"There is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I am writing on the day of the Vernal Equinox. On March 20, at 1:03 pm CST, I am told, the axis of the earth tilted toward the sun more than it tilted away. Spring has begun everywhere north of the equator. (See http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/VernalEquinox.html)
I went outside to see if I might notice the transition. It is a sunny day, alright. But clouds are gathering this afternoon. It’s turning colder. A bit of snow is predicted by the weekend. Spring has come quietly, this year; it is almost imperceptible. The angle of the earth with respect to the sun, it appears, is a detail that I will have to assume by faith.
St. Paul made an absolutely astounding claim in his second letter to the Corinthians. "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Commentators point out the sweeping scope of the claim. It is not that I am made new by identification with Christ, individually – although that is certainly true. Everything old has passed away. Everything has become new.
Here in the west, our persistent individualism and emotional self-reference make it difficult for us to understand this familiar verse. We think that Paul is describing some wonderful feeling that overtakes us, when we have become Christians. But he is not. Paul is describing an ontological fact, that dates to the cross of Calvary. He is describing the tilt of the universe. He is making a claim about everything.
Since Calvary, though we may not perceive it, everything has become new. Since Calvary, every tribe and tongue – everywhere – has invitation to join the heavenly feasting. Since Calvary, no sin or rebellion is beyond forgiveness, no illness beyond healing, no despair beyond hope. We who believe in Jesus are made new ourselves. We are also made part of something wonderfully beyond ourselves. We are firstfruits of God’s design for the transformation of the universe. "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself…and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Since Calvary, the very axis of the universe has shifted toward grace. And the message has made us messengers.
Of course, as I have already admitted, it may yet snow before the weekend. The weather may turn rather colder before the warm summer. But summer is on its way, definitely and most assuredly. The Cross of Calvary has changed everything.
Won’t you tell someone about it today?
"The Way I See It", April 2002
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