What Does It Really Mean to Be a New Creation?
By Jessica Brodie
Have you ever done something awful—I mean, really awful … so awful it still haunts you?
Of course, everyone’s version of “awful” looks a bit different. One person’s awful might look like a time of wandering away from God and dabbling in immoral activities, while another person’s awful might involve murder, adultery, or other illegal activities. Maybe you regret a lie you told, or the betrayal of a friend. Maybe you spent years engaging in sinful situations and woke up one day, just like the prodigal son, and returned to God’s fold repentant and determined to live in a righteous and holy way.
Anything we do or say that’s not in line with God’s way is considered a sin. And the Bible tells us the wages of sin—no matter the sin, whether lying or murder—is death (Romans 6:23). Thanks to the mercy and sacrifice of Jesus Christ our savior, we who repent and believe are forgiven. When we become followers of Christ, believing in him and repenting of our wrongs, God tells us we are washed clean (1 Corinthians 6:11). There’s nothing we can do to earn that. It’s a gift from God, an extraordinarily gracious and extravagant gift, and it gives us all great hope and assurance that we will get to join him in eternity.
Still, knowing this in our head and our heart can be two different things. Knowing this and fully trusting it can be a challenge, too.
I know many people who led sinful lives in their youth, doing terrible things. They’ve turned their lives around, yet still find themselves haunted by the past, deep down doubting that God’s grace actually applies to them.
“I know I’m forgiven, but I can’t seem to forgive myself,” one friend shared once, tears glimmering in her eyes. “And I’m worried that maybe there’s a loophole—like, what I did was just too bad or too wrong to be forgivable.”
Rest assured—there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love. As we’re told in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (ESV).
One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 5:17, which tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”
Consider that wonder for a moment: We are a new creation in Christ. A new creation! We truly get the chance for a fresh start, a do-over. We get to lay aside the old, sinful self and be a brand-new, upgraded version.
I like to explore these sorts of faith questions in my fiction-writing. In the novel I just released, Tangled Roots, one of the protagonists is a man, James, who has just been released from prison. Incarcerated after committing a hate crime in his youth, James has become a Christian in the seven years he spent behind bars. Yet now that he’s been released, he’s consumed with shame for his past sins, berating himself for all the things he did wrong. His pastor in prison taught him about being a new creation in Christ, and since then, he’s repeated 2 Corinthians 5:17 every day, trying to sear the meaning about being a “new creation in Christ” into his bones.
Still, he just can’t seem to believe the scripture applies to someone like him—a dirt bag, he thinks. A mess-up. The worst kind of person in the world.
Some of us are a lot like James, aren’t we? Maybe we forgive others for their sins, but when it comes to our own, we beat ourselves up relentlessly, thinking terrible things about ourselves.
It’s hard sometimes to believe the promises of scripture. We think maybe that kind of grace is just for some people, or we think maybe it’s just not true. But walking in the Lord requires us to have faith, even if we can’t fully understand why God would do such a generous thing. We are to have faith in spite of those doubts.
As the man said to Jesus in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
If you find yourself doubting, take heart. God forgives us all when we repent and believe—no matter what. That includes you and me, no matter how far gone we once were. We truly are new creations in Christ.
Let’s own that truth and let God’s grace set us free from the shackles of our past.
How about you—are you struggling with forgiving yourself or believing God’s grace truly applies to you? Have you ever felt this way? Or do you know someone walking through this? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below!
If you’re interested in checking out Tangled Roots, I hope you’ll do so here, or click the book image. Tangled Roots is Book Two in the Dahlia Series, where grace meets grit, hearts are mended, and hope finds a way to flourish. (You don’t have to read Book One in the series, the #1 Amazon bestseller The Memory Garden, but you can find that one here if you’re interested.)
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