by Bible League International
Verse of the Day and Devotion
All this is from God... - II Corinthians 5:18 ESV
Devotion
What does "All this" in our verse for today refer to specifically? The previous verse has the answer: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (II Corinthians 5:17) The "All this," in other words, is the new creation that you have become in Christ Jesus. If you are a Christian, then the old has gone. That is, the old you, the spiritually sinful you, is gone. The new you, the spiritually righteous you, is here. It may not always look like it, but it is from God and, therefore, it is a reality.
This means that you have to look at Christians, including yourself, from a different point of view. As the Apostle Paul put it, "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view." What he means by this is that we should no longer regard Christians as being worldly in nature and character. It's because Christians, including yourself, are new creations in Christ Jesus. As said before, it may not always look like it, but from God's point of view it is a reality. As a result, you should never condemn Christians, including yourself. (Romans 8:1)
Today, you may have good reason to question whether this is true. You may find it hard to believe that someone like you, someone that still struggles with the old sin nature, can be a new creation. What you need to realize, however, is that the Bible is well aware of the struggles that you have with it. (see, for example, Galatians 5:17) Although it was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), it still tries to rise from the dead and cause trouble from time to time. Despite this, the Bible regards you as a new creation.
The Bible regards you this way because God is no longer counting your sins against you. As Paul goes on to say, God "reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them." (II Corinthians 5:18-19) God made Christ Jesus "to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (II Corinthians 5:21)
Do not listen, then, to any condemnation Satan is sending your way. Do not lose heart! God has made you a new creation and that is that!
