Day 5 – The New Life Christ Gives

Day 5 — The New Life Christ Gives

Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, as I come to the Scriptures today, help me to see the new life you have given me. Show me what needs to be put off, what needs to be put on, and how your grace is changing me from the inside out. Amen.

Headline

One of the great treasures of Christianity is that Christ does not leave me as I was, but gives me a new life to live for him.

Ephesians 4:17-24

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put offyour old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self,created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Comment

This week I have been writing about the treasures we find in Christ.

There is the treasure of truth: the gospel tells me who Jesus is, what he has done, and why I need him. There is the treasure of love: in Christ I am not merely forgiven, but adopted as a child of God. There is the treasure of glory: I can begin to know the Father’s delight now, and one day I will share fully in his joy when I see Jesus face to face.

But there is another treasure too: new life.

In today’s reading from Ephesians, Paul describes the Christian life as taking off old clothes and putting on new ones. He says:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self… to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self.” (Ephesians 4:22–24)

And in 2 Corinthians he puts it even more strongly:

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

That is a wonderful promise. Becoming a Christian is not simply adding church attendance, private prayer, or Christian ideas to an otherwise unchanged life. It is receiving a new life from Christ.

Of course, this change is not always instant or easy. Progress in Christlikeness can be slow, uneven and sometimes painful. There remains a battle between the old self and the new self. Some sins seem to fall away quickly; others cling to us for years. There are days when we feel we have hardly changed at all.

But the promise remains: in Christ, the new has come.

When I became a Christian as a 19-year-old student, some changes were quite immediate. One was my language. I had often sworn and blasphemed, but after entrusting myself to Christ, I found those habits changed almost overnight. It especially hurt me to use, or even hear, “God” or “Jesus” as swear words.

Another change was my temper. I had a short fuse with others. I would not get violent, but I could get vocal. Yet as I began to grasp my own failings and Jesus’ patience with me, it started to change the way I treated others.

I do not mention these changes because they are the most important signs of Christian growth. I mention them because I noticed them, and others noticed them too. They encouraged me that Christ really was at work in me.

That is the treasure of new life. Jesus not only forgives us. He begins to remake us.

And this matters for the whole theme of this series. If we are to share Christ with others, they need not only to hear our words, but to see the difference he makes. Not perfection. Certainly not that. But real, visible, humble change.

At the end of this first week, it is worth asking again: have you forgotten the treasure you have found? The truth that frees from guilt. The love of the Father who welcomes you home. The glory of living in his pleasure. The new life that Christ gives by his Spirit.

There is one more change I noticed in those early years as a Christian. As I learnt more of God’s truth, grew in the love of the Father, and began to live for Christ in new ways, I also found myself wanting others to know him too. I was not always bold, and I was certainly not always wise, but I was increasingly compelled to share the joy of the treasure I had discovered with others who seemed every bit as blind to it as I had been. That too is part of the new life Christ gives: not only a changed character, but a growing desire to speak of him. But more on that next week.

Why does God want you to hear this today? Perhaps because you need to be encouraged that Christ is at work in you, even if the work feels slow. He has not only forgiven your past and secured your future; he is renewing your life now. And as others see that new life, they may begin to see something of the treasure of Christ.

Reflect

• Where have you seen evidence of Christ’s new life at work in you, however small or gradual?
• What part of the “old self” do you most need to put off, and what part of the “new self” do you need to put on?
• How might the changes Christ is making in you help others see that he is worth sharing?

Action

Take a few minutes today to complete this sentence in your own words:

“One way Christ has begun to change me is…”

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, I praise you that you have not only forgiven me, but given me new life. Thank you that, in you, the old has gone and the new has come. Help me to put off the old self and put on the new self, and make the change you are working in me visible to others, so that they too may see that you are worth sharing. Amen.