April 27, 2014 · 2 Corinthians 5:16–19

Humanity 2.0

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. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,…

“The passage is in this context of concentrating on resurrection. This is an Easter message that he's giving here. This Easter spirituality begins with the reality of the Holy Spirit. … (2 Corinthians 5:5) You have the down payment. The heavenly house is yours. It's ours. … The entire earth will be renewed. God has already started this. He's working on us. That's how he's begun. We are the new creation. And the earth groans for us to finally sit in our homes. (Romans 8:19–22) We are already the anticipation of the new creation. And it's a very hefty realization. The resurrection is real in our lives. Behold. It says that in the Greek. They didn't translate it. Behold. Take a look — see. Now. Behold. The new creation has already happened. How? Romans tells us — sin is crucified. It's dead in you. Your sin nature is gone. (Romans 6:6) And you have the Holy Spirit. So it's already happened.”