Knowing The Word in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, A New Creation

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Believers must not regard anyone in the same way as they did when they were not in Christ. Knowing Christ according to the flesh might mean 1) evaluating him from a purely human point of view, which means he was a failure in regard to the expectation of the messiah as a warrior king; 2) knowing him according to worldly standards, or 3) knowing him from outward appearance, which I believe is probably the best understanding per the suffering servant of Isaiah 53:2-3. Paul is again pointing to the fact that the Corinthian converts were still looking at people from a worldly perspective and through their social lenses. If a person is in Christ, not only does one’s worldview change, but one realizes the world itself has changed as a result of Christ’s death and resurrection. There is no business as usual any longer. The point being that the Corinthians should stop evaluating Christ and others by worldly standards.

O Holy and ever-blessed Lord, teach us, we beseech thee, to love one another, to exercise forbearance and forgiveness towards our enemies; to recompense no man evil for evil, but to be merciful even as thou, our Father in heaven, art merciful: that so we may continually follow after thee in all our doings, and be more and more conformed to thine image and likeness.

New Church Book of Worship, 1876