The Word of the Day is "new." Today, in our scripture study of 2 Corinthians 5:15-21, St. Paul speaks of the results of Christ's death and resurrection. He writes, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (vs. 17). We live in a world that is far from "new." Our planet keeps spinning around like a top from one day to another and from one year to the next. But human history also confirms the writer of Ecclesiastes ' melancholy when he writes, "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun" *Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Yet today, St. Paul asserts that those in Christ live in a new order. The Greek word for this new order is "cosmos" (Strong's #2889, 144), the harmonious order of the created universe. Paul suggests that there is a new cosmos, a new order of reality, a new creation. We are that "new creation," and for us, "old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).
WHAT IS NEW ABOUT THE NEW CREATION
What is new about this "new creation"? After all, we still live on the same old earth that existed before Christ's death and resurrection. The answer lies in the verse that our reading carries over from yesterday, "… we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all have died, and He died for all…" (vs. 14b-15a). As Fr. Thomas Hopko taught, Christ took on Himself the sins of the world and by his innocent sufferings and voluntary death, he "made death to die and to become the source and way of life eternal" (Fr. Thomas Hoko, "Redemption). In this sense, in the death of Christ, the "old order" ruled by sin, death, and corruption died and in His resurrection, the "new order" triumphed over the old. The old remains for a time, but its time is limited, and a new order of existence is replacing it.
How so? The answer is in vs. 19: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them…". St. John Chrysostom explains that in the sacrifice of Christ, "God made us friends unto Himself" (NfPf1:12, 333).
For in the passion of Christ, God showed once and for all that He no longer "imputes" their sins against them. The Greek word translated as "imputes" comes from the thought of "to compute ."That is, by the cross, the Almighty no longer takes our sins "into account" (Strong's 3049). Instead, Christ fulfilled the promise of Jeremiah, "for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (vs. 31:31-34).
A NEW WAY OF BEING
God's incredible mercy has established an entirely new way of being. About it St. John Chrysostom noted that "…instead of the old Jerusalem below, we have received the mother city from above; instead of the material temple,…a spiritual temple; instead of tables of stone, fleshy ones; instead of circumcision, baptism; instead of manna, the Lord's Body; instead of water from the rock, Blood from His side; instead of Moses' rod,…the cross; instead of the promised [land], the kingdom of heaven; instead of a thousand priests, One High Priest; instead of a lamb without reason, a Spiritual Lamb" (NfPf1:12, 333). All these features of the "new creation" are "of God" (vs. 18) and signs of His new order.
The Gospel proclaims that this new order of the revelation of God's mercy in Christ has begun. However, that Gospel demands a personal response. Paul, therefore, writes that since God has reconciled the world to Himself, "we implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (vs. 20). God has treated all as His friends. But human beings can still live as His enemies. They can still think and act according to the old order and live in "enmity with God" (Romans 8:7). Yet, those who trust Christ for their salvation can live according to the new order.
In summary, in the old order, humans are enemies of God; in the new, they are friends with God (2 Cor. 5:19). In the old order, death reigns; In the new, grace reigns, giving eternal life. (Romans 5:17). In the old order, all die; in the new, all are "made alive ( Cor. 15:22).
FOR REFLECTION
How do we become participants in the New Creation? The New Life begins with the mystery of Holy Baptism when we die and rise again in Christ as a 'New Creation.' Baptism symbolizes our death to the old order of sin and our resurrection to the new order of grace. From then on, our calling is to live as that 'New Creation'? According to our reading, 'We no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died [for us] and rose again' for our salvation (vs. 15).
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