1st Tuesday of Lent (February 20). A new creation

Prepare to Listen.  Everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
 
Prayerfully Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
What tugged at your heart as you read these words today?
 
“There is a new creation.”  This sentence can be read in two different ways.  First way: There is a new creation.  Not there will be.   We’re not waiting for it to come.  It’s here now, in this moment in time.  In Christ you are a new creation with the ability to live a transformed life.  Second way: There is a new creation.  Not somewhere hidden and out of sight, but right there in front of you; open your eyes and you will see it.  “If anyone is in Christ” that’s where to look for the new creation—in yourself, in your brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
A new creation doesn’t mean we have a ticket to heaven and can forget about faithful living now.  Neither does it mean we’ll be exempt from the troubles and sufferings in this world.  We won’t look or feel any different.  Being a new creation means seeing the world in a different light and responding to its troubles and sufferings in a different, more loving way.  It means letting go the old to be open to receive the new, however unexpected and surprising; no longer needing to earn God’s approval because in Christ we become the righteousness of God, reconciled, restored back into fellowship with God.  In Christ we have a new ministry, ambassadors for Christ, messengers of reconciliation, not alienation; of peace not discord; of love not hatred.  This is what it means to be a new creation.
 
Think about how you can live today as a new creation in Christ, as an ambassador of reconciliation, peace and love.
 
Respond to Jesus
Lord Jesus, help me live today in such a way that others look at me and say, ‘There is a new creation.’  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Practice being a new creation today.