"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Many years ago, when I was traveling to raise financial support to live in Germany, I stopped at a hotel that did not look great, but the advertised price and location fit what I was looking for. The hotel was not very nice, and I made a mental note to never stay at that place again. Just because I stayed there once did not mean I had to stay there again, and it did not mean I had to stay in similarly bad hotels for the rest of my life. Although I did stay there in the past, I never have to stay there again.
People receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord at different ages, and everyone has a past of some kind. Some people come to know Jesus at a young age, while others are born again when they are older. But whether our past before we met Jesus was good or bad, it has no bearing on our future with God and God's plan for our life. God has a plan and purpose for every person, and our past, whether good or bad, does not change the plan that God has for us. Our past is not the most important thing in our life, but what is important is that we are a new creation in Christ.
When Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 about being a new creation in Christ, and old things being passed away, Paul was writing about something he personally really understood. In 1 Timothy 1:12-13, Paul talked about how God had put him into the ministry, even though Paul had been someone who persecuted Christians and had blasphemed God. Paul's past did not ruin God's plan, and God's plan in our life does not depend on our having a perfect past. We may have been like Paul and done some bad things, but we need to leave our past behind and move forward into the bright future we have with God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Many years ago, when I was traveling to raise financial support to live in Germany, I stopped at a hotel that did not look great, but the advertised price and location fit what I was looking for. The hotel was not very nice, and I made a mental note to never stay at that place again. Just because I stayed there once did not mean I had to stay there again, and it did not mean I had to stay in similarly bad hotels for the rest of my life. Although I did stay there in the past, I never have to stay there again.
People receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord at different ages, and everyone has a past of some kind. Some people come to know Jesus at a young age, while others are born again when they are older. But whether our past before we met Jesus was good or bad, it has no bearing on our future with God and God's plan for our life. God has a plan and purpose for every person, and our past, whether good or bad, does not change the plan that God has for us. Our past is not the most important thing in our life, but what is important is that we are a new creation in Christ.
When Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 about being a new creation in Christ, and old things being passed away, Paul was writing about something he personally really understood. In 1 Timothy 1:12-13, Paul talked about how God had put him into the ministry, even though Paul had been someone who persecuted Christians and had blasphemed God. Paul's past did not ruin God's plan, and God's plan in our life does not depend on our having a perfect past. We may have been like Paul and done some bad things, but we need to leave our past behind and move forward into the bright future we have with God.
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