17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 2 Co 5:17.
I’ve heard many illustrations about the “old” passing away and all things being new in Christ. The most recent illustration that I heard from Adrian Rogers may be my favorite. I don’t know if this is his own or borrowed from someone else but it illustrates the old to new life transition in a way that totaly makes sense to me.
Imagine a tree full of leaves. When fall comes the leaves don’t want to turn loose. Even though they have turned brown and withered, they refuse to let go. You might think that you could simply pluck and pull the old leaves in the spring but you would never get them all. God’s design takes care of. When the new leaves come they push the old leaves off. Every where there is new life the old is driven away.
God works from the inside out. Growth cannot begin until one is born again. After this new birth in Christ Jesus, the growth begins from the inside and pushes away the old. Reverend Rogers says that we must “reckon” the old life to be dead and allow the new life to be fed by the Holy Spirit.