I admit it, I like new things. When I get something new I often compare it to the old and realize how lucky I am. I convince myself that my new purchase was long overdo and I feel justified. “Look at me, everyone, see something new?”
I’m sure I’m not alone in this type of revery. Most people like shiny new things. It’s not wrong to bring in the new depending on your reason for wanting it. Newness is a good thing sometimes.
I think God would agree about the benefit of some things new. In Romans 6:4 God reminds us through Paul that, “We were buried therefore with Him (Jesus) by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we might walk in newness of life.”
The whole purpose for Christ’s coming was to bring in something new. A new freedom that was impossible under the law. A new relationship of intimacy with the Father. A new covenant that promises everlasting life. God is all about bringing His people newness. Out with the old (sin and death) and in with the new (redemption and justification).
Paul reminds us again in 1 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Our faithful relationship with Christ, under the blanket of His righteousness, promises us an opportunity for a new beginning. No longer do we have to cower before God because of the mistakes from the past. Because of Christ we have been given a new opportunity to shed those past mistakes through complete and total forgiveness just in the asking. We have been recreated in a way to be at one with the Father. Christ has taken away those things that had once condemned us, and has given us a new reason to rejoice.
At one time we were condemned, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7). The law wore on us like a rock much too big to carry. Having only ourselves to depend on was shown to be fruitless because worldliness was too easily chosen over righteousness.
Then the promised Messiah arrived, and everything changed. No longer did we have to carry the weight of our own transgressions. Because of Christ’s sacrifice We were given a new opportunity at life, free from the condemnation we once inherited.
Together we were “crucified with Christ. It is no longer (we) who live, but Christ who lives in (us). And the life (we) now live in the flesh, (we) live by faith in the Son of God, who loved (us) and gave Himself for (us)” (Galatians 2:20). When Christ died, our old lives, condemned and lost, died with Him and when He was raised to life, the promised new covenant of redemption began, and we were raised to newness of life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
So, yes, God enjoys new things. He rejoices in new opportunities, new believers and new ministry. He is glad for new relationships, new reconciliations and new hearts. God is all about newness and, together, we should celebrate that God was not willing to let the old overtake us.
I pray you find things new in your faith. I ask God to grant you a regeneration of faith and a new respect for all things godly. Be willing to make the changes in your life that are necessary to grant you newness of life, a life that will last forever in the presence of Christ Himself. Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for making all things new within us so that we might rejoice in the promise of life eternal with you. Help us to share Your Good News so that others might witness newness in their own lives through the work of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.
