If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! -2 Corinthians 5:17
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul provides some beautiful words of hope to a church living with uncertainty and fear. The earliest Christians were a tiny minority in an expansive Empire. There were so few of them, that the Romans just saw them as another Jewish sect. And Rome didn’t like the Jews very much.
At the time that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. He is infamous for being impulsive and tyrannical. Tradition has it that he set Rome afire in order to make space to rebuild according to his own design then blamed the Christians for starting the fire, which led to terrible persecution. Christians living in his empire had good reason to be afraid. (For some good historical fiction on this time period, I recommend the classic film Quo Vadis starring Deborah Kerr and Robert Taylor).
And yet, it was also during that same time that many Gentiles became Christians. In that time of uncertainty and fear, people longed for the certainty and security of Christ. This is the gospel that Paul preached and wrote from the road and from prison cells right up until his death. The fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians, opens with the words, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
This was very good news to people living under the authority of a fickle and selfish man, but Paul also wrote that the gospel is actually much bigger than that. We don’t have to wait until this life ends for eternity with God to begin. Our eternity with God begins at the moment of our baptism, when we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Even as we go about our daily lives, we are also filled and surrounded by the peace and love of God Almighty. Paul wrote, “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
We are invited to be brave and strong and loving no matter what is happening around us. We are empowered to be Christ in a world longing for hope. Verse seven of this passage says, “for we walk by faith and not by sight.” That is my prayer for 2026 – that I will walk by faith and not by sight.
As we walk into this next year, we have all seen some things, but faith tells us that God is at work. We can hold onto the hope that is in Christ Jesus that everything old is passing away and everything has become new! Amen
