Weblog Entry - 06/21/2006: Volume 88 - The New Creation - Part I by Milt Rodriguez

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06/21/2006: Volume 88 - The New Creation - Part I by Milt Rodriguez

The New Creation - Part I

"So then we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer.
So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new." II Cor. 5:16, 17
Why is it that we have such a difficult time accepting and believing the new creation? Why can't we understand this? I believe it's because we need to see these things with new eyes, from a new perspective, with a new mind. Without the renewing of the mind, we just can't see the new creation. In other words, we need a "new mind" to understand the "new creation."
We have the equipment already. We do have a new mind, that is, if we set our mind on the spirit (Ro. 8:6). If we set our mind on the spirit instead of on the flesh, then it will be renewed to see the new creation.
You can know Christ according to the flesh or according to the new creation. It's your choice. The new creation can only be seen by revelation, and revelation can only happen in your spirit.
Paul said that he had already known Christ according to the flesh (past tense). But Paul no longer knew Him that way. Now he knows Him according to the new creation, which is in the spirit. This new creation is not an individual matter, it is a corporate one. We have problems seeing things corporately because we are so individualistically minded. This is the mind set on the flesh.
The New Birth
When Jesus spoke of the new birth to Nicodemas, He was speaking of the new creation. Even though individuals enter into the kingdom by a new birth, this is not primarily an individual matter.
When Jesus said, "You must be born anew," He was not really speaking to Nicodemas. The word "you" in the Greek is plural. He was speaking to a group of people. He was speaking to the future, potential new creation! This new birth that Jesus is describing is the birth of one new man that Paul mentions in Col. 3:9-11. This is a corporate man. This is the new creation. The old creation was made. God said, "Let there be light," and He made the old creation. However, the new creation is not made, but rather, is born. The new creation was born on the day of resurrection!
The Old was Crucified
Paul tells us that "the old things have passed away, all things have become new." The old creation (everything mentioned in Genesis one) has been crucified with Christ (Gal. 6:14, 15). But here is my question to you: if everything in the old creation was crucified with Christ on the cross, then what (exactly) was born on the day of resurrection? What is the new creation?
The New Man
"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self (man) who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him - a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all."
Col. 3:9-11
". . . until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."
Eph. 4:13
The new creation is the new man, a corporate entity where Christ is everything. He is the content. He is the All. There is no room in this man for anything else. Christ is All! You and I are part of this new man. You and I are part of this new creation.
"Behold! All things have been made new!"
Paul knew how to "see" the new creation. He knew how to behold the new creation and ignore the old. This is how he could say that he no longer knew anyone according to the flesh (old creation). When you look at your brothers and sisters what do you see? Do you see the flesh, or do you see the new creation?
Behold! The New Creation is Here!
Written by Milt Rodriguez