A new creature
In some Bible versions, the underlined portion in our opening verse is rendered “a new creation.†It’s however better rendered in the King James as “a new creature.†Why? It’s because the emphasis isn’t on the creation of the new man in Christ; rather, it’s on the being; he’s a new creature, a new species that never existed before.
It’s like seeing a strange animal pass by and you wonder, “What kind of creature was that? You couldn’t really make out what it was; it wasn’t like anything you’ve ever seen. When you’re born again, that’s what it is. Recall the words of Jesus in John 3:8 as He discussed the subject of being born again. He said, “
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.â€You’re a different type of being.
Something actually transpired in the realm of the spirit when you were born again: your human life with which you came from your mother and father was supplanted by the divine life:
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life†(1 John 5:13 NIV). This is the reality. It’s an actual birth, a true recreation of the human spirit.
The Bible says, “
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures†(James 1:18).See yourself the way God sees you. You’re peculiar, royal, excellent and full of glory. You’re the only one of you that God has ever had and will ever have.
