A synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. David L. Hicks at St. Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church on Sunday, March 21, 2004, Lent IV. Please read II Corinthians 5:17-21.

“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (KJV). This verse from Saint Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is familiar to many Christians. It has been identified as a summary statement of the wonderful change that takes place within a person when he or she comes to faith in Jesus Christ. Additionally, it has provided comfort to those whose consciences have been vexed by the memory of past sins and failures, assuring the believer that Christ gives a new life to those who come to him – “all things are become new.” While I want to affirm the truthfulness of this sense in which the verse is understood, let me say that such an interpretation does not go far enough. Yes, it is true that we are individually new creatures in Christ, but we are also new creatures that are connected to a new creation. What God does in us individually is part of what God is doing corporately, and this is being done in the context of the whole of creation. When one reads 2 Cor. 5:17 in its original language (Greek) we are faced with the awkward way in which Paul presents this statement. It literally reads, “If any anyone (is) in Christ, new creation.” Some translations say, “there is” a new creation, while other prefer to fill in the gap with “he is” a new creation. Both of these statements are true, but the former seems to capture the broader view that the apostle has in mind. God is re-creating the world through Jesus Christ, and he begins with the church.

We may think it odd that God would begin with the human heart in his re-creative efforts. People tend to blame society, and other environmental factors for the ills of the world; for it is assumed that if external problems like poverty and sickness were dealt with first, then people would begin to behave in a godlier manner. The Scriptures, however, give us a different picture. The problems of the world begin with the human heart and are a consequence of sinful behavior rather than the cause. As Saint Paul writes elsewhere, all of creation has suffered from human sin and eagerly awaits the completion of the new creation: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:22-23). For this reason, the passage in 2 Corinthians continues with a discussion about the “ministry of reconciliation” that has been committed to the church – “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (5:18). God is at work in each of us who are connected to Jesus Christ, but he is also working through us as the beginning of his master plan to re-create the world in Christ. We who are the new creatures in Christ are also the instruments by which all of God’s new creation will come to be. Thanks be to God for his wonderful and gracious gift to us through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.