Second chances. Mulligans. Do-overs. Don’t we all appreciate another opportunity to get things right? When Adam bit into that apple, and sin entered the world, we were sentenced to live in a world outside of God’s favour. (Genesis 3:17-19) Thankfully through Christ we have a second chance. (John 3:16)
II Corinthians 5:16-17 tells us that when we accept Christ we become a new creation. That doesn’t mean that we suddenly become perfect; it means that we have a new position as children of God. We still have to work on all the old issues in our lives, but God is a god of second chances. He forgives us for the things that we haven’t got right yet, and He is working on us, helping us to become more like Christ.
Verse 17 is a general view of what verse 16 tells us more specifically. Just as we have become a new creation, when we are in Christ we no longer see people according to their human qualities—race, gender, nationality, etc. Now we see them as we are, a person for whom Christ gave His life. God gives us the grace to see that person with spiritual eyes.
Before Paul met Christ (and his name was still Saul), he judged Christ on what he had heard about Him. He saw Christ as a contradiction of all the religious laws that he followed so strictly. Then Paul met Christ on the road to Damascus, (Acts 9:1-22) and his views changed. He began to see Christ, and subsequently humans, whether Jews or Gentiles, differently.
The world judges you based on your past. God judges you based on your future. The world judges you based on what you have done. God judges you based on what you can, and what He knows you will, become. Let’s do our best to see others through God’s eyes.