EVERYTHING IS NEW IN CHRIST by Paul

We have learned that with Jesus there is a covenant of newness. No longer based on our performance or our abilities to make ourselves worthy of God or His Love.

We can all relate to an old covenant where we heard preaching that makes our minds and hearts harden to the goodness of God 2 Cor 3:14-18

12-15With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.

16-18Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

But with new covenant preaching it removes the veil and reveals the Lord’s glory. As you behold him you become like him, transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Under the old the best you could hope for was self-improvement that never lasts. But in the new you become new 2 Cor 5:16-17

Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. This would include our old identity, our life of sin, the power of Satan, the religious works of trying to please God, our old relationship with the world, and our old mind-sets. We are not reformed or simply refurbished, we are made completely new by our union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Behold, everything is fresh and new. Or “Behold, a new order has come!”

– You are a brand new person with a new heart and a new spirit. Born of the Spirit you are no more a prisoner of sin, but a co-heir with Christ.

What wonderful and awesome truth. Now, go and walk in the Newness of Christ. Trusting that Jesus' blood, sweat and tears were more than enough for you to live this new reality on planet earth.