2 Corinthians 5:17:  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The context of this Gem is the Apostle Paul telling the Corinthians that it is love for Christ that compels Christ’s believers.  This love compels them to maintain the new focus of their lives; their focus on Christ.  Paul underscores that this compelling love comes from recognizing that Christ died to make people spiritually alive:  2 Corinthians 5:14-15  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:  ¹⁵And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Paul describes this new focus as no longer living for oneself; but instead living for Christ.  This change is so dramatic, so foundational, so all encompassing in a person’s life that Paul labels it as being made a “new creature”.  When Heavenly Father creates such a new creature the change is so profound that Paul pictures the person’s old way of life as having “passed away”.  A lump of coal has been transformed into a radiant diamond.  A person dead in sin has been remade into a new creature; a creature that is alive in Christ.  This is the ultimate “before and after” picture.  Before: A person driven by self interest and on the road to destruction.  After: This person is now on the Narrow path and is driven by an overwhelming love for the One who is the author of this change of venue.