bracing splash isn’t just about getting the sleep out of our eyes—it’s about washing away all that clings to us from yesterday. And it’s about waking us up to the good news reality that, by God’s grace and the gift of baptism, each day we get to be a new creation, free to love and be loved without limit or hesitation, to take risks and try new things and be curious and learn and grow.

That’s a lot to get from a splash of water, but it’s all there. It makes every day Independence Day. We are set free from our limiting perspectives of others, and set free from the limits of our perspectives on ourselves.

No wonder there’s an exclamation point when Paul writes of us and others being new creations—“everything has become new!” 
New indeed, and free.
Blessings on your Independence Day. Every day.




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