Would you like to be renewed or made new? I suspect all of
us would answer yes, maybe with a couple of provisos. King David when praying
to God after his sin and pain with Bathsheba says, “Create in me a pure heart O God
and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). He wants a life
among the living again. This is a common feeling among those who have been
grieving the loss of a loved one. Later in Psalms 103:1,3,5 he says, “Praise
the Lord, O my soul, praise His holy name, who forgives all your sins and heals
all your diseases…who satisfies the desires of your heart with good things, so
that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Here he is saying that we
have a God who actually does these things in our lives if we trust Him. As if
to confirm this promise, Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 40:31 says, “those
who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings as
eagles, they will run and not grow weary, and they will walk and not be faint.”
This is a verse that many people
have printed on their Bible covers or framed in their homes. It usually is
accompanied by the image of a soaring eagle.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16 addresses how we are falling
apart physically and going through trials and hardships, but “inwardly
we are being renewed every day.” This passage is for believers who put
their trust in God, an exhortation he gives to the Romans in 12:2 saying, “Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.” This is the process of
sanctification or being made holy and righteous through the Holy Spirit. But we
must submit and be obedient to God’s Word and direction in our lives. If we are
doing it or think we can, we can’t. This is not about pulling ourselves up by
our bootstraps; it is a spiritual formation or growth process. Paul has told us
to be “living sacrifices” as a spiritual act of worship. We were made to
worship. This is not a church thing. It is a lifestyle wholly given to God.
This process starts when we are “made new.” In 2 Corinthians
5:17 Paul describes this saying, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Throughout the New
Testament we read of becoming new, having a new song in our heart. This is
about the “new covenant” brought by Jesus into the world with His incarnation.
He came to reconcile the world, one person at a time, to Himself and God. As we
receive His gift of salvation we become new and the old is gone. We have “put
on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its
Creator” (Colossians 3:10). He
goes on to say: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear
with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one
another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on
love, which binds them together in perfect unity” (Colossians
3:12-14). Lest you say that this is too
much, be at peace. This is talking of the process of becoming righteous through
the power of the Holy Spirit. We must submit and obey. We must stay under the
trial of assignment God has given us until He says we are finished. Then in
growing quantity and quality we take on these godly attributes. This is our act
of worship or living. So be renewed!