II Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
My Old Pop used to say, “The worst of ridin’ beats the best of walkin’.” Before I was old enough for a car I wanted one in the worst way. My “first” car was a ’39 Oldsmobile. It was broken down in Mr. Flanagan’s front yard. The tires were flat, it was covered with pine needles and moss, and above all it had a cracked block. We made a deal for five bucks, which I was to pay later. I cleaned it up, pumped up the tires, and began looking for a new motor. I sat behind the wheel and dreamed of driving. Finally the realization hit that it was a lost cause for me. Mr. Flanagan agreed to take it back. There was no money or title exchange or any hard feelings. My first car that ran I paid 50 dollars for to Mr. Hoffman. I had a lot of 50-dollar cars. By the time I was 40, l had owned over 40 cars. I didn’t believe in new cars until my wife, Donna, drove a new Honda Civic home. I crawled out from under our Buick that I was working on, and wondered how we were ever going to pay for that. Over 200,000 miles later, I had to admit it cost us less than any of the cars I had up until then. Now I would say, “The best of ridin’ beats the worst of ridin.”
How often in life I have reached out and grabbed that which was easy to get my hands on. Maybe you have too. The best deal I ever made was trading in the old life for a brand new one. Being in Christ beats anything the old world has to offer. The devil would like to call us back to what we gave up. Our text talks about old things and new things. If we are walking in Christ the devil has a poor sale. Walking with Christ is the good deal, “…all things are become new.” What things are we talking about? The next verse (18) says, “And all things are of God…”
If we are going to have the joy of the new things God has for us, we must throw away the old keys and use the new. Let’s look at the new key in II Corinthians 5:14 & 15: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” It is His love that makes us want to die to self and live unto Him. Jesus Himself died, but rose again. So what are we afraid of? Jesus didn’t commit suicide, but laid down His life for a cause. If we lay down our life for Him, we will rise to a new life in Him.
It’s all about love—first His love, then our love. It is expressed so well in the song “I Will Serve Thee,” by Bill and Gloria Gaither. “I will serve Thee because I love Thee; You have given life to me. I was nothing before You found me; You have given life to me. Heartaches, broken pieces, Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary. Your touch was what I longed for; You have given life to me.”
Paul writes in the first part of II Corinthians 5, not only about the new life, but new clothes for the new life. He speaks about our earthly body as a house. He admits that it will be dissolved someday. However, we have in Christ an eternal house. This transition, moving from one life to another life, moving from one house to another, could be fearful. Not to fear! God gave us a mother to nurse us into life. He also has given us the “…earnest of the Spirit” (V. 5). In Adam we are the old creature, in Christ the new creature. By far the best ride is THE NEW CREATURE!
