A New Year, A New You
In just a couple days 2020 will be over and 2021 will be here. This is typically the timeframe we see many individuals beginning to talk about a new diet they are going on, a new job, or a new something. New Years are always an exciting time, many begin to make plans for weddings, for new babies, for new trips, and new opportunities. However, there is one way for an individual to make themselves a new person that does not rest on a new year. “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
You see when we accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus Christ offers to every person, we become new creations. It is why there are so many stories out there of alcoholics, drug addicts, and those who struggle with being constantly angry who have accepted Christ and now those old traits are gone. It does not mean that they may not struggle with the temptation of it, after all we all still have a sin nature, but they are able to put aside the temptation and focus on Christ’s redeeming power.
So how are we a new creation? When we accept Christ and allow Him to work in our lives He gives us a new heart and a new spirit. “26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26. As unbelievers, we have a heart of stone. We are unable to recognize our sinful nature and the need to have a savior. It is only after we are convicted and broken down that we begin to see that there must be someone who is bigger than what is going on around us. It is here that God begins His work at chipping away at the stone. This is one of the key aspects of the Holy Spirit, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment,” John 16:8. When we come to see Him and recognize Him as our Lord and Savior, that heart of stone is replaced by a heart of flesh.
When we no longer have a heart of stone but one of flesh then we can see God’s Word more clearly, which is when the Holy Spirit is able to work in us. As we study, the Holy Spirit opens God’s Word to us so that we are able to better understand and grow. We begin to see how powerful our God is and how much He loves us, that He would send His son to die for you and I. Through the Holy Spirit, God is able to inscribe His Word into our hearts. “33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33
This thought is again echoed in Hebrews. 8:10, “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Here however, we see an additional remark. “I will put My laws into their minds” We not only receive a new heart, but also a new mind. The thoughts and desires we had that separated us from God before, are no longer at the forefront of our minds. Instead, we begin to focus more on what God has done for us and how He has already conquered this world. “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. Because the Word of God is living, the more we study it, the more our thoughts are less of this world. What we were before being saved, in our life of sin is no longer the same, in Christ we are a new creation. That creation like a child must learn to crawl, walk, and run; many would know this as Sanctification.
So as we move forward and celebrate Christmas and New Year, take into account what God has done for you and see if you are able to call yourself “Born Again.” No time is better than the present to ask God to come into your life. He can take all the pain and suffering from not only 2020 but every year prior and coming. He can be for you the comforter and the restorer to something better, something that only He can do.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex