A New Creature
John 9:39-41

39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

2 Cor. 5:17), “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
 

In this passage, Jesus is saying we will be judged for what we know and what we had the opportunity to know and refused that knowledge. He is making the statement that the Father judges no man. He has left the judgement to the Son, and has given Him authority because He is the Son of Man. If you have met the Son and do not believe, you will certainly be judged. Paul finishes up in 2 Cor 5:17.

We know how the Pharisees met Jesus. It was in the flesh when Jesus was on earth.  Jesus is now in the Spirit. Jumping ahead to the time we live in now, with Jesus in the spirit, how do we meet Him today?

He is spirit and you will see him in that state.  You will see him in your "mind's eye" and not by your physical eyes.  Because of the miraculous way he appears, even the blind can "see" him.  

Some grew up in the church and their parents had grown up as “cultural Christians” from the Midwest, others came from unbelieving homes, where the name of Christ was only used as a swear word. Perhaps your home had constant fighting, abusive speech, and multiple divorces. You lived in fear that your parents (or the current boyfriend) would fly into a rage and hit you. You didn’t know what love and kindness was. But then you heard about the love of the Savior, who gave Himself on the cross to redeem you from all your sins. You came to Him and found the love that you had never known.

Then there were some who were living a life of full-blown sin. They lived to do whatever felt good at the moment or whatever would bring the gain they were looking for whether it be financial, sexual, or whatever drove their driving force required. But there was always a feeling of emptiness that these worshipped pleasures could never satisfy. They only brought craving for more. Someone shared with them about the peace and joy that Christ can give. They turned from their sin and asked God to take them under His wing.

There are probably as many stories as there are people, because we’re all different and we met Christ in different circumstances and through different means. But if you truly know Christ as your Savior and Lord, you know that there is a vast difference between knowing about Christ and knowing Christ personally. If you grew up in a religious home, you knew about Christ, but that didn’t change your life. But coming to know Christ personally changes you. Your desires and focus for life change. As Paul put it (2 Cor. 5:17), “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

ARE YOU A NEW CREATURE OR THE SAME OLD SAME OLD?


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