New Things
By Pastor Jim May
Don’t you just love to have something that’s new? Which of us does not like the smell of a new car? And who among us would not like to have a new home with all the modern conveniences? What about new clothes that fit better and haven’t been through the washer and dryer, or sat in the “round dresser” (clothes dryer) for a long time? What about a new job, where you can get a fresh start? There’s just something about new things that gets the adrenaline flowing and excites us for a while. We love to wear it, drive it, live in it and enjoy the new thing until it finally joins the ranks of the used like everything else. Then we start looking for something new again.
God loves things that are new also. He is a God of new things and loves to give us the best that Heaven has to give.
There came a time when God looked at man that he had created and said, “It’s time for something new.”
The first 12 chapters of the Book of Genesis are some of the most depressing chapters in the Bible. They tell the story of man’s fall from a place of perfection in God into the very pits of sin. By the time Abraham had come along, God had already destroyed all but eight people on the face of the earth. Noah had come out of the ark and the family of mankind began to rebuild, with a new lease on life, a fresh start, but it didn’t take long for sin to bring mankind right back into the pit again. The same sin nature that had been the downfall of man in the Garden was at work once again when mankind began to build a tower that would reach to Heaven. Man was determined, and still is, to may his own way to the throne of God so that he can declare himself to be equal to God. Just as the Tower of Babel failed to fulfill man’s desire to be god, so will every other feeble attempt that we can come up with.
Even though man rebelled against God, and God had to judge him for that sin, you can sense the loss the God felt when the scriptures say in Genesis 6:6, "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."
Man, whom God had so lovingly formed of the dust of the earth, and made into his own perfect image, and designed to live forever, had rebelled against God and now the whole of humanity was bound for eternal punishment. That wasn’t what God wanted!
Too many people blame God for the troubles in their lives. Anytime something goes against them, the first thing they will do in point a finger at God and say “Why ME!”
The truth is that all of our troubles, whether they are ordained by God to try or faith, or temptations that are brought against us by the devil – all of our troubles are the result of sin in one way or another.
From the very first temptation that Satan brought against Adam in the garden, to the temptations that you face everyday, every one of them has only been a temptation because we desired those things in the first place.
Adam wasn’t satisfied to be a servant and friend of God – He wanted to be God! We are not satisfied to just enjoy the things that God has already given to us – we want it all! No matter what God blesses us with, we are ever reaching for more.
All temptations, and all trials, are born of sin, for without sin in the hearts of men, God would have no reason to test our faith, and there would be no reason to need a Savior and we wouldn’t have to worry about the devil coming against us because we would not desire anything that he could offer to make us fall.
The desire for new things is not all bad though. It’s good to always want more of God. It’s good to want to have a better relationship with Jesus. It’s good to desire to know the Word of God better.
What isn’t good is when we begin to ignore what blessings we have because all we can see is what we don’t have. The devil always loves to remind you that there is still something better, something newer, something prettier, something else to reach for that we don’t have. Satan’s favorite tool to use against us is our own innate desire for something new.
So God, from the beginning had formulated His battle plans against our sin nature and decided to do a new thing. He knew that we couldn’t do anything about our sin without his intervention. He knew that every man, woman and child on the face of the earth would go to eternal punishment if something wasn’t done to stop it, and only God had the power to do anything about it.
What was that “New Thing” that God decided to do? It’s called the Abrahamic Covenant!
God found a man who would be as faithful as a man could be. That man was Abraham and it was God who made the first move, making a covenant or promise to Abraham. God was creating a new way that man could have a relationship with him.
Abram is called out and chosen because God decided to make a people for Himself. There was no other way to bring about God’s plan to its fulfillment. There had to be a man, a chosen people and a chosen nation, that God would call his own. Through Abraham and the generations that would become Israel, God would present His Law. He began to teach man about God’s perfect law and to prepare mankind for the time when God’s plan of salvation would be fulfilled in the Messiah.
