Friday, September 9, 2016

EmmDev 2016-09-09 [Treasure in Clay Pots (2Cor)] New Creation

New Creation

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!      (2Corinthians5:16-17)
Paul now moves us from Jesus' death to His resurrection. Jesus died for all and we all "died" in His death. In the same way we also participate in His resurrection.

We have new life in Him. My old life - my brokenness, my failure, my sin - died on the cross. I have new life.

I'm a blood donor. In order to donate blood, I have to be healthy. There are certain medications I can't take in the ten days before donating so that those chemicals aren't in the blood I donate. I remember donating as a student when another student arrived to donate, but he had imbibed heavily of "Dutch Courage" in order to face the needles. The nurse turned him away commenting that there was too little blood in his alcohol stream!

But if I'm illness free and banned-drugs free, I can donate. When I've been exercising and am nice and fit, I always like to donate, imagining my blood to be full of healthy red oxygen cells, strong soldier cells, strong platelets and good plasma and I like to imagine that my blood being transfused into an ill patient and I imagine that blood bringing life. My blood type is O-positive which is the almost universal blood type - I can give blood to almost anyone except O-negs.

In some ways, Jesus' death on the cross for us all makes Him a universal donor. His blood was without defect and so by His resurrection He can "transfuse" life into me and His blood will unleash new "cells" in me that will rebuild my broken life from the inside out.

I am a new creation - you can still see parts of the old - but the new is happening!
Just watch this space..... ;-)  ;-)