The New Life (Part 1)


We like things new.

New car. New house. New friends. New year. New baby. New episode. New album. The news.

We like new stuff. New things are nice. New things are in excellent condition. New things haven't worn. New things haven't been used. They are fresh, exciting, full of potential. There is something to opening an Iphone or a package when the item is new. I remember being a kid and feeling immense excitement when I would open a new CD.

"Wow, I can't wait to hear all the songs on this Chumbawumba album!" This of course, was misguided because the Chumbawumba album was not very good. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that I was super excited to open and play the CD, once I got the ridiculous plastic packaging all peeled off.

God also likes new things.

You could define the overarching story of the Bible this way:

God creates and man destroys, so God brings newness out of the destruction. 

The story of the Bible is of the God who created the universe and human beings, beautiful, nice, new and in excellent condition. We see in the garden, God and man are in an intimate, face to face, naked and unashamed relationship. Man beholds the face of God and knows him fully. God dwells in the midst of His creation and delights himself in the man and woman He has created in His likeness.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 ESV)

However, in the pursuit of something better, man sins. Adam and Eve's sin is the example of all of our sin. Adam and Eve exchanged their knowledge of God for knowledge of good and evil. They desired and became morally autonomous people. They made the choice to live for themselves, and fell into sin.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21 ESV)

We have all fallen into this pattern. Every person is born into this pattern of sin. We do not desire God, we spurn His love and we reject relationship with Him. We want to live for ourselves, we do not want to honor God or give thanks to Him, even though we know He is there.

 This creates an obvious problem: How are we to be reconciled to the God who has formed us specifically to know Him?

 We need God to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him. The challenge here is that God is holy and we are sinners, unholy by nature. Our sin has corrupted our relationship with the holy God.

Can we follow rules to be restored to God?

God chooses for himself a people, the nation of Israel. God showcases His great power and delivers Israel out of the house of slavery in Egypt, culminating in the epic passing of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea.

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Deuteronomy 5:6 ESV)

Israel is set apart by God, In light of their great deliverance they are to live in blessed relationship with God. God also gives Israel the Law, which is the way that they can be holy and remain in His presence. God's holy presence dwells within Israel and guides them through the wilderness to the promised land.

Israel as a nation inherits the promised land. God fulfills his promise to Israel and the nation of Israel grows. The culmination of the nation of Israel comes under King David, and then his son King Solomon. King David in particular is a man after God's own heart. King David rules over Israel and points them to be in relationship with God.

However, Israel is unfaithful to God. Over times, the kings of Israel fall back into the pattern of sin that corrupts their relationship with God. Israel becomes hard-hearted and turns from God.

They do not walk in His ways, and do not desire relationship with Him. The rest of the Old Testament involves many prophets who come to Israel to speak God's word. The prophets bring the word of God to Israel, criticizing Israel's corruption and rejection of God. The prophets also point forward to the coming Messiah and the time when God's Spirit will be poured out. Here from the prophet Ezekiel God lays out the future to come:

Ezekiel 36:22-28

 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. (ESV)

God promises to gather Israel and bring them into a land. God declares that He will cleanse Israel from idolatry and uncleanness. God promises to give people a new heart, a new spirit. God promises to put His Spirit within His people, causing them to walk in His statutes and be careful to obey his rules.

This prediction from the prophet Ezekiel is so important for us to see in the whole story of the Bible. For so long, the biggest problem in the world and for Israel has been the rejection of God. By rejecting God, humanity has chosen sin and we have made a mess of our relationship with God. But here God says, I will make you clean. God declares I will give you my Spirit.

Even more importantly, in giving Israel the Spirit, God promises again to be Israel's king and ruler. "You shall be my people, and I will be your God."

 God himself is going to reconcile His people to Himself. He is going to cleanse his people of their sin. God himself is going to restore the relationship that we have destroyed. 

In part 2 of this post, we will look at how God brings His people back to relationship with him.

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