THE OLD AND THE NEW

2 CORINTHIANS 5:1

A. IN CHRIST JESUS
  1. The expression "In Christ Jesus" occurs forty-two times in Paul's writings:
  2. Let us note a few of these wonderful and deeply significant statements:
    1. "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places IN CHRIST JESUS" - Eph. 1:3
    2. "For we are his workmanship, created IN CHRIST JESUS" - Eph. 2:10
    3. "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things IN CHRIST" - Eph. 1:10
  3. Thus we see that all God's promises, all God's plans, and all our hopes center in one person - IN CHRIST JESUS:
    1. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." - Col. 2:9
    2. For He is in truth "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending" of God's plan for all ages to come - Rev. 1:8
B. THE OLD AND THE NEW
  1. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature": 2 Cor. 5:17
    1. This statement presupposes the removal of the old man, corrupted by sin, and therefore wholly unfit for the kingdom of God - 1 Cor. 15:50; Eph. 4:22
    2. It clearly indicates that the new birth is more than mere self-improvement - John 3:3-6; Jer. 13:23; Nicodemus had to learn this truth.
  2. "All things have become new":
    1. Christ is new - Phil. 3:10
    2. God is new - John 17:1-23
    3. Man is new - 2 Cor. 5:14-19
    4. Life is new - 1 Pet. 4:1-4
  3. All this hinges on the phrase IN CHRIST:
    1. In Him is the Father - John 17:21
    2. In Him is life - John 1:4; 14:6
    3. In and for Him are all things - Col. 1:17
C. HOW CAN THESE BE?
  1. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zech. 4:6
    1. These words set forth the part the Holy Spirit plays in the plan of redemption.
    2. It is He through whom God works to energize us to become subjects of His kingdom.
    3. It is the Spirit of God that subdues the carnal nature in us.
    4. It is He that sets up a standard to hold back the flood tide of temptation - Isa. 59:19
  2. "Christ in you the hope of glory": Col. 1:27
    1. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" - 2 Cor. 5:19
    2. "He hath made us accepted in the beloved" - Eph. 1:6
    3. "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" - verse 7
  3. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure": Phil. 2:13
    1. God is the full and glorious answer to the change from the old to the new; from a life of sin and death to a life in Christ, the hope of eternal life.
    2. It is God who is the source of the power by which He will in due time bring to pass what He has purposed to do to the glory of his wonderful name.
    3. It is God that will consummate in us that which we lack to be suitable subjects of his glorious kingdom.
  4. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." Eph. 3:20-21


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