The revelation to the apostle Paul of the New Creation in Christ is perhaps the most important and the most positive concept of truth for Christians today. It affects the believer’s prayer life, guidance, confidence, in fact every aspect of a believer’s relationship to our Father God.

The church has preached man’s unworthiness so often that Christians have believed it. Certainly a person who has not become a Christian is unworthy to stand in God’s presence—but not a person who has accepted Christ’s work upon the cross. The New Creation person can stand in God’s presence with a sense of worth, for the Christ in us makes us worthy.

An appreciation of what God has made you in Christ gives you self-esteem and boldness, enabling you to meet every situation you will ever run across—and come out a winner every time!

May these studies in the New Creation be the catalyst for a new way of life for you.

-- Peter Wade

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Nothing Else Matters

There are a number of verses in the New Testament concerning the New Creation in Christ. This first verse is vital, for it clearly demonstrates the place of the New Creation in the life of a believer. “For [in Christ Jesus] neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Galatians 6:15). Another translation: “For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation” (CSB).

Your understanding of the truth of the New Creation in Christ will determine your success in every aspect of your life. The truth is vital and vibrant, and when seen and applied can change a Christian believer into a powerful force for God.

In this verse the New Creation is shown in its relation to religious ceremony. The Jewish rite of circumcision is given as an example of all religious practices based on performance. All performance-based acts are worth nothing in God’s sight, regardless of whether it is putting flowers on the altar or serving fellow man or tithing to the church. Giving up a performance-based religion is not the full answer either, for “nothing else matters but the New Creation.” The passage continues, “To all who live by this principle… may there be peace and mercy!” (verse 16 Phillips).

The foundation for the truth of the New Creation in Christ comes from a passage in II Corinthians 5 that is quoted often in the church world, yet believed less often, and acted upon quite rarely. The passage under discussion starts in verse 17 with these power-packed words…

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Corinthians 5:17). And the passage concludes with verse 21, where the extent and greatness of the New Creation is made clear, “For our sake he made him to be sin [a sin offering] who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21).

I find it thrilling to observe that once a man or woman is said to be “in Christ,” the scripture states there is “a new creation.” There is no suggestion that this is a promise to be fulfilled in heaven or that the result described will become a reality when certain conditions are met. It does state that the moment we are “in Christ” a New Creation is a reality.

I notice also that it is not a “re-creation” that is spoken of here in II Corinthians 5. God does not take the old things of my life and make them new in appearance. God places within me something entirely new, for verse 17 continues by stating that “his old life has disappeared…” (Knox); “the past is finished and gone…” (Phillips). And then the word “behold” [look] causes us to stop for a moment and take in what has replaced the old: “a new life has begun…” (NLT); “a new order has already begun…” (NEB). How much has become new? “Everything has become fresh and new” (Phillips). There is nothing of the old spiritual life left. And the scripture also declares that, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:18).

All three items of verse 17—the placing in Christ, the removal of the old, the placing of the new—are “from God,” and since God is spirit (John 4:24) then the New Creation is a spiritual inside job. It was God, not you, that took out the old and put in the new, making you a new creation! “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus” (I Corinthians 1:30). It is all from God. This is the new birth, and you are in God’s forever family now.

These two verses have nothing to do with your fellowship with God, but everything to do with your birthing as a child of God. Some teach that “Christ in a person is salvation; a person in Christ is the renewed mind, one’s fellowship with Him.” Take another quote, “You become a new creature as you renew your mind according to The Word,” so by implication when you are not renewing your mind you are not a new creation. However, that distinction is foreign to II Corinthians 5:17-18, where everything is “from God”; He did the work, not you. Your walk does not rate a mention. You do not go in and out of the New Creation like pistons in a car engine. Once God has done His work, it’s done!

So God has performed a wonderful miracle for those who believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with their mouth Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9). Since God is the Creator of the New Creation, then it must be perfect, for God is perfect.

Everything that I do and believe is basically an outworking of this philosophy of ministry that could be termed the New Creation message. Others speak of the Christ-life and of our union with Christ, which are also excellent terms. The New Creation message has made a significant change in my life and is the foundational and consolidating truth that can change your life also. The impact of this truth can perhaps be better understood if examined in three parts. It is a message of completeness; it is a message of contentment; it is a message of confidence.

A message of completeness

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, [there] is a new creation.” It is a complete creation; there is nothing left out. God is not interested in half measures; God is not interested in partially solving problems; God is not interested in partial healings. God is a God who goes all the way. All of His works are perfect, and the New Creation which God created within me is perfect and complete.

