Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2CO 5:17
18 Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Berakhot 13a:1
not that the name Jacob will be entirely uprooted from its place, but that the name Israel will be the primary name to which the name Jacob will be secondary, as the law continues to refer to him as Jacob after this event. And it also says that the ultimate redemption will overshadow the previous redemption in the verse: “Remember not the former events, nor consider things of old” (Isa 43:18), and the Gemara explains: “Remember not the former events,” that is the subjugation to the kingdoms, nor “consider things of old,” that is the exodus from Egypt, which occurred before the subjugation to the nations.
Rashi
Remember not the former things—These miracles that I mention to you, that I performed in Egypt do not remember them from now on, for you shall be engaged in this redemption, to thank and to praise.
Nor consider—Nor ponder about them; nor pay attention to them.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. ISA 43:18-19
A new creation. A fresh start. For all of us who have ever wished we could start over, this is good news. However, before we can really appreciate this good news, we need to understand exactly why we need to start over. Why do we need to become a new creation? Why do we need salvation?
The problem: Separation because of our sin
There is an immeasurable gap separating God and man. The cause of this eternal separation between God and man is sin.
Have you ever felt distant from God? We all have. Feeling far from God is very common. Many who sense this vast separation suppose that if they meditate harder, learn more about their religion, or just step into a religious sanctuary, they would be closer to God. But since our separation from God is not physical or intellectual, neither meditation nor knowledge can bring us any closer to God. What causes the separation between God and man?
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
Rashi
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened—Your failure to be delivered is not due to the shortness of my hand.
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear. ISA 59:1-2
Rashi
Have hidden his face—They caused for you that he hid his face from you.
Sanhedrin 65b:15
And when Rabbi Akiva would arrive at this verse he would weep and say: If one who starves himself so that a spirit of impurity will settle upon him succeeds in doing so, and a spirit of impurity settles upon him, all the more so one who starves himself so that a spirit of purity will settle upon him should be successful, and a spirit of purity should settle upon him. But what can I do, as our iniquities have caused us not to merit the spirit of sanctity and purity, as it is stated: “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isa 59:2).
The separation between God and man is a moral separation. God is holy; man is not. God is good; man is not. God is just; man is not. All men have sinned; therefore, all are eternally separated from God. All will suffer the consequences of sin, which is eternal death.
. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . ROM 3:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ROM 6:23
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. ISA 3:11
Rashi
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him—For he is bad to himself and to others; he brings about harm to himself and to others. This is found in Tanchuma (Emor 5). This verse refers back to:Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them and woe is to the wicked! It shall be ill with him.
The solution: God’s sacrifice and substitution
The justice of God demands a sacrifice for man’s sin. Jesus Christ became that sacrifice and paid the penalty for our sin at the cross.
Since God is holy, righteous, and just, He could not allow sin to go unpunished. Since He is loving and compassionate, He did not want all of mankind to be eternally separated from Him. The divine solution to this problem was for Jesus, God’s only Son, to become the sacrifice for sin.
26 . . . for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. HEB 9:26-28
What exactly happened on the cross? Through His death on the cross, Jesus took our place and our punishment. He exchanged His righteousness for our sin. He took our curse and gave us His blessings. Because of His sinless life, Jesus was the only one qualified to pay the penalty for man’s sin and to bridge the gap between God and man.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2CO 5:21
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” . . . GAL 3:13
John Gill
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law—The Redeemer is Christ, the Son of God; who was appointed and called to this work by his Father, and which he himself agreed to; he was spoken of in prophecy under this character; he came as such, and has obtained eternal redemption, for which he was abundantly qualified; as man, he was a near kinsman, to whom the right of redemption belonged; and as God, he was able to accomplish it. The persons redeemed are “us,” God’s elect, both of Jews and Gentiles; a peculiar people, the people of Christ, whom the Father gave to him; some out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation: the blessing obtained for them is redemption; a buying of them again, as the word signifies; they were his before by the Father’s gift, and now he purchases them with the price of his own blood, and so delivers them “from the curse of the law”; its sentence of condemnation and death, and the execution of it; so that they shall never be hurt by it, he having delivered them from wrath to come, and redeemed from the second death, the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. The manner in which this was done was by
Becoming a curse for us—The sense of which is, not only that he was like an accursed person, looked upon as such by the men of that wicked generation, who hid and turned away their faces from as an abominable execrable person, calling him a sinner, a Samaritan, and a devil; but was even accursed by the law; becoming the surety of his people, he was made under the law, stood in their legal place and stead and having the sins of them all imputed to him, and answerable for them, the law finding them on him, charges him with them, and curses him for them; yea, he was treated as such by the justice of God, even by his Father, who spared him not, awoke the sword of justice against him, and gave him up into his hands; delivered him up to death, even the accursed death of the cross, whereby it appeared that he was becoming a curse: “becoming,” by the will, counsel, and determination of God, and not without his own will and free consent; for he freely laid down his life, and gave himself, and made his soul an offering for sin:
For it is written—Deu 21:23,
Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree—It is in the Hebrew text, “a hanged man”: which is the very name the Jews.
The result: Our salvation and reconciliation
Christ died on the cross so that we could receive forgiveness for our sins, be reconciled to God, and have eternal life.
We have all sinned against a holy and righteous God. The penalty for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. God is just and must punish sin. He is also loving and does not want us to go to hell forever. Therefore, he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for sin by dying on the cross. Because of his sinless life, death could not hold Jesus. He was raised from the dead on the third day. In Christ, we experience forgiveness for our sins and eternal life. In him we are restored to right standing before God and given new life as his children.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. JOH 3:16
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace . . . EPH 1:7
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. EPH 2:13
The response: Receive God’s gift by faith
We receive salvation when we stop trusting in ourselves and put our trust in what Christ did for us.
Our salvation is a result of God’s grace. It is based on what Jesus did for us on the cross. It has nothing to do with what we do for him. We cannot save ourselves or earn God’s approval through the good works we do. We are saved by God’s grace when we realize our need for a Savior, turn from sin, and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, putting our trust in him alone for salvation.
9 . . . because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ROM 10:9-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. MAR 16:16
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, MAT 28:19
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. JOH 5:24
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. EPH 2:8-9