New in Christ

Since Easter is right around the corner, I thought I would make a post about God making us new.

When God sent Jesus to us, it was so that through Him we could have eternal life. When He died on the cross, He took away are sin and made us new. We are now alive in Christ!

Here are some verses, from The Message, on being remade:

Romans 8:1-2 (The Message)

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

Hosea 6:1-3 (The Message)

"Come on, let's go back to God. He hurt us, but he'll heal us. He hit us hard, but he'll put us right again. In a couple of days we'll feel better. By the third day he'll have made us brand-new, Alive and on our feet, fit to face him. We're ready to study God, eager for God-knowledge. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival. He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground."

Romans 7:4-6 (The Message)

So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to "marry" a resurrection life and bear "offspring" of faith for God. For as long as we lived that old way of life, doing whatever we felt we could get away with, sin was calling most of the shots as the old law code hemmed us in. And this made us all the more rebellious. In the end, all we had to show for it was miscarriages and stillbirths. But now that we're no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, we're free to live a new life in the freedom of God.

One of my favorite songs is by an artist named Jason Gray. In his song, I Am New, he sins about being new in Christ. Here is his song:

I Am New by Jason Gray

Now I won’t deny
The worst you could say about me
But I’m not defined by mistakes that I’ve made
Because God says of me

I am not who I was
I’m being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy and I’m dearly loved
I am new

Who I thought I was
And who I thought I had to be
I had to give them both up
Cause neither were willing
To ever believe

I am not who I was
I’m being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy and I’m dearly loved
I am new
I am new

Too long have I lived in the shadow of shame
Believing that there was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn’t see me the way that I do
He doesn’t see me the way that I do

I am not who I was
I’m being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy and I’m dearly loved
I am new
I am new

Forgiven, beloved
Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy, reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy
This is our new name

This is who we are now

Reflection Questions:

1. What defines your worth? (ex: friends, culture, parents, grades, accomplishments etc.)

2. Have you been made new in Christ?

3. What can you take from this that you can apply in your life?

Be Blessed and Remade through God's Grace!