Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
It's late October and getting close to Halloween time again. I was thinking the other day about a particular Halloween a couple of years ago. Our grandkids were 5 and 4 years old at the time and had been living overseas with my daughter for some time. This was their first Halloween that they were really old enough to remember or participate in and they were so excited. We tried to explain how they were going to get to select a costume for themselves and dress-up like their favorite character. I'm not sure they really understood what we were saying, but they were excited nonetheless.
My wife and daughter took our grandkids to the local stores to begin the all important searching for costumes. They were huge followers of Spiderman so we knew already that we had to find all the latest Spiderman outfits and masks and the all important spider web shooter contraptions. After seemingly hours of searching, my wife and daughter finally found the perfect costumes. The kids were getting more excited by the second. They wanted to try them on in the store, but we forced them to wait until we got back to our house. I didn't think they were going to make it. The excitement was just too much.
We finally made it back to the house and, even though it was two weeks before halloween, we just had to let them try the outfits on for fun. I don't think they could have contained their excitement any longer. Each grandchild put on their outfit and their Spiderman masks. Instantly, their chests puffed out and their leaping and jumping ability was of Olympic caliber. They were magically transformed into "Spiderman" simply by putting on their outfits. We couldn't have convinced them they weren't Spiderman if we had tried. In their minds, they were new creatures.
I remember the time I accepted Christ when I was 13. I really didn't know what to expect and really didn't know what to do. I knew "about" the Christian life, but that was about it. The only thing I really was certain about was that I wanted a change. I wanted a different life, a life of optimism and not pessimism. A life with hope and not despair. A life of victory and not defeat.
On that day, many years ago, I asked Christ to come into my life and I became a new creature in HIM. At that moment, the "old me" was gone. I can't say that I was overly excited like my grandkids that day believing they were Spiderman, but I was certainly relieved. For the first time, I had confidence that my life had purpose and meaning and direction. For the first time, I wasn't drifting aimlessly in a sea of doubt.
Its been almost 40 years since that faithful day and even though my "costume" is a little tattered and my "mask" is a little worn, I'm still a New Creature in HIM and looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me each day.
Are you a New Creature?
