So, as I was saying, 2 Cor. 5:16—17 is one of my favorite passages. It reads, "Therefore, from now on we do not perceive anyone according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we no longer know Christ in that way. Thus, if anyone is in Christ, then they are a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, they have become new!" This passages has many wonderful aspects that could be expounded on more fully, but considering the new year, I wanted to discusses newness and its relation to being in Christ.
These two verses speak directly to an aspect of Christian life that many people struggle with, judgment. These verses begin by discussing how we perceive others and come to know or understand them. With that in mind, this discussion inadvertently deals with how others perceive us because if we have perceptions of others, they surely have perceptions of us. As we go about our day, we come in contact with many different people, and each person we intentionally and unintentionally judge. It could be a thought about their clothes or the way they talked to you. Regardless, we judge people based on external features and interactions, and then we develop our own understanding and perception of them. We judge someone by external interactions and begin to think we know them.
The normal way of judgment can be illustrated when Paul says, "do not perceive anyone according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh." Here, Paul mentions that he once knew Christ "according to the flesh," which basically is external nature, or as a human. This means that he perceived Christ as a man, and he knew him (or developed an understanding) based on what he saw. However, then Paul says, "we no longer know Christ in that way." This shift implies that Paul does not understand Christ as simply a man, who people interacted with, and judged by his appearance; but rather someone who has been resurrected and a new creation. This is why Paul prohibits people from simply perceiving someone "according to the flesh" or external appearances. Paul's reasoning for this is explained in verse 17, "If anyone is in Christ, then they are a new creation; the old has passed away, behold they have become new!" When someone becomes a part of Christ, what we originally judged them by, the external appearance and interactions, is no longer valid. Their new identity is not based on what they do or how they look, it is based on unity with Christ. When we look at someone and try to understand and know them, we can not base our opinion on what we see, but we must only believe that they have become, and are becoming, a new creation.
The same can be true about ourselves. Too many times Christians are plagued by incorrect perceptions of themselves: they have low self esteem, they doubt their worth, they don't feel loved by God, and they even feel unclean or unworthy of God's grace. This is not completely their fault. The American culture breeds judgment based on external actions and appearance: advertising is driven by sexual imagery, people equate status and worth to clothing and accessories, and social media is full of examples of false facades people build to depict themselves in a certain way. Also, in the Church today people still base holiness and self worth to external behavior and appearance. If someone has too many tattoos or too little, doesn't wear the proper clothes, or committed too terrible of a sin, then they are some how inadequate and unfit for service. I mean, they can attend church, but... we won't let them be leaders in the worship band or lead a Bible study. However, this line of thinking does not match how Christians should perceive themselves or others. We should understand each person, with ourselves included, as a new creation in Christ. In fact, while we may feel unworthy or inadequate, we must believe that we are new.
When Christ came, died, and resurrected he drastically changed they way the world should operate. The Christian community should not operate along with the common way of judging someone, based on appearance. Rather, they should believe that whoever claims to be in Christ, is a new creation. To finish I would like to quote a movie that many have seen and is also fitting for the season, "The Santa Clause." In this movie an elf says to Tim Allen, "Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing." So in this new year, I plan on seeing others as new creations, and I plan on seeing with new eyes because we have both become new.
χαρις και ειρήνη
The normal way of judgment can be illustrated when Paul says, "do not perceive anyone according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh." Here, Paul mentions that he once knew Christ "according to the flesh," which basically is external nature, or as a human. This means that he perceived Christ as a man, and he knew him (or developed an understanding) based on what he saw. However, then Paul says, "we no longer know Christ in that way." This shift implies that Paul does not understand Christ as simply a man, who people interacted with, and judged by his appearance; but rather someone who has been resurrected and a new creation. This is why Paul prohibits people from simply perceiving someone "according to the flesh" or external appearances. Paul's reasoning for this is explained in verse 17, "If anyone is in Christ, then they are a new creation; the old has passed away, behold they have become new!" When someone becomes a part of Christ, what we originally judged them by, the external appearance and interactions, is no longer valid. Their new identity is not based on what they do or how they look, it is based on unity with Christ. When we look at someone and try to understand and know them, we can not base our opinion on what we see, but we must only believe that they have become, and are becoming, a new creation.
The same can be true about ourselves. Too many times Christians are plagued by incorrect perceptions of themselves: they have low self esteem, they doubt their worth, they don't feel loved by God, and they even feel unclean or unworthy of God's grace. This is not completely their fault. The American culture breeds judgment based on external actions and appearance: advertising is driven by sexual imagery, people equate status and worth to clothing and accessories, and social media is full of examples of false facades people build to depict themselves in a certain way. Also, in the Church today people still base holiness and self worth to external behavior and appearance. If someone has too many tattoos or too little, doesn't wear the proper clothes, or committed too terrible of a sin, then they are some how inadequate and unfit for service. I mean, they can attend church, but... we won't let them be leaders in the worship band or lead a Bible study. However, this line of thinking does not match how Christians should perceive themselves or others. We should understand each person, with ourselves included, as a new creation in Christ. In fact, while we may feel unworthy or inadequate, we must believe that we are new.
When Christ came, died, and resurrected he drastically changed they way the world should operate. The Christian community should not operate along with the common way of judging someone, based on appearance. Rather, they should believe that whoever claims to be in Christ, is a new creation. To finish I would like to quote a movie that many have seen and is also fitting for the season, "The Santa Clause." In this movie an elf says to Tim Allen, "Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing." So in this new year, I plan on seeing others as new creations, and I plan on seeing with new eyes because we have both become new.
χαρις και ειρήνη
