* B. Gregory, Sermons, Addresses cmd Pastoral Letters, 198.
In Christ a New Creation.
2 COR. & GAL. — II
Literature.
Arnold (T.), Sermons, i. 10 ; iv. 274.
Dewey (0.), Works, 759.
Farrar (F. W.), Truths to Live By, 290.
Figgis (J. N.), Antichrist and Other Sermons, 16.
Gibson (J. M.), The Glory of Life, 35.
Gladden (W.), JVhere does the Sky Begin, 187.
Gordon (A. J.), In Christ, 91.
Grimley (H. N.), Tremadoc Sermons, 243.
Jerdan (C), Manna for Youn^ Pilgrims, 46.
Martin (G. C), in Great Texts of the New Testament, 127.
Matheson (G.), Leaves for Quiet Hours, 210.
Moore (A. L.), in Keble College Sermons, 197.
Newman (J. H.), Parochial and Plain Sermons, v. 164.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xv. (1869), No. 881 ;
XX. (1874), No. 1183 ; xxii. (1876), No. 1328. Westcott (B. F.), The Historic Faith, 129. Williams (F. R.), The Christ Within, 104.
Wordsworth (J.), Sermons Preached in Salisbury Cathedral Church, 97. Christian World Pulpit, xxxv. 346 (G. Matheson); lii. 187 (T. V.
Tymms) ; Ixix. 262 (W. L. Watkinson). • Clergyman's Magazine, 3rd. Ser., viii. 93 (Q. Calthrop) ; xiv. 12
(W. Burrows).
i«t
In Christ a New Creation.
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation (R.V.marg.).— 6 Cor. V. 17.
1. The word " wherefore," with which the text begins, shows us that the words stand in close connexion with what precedes them, and that, in order to understand their meaning, we must know what is the argument that leads up to them. The Apostle has been dealing with one of his favourite themes — the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and he has been arguing, as he often does, that that death upon the cross was not an end in itself, but the necessary step towards the resurrection, and that the new life which was manifested in that wonderful victory over the grave, was to be imparted to all who, through faith in Him, partook in the same experience. But, to the mind of St. Paul, this did not only mean that literal death was to be succeeded by a literal resurrection ; it meant that, here and now, in the life men live in the flesh, the whole drama of the cross and of the open grave was destined to be re-enacted, and that a death to sin might mean for any man who sought it a resurrection to righteousness. For the Apostle one great effect of the resurrection of Christ was that it set free in the world a new and hitherto undreamed-of power, the power whereby, if belief made a man one with Christ, the greatest marvel might be accomplished, and all that man's past be for- gotten in a new and wonderfully altered present. And so he reaches the words we have here to consider, in which he terms such a change nothing less than a " new creation."
2. A word on the translation. In the Authorized Version we
read "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature"; and the
Revisers have retained this rendering. But they give the literal
translation in their margin — " there is a new creation." That is,
if any man is in Christ, a new creation is the result ; a creation
163
i64 IN CHRIST A NEW CREATION
not less perfect or majestic than that which the prophet announces, " Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth " ; or than that which Christ Himself proclaims, when it is said that "He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." Thus in the case of the man that is in Christ Jesus, there is "a new creation," — a new creation within, a new creation without, — a new creation already in part accomplished, but waiting its blessed consummation when the great Creator returns in glory to complete His handiwork within and without, in soul and in body, in heaven and in earth.
First then let us see what is meant by being " in Christ " ; then let us look at the new creation which the man in Christ discovers within him, and finally at the new creation which he finds all around him.
I
In Christ.
No words of Scripture, if we except these: "God manifest in the flesh," hold within themselves a deeper mystery than this simple formula of the Christian life, " in Christ." Indeed, God's taking upon Himself humanity, and yet remaining God, is hardly more inexplicable to human thought than man's becoming a " partaker of the divine nature," and yet remaining man. Both are of those secret things which belong wholly unto God. Yet, great as is the mystery of these words, they are the key to the whole system of doctrinal mysteries. Like the famous Eosetta stone, itself a partial hieroglyph, and thereby furnishing the long-sought clue to the Egyptian hieroglyphics, these words, by their very mystery, unlock all mysteries of the Divine life, letting us into secrets that were "hidden from ages and from generations."
The words " in Christ " or " in Jesus Christ " occur fifty-five times in the New Testament. Fifty -four of these occasions are in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul ; the fifty-fifth is in a benediction in the First Epistle of St. Peter, which is clearly influenced by St. Paul's custom. These figures are not to be dismissed as mere statistics. If a straw shows which way the wind blows, statistics