Reconciliation and a new creation

Some thoughts on 2nd Corinthians 5 By Gilbert Lammerts van Bueren, July 2009

One of the most popular Bible verses among Evangelicals is 2 Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come." However, most of us think we read 'a new creature'. But alas, this is not yet the case. We only need to check with our neighbour or look in the mirror, to be sure that the new creature still needs to come…

But what does the apostle Paul mean when he writes about 'a new creation'? To discover the answer, we need to read the verse preceding verse 17. "From now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer." Looking at each other from a worldly point of view - or 'after the flesh' (AV) - is taking ourselves as the reference point. It is our usual way of judging each other. Is the other person like me or not? Is he better or worse? Does he agree with my opinions or is he my enemy?


Paul once regarded Jesus in this way. His starting point was the teaching of one of the greatest religious leaders of his time, Gamaliel, which he made his own. Therefore he regarded Jesus as a heretic and all his followers a danger to the religious Jewish establishment. But something had changed his opinion. Actually it was not just his opinion, his whole world turned upside down! He met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was blinded, illustrating his need for God to open his heart for the truth.

As soon as Ananias prayed for him, his eyes were opened and ever since, he regarded Christ no longer "from a worldly point of view". He became a new creation. I.e. a new dimension was added to his life. The dimension of Gods Kingdom, which was fulfilled in His Son Jesus Christ.
The words preceding verse 16 explain this: "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

Jesus became all-important in his life, for all he did and for everyone he encountered. His previous opinions were regarded as "rubbish" (Phil.3:8). Looking at Christ and each other from that point of view, makes a world of a difference! The NIV leaves out an important word in the middle of verse 17: the old has gone… "behold" … the new has come! "Behold" is important, because it is all about our way of looking at Christ, each other and this world. Take for example the Middle East crisis. Looking at Israel from a worldly point of view, we watch the mass media and are quick to judge. In doing so - regarding Israel from this worldly point of view - we see no hope for a solution to the crisis. But if we realise that in Christ we are a new creation, we know that a miracle has happened to us.

We, who once were blind, no longer live for ourselves. We stop regarding Israel from the flesh and read the Scriptures asking the Spirit to reveal the Kingdom plans. We then recognise that Jesus came for Israel and that God has not failed nor rejected his own.

With Paul then, we enter the ministry of reconciliation, which is the verse following verse 17: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." He is the mighty God. What He planned will be fulfilled. And we may join him in faith. What He did to us, He can do to Jew and Arab! Yes, there is hope for the Middle East, indeed hope for this world!