March 30, 2015
Dr. Paul Chilcote
So if anyone is
in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see,
everything has become new! (2
Corinthians 5:17)
God illuminates the soul with the gift of faith. God
restores sight to the blind and rescues those who dwell in darkness. Those who
entrust their lives to God through Christ by faith pray for all the fullness of
God in their lives. The stanza below from one of Charles Wesley’s “redemption
hymns” celebrates this portrait of life in Christ and draws us ever upward to
the amazing gift of faith working through love. Through the gift of faith, God
establishes a new creation.
The gift unspeakable impart,
Command the light of faith to
shine,
To shine in my dark drooping
heart,
And fill me with the life divine;
Now bid the new creation be,
O God, let there be faith in me!
Wesley paints masterful word pictures and draws out the
connection between redemption and creation in the biblical narrative, playing
with the image of light. In creation, God sings, “Let there be light.” In redemption,
God commands “the light of faith to shine.” In the great drama of redemption,
creation and new creation are intimately connected with each other. Each of us
prays: “Now bid the new creation be, O God, let there be faith in me!”
Because of the redemptive work of the Triune God, grace
flows to all people, in the same way that light shines on everyone. God
excludes no one from this offer of relationship. God’s grace, therefore, is
“for me.” Because Jesus died for all, he died for me! But St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians mitigate against any
exclusively subjective, individualistic, or sentimental view of redemption.
Anticipating more recent English translations of the Bible, Wesley’s lyrical
paraphrase suggests “If anyone is in Christ—new creation!” Through cross and
resurrection, God births a whole new cosmic order that revolves around his
pre-eminent act of love in Christ.
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