Chapter 1 from Your Identity In Christ
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
(2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)[1]
Jesus The Firstborn
In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul is explaining to the believers that Jesus died humanity’s death on account of sin, and in God’s logic, they were included in his death. Once God had dealt with humanity’s sin through the sacrifice of Jesus, they were also included in his resurrection. This inclusion in the death and resurrection of Jesus (appropriated by faith[2]) fundamentally changes the believer’s identity and very nature[3]. The sin issue has been resolved, paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus, and the way has been opened for union with God. Jesus becomes the firstborn of many believers and is indeed the prototype of a new creation[4].
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Rom 8:29, NLT)
So, the believer, who is co-included in the death and resurrection, is a brand-new creation.
For neither is circumcision anything [of any importance], nor uncircumcision, but [only] a new creation [which is the result of a new birth–a spiritual transformation–a new nature in Christ Jesus]. (Gal 6:15, AMP)
Jesus became the firstborn from the dead and was restored to his place at the right hand of the Father – the God-Man in the Trinity. And not only that, but the believer is also adopted into this union, being ‘in Christ’[5], seated with Him in heavenly places, brothers of Jesus and co-heirs[6] with Him.
…and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Eph 2:6, ESV)
We were not simply refurbished; we were put to death with Jesus and raised up as a new creation in Him. This is our ‘salvation’ in its fullest sense. Not just ‘going to heaven’, but being recreated to be just like Jesus in the core of our nature and our relationship with the Father.
New In Him
This ‘new creation’ identity of the believer, and our co-inclusion with Jesus in his death and resurrection, boggles the mind. In fact, the carnal mind (the mind focused on the five senses and the philosophies of the world[7]) cannot comprehend it. The moment we accept Christ as our Saviour, outwardly we don’t seem to have changed—we still look the same. But God says something radical has taken place – we are a new creation! This is a spiritual reality that requires spiritual discernment and revelation by the Holy Spirit to grasp. Thankfully, the believer has the mind of Christ[8], and we can fully apprehend the truth of who God has created us to be.
This sudden and radical change when we accepted Christ, obviously didn’t happen immediately in our body (although some may experience healing at the moment of their conversion), nor immediately in our soul (the mind, will, and emotions – although there may have been healing in this realm as well when we were first saved). The radical change was our spirit man, the ‘new man’, that is now perfected, just like Jesus. There will come a time when our physical bodies will be immortal just like Jesus. However, we currently reside in a mortal body that is being transformed from the inside out[9]. We can’t see our spirit, but it is the core of who we are.
And here is a major obstacle for people: because they are entirely focused on the body and soul, they can’t understand their new creation status. We often live a carnal life – one that is driven by the five senses and not by God’s reality. But what we need to do is look in the only mirror that can truly reflect who we are – the Word of God. Our five senses are necessary for navigating the natural world, but they are limited when it comes to the spiritual realm. To grasp the reality of our identity, we must turn to the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit with the inner ear of our heart[10].
Paul, writing to the Ephesians, likens our new state to that of a husband and wife becoming ‘one flesh’[11], a mystery that provides a picture of our union with Christ. The two have become one – we are completely identified with Christ. But as a husband or wife can act independently of their union, so we can also go back and try to live the old life (which is like trying to animate a corpse, because our ‘old man’ has been crucified), which is why Paul encourages the Ephesians to “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:22-24 ESV)
This ‘putting off’ of the ‘old self’ is just a recognition of who you really are. In Galatians 2:20, Paul emphatically says that we are crucified with Christ and no longer live, yet we do live in Christ. We are to count ourselves both dead and alive at the same time – dead to the old you and alive to the new you in Christ. This is all about understanding our co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with Christ Jesus. You don’t have to keep dying again and again; you need to recognise that you have died and that you have been made alive as a new creation in Christ.
God In Us
What is most amazing about us as new creations in Christ Jesus is that God now dwells within us[12]. In the past, even before the fall, God dwelt among us, walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, met with Moses and Joshua in the tent of meeting in the desert, and lived with us as Jesus manifested in the flesh during his earthly ministry. But now, under this new and amazing covenant, God dwells within us, and we in Him! He is the vine, and we are the branches.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5 ESV)
[1] The Amplified Bible puts it like this: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life] (2Co 5:17 AMP).
[2] Gal 2:16, 20, 3:8, 22, 24, and so many other places. It is by grace through faith we are saved – the way has been made open for everyone, but that way is Jesus, and to enter this salvation is by faith in Jesus and what he has done. i.e., we receive the gift by faith, and even that faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8).
[3] This nature is our spirit man – our soul (mind, will and emotions) is in the process of being transformed to reflect our true nature – we will get into this further on.
[4] See also Col 1:18; Rev 1:5
[5] Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 1:30; 1 Cor 15:22; and many other scriptures.
[6] Rom 8:17 – we are heirs of God – God is ours, and we are his. We are co-heirs in Christ. We are equal participants in the glory of his resurrection (the Mirror Bible); see also Eph 3:6
[7] Rom 8:7 – a mind focused on the flesh.
[8] 1 Cor 2:16
[9] From inside, from our perfected spirit, which we can’t see, to our body, which we can see. We will unpack this journey of transformation as we progress through the book.
[10] The chapter on imagination describes how our soul is the gateway to transformation for our bodies.
[11] Eph 5:31-32; also 1 Cor 6:17, we who are joined to the Lord are one spirit.
[12] Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1Co 3:16, ESV); Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23, ESV)
