Walking With Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.(ESV)

Happy new year!

Out with the old and in with the new. The word ‘new’ brings with it a sense of hope. There is hope for a change. There is a solid line to delineate between old and new. The mere idea of ‘new’ brings to mind so many possibilities that it can be overwhelming. I, personally, love the concept of ‘new’.

New can also be a bit scary. It’s intimidating to make all of the decisions that go along with new. The biggest problem that I most often struggle with when talking about new is what to do with the old. A new shirt feels amazing, but I don’t feel the need to get rid of all of my old shirts just because I get a new one. New pants are great, but until they are broken in they may not feel as good as my old pair of jeans. It’s only after washing them a few times that the material relaxes a bit and is less stiff. We tend to do the same thing mentally and spiritually when discussing the concept of new.

Luke 5:37-38 (37)And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. (38)But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. (39)And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, “The old is good.”(ESV)

Some translations say, “The old is better.” An aged wine. An aged cheese. A mature Christian?

A properly aged wine or cheese can be amazing. The rich bouquet of tastes and smells bring a depth to the experience that everyone owes to themselves to try at least once. A wine that isn’t aged well can be dull, flat, sour, or bitter. A cheese that hasn’t aged well can be rancid, dry, grainy, or even chalky. A Christian that hasn’t matured well can also be described in these terms. The maturation of a wine or cheese is a complex process that requires diligence and care. There is always risk involved with the process. The master maker knows the process well and the signs of improper or poor results. A lot can go wrong and accidents do happen. If the process with wine or cheese fails then the batch must usually be thrown out.

A Christian who does not mature well is a lot more complicated to correct because we don’t just throw people out. The good news is that we serve the true master creator. He can make us new, entirely new, in an instant. He can repeat this process as often as needed. The process is easy for Him.

Here’s the question: we are new creations, yet we need to mature in Christ? How do we remain new, with the faith of a child, while still maturing and growing in our faith?

This is the war that has been raging since the garden of Eden. The battlefield is fraught with many hidden dangers and challenges. Thankfully, we serve a might God who has already won the war. We will still face battles of our own along the way, but we have the greatest battle plan ever devised in His written word. This gives us all a birds eye view of the battlefield and some detailed notes on who our enemy is.

In the coming messages I want to discuss the battles we all face, how to prepare for them, and who our real enemy is. Knowing that we are not alone in these battles can make them more bearable. Knowing that we are not broken beyond repair gives us hope. Knowing that we serve a God who loves each of us enough to never give up on us, no matter how far we travel or how much we struggle, should bring us peace.

I, for one, look forward to seeing what this year has to offer. I’m excited to be able to share this journey with all of you.