TUESDAY, JANUARY 30
Luke 5:36-39
2 Corinthians 5:17

“…if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away…”

BRAND NEW

Jesus gave three parables to bring home His point of what it means to be a new creation in Christ. He described first an old piece of garment not fitted to be sewed together with the new cloth. The new piece of cloth will pull the weaker old garment and cause the clothes to tear apart. Jesus gave this illustration to demonstrate that the old character of a person is not befitting for a regenerated man in Christ. The new and old habits will always be at war with each other. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

Another similitude is that of an old bottle not suited for new wine. In those days wineskins were made of animal hide, generally of goats. New wine in the process of fermentation produced gas that would cause the old wineskin to burst because it was no longer stretchable but brittle. These old bottles would not be able to stand the fermentation of the new wine as the old skin, like the sewing, would be prone to give way. This was to illustrate that a born-again believer was no more fit for the old tradition, old system and old pattern of living. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:1-2).

Finally, old drunkards do not like new wines. This illustrated that a man with the “old nature” is not inclined to behave like the “new man,” neither would the unregenerated man desire the things of God. Natural men having drunk the old wine of their carnal lusts and pleasures would not desire the new wine of the Gospel and of the grace of God. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). Which are you? Are you made new in Christ through faith in Jesus?

THOUGHT: Am I manifesting a life as a new creation in Christ?
PRAYER: Gracious heavenly Father, Thou art the Giver of life, even the new life in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray for Thy regenerating power to change my life according to Thy Word and Thy will.