Renewal

“…you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” Colossians 3.9-11 ESV

How can we know what is old if we have not been made aware of what is new? How can we hope to turn from that which poisons us into dead ambivalence if we cannot see its effect clearly? Lots of people think Christianity is eager judgment and wrath and condemnation for all those poor souls wallowing hopeless in the dark, but that’s not true. Jesus offers hope with the light He brings. Yes, in His light we see our life-and-death need for perfection, yes we see that it is impossible for us to get there, but we also see that when we offer Him one simple thing—our yes—that He delivers us from all the terrible old into all the glorious new.

And then some.

If I could reach through this screen and shake you, I would. This is the essence of the gospel, and with every keystroke I feel the heart of God pounding through, trying to get to you, yes you, and open your eyes to see that He loves you more than His own life, more than the life of His only Son.

Jesus opened the way into the light with His own blood. He forever bought us back from hopelessness, decay, and punishment because the Father’s will was that He would, in Jesus Christ, hand-deliver the possibility of renewal to all mankind.

If only we would grab hold of it!

All the old identities are now invalid. It doesn’t matter what tribe you were born into when you were born into the broken world. What matters now is the tribe you have been adopted into. This new identity will endure even the end of the world.

If God is for us—and oh, He is—who can be against us?