Renewed AND Reconciled
We had what we call a ‘Leadership Summit’ in the middle of last month. I had some notes on what was discussed, and you can go back to those really long articles.
OR you can read what I have to say here. I was relieved to have written down my final thoughts after the entire 2-day affair, immediately after. They’re literally squeezed into two questions. Or, well, two statements. The first one is as follows:
I think we really need to draw the line between self and flesh. What’s wrong with having our own agenda?
I love Pastor Joedy, and I will continue to learn so much from him, but there seems to be a grey area in what he shared that one Friday, when he was delivering a message which was supposed to cover the ‘Seek’ portion of our church’s overall mission. I remember him sharing about how we need to seek God’s agenda, and how we need to seek God’s plans. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, but what I do want to say is that it doesn’t necessarily mean the we need to shun our own agendas and we have to abandon our own plans, as if they were separate from God’s plans.
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
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I think there’s a need for us to emphasize, again and again, on how we’re made new creations- permanent dwellings for God. By Christ’s death and resurrection the old tabernacle has been razed and we have been rebuilt, as new temples where the Holy Spirit has been poured out and filled.
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
Acts 17:24-28a
My point here is that we can’t say that we’re new creations without saying that we’ve been united with God, so much that He is alive in us, and that we are alive in Him.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4
Christ paid the greatest price for us to be made new, so we would be reconciled, and as we have been reconciled, we continue to be renewed.
We are renewed, just as we are reconciled.
We are reunited, just as we are recreated.
Give me a moment to celebrate this here, because this is sounding so good to me right now.
Folks who have been reading all I’ve been having to share on here for a while now (thank you, by the way) have probably read about how we say that we can’t talk about love without talking about God, and we can’t talk about God without talking about love. And we can’t talk about God’s love without talking about Jesus Christ. Now, if I’m thinking about what we’re talking about today in that pattern, I would say the following:
We can’t talk about being made new without talking about being reconciled, just as we couldn’t talk about being reconciled without being made new. And we can’t talk about our new, reconciled self without talking about Jesus Christ, who paid such a great price for this to happen.
By Christ we know of God’s love, and through Christ we understand how we have been made new… well, not only new, but FULLY renewed and FULLY reconciled creations. So, again:
We are renewed, just as we are reconciled.
We are reunited, just as we are recreated.
And it’s all because of Jesus Christ.
Just take that in. Your new self is reconciled, reunited with God. It is as the song goes – Reunited, and it feels so good. God is as close to you as He could ever be, just as you are as close to God as you could ever be. And is it because of anything we did to deserve it or maintain it? No, it’s only by the finished work of Christ that I can make this outlandish claim.
New Mind, New Being
With all this said, I would have you understand what’s going on in my mind as I share all this.
We are renewed, just as we are reconciled. Therefore, any thoughts we make are made in His presence, just as our agenda is never separate or hidden from God. Take this however you understand it.
It doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be thinking sinful thoughts, it’s just that they would be in your head for long. And the way I see it, it’s righteous thoughts come to our head, and they stay there, and they compound. Doesn’t this give us another way to read and imagine what Paul had to say in 1 Corinthians 2:16, where he says that we have the mind of Christ?
I mean, bear with me here, and imagine it the other way around. We may be thinking righteous thoughts, but they never stay in our heads, but when we think of sin, it stays there – this right here was our state of mind before Christ saved us. This right here was what it meant to be in enmity with God, as He told Adam and Eve right after the fall (Genesis 3:15).
We are renewed, just as we are reconciled. Therefore, any actions we make are made in His presence, just as our plans are never separate or hidden from God. Take this however you understand it.
It doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be making any mistakes, but they wouldn’t be mistakes for long – for as it says in Romans 8, one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible, God is faithful to make all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Do we love Him? We love Him and our neighbor and ourselves, only because we know He loved us first, and He loves us with an everlasting love. Are we called according to His purpose? It is His will for none of us to perish, but to repent; Have we repented? The moment we believed in Christ, we were saved, which means that we were reconciled, and renewed with a new being, and certainly a new mind.
(sorry, I wanted to clear that before I went any further)
So we aren’t immune from making mistakes – as we’ve read, God is faithful to make even our mistakes work together for the good – and we have peace, knowing that it may not necessarily be for OUR good, but certainly for the good of those who love Him, for sure.
And that’s the thing. Being born to my loving, but strict Dad, I was definitely afraid of making mistakes, fearing his wrath more than the actual consequences of my actions. But behold, because of Christ, not only has that fear been driven away by His perfect love, but on the other hand, this perfect love has had me understanding my Dad’s actions, and loving him even more.
And when it comes to the pornographic thoughts, or the bad memories of the cringiest moments of my life, or the fear in facing the unknown – it’s not as if I shrug these thoughts off, but I live my life knowing that they will not be in my mind made righteous for longer than they have to be.
That’s what it means to me, folks – I’ve been renewed and made a new creation, knowing that I have been reconciled to God, by no less than His only begotten Son saving me, now and forever. I have a new mind, a new being, overflowing with the everlasting love and the eternal life of Christ… and all I’m doing, for all the titles you’re giving me (e.g. “Pastor”)…
…Man, I’m just flowing.
Friends, do you see how the finished work of Christ is much more than just a ticket to heaven? Do you see how the salvation that we have because of what Christ has done for us is just so full and complete, so infinite that each and every time we take a look at it we find ourselves amazed?
This is precisely why I continue to speak, and this is precisely why I continue to write; The Life we have in Christ, through Christ, and with Christ; so amazing, so overwhelming that it overflows, that we couldn’t contain it! It’s a Life we certainly exude and express in all aspects of our lives – we like to advertise Christ in our intentional posts, our songs and our proclamations and prayers, but I believe the Life we have in Christ is not compartmentalized.
What am I saying? Christ has saved us that much that His light is not seen in one aspect of our lives more than another – No, folks, I believe that Christ is celebrated in our lives in our smallest of actions to our grandest of schemes and agendas. I believe that Christ is just that close to us that His glory is seen in our most glorious of victories, and His grace is seen in even the most disgraceful of our blunders.
And just as I’ve shared, He is with me in my darkest and most twisted of thoughts, just as He is with me in the highest of revelations. His rod and His staff comforts me when I am in the darkest of days, whether of my doing or as a consequence of this fallen reality in general; In the most dangerous of moments, it is God who anoints my head with oil, preparing a table before me, as if to say that I am well in His care; I rest as He arises, and as my enemies are scattered.
And I shared this before, but just to appreciate the sheer height, depth, length, and width of God’s everlasting and eternal love for me, as seen in the salvation I have through Christ – well, it’s gotten me through these recent days where I am brought to remember the consequences of my mistakes in investments, and the bad choices I’ve made in my relationships. To know that Christ is with me in these, my personal times, well… I am truly encouraged, at the very least.
In the words of one of my Mom’s favorite songs, as my Dad used to sing to her, Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I could not deny that I’ve seen true Life, and have taken in true Love, and it’s all because of Christ, who loved me first by laying His life down for me. Indeed, to Him be all the glory and honor and praise. He is worthy of all worship and adoration.
But see here, what does it mean for you? I pray you take some time this weekend to try to understand and eventually appreciate Christ’s salvation made available for you personally.
Until the next post, God bless you.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
Leave a Reply