Re-Created in Christ
“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.”1 Corinthian 5:17
You and I were made in the image and likeness of God and were destined to be in communion with Him. However, because of Adam’s disobedience, we lost that likeness and have come to experience the effects of sin — pain, suffering, death, and concupiscence (tendency to sin). But, God did not plan to leave us in that state. So, in the fullness of time He sent His only begotten Son into the world so that by His obedience, God’s likeness in us might be restored and the hope of communion with God for eternity made possible. Jesus has come to make all things new, including you and me.
What does it mean to be “re-created” or “being made new?” Well, we first have to accept and acknowledge that we need this re-creation or renewal. To be re-created does not simply mean we had a malfunction in our system and Jesus came to re-code it. Re-creation is not simply to fix or make clean. To be re-created means to be made into a new creation. By our baptism we have been made new, we have died with Christ and trust that we will share in His Resurrection. Our old selves did not have that hope. Our old selves were destined for hell. But because Jesus came into this world, suffered, died, and rose from the dead we can share in the divine life of God — if we choose to accept it.
By choosing to accept this gift, we are saying we want to be made new in Christ, washed in the waters of baptism, and to conform our hearts and lives to Christ. This is not a once and done event. In being re-created in Christ, we must accept our need for ongoing conversion, meaning that we need to want to reorient our lives to Christ every moment of everyday. We will fail, and sometimes everyday, and even very badly, but we must get back up and walk towards Jesus again — this is ongoing conversion. We need to be honest with ourselves and our weaknesses and bring all that to Jesus, asking Him for the grace to desire to do better and to walk in the path that will lead us to the Father.
Conversion is never easy, but it is worth it. Heaven is worth it. Jesus is worth it. And, we do not go on this journey alone. Jesus walks with us and He helps us up when we fall. He encourages us and affirms us. Since we have been re-created in Christ, He will give us all that we need, and above all else, He gives us Himself.
Brothers and sisters, we have been made new in Christ, let us cast off our old selves and choose to live no longer for ourselves, but for Christ.
Watch this week’s reflection below.
