New Beginnings
It always strikes me that the biggest episodes of TV sitcoms and dramas always revolve around one of three storylines: weddings, births, or deaths.
Each of these episodes themes signifies some sort of a new beginning. The wedding episode often seems to be the climactic end to a life of searching, and the happy couple rides off into the sunset having achieved the pinnacle of life: marriage. An example I think of is when Phoebe and Mike get married on "Friends." They've arrived.
An episode with a new baby also signifies the arrival at a climactic point, babies are new and bring about a radical change of one's life. One episode that stands out to me is the episode of "The Simpsons" where Homer's life is dramatically and beautifully changed by the arrival of baby Maggie.
TV episodes based on the death of a big character are also climactic, but for different reasons. These often figure the end of one's life, and the new beginnings of the supporting characters who now live in light of the passing of the important character. The TV show "This Is Us" focuses on the death of the father and husband and how that impacts the family for years and decades to come.
These themes of episodes highlight something important I think. We are all looking for new beginnings. We are all looking for newness and transformation in life. I can remember personally thinking that multiple things were going to change my life. I chased jobs, promotions, relationships, people, body image, and more in the pursuit of a 'new life.' I wanted to change my life so badly, and I failed time and time again. Then God intervened, and he changed my life.
The Apostle Paul experienced perhaps the most radical transformation in the history of the world, and certainly in the Bible when Jesus revealed himself to him on the road to Damascus. Paul was a zealous Pharisee, seeking to persecute the upstart Christian church. He had to defend Judaism against the heretics who were preaching a crucified and resurrected Messiah. Paul was so dedicated to the cause that he had cast his vote and watched approvingly as Stephen, a follower of Jesus, was martyred.
However, on the way to Damascus to persecute more Christians, Paul was met by the risen Christ.
Acts 9:3–6
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (ESV)
Jesus revealed himself to Paul and changed his life forever. Paul went from persecutor to preacher, proclaiming the gospel and planting churches throughout the world, on his way to becoming one of the most influential people in world history. What led to such transformation? The revelation of Christ. God intervened in Paul's life, transforming the man, and changing the world.
Paul would later say:
'I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. '
Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live"
When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, our way of living and our reality is transformed. Our old self experiences death. The Bible talks about us being "dead in transgressions and sins" and then being raised together with Christ!
We can see Paul identifying himself with Christ's death on the cross. Why does he do that?
1. On the cross, Christ absorbed the wrath of God for our sins, if we are united to Christ in his death.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 ESV)
The cross is essential, because it's where we can get right with God. Paul asserts that when we put our faith in Jesus, we are united with Jesus in his death. We die on the cross with Jesus, even though Jesus is the one who has absorbed all the punishment and wrath our sin deserves. Jesus is our propitiation. Jesus is the covering and atoning sacrifice. If we are united to Christ by faith, our old self has died. We no longer live.
2. Our old self is crucified to free us from our life of slavery to sin.
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6:6 ESV)
As we have come into this world, we are enslaved to sin. We cannot escape the fact that we are sinners and under slavery to sin. We are dead in trespasses and sins. We cannot make ourselves alive. Through our union with Christ, we too die to sin. When we rise with Christ, we are no longer under the authority and prevailing power of sin that had once ensnared us. We are newly made in Christ.
3. We have to die so that we can be raised.
The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him; (2 Timothy 2:11 ESV)
Paul even goes so far as to say that we are seated in royalty with the King of kings, the risen Christ:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:4–6)
We were darkness but now we are light. We were lost, and now are found. We were dead, but now are alive. And now Christ is alive within us. As Jesus has walked out of the grave, so have we, no longer under sin but under grace. The gospel gives us a hope beyond this world, which evokes in us a desire to know God in nearness, which Paul highlights next.
"Christ lives in me"
Paul makes this bold gospel claim: We died, and we live again, but now we do not live alone. Christ lives in us.
