In the New International Version of the Bible, II Corinthians 5:17 reads: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” In the New Living translation it reads: “What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!”
Here is a helpful illustration. Imagine that you had an egg, and I told you this egg was taken from an incubator. Let’s say this egg represents a human being for illustration purposes. The shell represents the body, the white represents the soul, and the yolk represents the spirit.
While it is not biologically accurate, let us imagine that the life or the essence of the chicken is the yolk. Now what if I said to you that this incubating egg is going to produce a defective and deformed chick because there is something wrong with the yolk?
Then imagine if I took that egg and inserted a needle through the shell, through the white and into the yolk and extracted the bad yolk. In its place I inject a new healthy yolk where the old yolk had been, and I placed it back into the incubator until it hatches a perfectly healthy chick.
Now with this being said, how would you answer this question: Is that chicken a changed chicken? The answer is no, it is not. It is an exchanged chicken. I’ve got good news for you. You are not the same bird you were before salvation. God did not change your life. It is better than that. He exchanged your life. He has taken out the old you, the “sinner” and in exchange, Jesus has come to take His place in you. You are now one with Christ, a new creation in Christ.
Do you believe this? I hope and pray that you do because the Bible says so. You are now an expression of divine life. The Bible says in Colossians 3:3,4: “For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
We are not only containers but conduits of divine life. Jesus will both live in us and flow through us. He is all of Himself in you. He is who He is in you. If you have Jesus, you have everything He is and everything He possesses. I John 4:17b says: “…as He is so are we in this world.” We will never have a changed life until we experience the exchanged life…Christ in you the hope of glory.
LIFE LESSON: “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal bodies.” II Corinthians 4:11
Thank you for your prayers, partnership, and financial support. May 2013 be the greatest year ever for the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Happy New Year!