40 DAYS OF NEW - 17

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of NEW with GOD
Day 17 | ­A NEW CREATION

A NEW CREATION

Galatians 6:14-16
“For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new: a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them!” (Message)

Paul was brilliant and articulated in his letters, such as here in his letter to the Galatians, the truth and the difference that Jesus made by his life, death and resurrection. Prior to Jesus, the children of Israel had several “hoops” through which they needed to “jump” before being in “right standing” with God the Father.

But AFTER Jesus came, Paul was teaching that those old ways of being approved were null and void; “it’s not what you and I do … it’s what GOD is doing.”

And God – through Jesus – created something “TOTALLY NEW.”  Some translations say, “We have been transformed into a NEW CREATION.”
 
So, let me ask: Do YOU feel you are a “New Creation” in Christ? If you have received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then you ARE a new creation (whether you FEEL like it or not).

And that brings me to the issue of FEELINGS. Very briefly, feelings can’t be trusted. They are fickle, they are variable, and they are often wrong.

What matters is TRUTH, and the TRUTH is that you and I are NEW in Christ. We may look the same and feel the same, but we are NOT the same. Being “born again” – becoming a Believer, Follower of Christ, or a Christian (all interchangeable terms) – makes us NEW. Rejoice in that!

Prayer: LORD God, thank You that I am made NEW in Christ, totally new. Amen.