2 Corinthians 5:17
We are all in this today. That is the world’s present-day slogan. The pandemic, that we as an individual in our respective country, and the world is experiencing right now, is our new normal. Our new normal is abnormal because this is not our way of life. And we had that approximately two months ago. Another expression for this situation is “culture shock.” Right now, we cannot just be near anybody below six feet. We cannot hug or even shake hands with one another because of this virus. We have to cover our faces if we go out in public. It’s uncomfortable. We cannot even assemble as a church, and therefore utilize the technology that is available to continue our fellowship with one another in spirit. The world right now is dying to go back to the old normal way of life. I’m pretty sure you like it. I like it, my president wants it pretty badly, and the whole world wants it. I can understand that, and I would say it’s not bad to go back to our old normal. That is an acceptable desire for our physical life here on earth.
But if I’m going to consider the seventeenth verse of 2 Corinthians 5, which talks about man’s spiritual condition after believing Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, it’s a bad idea to go back to the old normal. We should stay in our new normal as Christians. As the verse says, “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” It means something was changed totally in us-spiritually. What was changed? Before, we are dead spiritually because of sin, but now that you are “in Christ,” you are now alive spiritually. You are born again from above (John 3:1-3). You are now a Christian and a follower of Christ. That is now our new situation. It is not business as usual anymore. We have a new agenda in life. The same Paul who wrote to the Corinthians said to the Roman believers, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Based on these verses, our new normal is to present ourselves as living sacrifices that are acceptable to God. Our new normal is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Paul said that we should not go back to the old normal by conforming to the pattern of this world. That is a clear instruction from God through Paul, and we do not argue about that.
So maybe you’re asking me at the back of your mind this question; “Is it possible that even though we are brand new people from the inside, we will still go back and live in the old normal?” My answer is yes! The same Paul, who wrote these instructions to the believers, was the same Paul, who acknowledges that he was struggling because he is kind of going back to the old normal. See Romans 7:14-25 (please diligently read the passage). The reason why we are still capable of going back to our old normal is that we are still in the flesh. Paul said in verse 14b, “. . . but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” That is the normal tendency of our old self. That is the part of us that wanted to dissent and be independent of God. So, since we are still in the flesh, you might be asking at the back of your mind again, “how can we be free from this struggle of staying in our new normal and being dragged to our old normal?” That’s a good question because that was Paul’s question too. He said in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” I’m glad he answered that question in verse 25, which says, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Our victory is always in Jesus Christ. We cannot deal with it in our strength and capabilities.
There is one thing I would like to remind you. While we are still living here on earth, there will always be an effort from the enemy, Satan, to use our fleshly desires to bring us back to our old normal. Don’t be surprised anymore because that would be a lifetime state. The encouragement for all of us who are in Christ is to abide in Him and His Word. With that, you are strengthening your new normal in Christ by allowing His power to give you the victory.
