To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. Isa 61:3 (NLT)
The New Way – Part 2
Yesterday we looked at the parable of the new wine skins. Jesus was telling some seriously religious guys (by that I mean people who relied on the law to please God) that these old ways to find God aren’t necessary anymore.
He likened it to going to a wedding and weeping and mourning for the Bridegroom.
I was a wedding singer (yep…you can picture me just like Adam Sandler with an 80’s haircut) for about 9 years and I saw a lot of crying at the weddings I played at… but it was never ‘sad’ crying. They were mostly tears of joy and by the end of the night at the reception, it was often all laughter and fun; singing, dancing and joy! A new life for the happy couple was about to begin and it was an occasion to celebrate.
When Jesus came along, God was doing something completely new. He was signalling a new beginning for every person on the planet. The old ways of animal sacrifice and obedience to the law in order to have relationship with Him were being transformed into a ‘once for all’ event.
The old life was not just the old way of doing things (following law and tradition) but also the old way of living. Rather than constantly being on the outer with God (by sin-nature – the old way) and trying to work your way in, Jesus signals that you are already ‘in’ – no need to work or prove it anymore – just live like you are in! The new way…
2 Corinthians 5 says it so well;
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ.”
This ‘new life' is cause for celebration because living on the outer is always work. You’re always wondering “Am I good enough?” and living in fear that you won’t be. When you’re ‘in’ there’s no fear. No need for anxiety. No need to maintain or prove your position.
There’s just grace and a truck-load of His love.
[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]
Trackbacks/Pingbacks