To Encourage You

Romans 6:4 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Do you like new things, fresh things, brand-spanking new, with that “new smell”?  Interesting that the Christian life is described as a life of “newness.”  This is spoken of in contrast to the dead ways of the old life before a person becomes a believer.  From the moment one is born into this world he or she begins a slow but sure process to death.  It’s inevitable.  Signs of it are everywhere in our life.  Weakness, weariness, scars, and all the diseases that we are subject to plague our lives although we constantly fight against them.  We do it with exercise, we watch what we eat, or we try to be careful – putting on sunscreen when we go outside.  We watch both ways when we pull into an intersection, because there is always danger to avoid as we drive around in our cars (that were once new – or at least, newer – but which, like us, inevitably become rusty, worn out, broken down, and old). 

So, what about this newness that is spoken about in the Bible?  Well for one, there is a new life.  What we were before we knew Christ is now changed.  Now, while we are marching toward physical death just like everyone else, at the same time we are looking forward to the blessedness of eternal life, which we now possess but which we will experience in its fullest extent at the moment we pass from this life.  We also have new desires.  What we saw as so valuable before, we, like Paul, now view as comparatively worthless, no better than manure or garbage (Philippians 3:8).  We have a totally new value system, as we slowly but surely gain a day by day new appreciation of the glory of Jesus, His word, and His people.  Each day for the believer is a new day to grow in our knowledge of Him.   His truth cleanses and refreshes our hearts with new knowledge, new hope, and new joy.  His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). 

When  a person is born again, born anew as it were, he or she suddenly has a new King (Matthew 6:24), a new family (Matthew 19:29), a new country (Hebrews 11:16), new clothes (i.e., robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), and feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15)), a new heart (Ezekiel 18:31), a new song in our heart (Psalm 40:3),  a new name (Isaiah 62:2, Revelation 2:17)), a new spirit (Ezekiel 11:19),  a new tongue (Mark 16:17), a new way of living (Hebrews 10:20), and some day we will experience a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 66:22). 

In contrast, the unbeliever finds that “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).   Without Christ, what one has to look forward to is a worn-out body, loss of all possessions, a worn-out earth, and the monotony of an eternity with nothing new, ever – just a repetition of pain, loss, and regret day after day after day. 

So What about you?  As we are told in 2 Corinthians 5 above, “the old has passed away and the new has come” for the believer.  If you want the “new” in your life, all you have to do is ask the only One who can give it, the One who died that you might walk in newness of life.