2 Corinthians 5:14-17
On a hillside in California, Leonard Knight's message is simple, "God is love."
Knight is the creator of Salvation Mountain, located about an hour and a half from Palm Springs, California. The mountain includes Christian scripture such as the Lord's Prayer and the Sinner's Prayer as well as flowers, waterfalls, bluebirds and other brightly colored objects.
One visitor, Chris Epting, said, "From a mile or so away, it looks like a candy-colored explosion against the side of a mountain."
An online history of Salvation Mountain claims it's Knight's second attempt after his first creation, made of too much sand, crumbled. The first mountain took four years. When he started on his second he decided to use a native adobe clay that he coats with paint.
Until recently, guests were likely to see Knight still painting when they visited. He asked visitors for donations of paint to continue fixing up his masterpiece, which along with the hill was to include a museum made out of scavenged wood, old tires and adobe.
Knight said, "I just meditate about God and Jesus mostly," when asked what keeps him going. "I think about what the world will be like when everyone knows God loves them."
Kevin Eubank, a nearby resident, helps take care of Knight. He said his "faith, dedication and just basic sense of goodness are something to behold...That's what draws people out here."
I guess it’s true that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to what is considered a masterpiece. Interestingly, God refers to each of His children as being unique masterpieces of His own making.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Let’s consider a portrait given of us in scripture that reflects what He has made us through faith in Jesus Christ.
Christians are called...
Portrait #1: A New Creation (portrait #2...next week)
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)
Paul had a struggle in the first century similar to the one we face in the twenty-first century. People have a tendency to evaluate others primarily on the basis of the externals of life and that’s at the heart of what Paul is discussing here. For instance, we are prone to look at wealth, intelligence, racial heritage, accomplishments, social status, fame, position, political power, connectedness, etc., to form our opinions of others. We are more often interested in a person’s public persona than in the substance that lies behind that persona. Judging people by the externals is what dominates our perception because in today’s world “it’s all about image.”
This was powerfully illustrated in “The Great Debate” that took place in 1960 between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. It was the first presidential debate ever to be televised to the nation.
Journalist Erika Tyner Allen writes, “The Great Debates marked television's grand entrance into presidential politics. They afforded the first real opportunity for voters to see their candidates in competition, and the visual contrast was dramatic. In August, Nixon had seriously injured his knee and spent two weeks in the hospital. By the time of the first debate he was still twenty pounds underweight, his pallor still poor. He arrived at the debate in an ill-fitting shirt, and refused makeup to improve his color and lighten his perpetual ‘5:00 o'clock shadow.’ Kennedy, by contrast, had spent early September campaigning in California. He was tan and confident and well-rested. ‘I had never seen him looking so fit,’ Nixon later wrote....In substance, the candidates were much more evenly matched. Indeed, those who heard the first debate on the radio pronounced Nixon the winner. But the 70 million who watched television saw a candidate still sickly and obviously discomforted by Kennedy's smooth delivery and charisma. Those television viewers focused on what they saw, not what they heard. Studies of the audience indicated that, among television viewers, Kennedy was perceived the winner of the first debate by a very large margin.” --- (Article saved in Evernote)
Another journalist writes, “Nixon's television appearance was less than flattering. His grey suit blended into the background. Not having worn any makeup, he appeared to perspire heavily on camera, giving the impression that he was being pressed hard on issues which were easy for him to handle. He favored his injured knee and often focused on Kennedy when answering questions. Many TV viewers felt Kennedy was a runaway winner.” (Article saved in Evernote)
At one time Paul formed his opinions of others in a similarly unacceptable fashion...by evaluating people “according to the flesh” (5:16). This is a favorite phrase of the Apostle occurring 20 times in his letters. In this setting it means that Paul formed his estimation of people on the basis of human standards. His perspective was superficial at best and prejudicial at worst. His misplaced perception is the reason he viewed Christ as nothing more than an itinerant Galilean rabbi, a self-appointed messianic imposter, a human blasphemer, a heretical teacher, and an enemy of God. He failed to look past the surface (Christ...born into relative poverty, without the comeliness of Messianic royalty, conflicting with the religious authorities, violating man-made Sabbath rituals, etc.) to see the real person of Christ.
We also do this all the time and it’s a terrible mistake because it’s not the outer image of a person that is most important. It’s the change that happens in the inner spiritual lives through faith in Jesus Christ that matters most.
