ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 cor. 5:17 NKJV).

Christians are brand-new people. Christians are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated - they are recreated (a new creation), living in vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 2:6-7). At conversion, believers are not merely turning over a new leaf; they are beginning a new life under a new Master. In Christ a new order of existence is called into being, brought about by Christ’s work of reconciliation. Indeed the old life is gone.

“All things have become new” do not include such things as changes in the physical (a blind man who gets saved, will still be blind), or changes in the family relationships (a father is still a father, and a mother is still a mother). However, the important changes that occur are at least threefold.

1. A change in devotion – One’s interests will greatly change. Old values, ideas, plans, loves, desires, and beliefs vanish, will be replaced by the new things that accompany salvation. God plants new desires, loves, inclinations, and truths in the redeemed, so that they live with a new creation perspective.

2. A change in deportment - There will be a change in the person’s behavior when he is saved, i.e. reconciled to God. Whereas a man was living in sin and immorality, as a new creature he lives in righteousness and holiness.

3. A change in destiny - This is the greatest and most important change. The eternal destiny of the Christian is heaven. Whereas a man was doomed to judgment and eternal separation from God, as a new creature he is destined to live eternally in the presence of God.

Not only are believers changed from within, but a whole new order of creative energy begin with Christ. There is a new covenant, a new perspective, a new body, a new church. All of creation is being renewed. Does your life reflect this new perspective?

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a New Year. It is that we should have a new soul!”

Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton (1874 – 19360)

English Writer, Philosopher and Lay Theologian

Word Study

New

In 2 Cor. 5:17 we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (NKJV).

New is the Greek word kainos (καινός = kahee-nos'). It refers to that which is a new kind - unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. In classical Greek kainos denotes that which is new in nature and essence, that which is superior to the old. In the Septuagint kainos means that which is new. The term assumes theological significance in the great prophecies and visions of the future which proclaim that God will bring something entirely “new” to His people. In the New Testament, kainos carries the idea of that which is unaccustomed or unused, not ‘new’ in time, recent, but ‘new’ as to form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – The Messiah’s blood would sprinkle the nations (Isa. 52:15)

New Testament Fulfillment – Heb. 9:13-14; Rev. 1:5

Did You Know…

In the Bible, it states that the multitudes bear witness of Jesus (John 12:17).

Bible Quiz

What was placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, to keep the way of the tree of life?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: What happened to Elizabeth as soon as she heard Mary’s greetings? “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).

Names of the Lord Jesus Found in the Bible

“Bread of Life”

“And Jesus said to them, "I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst!” (John 6:35 NKJV).

1. Meaning – The Lord Jesus is our sustenance.

2. Insights – The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means “House of Bread.” He is our spiritual nourishment and the sustenance of the world. All things are kept alive by Him.

3. Related Titles – Living Bread (John 6:51); Living Water (John 7:37-38).

Did You Know – Christian History

John Keble was born April 25, 1792, in Fairford, Gloucestershire. He was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, was named after him.

John and his brother Thomas were educated at home by their father until each went to Oxford. At Oxford, John excelled in his studies. In 1816, while still at Oxford, he was ordained and became a curate (assistant or parish priest) to his father and then curate of St Michael and St Martin's Church, Eastleach Martin, in Gloucestershire.

In 1827, The Christian Year, a book of poems for the Sundays and feast days of the church year was published and was very effective in spreading Keble’s devotional and theological views. In 1833, his famous Assize Sermon on ‘National Apostasy’ gave the first nod to the Oxford Movement, also known as the Tractarian movement. The movement’s immediate cause was the attempted suppression by the British government of ten bishoprics in Ireland, but the reform leaders were also disturbed by a general decay and loss of moral fiber in the church.

The Oxford Movement which began as an effort to reform the Church of England, reached a crisis in 1841 when John Newman issued Tract 90 in his continuing series. Tract 90 claimed that the 39 articles of the Church of England could be interpreted in a Catholic way. In the resultant turmoil, he was forbidden as a churchman any longer to publish tracts. He resigned his positions, but Keble, Edward Pusey, and Charles Marriott remained in the Church of England and took leadership of the movement.

The overall effect of the movement was to restore a higher level of spirituality among the English clergy. It also forced a reexamination of the doctrinal and authoritative bases of the church.

In 1857, he wrote one of his more important works, his treatise on Eucharistical Adoration, written in support of George Denison, who had been attacked for his views on the Eucharist.

Keble died in Bournemouth on 29 March 1866 at the Hermitage Hotel, after visiting the area to try and recover from a long-term illness; he believed the sea air had therapeutic qualities. He is buried in All Saints’ churchyard, Hursley.

A Little Humor

Religion is generally a forbidden topic for everyone at work, except for Larry. Recently, after he steered yet another conversation toward the subject, a coworker whispered, “That Larry - he always has to put his two saints in.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Don’t face the new year or any day without facing Christ!”