New, or Improved? (repost)

(First posted here, 7/23/07)

I get a kick out of those commercials with products that they say are "New and Improved!" If something is "new," then how can it be "improved" (and vice versa)? :) I've actually heard the technicalities of the "truth in advertising" rules that explain how this phrase can be used legitimately. A quick example of a "new and improved" product would be a certain type of toothpaste that has new packaging! And perhaps they've changed one ingredient slightly, to give you "whiter teeth" or "sparkling cleansing action" (I made that one up). The point is, it doesn't take much at all to advertise a product as "new and improved."

What about Christians? Can we legitimately use terms such as "new" and "improved" to describe our life in Christ. Yes, on the first one. No, on the second one... at least as far as I understand who we are in Christ.

Just taking a look at one verse in particular that tells us about the reality of who we are in Christ:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." (2 Cor 5:17a)

In Christ, we've been made NEW. We haven't been "improved." We've been made new.

To make the point, let's substitute various words in place of "new" to see if they really tell us the truth of who we are in Christ.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a repaired creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a fixed up creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is an overhauled creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a polished up creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a reorganized creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is an improved creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a PhotoShopped creation. LOL

How about using these words: reconditioned, refurbished, mended, patched, adjusted, renovated, recalibrated, tuned up, enhanced, modified, revised, altered, corrected, balanced, refitted, revived, refreshed, rejuvenated, made over, covered, doctored, reshaped, spruced up, changed. I'm sure you can think of more.

All of those words seem to work well in some "brands" of Christianity, but I personally don't believe they have any place in describing the reality of who we are in Christ! When we came to Christ, did God begin a process of "fixing us up," and then helping us to "improve" our lives to be better people?

Let's try another verse, using the same words above in place of two missing words. Do you know what the real missing words are?

For you were fixed up, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who mended our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

For you were enhanced, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who revived our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

For you were spruced up, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who changed our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

For you were refurbished, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who improved our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

For you _______, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who _______ our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

What are the missing words?

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Col 3:3-4)

If you're a Christian, at one point in your life here on earth, you died and were created anew. Paul obviously isn't talking about physical death, but about the core of who we are - the reality of who we are - our spirits. God didn't take the "old us" and change us into a "better" or "improved" us. Rather, we died ("I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live" - Gal 2:20), and we were born again as a brand new creation. We haven't been revived. We've been regenerated ("re-created," "produced anew") completely! In other words, God didn't take the old us and pump some life into it. Rather, we died and God made us into something completely new. A new creation. Our old life wasn't changed. It was exchanged with a real life - the very life of Jesus!

God didn't just "cover" us, or our sins, with the life of Jesus. The Old Testament sacrifices "covered" sins, but could never actually take them away (see Hebrews 10). But, "behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

The person we were in Adam was dead to God. There was nothing God could do with that old creature. All the work in the world, all the touching up, all the revising... could never produce real life. So we died, and we became a new creation. Righteous and holy, clean, purified, justified. You can't improve on that! Our "job" in this life is not to become a better person, because God has already made us into a new person. Rather, I believe our daily walk with God is a matter of growing daily in the understanding of who we already are - who we've already become as a new creation by God's grace - and walking more and more "in" that.

We are truly His workmanship, not our own workmanship. He has created us anew so that now we live and move and have our being in Him. It's a life that's so much better than having merely been "improved."