We were once born of flesh, and have died to the flesh. We have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and we are now born again of water and the Spirit. Christ lives in us.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9–11 ESV)
This is where the true transforming power of God goes to work. Jesus is at work in us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in our very lives! Christ lives in us, transforming us to be like himself.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)
We cannot change our own lives without the power of God. We need God's radical intervention to become a new creation in Christ. As we go on in the Christian faith, God transforms us by the Spirit. We are renewed and transformed by the power of God. Christ lives in us.
I can remember wanting to stop getting drunk during my post-college days. Every weekend I wanted to be sober so that I could get more done. But each weekend, I would come up short again and spend all day with a hangover on Saturday. But then, God intervened in my life and as I started to walk with the Lord, he changed my desires and gave me the strength to stop giving in to that temptation. Something I could never do on my own, I could now do with the Lord's strength.
"The life I now live in the body, I live by faith"
How do we receive this transforming power? How are we made into new creations? How can we die to our old self, and be renewed?
By faith.
This is the importance of repentance. We have to see that Jesus is all we need. We have to get to the point where we say, "I'm tired of my own ways of living. I'm tired of working my fingers to the bone to make myself okay. I'm tired of sinning. I repent of my sins, and trust you Jesus to forgive me. Heal me! I give my life to you."
The life of the Christian is the life of faith. Jerry Bridges calls faith confidence and conviction. Faith gives us confidence and conviction to act in obedience to Christ. When we live in obedience to Christ, we see transformation in our lives. Bridges calls faith, "Obeying the revealed will of God and trusting him for the consequences."
We repent daily. We spend time in the Bible learning God's revealed will (what he has told us and commanded us). We realize that our old ways brought death, and that obedience to God's ways bring life. The Christian life is a life of faith, and a life of repentance. We are constantly walking with God, repenting of sin and obeying his commands. Because we get to.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15 ESV)
Jesus doesn't say, if you love me you have to keep my commandments. We don't earn God's favor. God has given us his favor in Christ, and we overflow with love to God, exemplified by our desire to keep his commandments. In order to live God's way and to see him transform our lives, we must work with him to know his commandments. God is revealing himself to us every day in the Bible, if only we will seek him. We are doing our part to see our lives transformed when we go to God and hear from him by reading the Bible. God's word is important for transformation.
I remember working at UPS and I kind of bossed a guy around. God was telling me to "go and be reconciled with him." I was sensing my need to obey that command, even though I didn't necessarily want to. When I did it, I did it out of confidence and conviction that God knows better than me, and I acted in faith.
"faith...in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me"
Our faith isn't placed in a concept. Our faith isn't placed in a movement. Our faith isn't placed in wealth, health, or worldly things. Our faith isn't placed in ourselves. Transformational faith, our faith, the hope of glory is placed in the living person of God.
That's part of the journey of faith, actually. We learn to stop trusting ourselves, our abilities, our understanding. We start to trust Christ. We grow more and more to be dependent on God, and we get to watch him come through for us every single time. A tree doesn't grow overnight, so we needn't be disheartened by failure. We can persevere and see God at work, carrying us onward. This is also faith.
Lastly, we remember that Jesus acted out of love, joyfully giving himself for our sake. Jesus gave his life for mine. I live in faith, believing in the one who gave his life for mine. The best part is, our faith isn't in a guy who died. Our faith is in the living, risen King! Because of Jesus, our lives can actually change. We can really be transformed, we can see our lives change. We can have a new beginning.
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Do you need a new beginning? Do you live a life of faith in the Son of God or in yourself? What would it look like for you to repent today? What would it look like to stop trying to change your life on your own, and to trust in the one who gave his life for you?
Listen to what the Savior says:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John 6:37 ESV)
Jesus will never cast you out! Come to him! A new beginning is possible, even today.
FINAL APPLICATION
The life of faith is ongoing. Daily we must repent and believe. We get to know God through reading the Bible, praying, and being amongst God's people in the church. We get to grow in trusting God to come through. He will never let us down. By God's grace, we are being renewed to be like Jesus. Let's play our part by dying to our old self, living by faith and obedience, and joyfully experiencing God's transforming power.
The gospel isn't a one time thing where we get right with God. It is a full-time transformational thing where we respond in faith to God and he makes us like Jesus.
How is God asking you to respond in faith to him today?
How is Christ living in you today?
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