All Things Made New

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”   ~ M.L.King Jr.

Paul writes that we used to know Christ according to the flesh, meaning your knowledge of him only being physical and your understanding of Him only as being a ‘good’ teacher. But, He is so much more than that when he is known through faith. This is not a blind faith either, for so much about Jesus has been revealed in God’s Word and by that which also corresponds with Reality. Having come to know Christ in this way is so powerful and life changing that Paul calls those who walk by faith, ‘New Creations.’ Yet, what we are becoming by faith is what God intended for us to be all along.

When we enter into Christ our refuge and fortress, by letting go of our pride and desires and allowing His will and Spirit to be our driving force, we think and respond differently than ever before. This is because we have a new confidence that is anchored in the truth of His Word and faithfulness of His promises. We have understood that these are not mere words or platitudes, but have been manifested over and over again in history.

Paul proclaims, ‘Behold, all things are becoming new.’ That is, all things in view of our minds and how we think become new when we live by faith in obedience to God’s Word. The purposes of life, the feelings of the heart, the principles of action, all become new. Our understanding becomes founded in what is Holy, our body is employed in new service, and our heart forms new attachments. When we come to Jesus by faith, there are new views of God, and of The Christ; new views of this world and of the world to come; new views of truth and of duty; and everything is seen from His perspective and with new feelings. Nothing is more common in young believers than such feelings, and nothing is more common than for them to say that all things are new. The Bible seems to be a new book, and though they may have often read it before, yet there is a beauty about it which they never saw before, and which they wonder they have not before perceived. (barnes)

There is so much more to life than what we have known. There are the ‘new things’ that await us once we let go of the past and that which holds us captive. Jesus has died and risen again to set you free; if only you would ‘crucify your pride and will with Him, and rise up again in the newness of life only found in Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way into God’s holy presence.

The choice is yours to enter in or press on by your own finite and limited strength and understanding. I pray you choose wisely…

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT)

Praying 4 U

 

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.

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This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “… who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” – Hebrews 1:3-4