Mar 09, 2018 Words of Grace – Always New
“If then you have been raised with Christ…put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:1,10
Has anyone ever asked you how new you are?
The fact that everything is getting older is reflected in the way we ask questions. How old are you? How old is your house and your car? How old are these leftovers in the refrigerator? People ask me all time how old our church is.
Christians and congregations are always new. That’s because by faith in Christ we have union with him. We have died with him on the cross to sin and its condemning power in our lives, and we have been raised with him to new life with power to live for God’s glory. With Christ we are never old, always new, and ever being renewed.
Sure, some things are getting older, and wasting away. Recently someone pointed out to me that my face is more wrinkled these days. The loss of collagen is a surface sign of the more significant issue of aging. But this aging body will be resurrected and renewed. And when the Apostle Paul wrote that, “our outer self is wasting away, but our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16), he was referring to more than the physical body. He envisioned the old self and all it includes passing away as the new self, in a new body, is made new and being renewed.
For the Christian, we are new and being renewed as we get older. It is newness, not oldness, that characterizes our life in Christ.
As those who are always new in Christ, we share newness with each other in the church. Congregations are places where new people gather for the glory of Christ, for the pursuit of new priorities and practices, and for a witness in our communities that Christ makes all things new and calls people to walk in the new and living way.
This may sound like an old message. That’s because it’s the same one handed down to us by God through the prophets and apostles who gave us the Bible. But to the ears of faith this message sounds new every morning.
Have you repented of your sin and placed your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness and reconciliation to God? When you do, you will be made new.
Are you pursuing the new priorities and practices of the new life you have in Christ? You have been made new for this purpose.
Today, how can you bring newness to your work, your place of service, and the relationships you share with people?
This weekend, read Colossians 3 and ask the Lord to help you live the life that is always new.
-Scott