Friday: But a New Creation
WEEK 36
FRIDAY
BUT A NEW CREATION
Matthew15:10-20
We saw yesterday how Jesus got rid of the obsolete old by rescuing any good that lay in it and fulfilling it. The old dropped away.
He got rid of the Old Testament as a final revelation by inspiring people to write a New Testament. In the light of the New, the Old was seen to be only a preparation for this glorious New. He didn’t destroy it; he fulfilled it.
He got rid of clean and unclean food by a simple statement, “It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person” (Matthew 15:11). What comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and that is where the contamination is. The simple transference from the ceremonial to the moral made the whole system of clean and unclean irrelevant. It faded out.
He got rid of the rite of circumcision as the distinguishing mark of belonging to the people of God by making it to be of the heart, resulting in changed character and life. He inspired Paul to put it in these words, “Being circumcised or not being circumcised doesn’t mean anything. What matters is a new creation” (Gal 6:15). Not the ceremonial putting off of the old but the putting on of the morally new—a new creation—that was the important thing.
This could be brought up-to-date and applied to our situation by the fact that, just as circumcision was the outward sign of a Jew, so baptism by water is now the outward sign of a Christian. In doing so, have we substituted a new legalism for the old? A new outwardism for the old outwardism? Yes, unless we take baptism for what it is—a rite that may lead you to the Redeemer. But if it stops you at itself and makes itself the issue, it is not beautiful; it is idolatry. You are not saved by a rite; you are saved by a Redeemer. So this passage could be translated, “Being baptized or not being baptized doesn’t mean anything. What matters is a new creation.” Cornelius and his group received the Holy Spirit before baptism, the people of Ephesus after. None at. That is important—very.
O Jesus, we thank you for baptism, but we thank you more that it is in your name; it leads us to your feet. You are the end and therefore the issue. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I shall illustrate the new creation in all my acts and thoughts, and witness to it.