Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Oh please don't miss the first word of this familiar verse, the word "therefore," because that word points back to what Paul just wrote before these very words, which is 2nd Corinthians 5 verses 14-16.
These verses both speak of how the love of Christ compels us to come to this one critical conclusion: when Christ died, He died for all so that all have died so that we don't live for ourselves anymore but live unto Him who has died and was raised from the dead.
Those who believe in Christ are not even known anymore by the flesh, because something happened with that old sinful nature when we came to faith in Christ, and that's what we and others get to THEREFORE BEHOLD!
I often wonder how many confessing believers in Christ really fathom and grasp what it means to BEHOLD that ALL things have been made NEW?!
Behold, watch intently, and see the full picture of how Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection didn't just change some things in you; it changed everything. He made you NEW!
We are not talking about a mere spiritual facelift here, nor are we like most things in the world that brings out a newer model with a few improved extras; no, for the word καινός (kainos) Paul used; means: "recently made, unheard of before, brand new!"
Only in Christ we have a new beginning, a new birth, a new life, a new heart, a new spirit, a new mind, a new destiny, a new identity, a new relationship, a new position, a new citizenship, a new eternal family, a new authority, a new power, a new purpose, a new outlook, a new behaviour, a new name to live by, which we get to behold, a brand new creature in Christ!
Even though we are still living in the same old world in the same fleshly body, we don't know believers in Christ according to the flesh anymore; we get to see the new creature! Sadly, we often live as if we haven't been made new, as most believers behold the old things that have passed away!
This is why I want to leave you with this reminder today in one single verse: watch where Paul placed the word "BEHOLD."
The word BEHOLD was placed before the new, not the old - Which one are you beholding? BECAUSE, the old things have passed away, BEHOLD, see, look, gaze upon the NEW, who we are because of Jesus' doing.
The more believers realize who they truly are in Christ, the more they will see their lives and behavior line up with the reality of who God made them, A NEW CREATION, one with the Son.
Amen