Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; (II Corinthians 5:17,18 ESV)
The Old and the New and Faith
My father gave me his old home-made miter-box. I thought it was the most amazing wood-working tool. Using it, I could cut perfect corners when installing trim. I could cut perfect edges when building square things. I could cut perfect square picture frames.
Or nearly perfect.
And over time, the home-made miter-box began to show its age.
Imagine my joy and surprise when one afternoon I discovered that miter-boxes were NOT elaborate, expensive, fancy, rare tools. Miter-boxes cost less than ten dollars!
And so I bought a new miter-box!
The old miter-box is gone. I do not use it to build sharp corners. I do not use it to trim in doorframes. I barely even remember that it was in my workshop.
The old is gone.
And Paul tells us that our ‘old’ is gone, too.
It is harder to discern than miter-boxes. Our old nature, our old hearts, our old unredeemed selves are still hiding a bit. And not just because those old things are tenacious.
We ourselves, at times, do not accept that the old has been made new.
We accept the evidence of our eyes instead of the evidence of God’s promise.
I do not really claim to understand it. It sure seems to me that the old is very much alive.
But God has declared otherwise.
What part of “the old has passed away” do I not understand?
The old is gone. Cling to the New.
Take the faith God grants us.