CHRIST MAKES ALL THINGS
NEW
2 Corinthians 5:17
In regeneration the Lord Jesus Christ makes chosen,
redeemed sinners new creatures. Regeneration
is commonly called the new birth. In fact, the Holy Spirit tells us plainly in
Titus 3:5 that the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit
are same thing. That which is produced in regeneration is called the new creature and the new man. Those who are born again are
said to be new born babes (2 Cor.
5:17 Eph. 4:24 1 Pet. 2:2).
That new creature in Christ
is given a new heart and a new spirit, a new understanding, to know and understand things, never known nor
understood before. The regenerate soul has a new heart which knows God; not as
the God of nature and providence; but as the God of grace. The believer knows
God in Christ the Mediator. He is made to know the love of God in Christ, the
covenant of grace, and the blessings of it which were made and given to him in
Christ before the world was created.
Our Lord Jesus tells us that
this knowledge of God in Christ is eternal life (John 17:3). Those who have
eternal life, those who are made new creatures in Christ by the new birth know
Christ and the fulness of God’s grace in him. They know and enjoy the pardon of
sin through his blood, justification by his righteousness, atonement by his
sacrifice, and acceptance with God through him. They know and enjoy complete
salvation in and by Christ.
In this new heart are new desires after heavenly things. The
regenerate soul has new affections,
which are placed upon things above, new
delights in them, and new joys,
which arise from them (Ezek. 36:26 1 John 5:20 1 Cor. 2:9). In this new man are
new eyes with which to see the
kingdom of God. To some God does not give eyes to see divine and spiritual
things; but to regenerated souls he does. They have seeing eyes, made by the
Lord (Deut. 29:4 Pro. 20:12). They see their lost state and condition by
nature, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and their utter inability to make
atonement by anything they can do. We see the insufficiency of our
righteousness, our impotence to every good work, and complete inability to
change our condition.
Regenerate souls are made to
see their need of the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ, and of
salvation by him. They have the eye of faith, by which they behold the glories
of Christ's Person, the fulness of his grace, the excellency of his
righteousness, the virtue of his blood and sacrifice, and the suitableness and
completeness of his salvation.
Moreover, in the new man are
new ears to hear the good Shepherd’s
voice. They have them from the Lord, and blessed are they (Rev. 2:11 Deut. 29:4
Pro. 20:12 Mt. 13:16, 17)). They hear the word in a manner they never heard
before; they hear it as to understand it, and receive the love of it. Now we
are able to distinguish the voice of Christ from the voice of a stranger. We
know the joyful sound, and rejoice to hear it.
The new man has new hands with which to work and serve
his Master. We have the hand of faith, to receive Christ as our Savior and
Redeemer, to lay hold on him for life and salvation, to embrace him, hold him
fast, and not let him go. With the hand of faith we are now able to handle him,
the Word of life, and receive from him grace for grace. We have hands to work with,
and do our work from better principles and for better purposes than before.
Those who are born of God
have new feet with which to walk,
with which to flee to Christ, the City of refuge. We walk t Christ on the feet
of faith, and walk on in him all our days just as we received him in the
beginning. God’s children never outgrow the simplicity of faith. With these new
feet of faith we run with cheerfulness in the way of his commandments,
following hard after him, and follow on to know him. By the grace of God the
heaven born soul runs and is not weary. He walks and not faint.
If the regenerate soul is a
new creature in Christ, if regeneration is a resurrection from the dead, as the
Word of God everywhere declares that it is, then it is utterly absurd to imagine
that man has anything to do with the work. Can man create? Can man raise the
dead? What nonsense it is to talk about people being born again by their free
will, their decision for Jesus, saying the sinners’ prayer, walking a church
aisle, being baptized, or going through some religious ceremony! The new birth
is God’s work. Our Lord does not say, You must do something to get born again.
He says, “Ye must BE born again!” The new birth is God’s work and God’s
work alone! It is he and he alone who makes chosen, redeemed sinners new
creatures. The new creation is his work of grace, for which he shall have all
praise.
It is written, "Even when we were dead in sins, (God our Father, by the power of his Holy Spirit) hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5-7). AMEN.