Yesterday, I was telling my disciple about how, in Christ, we have been made new. As I told him, the old man is the sinful fleshly way and the new man is the holy forgiven man. The old man knows the way of the world, and the new man strives for the way of God. Just like a butterfly, we must first go through a cocoon where we take time away from everything in order to transform into something new. How long that cocooning process is for each person varies, but there is a moment where a sinful man transforms into a beautifully redeemed new creature in Christ. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
When the butterfly comes out of the cocoon, it does not come out with a caterpillar. The caterpillar has transformed into something new, something different. It does not split into two. It is either a caterpillar or a butterfly. Hence, "the old has gone, the new has come!" The old form, the caterpillar, is gone; and the new form, the butterfly, has come. Just like us. The old form, the sinner, is gone; and the new form, the redeemed believer, has come. We are no longer what we used to be, just as the butterfly is no longer what it used to be.
It does not matter if a caterpillar tries to pollinate or attempts to fly, it is not a butterfly. No matter how much it knows about butterflies, or how smart it is, it is just not a butterfly. Galatians 6:15 says, "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation." No matter if we follow the laws or do the "proper Christian thing," it all means nothing. Attempting the speak in the spirit without God is just Jesus jargon, or church chit-chat. Many people know what to say in church. Something along the lines of, "praise Jesus, hallelujah, I'm blessed and highly favored. I'm on top and not beneath, I'm on the mountain and not in the valley, I'm the head not the tail, amen, God is good." That all means nothing without Christ. It is just a mask. Those words are worthless without heart. Without God, church is just a building. Similar, the caterpillar can try to fly all day, but it will fail because the action is not what matters, but the transformation. We must put aside the old ways and pick up the new. That is what truly matters.
Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are able to let go of the past and be forgiven for all of our regrets and mistakes. It is because of the love that Christ gives us that we can say, "I messed up more than anyone can understand, but Christ loved me so much that he accepted me even after He knew what I did. He won't judge me for it. He won't punish me for it. In fact, He is making a place just for me in Heaven. That is how much He loves me!" Just as the caterpillar gains the ability to fly when it becomes a butterfly, we have the ability to go to Heaven, because John 3:3 says, "in reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" As a new creation in Christ, we qualify to go to the Kingdom of God.
When we become new creations in Christ, we are told the most beautiful and loving thing that any sinner could ever hear. Isaiah 43:18, "forget the former things, do not dwell on the past." That is total forgiveness, that is total love. God says to the butterfly, "forget what you ate through and do not dwell on the plants of my garden that you have destroyed while you bulked up to transform. I love you, and all is forgiven." We are forgiven in Christ Jesus and made alive in Him. We are no creations in Christ, loved and forgiven, and all that it took we a humble prayer, asking Him to become our Lord and Savior. No cocoons. No bulking. Just, "Jesus, I know that I did wrong. Please forgive me and come into my life."
-D
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