Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17
It’s a person theory, but all the trouble in Christendom stems from what this verse is talking about. Here the Apostle Paul is talking Old Creation and New Creation, but he has other ways of talking the same thing. The Kingdom which is passing away and the Kingdom Come. The Old Adam and the New Man. And there are many others. The way that it fixes in my mind is actually from John. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared (1 Jn. 3:2 ESV).” – the now and the not yet. Now we can already claim the resurrection. Now the promises are all fulfilled in Christ. But stubbornly some of them are not yet ours by sight. They are ours by faith.
If you are within the church we all wish that we were now perfect. There is an expectation that if we are not part of the Kingdom things should be smooth. So when minor disagreements crop up, not even mentioning gross sins, how is this place the Kingdom is a natural question. That fact that the church now is the gathering of sinners, forgiven by Christ, but still dealing with the Old Adam is often forgotten. Yes, the new has come, but the old is still passing away. Daily the old Adam must be drowned.
Externally the church now still deals with the old creation. And the Old Creation recognizes the church for what it is, the Omaha Beach of the New Creation, the place where now the Kingdom Comes, if not yet in full power. Now the church forgives sins. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).” And that reconciliation comes through the proclamation. Now, your sins are forgiven. “As a called and ordain servant of the world, I pronounce the grace of God onto all of you.” Not yet have we been made perfect. Not yet does the truth of that proclamation shine forth to all who hear it. The Prince of this Old World knows it and now fights hard against. But the residents of it? Not yet have all seen the way, the truth and the life.
Living in the overlapping of the now and the not yet is constantly frustrating. Not only in dealing with others both inside and outside of the church. The most frustrating part is when that now and not yet are within ourselves. Now we know what we should do, but we do not yet do it. Not yet have we mortified the flesh, because now sin still lives in our members. We often find we are at war with our very selves. We are the new creation, but the old hangs around. And the fact of the old hanging around, if we are wise, prevents us from claiming and acting on the now, when what we are desiring is not yet. If we are foolish we plunge ahead only to find ourselves worse than the starting point. The law has not been put away, and not a jot or tittle will disappear until the fulness of the Kingdom.
The now and the not yet is the right division of the law and the gospel. Now the gospel comes to us in word and promise. The not yet becomes the now by faith. But the day comes when that Kingdom will come in power. But the power is not yet. Now it comes in poorer form. A message of reconciliation. A rumor of resurrection. “God making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20).” And we implore you, be reconciled to Christ, now. Trust the Word.