When we really understand who we are, we can walk away from this lonesome, needless fight that so many men and women battle, and rest in who God fashioned us to be. —Bill Ewing, Rest Assured
Life “in Christ” is a journey of exploration and discovery from beginning to end. “Christ in us” is the “great mystery,” as Paul put it. And anyone who thinks they fully understand this mystery doesn’t get it at all. This is incredible stuff!
When we began life in Christ, we began to experience all sorts of new things (regeneration, justification, sanctification, propitiation, and a whole slew of other neat-sounding words that end in “-ation”). But all this new stuff raises an interesting question: What about the old stuff? The question usually comes to me like this: “Okay, Pete, after I get born again, do I now have two natures? At the core of my being, where it really matters, am I half good and half bad now?”
Maybe you’ve never really thought about it. Maybe you are one of those who loves to debate this sort of thing at coffee shops. (Coffee shops are required for Christian discipleship, right?!) Either way, how you answer this question is hugely important. It’s a perplexing question, full of emotion and experiences that pull us back and forth. But here’s the answer:
“No.”
Yeah, that’s it. One little syllable, two little letters. But again, this is huge. If you are in Christ, you don’t have two “natures”—you have one nature, and your nature is in Christ, too.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Being born again first requires a death—a death deeper and more profound than anything we can fully fathom. Exploring that death brings fresh light to our journey of discovering Life.
Father, as I open Your Word, I anticipate that You want to teach me something—maybe something new, maybe a reminder of something I have long-forgotten. I know that by Your Spirit, You want to do a work within me. So in the days ahead, I offer myself to You and Your teaching to experience more of who I am in Your Son. Amen.