“It’s Not Just a New Year”
Ephesians 4:20-24
“That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when
you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that
is in Jesus. 22 You
were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self,
which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new
self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians
1:9-10
“Do not lie to each other, since you
have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and
have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
As I contemplated what message I could
bring for the new year,..the scripture from the Book of Revelations 21:5 kept
coming to my mind; “Behold! I am making all things new.” When I can’t get a certain scripture out of
my head, I have come to know that it usually leads to a message.
There are many references to “new” things
in God’s Word. It speaks of a “new heart”, a “new life”, a “new mind and
spirit”, a “new covenant”, a “new command”, a “new heaven and earth”, and when
we get there, the Bible tells us we will get a “new name”! In the coming days I
will be looking at these “new” things which are offered in God’s Word, and what
they mean to us today.
A soap maker, who was not saved, walked
along the road with a preacher one day. He said to the preacher; “This gospel
you preach doesn’t seem to have done much good…there is still a lot of sin and
wickedness in the world”. The preacher just nodded, and they quietly walked on.
Then they passed a dirty little child making mud pies in the gutter…With this,
the preacher spoke up; “Soap has not seemed to have done a lot of good in the
world either. There is still a lot of dirt in the world and still a lot of dirty
people.”…”Well”, said the soap maker, “Soap is only useful when it is
applied!”…To which the preacher just nodded…
Many people are trying to figure out what
this “Christian” thing, this “Christian walk”, this “Born Again” experience is
all about. It would seem that there are many who claim to be spiritual; who
claim to have a relationship with God; who claim to be saved; they even attend
church regularly…yet, there is nothing “new” in their lives. There doesn’t seem
to be any demonstration of what God’s Word says is the evidence of being a
Christian…It’s simple really, Hopefully, when you get out of the tub, you are
clean…because you have applied soap. But, what kind of person would you be if
you “attended” tub once a week…you knew a lot about tub and even had a
knowledge of water and soap…you know the “cleansing trinity”…Tub, Soap, and
Water?…. So, you attend tub, you
know all about tub, but you just
can’t pull yourself to apply anything!…And, the preacher just nodded….
"Behold, I am making all things new!"
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