Daily Manna · Day 253 · September 10
New Creatures in Christ
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
The hour before dawn is the coldest and greyest part of the night. It is also the hour when nothing looks ready to change. The field looks the same as it did yesterday, and the fence is still lying where it fell.
Paul's words reach back further than most people hear. "New creature" is creation language, the language of Genesis, where God first made all things. Paul has set it up one verse earlier: "henceforth know we no man after the flesh." He is talking about how a person in Christ should now be seen. Such a person has not merely been patched up or turned into a better copy of the old self. The old self is no longer the thing that names you. Notice also what Paul does not claim. He never promises your habits will be gone by Tuesday, or that every consequence has been lifted. When the sun comes up, it does not dry the mud out of the field all at once.
What the light does is change which day the field belongs to. It is a new day, and that day has a new name on it. So the work in front of you is the work of a morning, done in daylight, with the night behind you.
Do one thing today that your old self would not have done. Make the call you would have kept avoiding. A small step is fine, because you are taking it in daylight.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 253 is Anguish of Spirit (Exodus 6:9).