The spring season in the northeast always reminds me of God’s promise of making all things new. After a long and barren winter, the warmer sunny days, the colorful flower blossoms and the greening grass testifies to the fulfillment of God’s promises. It’s beautiful to watch as what was once bleak vividly comes to life. We see His handiwork of making things new in the seasons, in the life of a newborn, and with the dawn of a new day. His magnificent artistry is on display everyday all around us. However, the work of God’s new creation is more than all this – it is within us.
The apostle Paul reminded the Christ followers in Corinth that they were a “new creation”; the old self – who they (and we) were – has been hauled away. At the time of our salvation, God breathes new life in us through His Spirit and we are reborn. We, who were once dead in our sin, are made alive in Christ. The sin that once enslaved us no longer has claim over us. We are restored and created anew.
We recently purchased a new appliance after our old one completely failed. After much research, we finally found something to fit our budget and lifestyle. We made the purchase, and a few days later the new one was delivered to our home. It was installed and the old one was hauled away. Our old self is like that worn-out appliance that is removed and replaced. Who we were disappears and we are born again in Christ.
Hundreds of years before Christ came on the scene as a baby in Jerusalem, God declared through the prophet Jeremiah that He would make a new covenant with His people, a covenant not written on stones or tablets, but written on their hearts. This promised relationship was fulfilled in the person of Christ and His Spirit who lives within every believer. The Master Creator takes our ashes (our old self) and fashions us into His new creation that is being renewed more and more into the likeness and knowledge of the Son (Colossians 3:10).
God loves making things new – even us! Take a few moments to be aware of God’s presence and how He is making things new in nature, in others and in you. Reflect and ask God what new thing He wants to do in you this season.
- Deneen McDonald (U.S Director, Crown of Beauty International)