Newness of Life

"Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Romans 6:4

Because God is the creator of all things, He can also make "all things new."  This is not speaking figuratively or spiritually but literally and truly.  It is possible for the newness of the life we have in Christ to wear off on us because we can quickly become dull, forgetful and unwise.  If we are not actively looking to the LORD Jesus and consider Him, we can become wearied and faint in our minds (Hebrews 12:1-3).  Thankfully it is not by our good performance or the willpower of our flesh where our strength lies, for the LORD is the strength of our hearts and the lifter of our heads.

Paul spoke of Jesus who was pierced, battered and bloodied on the cross where He died and was buried.  He contrasted the body of Jesus dead three days with Jesus risen from the dead glorified, and His disciples were able to converse with Him, touch Him and confirm He was truly living.  The difference between the dead body of Jesus and the risen Christ was stark, and this is the difference God makes in the lives of believers who are born again by faith in Him.  We were once dead in sins, and having been crucified with Christ now we have been raised to new life in Him.  Thus we ought to walk in newness of life, for the life of Jesus is now being lived out through us.

The marked change in God's people in Isaiah 17:7-8 illustrates this fundamental change of perspective and life from within:  "In that day a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; he will not respect what his fingers have made, nor the wooden images nor the incense altars."  God is able to change the outlook of people and what they value.  The prophet spoke of a man whose habit and preference was to look to his shrines and the idolatrous works of his own hands for help and guidance--who suddenly looks to his Maker with respect and adoration.  Instead of man tending to look to what he made himself, God draws our attention to our creator who made us in His image.

Coming to Jesus Christ as our Saviour doesn't merely impact part of our lives--a spiritual itch that needs scratching--but results in a transformation from the inside out.  While this change is divinely enabled, we have a role to play in learning to forsake sin and to do what pleases God as is written in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5:  "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God..." (NIV)  Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, and this good fruit is produced in our lives by choosing to deny oneself and willingly submit to God.  Paul exhorted Romans 6:19 that as Christians used to present ourselves as slaves of uncleanness, we are to present ourselves as slaves of righteousness for holiness.  Because Jesus makes all things new, He cares about all aspects of our lives--inside and out--for good.

Truth and Lies Together

As someone who grew up in a country that touted freedom of speech, it was common for people to try to silence those they did not agree with.  I remember in university I took a class which involved editing a periodical publication, and I was surprised when we decided (by a majority vote) to censor a particular word because it could be viewed by some as offensive.  As a Christian I often was required to read content that conflicted with my views and convictions, yet I held the line people had the freedom to write their own stories and poems in a university publication without censorship because someone might be offended.  The discussion in our class was respectful and the outcome was accepted without complaint--unlike common demonstrations at universities today where people who disagree silence others by shouting them down, vandalise property or resort to intimidation and physical violence.

There are countries that are very involved in the censorship of ideas on the internet and restrict non-authorised government voices--anything that could undermine or oppose the party line.  Those who continue to share or broadcast material that is deemed illegal or banned can be arrested and imprisoned.  What is ironic is these governments who try to "play God" in a sense are nothing like God, for He allows dissenting rebels and liars to speak freely and even gives them a platform to spout nonsense.  He is not worried or afraid; God is not troubled or wrings His hands about "misinformation," for He is the Truth and has spoken the truth that is unassailable and will stand fast forever.  God is not the author of confusion, for He has provided the unvarnished truth for all to hear.  He allows lies to be spoken so people are provided a genuine choice of who they will believe, trust and follow.  He allows people to swallow down lies that taste sweet but end up bitter and hopeless in the end:  their dissatisfaction and disillusionment can lead them to humble repentance and coming to the LORD like never before.

These thoughts were prompted from the book of Jeremiah after God told him to build a yoke of wood and wear it around his neck as an object lesson, for Israel would serve king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  Jeremiah 28:10-11 says, "Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it. ¹¹ And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.' " And the prophet Jeremiah went his way."  In this passage we see two prophets and two conflicting, contrary messages.  Hananiah breaking the yoke did nothing to stop the word of the LORD coming to pass.  Rather than trying to silence Hananiah's lies, Jeremiah held forth the word of the LORD in Jeremiah 28:15-17:  "Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.' " ¹⁷ So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month."

People were given the opportunity to see the prophecies of Jeremiah and Hananiah play out:  would Israel break the yoke of Babylon within two years?  Or would Hananiah die within a year?  The word of the LORD through Jeremiah was confirmed when he died, and it would not surprise me if Hananiah's followers flocked to his tomb to pay their respects and continued to speak forth his lies because they preferred the lie over the reality of being in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.  This passage illustrates how God allows the truth and rebellion to be taught in the same streets, for God gives everyone the opportunity to hear the word of God and choose to believe Him--even though it may not seem as dynamic or exciting.  Faith in God makes His word and truth most exciting, for it is freeing and delivers us from the bondage of deceptions.  By faith we can know the Truth, our LORD Jesus Christ, and the Truth will set us free.

