My first memory
of Sid was at the opening of a new church. I didn’t actually meet him then, but
his shining bald head and beaming smile up in the choir were quite
unforgettable.
Later,
appointed to that parish, I got to know him and discovered that he was indeed
unforgettable! Already in his eighties, he was vigorous in every way. He had
been and done so many things!
A World War I
Major, they gave him special duty in World War II looking for Japanese spies in
the
He spent time
in Home Mission service. Here too life was always full of the eventful. I have
sometimes wondered – do some people attract unusual events? or
is it that they see these sort of things and we don’t?
When I knew
him, Sid was writing two or three sermons a week many more than he was
preaching. “I have boxes of them out in the shed,” he would say. I heard him
preach a few times – always relevant, true to the Bible, true to life, well
garnished with pertinent illustrations.
We were running
a district youth rally once a month. On one occasion I suggested we have Sid as
our speaker. You should have heard him – the man in his eighties who could hold
a youthful audience in the palm of his hand!
Years later,
when Sid preached on his hundredth birthday, the ABC broadcast the service
nationally.
What a
character!
Perhaps you
know a character too. Not just like Sid. Curiously, when we call someone “a
character”, we mean he or she is different from anyone else we have ever come
across. So your “character” is different again!
In the Greek
language the word character meant “an
engraving tool”. It then came to mean the pattern engraved on a die and the
impression stamped out. The Greek word itself is only used once in the New
Testament – in Hebrews 1.3 where we read, “The Son is the radiance of God’s
glory and the exact representation
of his being...”
Jesus, of
course, was unique – absolutely – there was only one of him. He was – and is –
God the Son!
In a lesser
sense, each of us is also unique. We are not mass productions – God uses a
different “stamp” for each person. The sad news is that sin has distorted this
“image of God” in us. As Paul put it, “All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God” (Rom. 3.23). The good news is that Jesus – God the Son – came
into this world, not just to bring forgiveness, not just to bring about a new
life for us when we die, but to bring us new life and a new character now!
You can be born again!
Nicodemus, an
earnest, good-living Jew, was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling
council. Already controversy was brewing in the council over this new teacher,
Jesus. Nicodemus believed that the miracles of Jesus showed he had come from
God and that God was with him. But he wanted to find out first-hand just who
Jesus was, so he came by night to visit him.
We find Jesus
speaking immediately of the necessity of a new birth. “I tell you the truth, no one can see the
Often we are
struck that Jesus should be telling this good-living man, “You must be born
again!” That may not have been as much of a shock to Nicodemus as we assume. We
might take offence if Jesus came up to us and said, “You must be born again!”
But Nicodemus knew the contrast between his life and the image of God. He
didn’t exactly see the
We need to hear
Jesus saying to him, “You can be
born again!” Not just a physical birth (a birth of water), but a birth “of the
Spirit”. And it would be closely related to the very reason Jesus came into the
world – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (v. 16).
Somehow, we
have separated “eternal life” from “new birth”, forgiveness from a new
character, the work of Christ for us
from the work of the Spirit in us.
For Paul there
was no question about it at all – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor.
5.17).
Yes, Nicodemus,
you must be born again if you are to see and enter the
The old has gone!
Paul seems to be saying it has all
happened already “in Christ” – this new creation, the disappearance of the old
and coming of the new. What does he mean when he says, “if
anyone is in Christ”?
There are two
aspects. The first is that by his life, death and resurrection, Jesus has done
everything necessary for us to become “a new creation”. What is required from
our side is faith – a conscious
dependence on Jesus. We come acknowledging our sinfulness, realising that he
died paying the penalty for our sins and depending on him for his promised
forgiveness.
So the old
guilt and separation from God have already gone in Christ – we are new
creatures, reconciled to God. That’s why Paul, in v. 16, says, “So from now on
we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” No person is just what we
perceive him or her to be. Christ has died for that person. Each one now has
the potential to be a new creation in Christ.
But there is a
second aspect too. Being “in Christ” is not just a status. The new creation is
not something that is true even if it doesn’t seem true. “In Christ” is a
relationship, a union of our being and personality with Christ. And the coming
of Christ into our life is also the coming of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of
holiness. So what has happened – the new creation – will lead to visible
change.
The purpose of
God is that sin should no longer be a part of our lives. Yet so often it still
is. We may be forgiven, but the old hangs on!
Part of the way
to victory is in confession. John
wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our
sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1.9). If you confessed last year’s sins, don’t go
over them again! Accept that they are forgiven. But we do need to come with
today’s sins, acknowledge them to God, accept that he has forgiven them and “in
union with Christ” allow his redemptive work in that area to purify us in
thought, word and deed. John sees this as a continuing act that happens to us
as “we walk in the light, as he is in the light” and “have fellowship with one
another” (v.7).