God furthered his plan with the coming of a new leader into the land of Israel called Moses. The Abrahamic Covenant was being fulfilled all the time as Israel became a great nation and a people called by God. But they were far from perfect. Just like people in the church today, they tended to chase after idols. They always wanted some new thing and were never satisfied just to enjoy the blessings of God, and the promise of God that was already theirs for the taking.
At Mount Sinai, in the desert, while God’s people were wandering in ignorance and complaining and murmuring against Moses and against God, it was God who took the initiative once again and gave them a new thing. That new thing was called “the ten commandments”; God’s perfect Law.
Why was it perfect? Because if we can obey all 10 of those basic commandments we would have fulfilled all the Law and been righteous. The problem is that not one man ever born can fulfill that Law perfectly.
We may not kill, we may not steal, we may not covet, we may not break many of the commandments, but we will break at least one and that’s all it takes.
James 2:10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Now God just didn’t give the Law to show us where we are wrong. He also gave us a system called the “Law of Moses” whereby we could draw closer to God and begin our journey back into God’s presence.
It was here that God laid out the plans for the Tabernacle in the Wilderness with all its furnishings and coverings. God then presented an extensive plan for blood sacrifices to begin so that the sins of Israel could be pushed forward each year. The sins could not be completely forgiven, only pushed ahead.
Hebrews 9:9-10 calls the system of animal sacrifices and offerings unto the Lord in the Tabernacle as a, "… figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation."
In other words, all that system of sacrifices could do was point to something new that was yet to come for their sin required much more than man could give for their remission.
From that day until now, the Law of Moses, and the requirements of that Law and of the ten commandments remain in effect for every man on the face of the earth, and will remain in effect forever, unless we find something new to take their place and fulfill their requirements.
Mankind doesn’t like to be reminded that he is a sinner, separated from God, and that he can never be as God is. That’s why we have seen prayer taken out of public schools, and the 10 Commandments removed from public buildings and grounds, and the persecution of preachers and churches that preach the truth. Mankind still desires something new, but he wants to create it for himself, and not accept God’s way.
God saw that the Law and the sacrifices were doing what they were intended to do – to bring mankind to the place where he knew he was in need of salvation and to show that no sacrifice man could give would ever be perfect enough to attain that salvation. He was preparing the hearts of men for the next “new thing”.
After 400 long years of silence in the earth, when there was no prophet, no teacher and no one to come on the scene to give mankind anymore encouragement, God decided it was time for the New Covenant to come to the hearts of men. That new covenant began with the preaching of repentance by John the Baptist, and then the glorious birth of the Son of God on the earth. God was giving a “New and Living Way to Mankind”. No longer would the sins of man be just pushed ahead, one year at a time, stacked up, if you will, until the Day of Judgment to be judged all at once.
Now, through the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, those sins would be forever washed away and forever forgotten.
What a wondrous “New Thing” this was! There would be no more need of sacrifices. There would be no more need of the Temple ceremonies. Every requirement of God’s Perfect Law and of the Law of Moses would be fulfilled completely through the sacrifice of God’s only Son upon the Cross for the sins of the world.
How does it all work? Well, let me dazzle you with my knowledge and let you know what I have finally figured out after living for God for nearly 50 years now and serving as the pastor of this church for the past 5 years, and spending many hours in reading, praying and studying. I finally figured it out and now I can tell you what I have figured out. I figured out that I don’t know and I never will. I don’t know how Jesus can wash away sin by his own blood. But I know it works. I have seen the change it brings in the lives of people. I have seen the joy that comes over a soul when that soul has been cleansed from sin. But I don’t know how Jesus does it – I just accept it by faith and believe the Word of God.
I don’t know how one man’s death, even a perfect man like Jesus, fulfilled all the Law. But I know it does and I believe it does because God’s Word says it does.
I can’t explain how God does things, and I don’t believe anyone else can either.
Job knew that it was impossible to figure God out. Look at what he had to say in Job 9:2-10, "I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number."
