A new school year has begun! For many this is a time of getting back into a good routine. Teachers want to teach a fresh batch of young, eager minds, and students want to show their friends their new shoes, jeans, shirts, and boyfriends...it's something new for everyone. It's simply an exciting time of year! At least it's better than sitting around bored with nothing to do but watch the grass turn brown in the heat of the summer. "Newness" is wonderful and this time of year reminds me of the constant newness of the Christian life.God spiritually created us to be new through Christ. Paul called us God's "new creation" and then he describes God's creative activity in our lives with the statement "the old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). God is not satisfied with leaving us the way we were; He wants and expects change. This change is radical in the sense that it affects every single, solitary area of our life. It's a different direction for our lives, a different desire for our passions, a new set of habits, and a different way of looking at life.
Another point I want to make is that this change never ends. The newness is always new again. We will never get to a point in our lives when change is no longer necessary. We must always be growing. This constant, spiritual growth is by God's sovereign design according to Romans 8:29,
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...
Just think about it, God's plan from before time began was to make us more and more like His Son. This plan is rooted in the gospel, continues in the gospel and finishes in the gospel. I say this because our spiritual growth is about being conformed to the image of Jesus. He didn't say conformed to a set of rules or traditions, but His Son. Central to being remade int he image of Jesus is the cross, and so central to our spiritual growth is the cross.
Grace & Peace,
Scott
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