Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

It’s so good to know that when we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour, God makes us a new creation in Christ. God doesn’t try to fix the old you; he makes you completely new in Christ! It really is good news for our lives. The word ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’. The good news of Jesus Christ is that through faith in him we are made a new creation and are given a new life.

The message of forgiveness through Jesus is a very significant part of the message; however, it is so important to recognise that it is not the full message. There is more good news within the good news! The gospel is the good news of the new covenant in which there is forgiveness of sins and also new life. When the angel of the Lord freed the Apostles from prison he said to them:

Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of new life! Acts 5:20

Up to this point, the Apostles were only preaching the good news of the forgiveness of sins, however, now the Lord was encouraging them to start preaching the full message of new life. New creation life in Jesus!

In Jesus you have not only been saved, but you have also been made a new creation, with a new reality and new found blessings and privileges. God knew that if he had to fix the old you it would have taken him the rest of eternity, and he simply couldn’t wait that long to pour out his unfailing love upon you. This is why he made you a new creation, so that there would be nothing in you that could separate you from the love of Christ.

Being made a new creation does not mean that we will now freely indulge in the sinful nature without any consequences. What it means is that a new reality has been given to us by which we are no longer trapped by sin. The truth is that when you accepted Christ, your reality changed. Now that you are a new creation in Christ, you have been born again, no longer with the nature of Adam, but now with the nature of Christ! This means that you no longer sin by nature, but you now live a righteous life by nature.

As a new creation in Jesus, the ‘sin man’, who led us to live sinfully, has been condemned at the cross with Jesus, and now as a new creation you have the ‘righteous man’ living in you—that is Christ in you. In fact, the Scriptures say that when you were ‘in Adam’ you were controlled by sin, but now that you are ‘in Christ’ you are controlled by righteousness.

What good news for our lives! We are now controlled by Christ in us, who is leading us in his ways!

Exerpt from my new book: Look! The finished work of Jesus

Seeing Jesus from heaven’s perspective, we can begin to understand why his sacrifice is more than enough for our forgiveness and our new life. Jesus didn’t only give up his supremely powerful position as the almighty Son of God when he came to earth as a son of man; he actually gave up everything upon the cross. Jesus loved us so much, that upon the cross he gave up all that he was. He became like us in his death, so that through his resurrection we could become like him!

Jesus was the light of the world, yet for our sake he hung in darkness upon the cross, so that through him we could become light in the Lord. He was the righteousness of God, and for our sake became the sin of man, so that we could be holy in the eyes of God. He was the life of God, and yet he tasted death, followed by judgement for the sins of the world, so that we would never have to be condemned. Jesus was innocent of any rebellion against God, yet for our sake he took the cup of God’s wrath out of our hands and drank it on our behalf, so that we, now innocent in God’s eyes, could freely drink from the cup of communion with God.

Jesus experienced all of the consequences of rebellion against God, so that we would experience all of the benefits of being God’s beloved children. He took every punishment, every pain, every suffering, every sin and every rebellious act against God. All of these things were nailed to Jesus as he was nailed to the cross. Jesus took upon the cross everything that could ever separate us from God, so that we could have confidence in being united with God for all of eternity.

The reason we qualify to be radically loved is not because we have earned it by our own efforts, it is because Christ has qualified for us. Jesus did it all. This is the finished work of Christ. This is the perfect picture of God’s grace for our lives.

The cross reveals why we can trust that his grace for our lives is sufficient. It is what our entire walk of faith is founded upon. We do not spend our lives trying to finish God’s work; we rest in the knowledge that Jesus has finished everything on our behalf. It is this revelation that allows us to live as we truly are: free from sin and free from religious obligations—free to live a life of love.

Jesus is the reason that we can walk our journey of faith with this heavenly mindset, and not be burdened by a religious mindset of spiritual debt. Christ has paid for everything. As far as God is concerned, all debts owed to him have been paid. Because of this, we can have peace before him. When we feel that we still owe God, we can not rest in his presence. Instead, we forever try to pay off our debt to him through spiritual disciplines, and in the process fail miserably to live up to our own religious standards.

In Christ you can be assured God is not relating to you based on how much you pray or read your Bible. He is not counting how many people you share your faith with, nor how much money you give away. Naturally in our journey of faith we may do these things, however they are not an obligation or God’s measuring stick regarding your spiritual condition. They are simply a response to the reality of our salvation.

God is always speaking to you with love, and reminding you of Jesus; the one who paid the debt on your behalf. God wants you to rest in his presence with the knowledge that Christ has made you acceptable before him in every way.

Jesus is the reason we can confidently accept every blessing God pours out upon us. Everything is given freely to us, because of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

When we live with the revelation of Christ’s finished work, the power of God moves radically in us, and that same power outworks his will in our lives. That great power is Christ himself, for he is in us, and he is our hope of glory!

Praise Jesus, for he is worthy. He laid down everything, that we may be given everything. He became the son of man, so that by grace we could become sons of God.

Exerpt from my new book: Look! The finished work of Jesus