Yeserday's sermon at D+1 got me thinking - and that's a good thing!  The preacher was focussing on the theme of reconciliation as the heart of the gospel, and using 2 Corinthians 5:17 as a central text which is, in Greek, ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινά·

This is important, because the dear old NIV, like any Bible, uses interpretation alongside translation, in its rendering of these words.  The NIV version says 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!'  The NIVi says 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!'  This is a more precise translation of the Greek and has a very different meaning - which I was pondering long before the preacher got there!  This morning I was reminded that καινὴ κτίσις is actually feminine language but I won't pursue that one!!

So, a very literal translation would probably be 'if anyone (or anything) is in Christ, there is a new creation...' which is pretty mind blowing stuff.  It is as if each time someone comes to faith (by event or process) creation (all of it) is renewed and not just that person's immortal soul.  Wow!  That will keep me thinking for a very long time.

The sermon spoke of reconciliation in three directions - personal with God, corporate within the faith community, global/universal with the whole of creation.  That's worth a lot of pondering too.