Paul indicates that it’s not what can be seen visibly that is primary, but what is invisible that’s most valuable in God: “a new creation” (5:17). There is no subject or verb in this final clause, though it is supplied by the translators (“he is”). Actually, you could simply say that “if anyone is in Christ, [poof] a new creation.” There is an instantaneous change in our position before God that is ultimately to be worked out in our practice on a daily basis. It’s a brand new portrait of who we are (“a new creation”) and it’s one that bears His image and likeness!
This “new creation” can be understood in two different ways: “a new creation” or “a new creature.” The difference between these two is that the first speaks of the dawning of a new age (i.e., the body of Christ/church age), while the second speaks of the new life created within each individual believer. Because the previous verses are dealing with the evaluation of individuals, not things/ages, it is probably best to understand this “new creation” as the “new” life created in each believer.
And, be reminded that all of this happens because we are placed “in Christ” (in union with Christ). Commentator Philip Hughes writes, “The expression ‘in Christ’ sums up as briefly and as profoundly as possible the inexhaustible significance of man’s redemption. It speaks of security in Him who has Himself borne in his own body the judgment of God against our sin; it speaks of acceptance in Him with whom alone God is well pleased; it speaks of assurance for the future in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life; it speaks of the inheritance of glory in Him who, as the only-begotten Son, is the sole heir of God; it speaks of participation in the divine nature in Him who is the everlasting Word; it speaks of knowing the truth, and being free in that truth, in Him who Himself is the Truth. All this, and very much more than can ever be expressed in human language, is meant by being ‘in Christ.’” (Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962), p. 202.
As part of being “in Christ,” Paul continues to explain that this means, “...old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (5:17b). “Passed away” literally means “to go out of existence—to cease to exist...to cease.” (Louw Nida) Like an old suit of clothes is removed, so our “old man” (what we were without Christ) is removed from us and we are dressed in the “new suit” of Christ's righteousness.
Paul uses this imagery elsewhere to describe the change that happens when we are converted to Christ.
“...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) (These are not imperatives to be obeyed, they are facts to be acknowledged.)
“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him...” (Colossians 3:9-10)
There are at least five things that Paul says have “passed away” as a result of our being “a new creation:”
1. Our legalistic motives for serving (5:14).
2. Living life primarily for self (5:15).
3. Our old way of evaluating people (5:17).
4. Living in isolation and alienation to others (5:18).
5. A meaningless life without purpose (5:19).
And, what replaced the old that has been removed from us is described as being totally “new.” This doesn’t indicate something that is new in sequence, as if you’ve just upgraded to a newer version of an older product. It means it is new in “quality” and unlike anything you’ve ever had. In other words, part of being “a new creation” is that you receive a totally new nature with inherently new desires, loves, and inclinations. While it is true that we have to live in the old creation around us, we must do so with a “new creation” perspective (Galatians 6:14).
And the “new” we experience never gets old and is forever perpetually “new.” The Greek perfect tense indicates something that is a past action with continuing results. And, that’s how God wants us to view ourselves as His child. We’re not a “bunch of junk” that’s been refurbished and recycled into usable materials. We are brand new creations in Christ Jesus made in the image of Jesus Christ that is always new and never old.
Why is it so important that we know what God has made us to be in Christ? It is because what we believe about ourselves ends up affecting how we conduct our lives. Christians too often end up living according to the lies they’ve accepted rather than according to the truths God has revealed. Nobody lives well in a lie!
I recently read about a young Russian boy by the name of Andrei Tolstyk that used to lived in a remote and unpopulated region of Siberia. Before his first birthday Andrei was abandoned by his parents in a crude home, but amazingly the boy survived. His only known companion for the next seven years was the family dog. When he was finally discovered by regional authorities, he was running on all fours and growling like a dog. Because of his neglect, He now faces years of difficult training just to learn how to speak (he didn’t know a single word), use utensils (he used his mouth alone), relate to people (he bit nearly everybody that approached him), use the restroom, sleep in a bed, and more. Some of the doctors and psychologists that have seen him are uncertain whether Andrei can ever be taught human behavior and lead a normal life. Unfortunately, the underlying problem is that Andrei believes he is more dog than human. He may eventually adopt manners and customs that allow him to fit in with others and survive. But, until he can accept that he is fully a human being, Andrei is lost.
A similar type thing happens in the Christian community, too. Because we don’t know who we are or what we have become in Christ, we live more like the world around us than the “new creation” God has made us.
You can’t look in the mirror on the wall of your house and see the reflection of your true identity. You have to look in the mirror of God’s Word to see the reflection of who God has really made you to be in Him. And, you are a masterpiece of His own making! A new creation in Christ Jesus!!
