What's "New" ?

What’s new?  This mundane question is asked everywhere, around the world, on a daily basis. In the broadest sense, the asker is seeking to catch up with what has been going on in the askee’s life.  Have there been any changes in employment, health, relationships etc.  Polite chit-chat will ensue.  Today I want to explore this query on a deeper level.  What is “new”, with the emphasis on the word new.  Recently I overheard two men discussing what “new” meant when applied to their personal life in Christ.  These guys had been born,  raised and baptized, as babies, in a church where the doctrine of an adult renewal point had never been mentioned,  until someone had posed the question to them.  At a loss for explanation, the best they could up with was the fact that they had been members, (fill in the denomination),  for all their lives.  The notion of a new relationship did not compute. Stop me if I’m wrong, but when we get something new, whether it’s a haircut, baby, car or house it’s noticeable!  The new thing makes a difference in your life, so much so that it’s visible to those around you. Jesus makes it very clear in scripture that indeed a new creature is formed when we believe in him, accept who he is, and ask him into our lives.   We are reborn, brand new!!  I’ve heard it said that God doesn’t have any grandchildren.  How true that is. Each one of us enters his kingdom, as adopted children, on our own. New life in Christ does not pass down to us through our parents. When did your new life begin?  “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:17