Admit it. You love new stuff. We all love new things, but we especially love new things around the holidays and New Year. New babies, new presents, new goals, new diets, new exercises, new clothes, new books, new websites, new classes, new projects, and this year — new vaccines. We are made to like new things and look forward to new futures because we are made to be made new. God made us this way on purpose.

We all have a need for new hearts and new starts, because we have pasts that are not worthy of the perfect God who made us. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God tells us this through His Word. We were all consigned to disobedience (Romans 11:32) so that we would know our need for God and His mercy. We need a savior whether we realize it or not. Not realizing your need to be made new does not make it any less true. When we know our needs, and respond to the love of Jesus, we are made new. This passage from 2 Corinthians gives us great insight into what it means to be made new and how we should respond with the rest of our lives.

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Yes, the new baby who came to earth in that dirty manger in Bethlehem, enters our dark hearts and makes them new. Jesus was able to do this because He lived a perfect life and was without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and that allowed Him to freely give His life (Romans 8:32) as a payment for our sins.

New Hearts Are Just The Beginning

So is that it? We are made new with no more sin and no more troubles? No, of course not. Even with our new hearts we need to keep relying on the God who makes us new to keep making us new. Praise God that His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). Every time we see our need and repent we get a new start. This does not mean this life is easy. There is a great cost (Luke 14:27-33) to this new life that ends in everlasting glory. We will suffer while we are here (Romans 8:17), but God who makes us new will supply everything we need according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Our Purpose - Ambassadors of Making All Things New

The heart and purpose of God is to make all things new. This world may look like it is getting worse and worse (and many things are), but all of our current sufferings--sin, pain, death--are serving a purpose in moving all things toward eternal newness. God says it this way in His revelation to the Apostle John, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5).

We get to make things new too! “We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). As heirs of the new creation our new purpose is to walk in the works that God has given us (Ephesians 2:10) to make all things new. Armed with new hearts and the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7), we can now boldly help others have new life in Christ as we live, work, and make all things new.

Join us to learn more about how to live out your purpose.