A new eye

(Thomas Watson, "A New Creature")

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

The new creature is new all over. Grace, though it is 
but in part—yet it is in every part. Not a new ear or 
a new tongue—but a new man; there are . . .
  new dispositions, 
  new principles,
  new aims, 
  "all things are become new!"

In the new creature, there is a new UNDERSTANDING. 
The first thing an artist draws in a portrait, is the eye. 
When God newly draws us and makes us new creatures, 
the first thing He draws in our souls is a new eye. The 
new creature is enlightened to see that which he
never saw before! 

He knows Christ after another manner. An unconverted 
man, by the light of common grace, may believe Christ 
to be the Son of God. But the new creature knows Christ
after another manner—so as . . .
  to esteem Him above all, 
  to adore Him,
  to touch Him by faith,
  to fetch a healing virtue from Him!

The new creature knows himself better than he did. 
When the sun shines into a room—it reveals all the dust 
and cobwebs in it. Just so, when the light of the Spirit 
shines into the heart—this reveals that corruption which 
before lay hidden; it shows a man his own vileness and 
nothingness! "Behold, I am vile!" Job 40:4

A wicked man, blinded with self-love, admires himself.
He is like Narcissus who, seeing his own reflection in 
the water—fell in love with it. 

Saving knowledge works self-abasement. Has this 
day-star of knowledge shined on your mind?


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