I opened my closet, and I was shocked! My closet had come to look more like a jungle than an organized storage space for my clothes. I know, I know, it’s time to purge. Can you relate?
It’s beyond me to know why it is that I hold onto things so long. For example: In the process of my purging, I ran across this red print skirt and top that had been hiding in my closet for at least 20 years. I can hear you laughing from here. Now guess what? With a few alterations, it could be back in style. Yay! The problem is that the top is a little tight at the bottom, and the skirt is way too big. It just doesn’t fit anymore. Since I absolutely love the print, I see this as a gift. The value of this outfit depends on if it can be updated and given a new life. I believe it can; plus, I know from experience, that whenever I carve a little time out of my life to do something creative, it really lifts my spirit.
We’ve all heard the expression, “Everything old is made new again.” Trends and fashion tend to repeat themselves. Check it out, bell-bottoms and peasant tops are creeping back in style, but I digress.
The Bible tells us when we come to Christ, we become new, we are born again. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old things passed away, behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Some of you may have missed the powerful truth and its implications that are found in this verse. When we become believers in Christ, we are made brand new, completely new, not partly new; brand new. It says in 1 Corinthians 6:11, “…But you were washed (cleansed of all of your sins), but you were sanctified (set apart as holy), but you were justified (made righteous) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
A Great Exchange was made for you at the cross. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
The lyrics in the chorus of “Only Grace” by Matthew West say this so well…
There’s only grace
There’s only love
There’s only mercy
And believe me it’s enough
Your sins are gone without a trace
There’s nothing left now
There’s only grace
Now, I am not naïve, it only took a few alterations to make my new red dress, and it took an amazing act of God’s grace to make you a new creation. Nevertheless, you were changed forever. As a matter of fact, at the moment that you believed, God changed you from a sinner to a saint in the blink of an eye. Since the moment you were created in your mother’s womb, God has been pursuing you and waiting patiently for you to believe in him and become a part of his family.
Pam Farrell states in her book, “Woman of Influence,” (InterVarsity Press 2006), “Jesus does not define us by our sin. When we come to him, we are made new creations. God sees us clothed in Christ’s righteousness. Jesus doesn’t manipulate us with our sin. He doesn’t hang it over our head or stab us in the back with it. He gives us a clean slate. He frees us to grow into all he designed us to be.” He gives us his grace and changes us from the inside-out. Just as a father has compassion on his children and due to his loving kindness, he has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:10-13) He is merciful to us and remembers our sins no more. (Heb. 8:12)
“One myth that we might believe about our righteousness is that our lives are just too messy to be an expression of true righteousness. We believe that no matter how many alterations are made to us, we will never be clean or whole again. The problem is that we can’t seem to separate our “do” from our “who.” Righteousness is a gift; it is not something we earn. It is based on his goodness and not our own. If we had to base our value on how we perform, no one could measure up. It says in Romans 5:19, “For as through the one man’s (Adam) disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (Jesus) the many will be made righteous.” (Her Treasures: A Life Brand New, page 82)
“Grace is God walking into your world with a sparkle in his eye and an offer that’s hard to resist. Sit still a bit. I can do wonders with this mess of yours.” (Max Lucado, “Grace,” Thomas Nelson, February 2014)
Colossians 3 tells us that as a new creation we have “laid aside our old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge of Him,” and Ephesians 4:24 tells us that “the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” It’s the job of the Holy Spirit to clean up this mess of ours. It’s our job to trust in his word and rest in his mighty power working in us. We were created to be a blessing. Our destiny is to display the beauty of Jesus in every waking moment of every day. This comes from abiding in Christ and drawing life from Him.
Here are a few of the alterations that Jesus made for you when he clothed you in Him: You…have a new identity (Jn 1:12), have a new heart and a new spirit (Ez. 36:26), are righteous before God (2 Cor. 5:21), have a new self (Eph. 4:24), walk in newness of life (Rm. 6:4), live under a new and better covenant-not law but grace (Heb. 9:15), serve in a new way-not by obligation but by the Spirit (Rm. 7:6), have a new inheritance-not servants but sons (Gal. 3:26), have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), and so much more. Doesn’t sound too messy to me…sounds like a perfect fit.
I want to share these quotes by Tricia Gunn. If you haven’t read her book, Unveiling Jesus, I guarantee that you will love it. She wrote, “God’s goodness never brings condemnation. It only brings joy and peace and gratefulness. We are utterly dependent on His life in us because He allowed the new to remain in the frame of the old. (Not unlike my red dress) When we live from the inside-out, people will look at us and glorify Him. Why? Because they will see that it’s His power and not our own.”
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a couple of questions: “I wonder what the future would look like if young Christians believed the truth about themselves? I wonder how the world would be impacted if the church would look in the mirror of God’s word and see who they have become in Christ?”
Comments