Sunday January 1, 2023
Under New Management
I have seen many businesses and restaurants open “UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT.” In essence, they are saying that we are better than what was previously here. When we think of a grand re-opening under new management, we create pictures in our minds of lavish galas endued with excitement and anticipation of limitless success. We imagine celebrities and free giveaways, live bands and balloons, banners and confetti.
Yet when God declares that He is going to do a new thing, a re-opening in us, I wonder if that is the same picture we conjure up in our minds. I doubt it. Instead, we tend to experience a sense of impending dread accompanied by a true lack of anticipation. Why? We really do not like change. And new beginnings can be very fearful…or so we think. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of true)
The word re-open means, “to open again, or cause something to be opened again; to start again; resume.” That is what God desires to do in all of us. He relentlessly pursues us with a fervent passion to bring us into a beautiful conformity with His excellent image and likeness.
Paul tells us that we are “new creations,” that the old had “passed away.” (2 Cor.5:17) Do we truly believe that? New means, “fresh; regenerated.” I don’t always feel that way. I don’t always look to what God is making me…I look to what I was. My focus isn’t always on the new, it’s all too often on the old. But Isaiah commands us to do that very thing…place my attentions, my focus, and my all on God’s re-opening of my life.
Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Is.43:18-19 NKJV)
There are two lessons implied in these words. First, all things need to be made new. Nothing in creation has escaped the stain of sin. Thus Paul tells us in Romans 8:20-21 that creation was subjected to futility and is currently in bondage to corruption. Every plant, every animal, every human being needs to be made new.
The second lesson in these words is that God’s renewing power extends to all, even the foulest sinner. There is no life too defiled for God to make new. There is no failure too great for Him to redeem. We often shy away from God for we feel He would not have us, that we have fallen too far.
Hear the heart of God through the writer of Hebrews:
By that will we have been sanctified (perfected) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb.10:10)
So in Hebrews 10:10 we are told that God has perfected those who are being perfected. It is as if God says, “I have done what I am doing.” Here God shows us two sides to our sanctification. When we were saved, we were covered with the righteousness of Christ. We were instantly made holy, made so that our sins no longer separate us from God.
But while this perfection dealt with the problem that separated us from God, it did not change our daily actions. Following salvation, we continue to struggle with sin. So in addition to perfecting us with the righteousness of Christ, God continues to make us holy by growing us each day to be more like Jesus.
This means our holiness does not happen overnight. Although we have been perfected, we are still being perfected and we will continue being perfected until the day God calls us home.
But we have an unbreakable promise from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Having endured the pain and agony of the cross, crowned now as King, surrounded by the angelic host and the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, He declares:
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” (Rev.21:5 NKJV)
AMEN!! This means that you, if you are His child, will be made like Christ. You will become completely holy. This will take a lifetime and it will not be complete until the day we go home to be with him. God will finish what he has started.
Scripture offers a promise to the people of God. Paul tells us,
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil.1:6)
He will not stop halfway through the process and give up. He will finish what he has started.
For God to do a grand re-opening in us, we must first admit that we need a fresh start…a new beginning…a resuming of His glorious work in us. Ephesians 4 tells us that we are to put off the old self and put on the new.
If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed (re-opened) in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Eph.4:21-24 NKJV).
If you are feeling today that your life is empty, meaningless, or purposeless because of your past experiences, or if you feel a sense of loss, please know that God still has awesome plans for your life. He says: “For I know the plans I have for you–plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer.29:11 NIV) Start asking Him to do something new and wonderful in your life. Trust Him to begin revealing the “new thing” He has planned for you, as you determine to let go of what lies behind, and to reach out for what lies ahead. Remember that endings pave the way for new beginnings. It is time to have a grand re-opening…under HIS management! In Jesus, amen, and amen.
