By: The Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn
In the meditation for last week, we looked at the good news that, in Christ, there is forgiveness for the sin of abortion in particular, and the need to proclaim it in that way. There is a corollary that is just as important, made plain in the verse above. In Christ, we are new.
Is it possible that, in Christ, the Lord has not only put away my sin, but actually has made me new? That I am no longer the weary prodigal limping home in smelly rags, but rather the one wearing my Father’s robe, his sandals, his ring? That he looks upon me, and says the same thing he did to Jesus—you are my beloved son, beloved daughter, and I am well pleased with you? That I am part of the church, the glorious bride of Jesus, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband? Is it possible that the old has passed away, and that the new has come, that I am no longer who I was, but have been made entirely new? That, just as God looked upon all He had made in creation and said “very good,” he looks upon me, His new creation, and says the same?
Sin sick souls long not just for forgiveness, but for newness. In Christ, we are new. Not better. New. This calls for faith, for many of us don’t feel it could ever be possible. Yet Paul is clear that in Christ we have all died, and therefore “we regard no one according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 5:14-16). The old has passed away. We are new creations.
What a blessed word for those burdened by sin!