As a young boy, I quickly learned to value the first signs of spring. There was the disappearance of that dreary combination of dirt and snow and then the onslaught of mud season. The ditches on the side of the road filled with running water. Then came the buds and the hint of green. Finally, the leaves sprang forth, the flowers began to blossom, and it seemed that creation itself was celebrating a new birth. It reminds me of what Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Christ has made us a new “creation.” He does a new work in those who become Christians. “Old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” God does this change. When He does a work, it is comprehensive, all-embracing, and wide ranging. God changes and reorients our lives. And because of it, we see things differently. God through His Spirit motivates us through our new creation. If we ourselves try to do it on our own, to attempt to duplicate what only the Spirit can do, we find that our imitation is a poor one, indeed.

The world sees Spirit-led changes in a Christian and tries to explain it with euphemisms. They say, “That person got religion”, or “That person became churched.” But Scripture tells us we are a new creation in Christ. Take Augustine for example. He lived a sinful and debauched life, but while visiting Milan, God touched his life and changed him. He left his former lifestyle and when he returned home, his former girl- friend called to him. “Augustine, Augustine, it is I.” “Yes,” he said, “but it is not I.” He had been changed by the work of the Holy Spirit, and God had made him a whole new creation in Christ Jesus. That is what God does for each believer in Christ. May we all enjoy the newness of spring, but even more importantly, may we all enjoy the “new creation in Christ.”