New Things

New Things

By Pastor Jim May

As we enter this New Year of 2007 I thought it would be good for us to think about having some new things. Don’t you just love being able to have something new? I love the fresh smell of a new car, before the aroma of French fries and hamburgers lost under the seat become overpowering. When you walk into a brand new home, the senses are treated to the smell of new carpet and fresh paint before the dust, mildew, mold and all of the scents from the occupants fill the air. There’s just something about new clothes that makes you feel better.

One thing that we all look forward to is the New Year. At midnight tonight we will begin the New Year. We look forward to its coming because we know that it is a year and a time that has been untouched by evil and that this year may usher in a spiritual awakening and if mankind would seize the opportunity, he could make a real difference in his history.

Everything about us grows old, wears out and must be replaced with something new from time to time. Replacement of a car, a suit of clothes or some other possession is costly but it’s something that must be done.

But there is something else that needs to be renewed and its far more important than possessions, it’s YOU!

I’ve often heard people say that they needed to repair a car, but there was just so much wrong with it that the best way to repair it was to jack it up and put a new one under it. Is that the way you feel about Yourself? There’s just so much wrong with you that it seems impossible to fix it all. Sometimes you even begin to wonder if you’re even worth fixing anymore. There just needs to be a whole new you!

It is impossible to have a new You in the flesh. You can’t rebuild yourself completely, getting rid of every old habit, changing your heart and life completely, and start out fresh again with a clean slate. You can’t erase every sin you’ve ever committed. You can’t forget your past. You can’t be someone other than the person you are. None of these things can be accomplished in your own power.

But the fact is that you can have all of that and you don’t have to wait until a New Year to have that fresh start. Every minute of every day is a brand new minute in the time of our lives. It’s what we do with those minutes that add up into days, weeks, months and years that will make up the result of what we have spent our lifetime accomplishing.

Jesus offers us so many new things and unlike the things that the devil has to offer, the good things of God do not deteriorate in time or grow old, and worthless and corrupted through the years. Instead, it just gets better and better all the time.

Let me give you some comparisons of what the devil and the world offers compared to what Jesus has for you right now if you will only serve Him.

--Satan offers death through sin – Jesus offers New life.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

This old body of flesh, that belongs to this earth, begins to die from the moment we are born. It wasn’t created that way in the beginning, but because of the “gift” of sin that mankind so quickly received from Satan in the Garden of Eden, death reigns in this mortal flesh. Satan came along, and through deception and temptation to our own desires, he stole your eternal life, he killed your eternal soul, and he destroyed all hope of ever making Heaven your home.

But Jesus offers you all of those things back if you will only live for Him and accept him. He will give you a glorified body that will live forever. He gives you a life that is eternal and will never know death.

--The devil and the world offer the love of the world that is more lust and greed, or selfishness than true love – Jesus offers perfect love and a New Love that the world can’t offer.

Love in the world has so many meanings that you often can’t tell what someone means when they say they love you. Do they love you like they love their car? Do they love you like they love their pet cat? Do they love you like they love their job? Do they love you like they love their chocolate ice cream? Do they love you like they love their Mother-in-Law? Do they love you like they love themselves? All of their love is conditional. The moment you don’t meet their needs anymore, the definition of love becomes more clearer.