#TuesdayTruth 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

“…The old has gone…” WOW.

I do not know about you, but there are few phrases that are more encouraging to me than that right there. The old…the person I used to be…the hopeless sinner who lived by sight rather than by faith…that person…is gone. That person has been made NEW thanks to Jesus!

Even better than that, this “new creation” is something freely offered to us. There is nothing that any of us have done to earn it. It is a gift- the most precious gift. His love for us, even while still sinners (despite who we once were and how we once acted), gives us a hope and a future.

I have said this before, but it bears repeating. I know exactly who I was before I truly knew Christ. I know the mistakes I made (and, unfortunately sometimes still make). I know the shame I held. I know the “baggage” that I carried through life. That was “the old.”

If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have chosen me…but HE DID. To think that God looked at me, saw me in all my mess and was STILL willing to sacrifice everything does not make sense to my limited human mind. To think that He pulled me up out of all that filth to make me clean, to make me His own, is completely overwhelming. That is “the new.”

You know what? He didn’t just do this for me. He did it for you too. He offers this gift to all of His children. That is the good news. Please, please do not let it pass you by.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for making us new. Thank you for pulling us out of the filth and making us clean. Thank you for offering us an actual lifeline, when, without it, we would have no hope. Thank you for the hope we do have because of your Son.

We love you Father, Amen.