“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
When we receive Jesus as our Lord and savior, we become new creations. We are no longer a sinner, separated from God. We have now been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 Instead of being dead in our sins, we are made alive in Christ. (See Ephesians 2:4) Now our spirit lines up with the kingdom of heaven. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Colossians 1:13-15
When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, it becomes a completely new creature. It now needs to function in an entirely new way. Instead of eating leaves and crawling, it now flies and drinks nectar. In fact, if the butterfly only tried to eat leaves and refused to eat nectar, it would die. It can no longer eat or digest the leaves. If it were to try to crawl instead of fly, it would become a target for predators and would never be able to fulfill its destiny. It has a whole new nature. What a strange sight it would be if we saw a butterfly still trying to act like a caterpillar.
Yet, that is exactly what some Christians do. They act like they are still sinners, without a covenant, with the same old nature. Instead, if they get the revelation of who they are in Christ, and the authority they have, they would stop crawling and begin to soar! They would stop trying to eat and digest leaves, and would instead feast on the nectar of God’s word.
We are a tri-part being. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live inside of a body. When we are born again, we become a brand new spirit and God’s Spirit comes in and dwells with us. We now become the very temple of the living God. However, we still live in the same old body with the same soul. The challenges that many face, come from their not taking the time to renew their mind with the Word of God to get their soul (their mind, will and emotions) to line up with what has happened in their spirit. They are still trying to “act like a caterpillar”. However, when they finally get their soul washed by the word and in line with their spirit, they will begin to soar!
Let’s do our best to learn not to be led by our flesh, which is not born again, but instead be led by our spirit. Let us embrace the fact that, just like the butterfly, we are now a new creature. We are now to be led by the Spirit of God which lives on the inside of us. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14.
Further reading: Romans 8, Galatians 4:4-7, Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 5:1-20
