You
probably have been hearing a lot of phrases that point to the fact
that we are in a new year and a new decade. New things are
interesting for awhile. January 6 is a holiday in some religious
circles and referred to as the Day of Epiphany. While in Spain, we
were confronted with many traditions in connection with the Wise Men
such as the Day of Epiphany. We found that they had a custom whereby
they would bake a round cake, such as in a bundt pan and place a
small plastic toy somewhere in the cake. The idea was that the
person who got the toy would have good luck throughout the year if
they didn't break off a tooth when they discovered the small plastic
toy in their mouth. To the Spaniards in the 80's, Santa Claus was
someone new and had the name of Papa Noel. Typically, the children
would get their gifts from one of the wise men and not until January
6. That was new to us but they were getting more used to Papa Noel
because they could get their gifts earlier instead of waiting until
the Day of Epiphany. Some new things are not too important such as
was the celebration of the new holiday. If you are from a more
modern church that has a lot of old tradition attached to it, you
also know about the holiday in January. Before arriving in Spain,
this country baptist had no idea what the day of Epiphany was. I did
know, however, about some new things in connection with the Christian
life. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.”
You don't need a calendar for this one.
There are some wonderful things that take place when a person comes
to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
This passage begins to summarize what has taken place and it is
really a “new” beginning. I often think about the works of the
Holy Spirit that take place the moment you believe in Christ as your
personal Savior. I call it getting your RIBS. Four works of the
Holy Spirit take place in the twinkling of an eye, the moment you
believe. You are Regenerated, Indwelt, Baptized and Sealed by the
Holy Spirit the moment you believe. The “regeneration” part is
connected to today's verse in that we are a new creature, or a new
creation. We indeed have new life. Old things are passed away and
we have a lot of new things. We may even lost some old habits or
even some of our old friends, or some of our old practices. They
have all been replaced by new desires that we never had before. You
may find yourself going to church a lot more than you ever did before
and your reason for going has also changed quite a bit. You begin to
discover what it is to worship God and the practice of looking good
before others is not as prevalent as it used to be. I know of one
man that went from a back porch grouch to a greeter at the front door
of the church after he came to know the Lord. Everything had indeed
become new. Things now take on a different perspective as you view
them through spiritual eyes. You also find a new desire to find out
more about God and His plan for your life as you begin reading the
Bible. Yes, the believer is definitely confronted with a new life
which begins the moment after salvation. The new believer also finds
that this collection of new things never stops. It is a part of
spiritual growth and just when we get to the point of thinking we got
it all, something new pops up. When you think of the new year and
the new decade and all of those things, just be reminded of the new
life that you have in Christ. You are a new creation. The Book of
Revelation also reminds us that we will have a new name. Praise God
for His making all things new in the life of each and every believer.
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