New LIFE

Your New Life Now

April is an interesting time of year, there is evidence things are changing yet there are still remnants of the past. We experience the pleasant, warm, and gleeful feeling of summertime one day and the next day, sometimes within the same day, have the cold, gloomy and rainy days reminiscent of previous months. We all hope for better weather in April, but gloomy days are still very much present.

Our spiritual lives are much the same. It seems like our new life in God is in a perpetual state of April; our lives are at the crossroads of new and old. As evidence of our past life, our old selves linger like piles of snow and discourage us with rainy dreary days, while at the same time we see hope of a new life evident in the sun-laden days with cloudless skies and greening grass. Our old selves linger with occasional glimpses of the new.

Is this true for you? Do you wonder when this new life will happen that the preachers always preach about? Maybe I am wrong. Maybe there isn’t anyone in limbo concerning their spiritual growth and relationship with God. Maybe all Christians are living the new life now… I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not wrong (it happens, but not now). Every day is marked with opportunities to turn from God, to live for self, to promote ourselves, and live the old life, while at the same time, within the same day, in every situation we can live for God, praise God and promote his Kingdom. Every day is a day we can live to gratify the desires of our heart or God’s. So what do we do? What’s wrong with us that our old selves loiter? When does our new life begin?

In a world that tells you that you can have your best life now, we know better. We know that as long as this world exists as it is, with its hate, its debauchery, anger, lust, selfishness, envy and sin, it doesn’t mind rearing it ugly face in our life. As the people of God, we are to rise above the temptations of this world and live for God. But in this fast changing, and always misleading world, it always seems to find newer and better ways to bring down the people of God. There are continual reminders of a fallen world all around us, the question is, what will the Church do to reveal the new life now?

Spring prepares for the summer. We aren’t gearing up for winter at spring time. We clean up the house, prepare fields for sowing and get a fresh new wardrobe. We might all be in a perpetual state of April in our spiritual life, but what are we gearing up for? Are we preparing for the summer of Salvation? Are we cleaning our spiritual house? Are our fields prepared to hear and understand the word of God? Are we clothing ourselves with Righteousness? A new sermon series is beginning this month: “Your New life Now!” It is for those of us who long for the day of Jesus’ return, who need encouragement in the days to come; helping us realize we can live the new life now. The cornerstone verse is 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, 6:2:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God…I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

Christ died for all. This is our hope; this is the beginning of new life. Christ is our future hope, today!