The other part
is in our conscious choice.
A little boy
came home from Sunday School and his mother asked,
“What did you learn at Sunday School today, Johnny?”
Johnny replied,
“Today I learnt that I have two dogs inside me, a black dog and a white dog,
and they are always fighting!”
Mother was
quick to realise the lesson being taught, so she went on to ask, “And which dog
is going to win?”
“It depends
which one I feed!”
Paul tells the
Galatians that the Spirit and the sinful nature are two opposing principles
within us. As new creatures in Christ we choose to live by the Spirit and not
by the desires of the sinful nature.
He says, “The
acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual impurity and debauchery, idolatry
and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (Gal.
5.19,20).
In another
letter Paul says that we should “put to death whatever belongs to your earthly
nature” (Col. 3.5). It’s as if he’s saying, “The old has gone. That’s no longer
part of your life. It has no rightful place in you! Let it go! Stop feeding it!
Stop living by it! It has no right to control you!”
The new has come!
Describing the
wonderful kindness of God, Paul wrote, “For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by
works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”
(Eph. 2.8-10).
The new has
come! The purpose of God for us now is not just to forgive our bad works, but
to produce good works.
Do you ever
feel frustrated and disappointed about the Christian life?
No doubt we have
all seen TV advertisements and programmes that show homes in spotless condition
– never a blade of grass out of place outside, all cleanness and tidiness
inside. And we have had that guilty question – why isn’t my place like that?
Some books and
Christian speakers have given us the same feeling. Here is someone loving and
kind, with such a meaningful prayer life, full of good works, so different from
me! But I wonder if it’s always the full picture – not deliberate deception,
but perhaps a little selective truth! This is the very real danger, by the way,
in receiving too much of our Christian input from books, tapes or TV programmes
– where we are protected from seeing the writer or speaker “warts and all”.
What’s the
secret? How can the new become visible in my life?
It is there in
what we have already noted. By his life, death and resurrection, Jesus has done
everything necessary for us to become a new creation. “In Christ” God already
accepts us as new creatures, fully part of his family. Yet “in Christ” is not
just a status, as we have seen, but a relationship, a union of our being and
personality with Christ. In that union, the new must inevitably become more
visible in our lives.
So we must do
those things that will keep us open to growth in that relationship with Christ
– so that we will “live by the Spirit” and be “led by the Spirit” (Gal. 5.16,18).
This is why we
need more time in prayer – not just
saying prayers, not just talking to God.
Reflect in awe
and wonder on God’s greatness and love (we call this adoration). Open to him those parts of our life which conflict with
his will so that in confession our
will may become more focused on him. Consider with thankfulness God’s guidance and help throughout our day. Bring to
him the needs of others, both near and far (this is intercession). Come with our own needs – with openness to God’s
guidance and will for us (petition).
This can become
the pattern for a particular prayer time – morning or evening. But the
relationship continues throughout the day with prayer not very far away.
Prayer needs to
be joined with reading the Word. The
Bible is important for our spirit, our mind and our will. Reading it is more
than an intellectual exercise, though our minds do need to be “turned on” as we
read. There are things we need to understand in praying for others and for
ourselves. Our conscience, so often dulled by social values around us, needs to
be sensitised. The Holy Spirit takes the Word and applies it to our lives. Our
wills need to be attuned to his will. We need to read prayerfully, “Lord, what
are you saying to me?”
Fellowship and worship are vitally important. The Christian life is not to be
lived in isolation, but in relationship with others. We need other Christians.
John writes, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from
all sin” (1 Jn 1.7). At no point is fellowship seen as just another option. It
is an essential growing place for Christian character, as well as a place of
support and encouragement for Christian living.
In Galatians,
Paul calls Christian character “the fruit of the Spirit” – “love, joy, peace,
patience, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (5.22,23).
In other words, these traits come about because of the activity of the Spirit
within us, because we are “in Christ”.
But they are
not meant to be “hot-house” qualities. They need to be expressed, not just in here but out there – where Christ calls us to be “the salt of the earth” and
“the light of the world” (Matt. 5.13,14).
“Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Possible? Yes! True for us?
This is where we may hesitate, but yes – in Christ, because of all that he has
done, even though not yet fully visible! The Holy Spirit is still working on
us!
A
new creation? What a
character!
Lord Jesus, you are my Saviour and my Lord. Live your life within me. Lord, I want to be done with selfishness, anger, impurity and everything else that is contrary to your will. I need more love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness and self-control. By the work of your Holy Spirit, bring about your character within my life. Amen.
© Peter J. Blackburn, Halifax &
Ingham, 2 August 2009
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture
quotations are from the New International Version, © International Bible
Society, 1984.
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