One of the questions that you have probably asked is what is the meaning of our new life in Jesus Christ. What happened after we have received Jesus Christ?
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Paul is telling us that our old self has already died. Our old self was buried with Jesus Christ, and now we walk in newness of life because Jesus Christ has resurrected from the dead. Christians are raised together with Jesus.
Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, explained further the meaning of the new life in Jesus Christ.
First, we have been given a new birth – from the “perishable seed into the imperishable.”
1 Peter 1:23 says, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” This means that we have been given a body, one that is eternal. This is the new birth that Peter was talking about. This is the symbolical meaning of baptism – when we emerge from the water, it signifies a new birth, a new seed that cannot be perished anymore.
Peter affirmed this in 1 Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
Second, we have been given a new nature – from the human nature and participating in the divine nature of Jesus Christ.
In other words, after receiving Jesus Christ in our lives, our DNA is changed. According to Medline Plus, “DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.” This means that our nature when we were born into this world is our fallen nature. It is in our nature to sin. It is natural for us to commit sin. This nature is changed the moment that we have Jesus in our lives. We have been injected with a new DNA.
2 Peter 1:3-4 explains it this way, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
The divine nature of Jesus Christ is with us. The divine power of God has been given to us so that we can now live godly lives. If it was natural for us to sin before, now it is in our nature to do what is right and live godly lives.
Thank you Lord Jesus for this new life!
Rev. Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Director
Office of Communications
Central Philippine University