Sliding into my Kindergarten seat, I set the cigar box on the desk and slowly opened the lid. It was a moment to savor. The scent of new school supplies summoned a deep inhaling, and the pleasure was second only to the supplies themselves. Brand new crayons, Elmer’s paste, and round-edged scissors were treasures to me, and I never grew tired of receiving them. Each school year I looked forward to the items I’d purchase for the next grade. It was the best part of the start of the year. Although I’ve traded the color box with its chunky 8-shades for multi-hues of sundry paints and pencils, I still get a thrill when it’s time to open new art supplies. There’s something about the act that feels inspiring, as if their presence awakens a creativity I really don’t possess. Most new things have a similar effect. New car scent, for example, makes me want to be a better driver. New cookware assures me I’m a humdinger chef, and a new throw or candle or pillow in seasonal colors convince me I’m a decorator. Newness just has a way of stirring the positive. The new things God says He has to offer are much the same.
In Isaiah God promised a new thing for His people, the unfolding of a new covenant that included we Gentiles, a covenant that would open the blindness of heart and release the imprisoned soul and provide a wellspring of living water in the driest desert of man’s spirit. This new covenant would deal with the inner man, writing the law of God upon the heart. Ezekiel elaborated that this heart would replace the stony heart that was disobedient to God with one of sensitivity. It would house a new spirit unlike the former hardened one. The new heart would unify, creating one Body in which God would dwell. Jesus expounded on this covenant promise showing that it was through His blood that this new testament was given. Sins were forgiven, making a new life available to any who would believe. This new life, Matthew wrote would be evidenced by believers speaking with a new tongue. John added that the new life would uphold a new commandment of love. And Paul explained that the new heart and new experience would result in a total make-over, a new creation, a “new man renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,” (Colossians 3:10) a new man “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). This new creature would walk a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20) in which the old lifestyle passed away as all things became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). These people with a new life would also experience a new eternity, a new heaven and a new earth where they would sing a new song, have a new name, and dwell in a new city, the New Jerusalem.
Funneled through God's imagination, the inspiring new things He creates are offered to us all. His work, so unique and golden, prompts a desire to be better, to do more, to become. His work thrills. It brings out the best, giving us glimpses into a realm of possibilities only His hope can provide. And the newness doesn’t wear off. Each day unwraps an unseen dawn, new mercies, new opportunities. Like a box of fresh supplies on the first day of school, new and exciting things are always awaiting the Christian, things the old man could never experience on its own.
Tip/Tidbit: Why settle for the old man? Enjoy the new life that can be found in Jesus.
In Isaiah God promised a new thing for His people, the unfolding of a new covenant that included we Gentiles, a covenant that would open the blindness of heart and release the imprisoned soul and provide a wellspring of living water in the driest desert of man’s spirit. This new covenant would deal with the inner man, writing the law of God upon the heart. Ezekiel elaborated that this heart would replace the stony heart that was disobedient to God with one of sensitivity. It would house a new spirit unlike the former hardened one. The new heart would unify, creating one Body in which God would dwell. Jesus expounded on this covenant promise showing that it was through His blood that this new testament was given. Sins were forgiven, making a new life available to any who would believe. This new life, Matthew wrote would be evidenced by believers speaking with a new tongue. John added that the new life would uphold a new commandment of love. And Paul explained that the new heart and new experience would result in a total make-over, a new creation, a “new man renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,” (Colossians 3:10) a new man “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). This new creature would walk a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20) in which the old lifestyle passed away as all things became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). These people with a new life would also experience a new eternity, a new heaven and a new earth where they would sing a new song, have a new name, and dwell in a new city, the New Jerusalem.
Funneled through God's imagination, the inspiring new things He creates are offered to us all. His work, so unique and golden, prompts a desire to be better, to do more, to become. His work thrills. It brings out the best, giving us glimpses into a realm of possibilities only His hope can provide. And the newness doesn’t wear off. Each day unwraps an unseen dawn, new mercies, new opportunities. Like a box of fresh supplies on the first day of school, new and exciting things are always awaiting the Christian, things the old man could never experience on its own.
Tip/Tidbit: Why settle for the old man? Enjoy the new life that can be found in Jesus.
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