Change of the Heart

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil."

Jeremiah 13:23

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God revealed the true condition of His people:  as those who followed the dictates of their own hearts, they were unable to do good.  Their sinful habits were so ingrained in them, such an intrinsic part of their nature, they were incapable of change.  While the world often assumes man is basically good and will make the best choices if given opportunity, the Bible reveals man's natural inclination, preference and custom is to gravitate toward sin and settle down there like a hog in the mire.

As I considered this verse, I was reminded of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.  In film adaptations, the grumpy and stingy Ebeneezer Scrooge was particularly surly during Christmas, for he viewed the celebrations, feasts, gifts and extra expense as "humbug."  The night before Christmas, Scrooge was visited by the ghostly apparition of his deceased partner Jacob Marley who warned him of a tortured existence that awaited him.  Scrooge was given a glimpse into Christmas past, present and the future by three spirits, and the visions of that night opened his eyes to see how greedy and miserly he had been.  He was given a view of a ghastly future that could possibly be averted by a changed life.  The heartwarming part of the story is when Scrooge awoke on Christmas day a changed man:  generous, thoughtful and kind, the epitome of merry goodwill towards men.

While these films are enjoyable Christmas classics, from a biblical perspective they are works of romantic fiction gilded with humanism.  Somehow the frightful experiences of the night almost by magic stirred up gladness and generosity in the heart of Scrooge when he was a man with absolute poverty of soul.  Where did such carefree richness of generosity come from?  A leopard would change its spots before a Scrooge would.  Based on Jeremiah 13:23, such a marked transformation of a person that enables him do "better than his word" is impossible--that is, unless God miraculously does the changing!  The fear of death has no power to help people break off their sinful habits, and feeling lonely cannot change a man for good and free him of greed.  We have no power to redeem ourselves regardless how hard we try, but Jesus is able to redeem us by the Gospel.

"The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss hints at the truth when the scheming, thieving Grinch stops short of dumping all the goods of Whoville when he heard them singing--despite the loss of all their food, toys and Christmas trees.  "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "means a little bit more."  Dr. Seuss leaves a blank for the reader or viewer to fill, and it is a void that is satisfied by Jesus Christ alone.  God is the only one who can make a heart three sizes or larger in an instant as 1 Kings 4:29:  "And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore."  God is able to make a person's heart far larger than any ribcage!  God is able to remove a heart of stone and replace it with a feeling, loving heart as He promised to His people (Ezekiel 36:26).  Only the God who created us can create in us a new heart (Ps. 51:10).

Our Own Kind

In the first chapter of the Bible in Genesis, we read of God creating the heavens, earth, plants and living creatures.  God created all living things to reproduce after their own kind, and we observe this happening to this day.  Over and over it is repeated that grass and fruit trees produced seeds that yielded according to their kind; birds, fish and living creatures brought forth after their own kind.  Genesis 1:26-27 reads, "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Mankind is distinct from all other living creatures because we have been created in the image of God who put eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11), breathed into Adam the breath of life and made him a living soul.  All human beings today share the common ancestry of Adam and Eve, and after the great flood all descended from Noah and his family whom God spared from death.  Though there are different ethnicities, languages and homelands that distinguish human beings from one another, we are all human kind.  God has united us as mankind, yet man's natural tendency is to divide, to focus on differences rather that the one LORD who created us in His own image.

I read an article recently that illustrated well a misconception that conflates various ethnicities to mean different kinds.  A Hispanic border patrol recruit who could be stationed at the U.S. and Mexico border was asked, "How do you feel about arresting your own kind?"  The recruit responded, "They didn‘t come in the right way. So, they aren‘t my kind."  The premise to this question was deeply flawed from a biblical perspective, for every human being is our "own kind."  It is a great shame as people created in the image of God we would view some people as our kind but dismiss other human beings because of their ethnicity or because they entered a country illegally--than any person would be viewed as less than human.  While the question was intended to be provocative, Christians ought to be peacemakers who extend grace to every nation, tribe and tongue because we have all been created in the image of God who loves us all.

The early church experienced growing pains in walking in grace towards other believers when it was customary for Jews to separate themselves from Gentiles.  Walking uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel meant we are not to call unclean what God has cleansed, for Jews to put upon Gentiles the burden of keeping the Law of Moses, or for Gentiles to compel Jews to forsake their God-honouring traditions.  The love of God ought to govern us to do good towards all--especially those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).  God's love helps us to be considerate of people's differences and to celebrate them rather than force people to conform to our preferences.  May the love of Christ be expressed through us to all people, untainted by bigotry, racism and partiality.