In this passage, Paul is expressing to us what it means to be a Christian.  Because of the death and resurrection of CHRIST, and our identification with Him by faith, we can become a new creation.  However, this is a process that begins with salvation and is fulfilled when we pass from this life to the eternal life.  You could say that we place our hope and assurance in the completion of this process.  

   Our relationship with CHRIST affects every aspect of our life.  Therefore, our old habits, our old thought processes, our old automatic actions or reactions are changed little by little as we draw closer to CHRIST and as we let Him into our life.  The word new means unused, fresh, novel.  This speaks of form of change that comes into our life that literally sweeps out the old and makes room for the new!  

   When our children left home, I suddenly had all these rooms with old things that I didn¹t need or want anymore.  My husband and I cleaned out the rooms, painted them, and then made them into completely different rooms.  One became a sitting room, one a guest room and so on.  This gave them a fresh look, an old room became new!  Each of us has a room in our heart filled with old things that CHRIST wants to cleanse and freshen up.  If we have an open heart before GOD than we will be able to let go of the old ways and receive the freshness of CHRIST in our life. I know this is an ongoing process.  Join with me today, with an open heart before GOD, and let Him cleanse your inner house!