New Life in Christ (Part 2)

A few days ago, when I posted the last article, I had so much more to say, but I realized it would take more space than a normal post. Instead of trying the patience of my readers, I decided to break the post up into sections.

In "New Life in Christ", I shared with you how I learned early in my Christian walk that I was no longer a sinner. I was new on the inside, a whole new creation. I was no longer the old me, but she had been crucified on the cross with Christ. Now the new me could live no longer burdened with the stain of sin. Jesus had washed me with his blood. God had made me clean!

The next lesson took a little while longer to learn and came rather in phases than all at once, but for the sake of time and space I will just let you have it outright. This lesson hinges on the last and adds flavor to life. Of course, it is one that causes more dependence on Christ than upon self and has the potential to cause Christians everywhere to stand out, even among the best of the best.

It is the simple, yet profound lesson that all things are indeed new. It was quite easy in comparison to see that my sins were washed away and that I was no longer a sinner, but the biggie for me was that since I was no longer the same person, then all that had happened to cause me pain, although still in my memory, had not happened to me, but to the old me who was now dead.

It was quite easy to separate myself from the sins I had committed in the past but a bit more difficult to detach from the sins that others had committed against me. I had endured a particularly difficult and pain-ridden childhood and was now facing the idea that I should no longer hang on to past wounds and regrets. This process took some time and was equally as painful as the initial blow from each event that now plagued me in early adulthood. I could not even speak of certain events without breaking out into tears, and now God was showing me I could no longer identify with these happenings that so marked me!

The Holy Spirit pointed out to me that Jesus had borne my griefs and carried my sorrows (Isaiah 53:4)! I was free from them! I didn't have to walk around as a victim to these past circumstances any longer. I was unchained and could walk away free! Letting go of who I had once been, also meant letting go of everything that tagged the old me. Simply put, I was new; Old things had passed away. This meant everything that had happened to the old me had not happened to the new me. The person that had suffered the enemy's torments of the past was in the grave and totally oblivious to my new existence.

If anyone had lied on me, they had lied on the old me. If someone had stolen from me, they had stolen from the old me. If anyone had done anything undesirable toward me, it had not happened to me but to a girl that now lay in the grave and should be forgotten. If I were to dig her up, she would not utter a word about her past, for she had been crucified. She was dead never to be resurrected.

Needless to say, this reality causes forgiveness to abound. How could anyone hold something against someone who had done them no wrong? Just as I had thought it illogical for someone to hold ills against me for no reason at all, I now should not find fault in those who had not wronged me but one who was gone forever and could not even tell me of her inconveniences. I had been forgiven, freed from every debt. How could I hold on to the sins of others?

Jesus has carried all our sorrows. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 53 that Jesus was 'a man of sorrows', that he was 'acquainted with grief', stricken, smitten, and chastised for us (verses 3-5); 'for' meaning, 'because of', 'instead of'. Jesus took our place. We do not have to hold on to the anger and bitterness associated with the past. He has freed us to forgive! He was rejected and despised for us (verse 3)! We can lay down guilt because we are forgiven; We can lay down resentment because others are forgiven. All things have truly become new!

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32 (emphasis added)