Job figured it out – he discovered that no man could ever know all the ways of God. We just learn to trust Him and accept Him and believe His Word by faith and that’s the only way.
So God created a “new thing” called the “New Testament” or the “New Covenant” with mankind. His plan was fulfilled in his only Son, Jesus Christ. This was the Messiah of Israel, the Promise of Abraham and the symbolism of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness all wrapped up in one final package. Jesus Christ, and his shed blood, became the only way. The way of salvation has been made, once and for all, and now Jesus is the Way, the Truth and Life. He alone is the Door to Heaven and all must come through his blood, by way of the cross, through repentance and acceptance of his sacrifice.
Those who had lived faithfully under the Law of Moses were kept in reserve until Jesus was sacrificed. Their sin that had been pushed ahead for so many long years was now washed away, just as ours are. Their faith in the coming Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus and now they are with him in Glory.
And it shall be same for all who will live faithfully for God in this present day, while we are ever looking for our coming Lord. There will come a day for your deliverance from this world of sin, whether it is in death, as the angels come to carry you home, or in the rapture when all those who remain faithful will be taken home together to be with the Lord in the air.
If you really love “new things”, let me tell you that the New Testament Covenant through the Blood of Jesus is the greatest source of “new things” that there is.
2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
What a statement – “all things are become new”! Does that mean I’m going to have a new house, a new car, a new job and all that “stuff”? No, they won’t be new, but you will have a new way of looking at them and a new appreciation for every blessing that God has given to you.
But there are a lot of New Things that Jesus will give you. Let’s take a quick look at a few of them.
Mark 16:17, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;" God will give you a whole new way of speaking and, if you seek after it and accept it, a whole new language to speak only to him.
John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." The 10 commandments said that we should love God with all our heart and have no other god before him, and that we should love our fellowman as much as we love ourselves. But now, there is a new commandment of love – that we must love one another as much as God loves us. That kind of love is a greater love than we could have ever given without Jesus in our hearts. It’s not just a feeling of fondness and gratitude, but a sacrificial love, that we keep on giving even when it isn’t deserved.
Acts 2:13-18, "Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:"
God has given us a new spirit and anointing to do mighty works for him. We have that “new wine” of the Holy Spirit living in us, and we can have as much of that “new wine” as we want. We can allow him to bless us with an equal portion that is given to every man who accepts Jesus as Lord, or we can seek for a greater portion and get totally immersed and baptized in the Holy Spirit and let that power really move in us. I don’t know about you, but I love God’s new things so much that I want all the Holy Spirit power in me that I can get.
Ephesians 4:24, "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
God will give all of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, a new nature, that desires the things of God more than the things of the world and they will be less open to temptation and able to stand against the devil and continue to serve the Lord.
I don’t have time to look at all of the new things that God has given to us through the power of the Blood of Jesus. There are many more that we could talk about, like the New Heavens, the New Earth, the New Jerusalem, the New Name written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and the New Song that we shall all sing in Heaven together.
The point is that there is a New Testament Covenant in effect now for all who will receive Jesus and believe in Him. Yet most of the world is still bound under the law and judgment of the Old Covenant of God’s Law. So many people will die in their sin and face the wrath of God’s judgment because they never accept the New covenant in Jesus.
This day, as we are gathered together, I wonder if there is even one who has not surrendered your life to Jesus. Is there one who is still living under the law? There is no salvation without Jesus. You can be a morally good person. You can try to keep every commandment. You can be a model citizen. You don’t lie all the time. You don’t steal from other people. You don’t hate your neighbor. You might even love people and love to do things for them. But none of those things will save you. And remember, all it takes is one sin, one failure in fulfilling the Law, and you are guilty as charged. The only sentence for sin, whether it is one or many, is death eternal.
Jesus came that you might have life. He wants to give you some new things. He wants to make you a new creation in righteousness and holiness. Why not become a part of the New Testament Covenant with God right now and come to Jesus. He died on the cross so that you and I could have a way back to God – and Jesus is the only way.
