Our New Beginning In Christ
2Cor
5:17 (KJV) Therefore
if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.
As New Year’s Day approaches, we all have a
tendency to reflect upon the events that have taken place in the previous year. At the same time, we find ourselves turning our
attention to the many worldly opportunities that the coming year may hold for us.
It is during this time of celebration that we attempt to place
our past behind us and receive a wonderful eternity filled with great hope and
blessings
Although this earthly experience of a new beginning
is profitable, there is an even greater time of new beginnings that is offered
to us in the pages of the Bible. This is
not a temporal “new beginning” that must be experienced on a yearly basis, but
it is a one-time spiritual type of new beginning that permanently places our
past behind us and opens us a future that is filled with unending hope, peace,
security and victory.
I would like us to look at this wonderful time of
“new beginnings” that is graciously offered to us through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We find this teaching summarized in 2 Cor 5:17…
“Therefore if any man
[be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature:…”
In our text, we can see
that this new beginning is described as becoming “a new creature”. This helps us to understand that this new
beginning is so complete it is as if we have been remade, or “born again”.
This new birth is not a
physical rebirth, but it is a spiritual rebirth brought about through the
intervention of God through the Holy Spirit’s application of the Word of God
(John 3:3-7, 1 Pet 1:21-23). The path
to this new birth is good news that finds its origin in heaven (1 Cor 15:1-9). This good news is the central theme of the
entire Bible, which clearly explains that:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ
came to the earth and, motivated by love for His people, willingly died on the
cross. As He died, Jesus was the sinless
substitute, bearing the sin and the judgment that was meant for His people. (Rom
5:6-8, Gal 1:3-5, 1 Pet 2:21-24, 1 Pet 3:18)
2. The Lord’s body was then buried in the tomb
for three days and three nights while His spirit wen to heaven (paradise) to be
with the Father. (Matt 12:40, Matt
27:57-66, Luke 23:43)
3. Following the three day and three night time
period, Jesus’s spirit re-entered His body. He came out of the grave and displayed
to all that He was victor over sin and death. (Luke 24:1-8, Rom 1:4, Rom 6:9,
Eph 2:6)
4. Multiple witnesses saw the resurrected Christ,
giving us undisputable proof that this resurrection took place (1 Cor 15:5-9,
John 20:19-26 etc etc). All of this
gives us assurance that the Biblical account of Christ and His work on our
behalf can be trusted and unquestioningly applied to our lives.
As we close today’s
devotional, let me speak particularly to those who have never received this new
birth and the new beginning that it entails... the need in your life is
self-evident.
The Lord of all the
heaven and earth has been very good and gracious to us all. The rain that falls upon our heads; the food
we have to eat; our physical existence and the life that we enjoy; our families;
our friends; and our health are all undeserved gifts that He gives to each one
of us. Because of this He deserves our
honor, praise and obedience.
Sadly, all of us have
failed to give Him what He deserves. He gave
us instructions to live by, instructions which would allow us to live lives of
prosperity and enjoyment. All of us
failed to follow those instructions… we have all sinned against Him. We have withheld from Him what He deserves…
our complete and total dedication to Him.
We have placed ourselves in a horrible position of rebellion against the
very One who has loved and cared for us unconditionally.
So, what can be done? How can we be delivered from this horrible
condition into which we have placed ourselves?
1. The Bible tells us we must understand our
great need of Him and the great failures that we have committed. In other words, we must change how we look at
ourselves and Jesus. We must see
ourselves as He sees us, rebellious, indebted creatures who are unable to
obtain salvation through our own merit.
We must see Him as He
is, our Saviour and the Master of our lives. This can only be accomplished by
believing what the Bible says about His person and the work that He performed
on our behalf.
2. And then, by turning away from the many
failures of our attitudes and actions, we come to Christ in an attitude of trust
and submission. It is only then that we can find rest for our souls.
This is the call of the
gospel message. This is the revealed will of God for your life. This is the
great path that leads to salvation, forgiveness and a new beginning in
Christ.
May the
Lord bless us as we “Think On These Things”.
SIH Homepage: http://www.settledinheaven.org
SIH
Text Blog: http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/all-about-salvation/
SIH
Video Blog: http://youtube.com/settledinheaven/
SIH
Email: settledinheaven@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment