Supplanted, Not Supplemented
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The one who’s born again doesn’t have two lives or natures; he only has one, and that’s the divine life.
When you were born again, a new life was introduced into your spirit, and the human life with which you were born of your earthly parents ceased to be; it was supplanted by the life and nature of God! It’s not something that can be figured out in the laboratory; it’s spiritual.
Moreover, this change isn’t one to take place in heaven, as some also think; it’s already happened. That’s the message of Christ. He came to give us the divine life; to make us sons of God: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Our theme verse further buttresses this; it says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Notice the phrase, “new creature”; it connotes something that’s not known; it’s new, or even “strange.” It’s like thinking you saw something sneak by, but couldn’t really make out what it was, and the best way you could describe it was to say, “I saw a creature; it’s neither a cat nor a dog; but I’m not sure what it is; it’s something strange.” It wasn’t like anything you’ve ever seen.
This is exactly Paul’s inference in 2 Corinthians 5:17. We’re a new species; a kind of creature that never existed before; a new type of man! When you come to this realization and understanding that what you have isn’t a mix of the divine and human natures, you’ll cease from the struggles to live right, and you’ll find yourself fulfilling God’s will for your life gloriously from a position of rest. Hallelujah!
PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for my old life has been completely supplanted by the divine life, which is superior to sickness, disease, defeat and all depravities that affect the natural man. My divine nature has made me a master over circumstances, with dominion over the world’s deplorable systems. The nature of righteousness causes me to walk in your perfect will today, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Galatians 2:20; 1 John 5:13; 1 John 4:17
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Revelation 13:1-10; Nahum 1-3
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Acts 2:14-24; 2 Chronicles 35