This is evident in II Corinthians 5:21 where the scripture declares “For our sake he made him to be sin [a sin offering] who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” It is not a partial righteousness; it is not a performance-based righteousness; it is all of grace—God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense. Either I am righteous or I am not righteous, it’s just that simple. Since God’s Word declares I am righteous in Christ, then I can stand in the presence of God without any sense of condemnation and stand in the presence of Satan without any sense of fear. God’s righteousness is a complete righteousness and it is part of God’s complete New Creation.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). This New Creation is also complete in respect of its blessing. How much blessing did He give you? “Every” or “all” (KJV) spiritual blessing. It is a complete blessing. You did not deserve it. You could work from now until eternity and still not earn it, but God in His grace and mercy gave you a complete blessing. I am blessed with Heaven’s best! And the tense of the Greek for the phrase “who has blessed us” is not past tense but aorist, that is, indefinite as to time. While this work was accomplished in the past when Christ died and rose from the dead, it is still active in the present and will continue to be evident in the future. “He blesses us with every spiritual blessing…”

Since I am so blessed there is nothing spiritual that I do not already have. This is taking the message of the New Creation to its logical conclusion. I can truly declare, “I am blessed.” Now admittedly there are some days when I do not look like it, there are unfortunately some days when I do not act like it, but that does not change the truth. As I feed my mind with the Word of God and begin to comprehend His attitudes, beliefs, and concepts, then I will show forth in greater measure the reality of being “blessed with every spiritual blessing.” Thank God for more and more believers who are tapping into the greatness of this truth of completeness.

Ephesians continues to describe this completeness in chapters one, two, and three, and comes to a glorious climax in chapter three, verse nineteen, when it declares that we are… “…to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). That is completeness! See also Ephesians 1:23, “which [the church] is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

When Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple, he observed, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (I Kings 8:27). And yet God now declares that you are filled with all the fullness of God. It is a complete fullness.

“For in him [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled [made complete] in him…” (Colossians 2:9-10a). The moment you were born again you became “in him” and therefore you are completely complete. Most Christians believe that the fullness of God dwelt in Christ, but how many believe that they are complete in Him? There is a great need for the New Creation message.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). There is no limit to the second “all” in this verse, and modern translations agree that “all” still means “all”—one of those simple words that God uses which is pregnant with meaning. How many things did He give us? All things. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” (II Peter 1:3). God has provided you with everything that you will ever need for any situation that you will ever run across. When Jesus paid the price to make the New Creation a reality, it was not for a partial solution but for a complete answer to all humanity’s needs.

Actually Jesus had taught His disciples that what He was offering was a complete gift, but they did not see the greatness of it until God restated the truth to the apostle Paul. In the Beatitudes, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught a completeness, an infinite supply. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).

The Amplified Bible renders that last clause “… for they shall be completely satisfied!” That speaks of completeness to me! In my spiritual quest, that is far more than I have been led to believe in any church I have attended. Usually I was told that salvation was God’s greatest gift, but once I was saved then what I needed was this, or that, or something else. I prefer to believe God! God’s gift of righteousness has totally satisfied my hunger and totally quenched my thirst—and now I believe it!

Another statement by Jesus is recorded in His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. In meeting this woman’s need, He uses as an illustration the drawing of water from the well. “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” (John 4:13-14).

The contrast is obvious: the life that he was making available would not need to be “topped up” daily or even weekly at church. He said that without any help from me, without any daily drawing of water, there would be a “spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within” (Amplified Bible). The NLT renders it as “a perpetual spring.” What a vivid word picture on which to meditate!

No wonder I get excited when I think about this completeness, this infinite supply. Every day and in every way the spring within me is working. Without any conscious effort from me, the “perpetual spring” keeps bubbling and flowing—and never runs dry. He did not say “will never thirst, if…” The only condition to be fulfilled was “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him”—and drinking is the act of receiving His gift. God’s gift is complete, it is self-perpetuating, it is infinite supply.

Later, in a discussion with the Jews, Jesus stated, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Again, the only conditions are to come to Him and believe on Him, and you “will never be hungry and… will never thirst any more (at any time)” (Amplified Bible). Once you become a believer you cannot experience spiritual hunger, as it is a contradiction in terms.

When Jesus visited Jerusalem some time later, He boldly stood up and taught, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit…” (John 7:37b-39a). “From his innermost being shall flow (continuously) springs and rivers of living water” (Amplified Bible). So this perpetual spring is God’s spirit within the believer; it is the life of God, the wisdom of God, the power of God resident within. It is what was later revealed to Paul as the New Creation in Christ—complete and self-perpetuating. What is needed today is a revelation of the completeness of the New Creation.

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First Words

1 Nothing Else Matters

A message of completeness

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Nothing Else Matters