Emphasis Preaching Journal

"... If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" As believers, we live in the tension between the "already accomplished" and the "not yet." Yes, Christ died for all, and we are saved through faith in him. Still, the new selves and the creation we are promised are waiting to be fulfilled. Verse 4 of Charles Wesley's hymn, "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," describes the longing we sometimes feel:

Finish then thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be;