In the song "What About Me?" there is a line, "Now we're standin' on the corner of a world gone home. Nobody's changed, nobody's been saved. And I'm feelin' cold and alone." Many look at this world and conclude that it is anything but redeemed or renewed since the sufferings and miseries of humanity continue unabated. Yet the experience of Christians runs contrary to this, for they believe that God's new creation has burst upon the world proleptically in the resurrection of Christ and in their own sharing in the gift of the Holy Spirit. For me, I know that I am not the same person I was before receiving Christ. There is the sense that I feel as if I am partly dead and partly reborn in a world that is gradually fading away and yet anxiously awaiting to be recreated. On 2 Cor. 5.17 we have a world that is passing away and is at the same time being made new as the Creator's plan to repossess the world for himself ebbs closer and closer. What is more, Christians eagerly look forward to the fulfilment of the exalted Christ's promise in Rev. 21.5, "Behold, I make all things new".
2 comments:
amen to that, michael! this is going off on a tangent of new creation, but i recently finished a paper on how the new testament summons us to live into new creation, using acts 2:1-21, galatians 3:26-29, and I Corinthians 7, particularly what the ramifications are for women. Followers of Jesus indeed live in the tension of the old and the new. thanks for your brief post.
~jen
Hi Michael,
I read your blurb that Justin Taylor posted on his blog about the poor reading of Romans 7, and the parable of "two wolves fighting." I couldn't agree more about Christians being a "new creation" without this 'dual-nature,' and I decided to write a NEW parable of two wolves to illustrate the new life. I thought you may find it interesting, so I thought I would share it with you! You can read it at my blog, at:
http://theologyandculture.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/dual-natured-or-new-creation-romans-7-and-a-new-parable-of-two-wolves/
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