So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; the primitive passed by. Lo! There has come new!
2 Corinthians 5: 17, Concordant New Testament
It's an issue that many a believer deals with each day. No, it's an issue that everyone deals with at one time or another. Whether you're a believer or not, you will from time to time recall the old man. The old man that you used to be. The old man whose thoughts and behaviors you wish that you could put behind you. One of the greatest compliments I have ever received came from a Christian friend some time ago. One day he made the comment to me that I had changed...for the good. I was overjoyed to say the least. I knew that Jesus was in my heart, yet I had fought long and hard to overcome that man I had been before. That man who often frequented strip clubs. That man who trusted in himself above all else. That was my old man. As hard as I tried, it was difficult to escape all the old man had done. The more I tried, the more his memory haunted me. Needless to say, I wasn't proud of the man that I was then. I'd done some pretty bad things. I wasn't a hardened criminal by any means, but I had hurt those closest to me. This was my struggle with the old man. I'm certain that my struggles are not too much different from others who have fought their own memories of who they once were. But where the old man is concerned, it's personal all of us. When I talk of the old man these days, people will notice that I speak of him in his proper context. He is no more. Where did he Go? Well, to be honest, I had nothing to do with His ultimate demise. What I will claim credit for is the realization of the man I truly am. I was helped along in this realization by the words of the apostle Paul. It is Paul who speaks to our one true identity in Galatians. The old man is gone. It is no longer I, but Christ Jesus who lives in me {Galatians 2:20}. The old man was put to death by Christ at the cross. Paul also speaks to the new creation which I am now after the death of the old man {2 Corinthians 5:17}. So Jesus did not leave us orphans, but came to be in us {John 14:18}. The old man no longer has a place in us.
With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.
Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament
I recall a good Christian friend of mine who once showed me a old photo of him when he was homeless and living on the streets. He referred to the picture as "The old man." How appropriate! My friend understood where the old man belonged. The old man no longer defined him. In fact, it never had. For in our rush to rehash old memories, we all too often forget our one true identity in Christ Jesus. It is Jesus who gave Himself for the forgiveness of our mistakes we all too often torture ourselves by remembering. It is also Jesus who became sin that we would be spared its penalty {2 Corinthians 5:21}. Ask yourself, which came first, the death of our old sin nature through Jesus, or our own memories of the bad things we've done? Obviously, at one time or another, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross escaped our memory. We have forgotten that it has never been about how bad we've been, but about the love and grace of the Father. The Father who demonstrated His love for us with the death of His Son {1 John 4: 9-10}. We have NEVER been beholden to those memories of the old man. Knowing that, we should keep him in his proper place. There is no need to resurrect that fossil.
To put off from you, as regards your former behavior, the old humanity which is corrupted in accord with its seductive desires, yet to be rejuvenated in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new humanity which, in accord with God, is being created in righteousness and benignity of the truth.
Ephesians 4: 22-24, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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