New Life

You have been set apart and chosen. Photo by Gift Habeshaw.

Our church had a mini-retreat on new life in Christ, and it was led by Jim Found, a former missionary. The content was so good I want to summarize it for you. Jesus came that we might have this abundant full life (John 10:10). As Christians, we are given a new full life. Our old life is still hanging around but we have this new life in Christ. What does it mean to have this new life?

The new life is also called the new self or new nature. We get to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). We walk in love (Ephesians 5:1-2) as we “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:17-24). This is not our doing for God is at work in us to do his will (Philippians 2:13). Unfortunately, the old self is still around and we do not fully realize the new self (Romans 7:7-25). There is conflict between the old self and the new self. We still sin. The Holy Spirit will enable us to recognize our sin, reject it, and then ask for forgiveness (repentance). This is an ongoing lifelong process (sanctification) to conform us to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). Note though we sin, we still are saved. Our salvation or justification is not based on anything we do. It is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-10). The good works come from us after being saved. The new life with its good works is a result of being saved. You strengthen your new life by trusting Christ and his promises, and the good works are the result. Walking in newness of life means living a Christ-like life (Colossians 2:6-7; Philippians 2:1-11).

Our old self is selfish. It will by nature disobey God’s will. The mind set on the flesh (the old self) is hostile to God (Romans 8:7-8). The new life is guided by the Holy Spirit and it desires to obey God’s will. We need to daily put off the old self. We put off our old self when we repent, and ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our new life. The Holy Spirit aids us in our struggle against temptation and sin. The Holy Spirit awakens in us new thoughts and affections so we can begin to love God and refrain from evil actions. Oh, Holy Spirit, control our thoughts and give us the power to reject sin.

By walking in newness of life, we have victory over temptation. We need not be burdened by things like fear, anxiety, loneliness, hopelessness, lack of purpose, peer pressure, sinful addictions, guilt, low self worth, and the many other things that burden us. In our new life we have a new identity in Christ as children of God (1 John 3:1), and with that comes many promises, that is scripture passages that tell of God’s love and support for us and how to respond to that love.

Walking in newness of life means we submit ourselves to God, and we resist the devil so he will then flee from us (James 4:7). A great way to resist the devil and temptations is to follow the example of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) and quote scripture when facing temptation. Quote scripture and tell Satan to leave. Do not let Satan bother you, because you are God’s and he saved you.

God is at work in you even if you do not feel it and wonder if you are saved. God is at work in you if you admit you are a sinner. If you repent of your sins and want to change your life, God is at work in you. If you acknowledge that Jesus is God who became man, God is at work in you. God is at work in you, if you recognize that Jesus came to die for you and then rose from the dead. If you trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior God is at work in you. That desire and power to live for Jesus comes from God working in you. You are saved. You are his.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can show that Jesus is Lord in concrete ways. You have been given a purpose of sharing God’s love through caring and serving others. One big way to do that is to share the good news of how God has saved you and how he is at work in you. Share the new life he has given you.

Heavenly Father, You have given us everything we need for a full and abundant life. You have set us free from the sinful cravings of the world. Your promises are sure and certain. You are there to deliver us when we call out to you, and yet we fail to live the good life you would want us to live. Let your Holy Spirit strengthen our faith to help us to reject our sinful ways and live that full abundant life for you. We ask this because of all Jesus has done. Amen! (2 Peter 1:3-4; Psalm 50:15; John 10:10)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26)

PS This was just a taste of the mini-retreat. For the complete text of the retreat, go to Jim Found’s website https://foundbytes.com/new-life/.

Critical Expressive Individualism

Culture has changed. In America, we think very differently as a society than we did 50+ years ago. The popular way of thinking today combines Critical Theory and Expressive Individualism. I am going to call it, “Critical Expressive Individualism” or CEI. Critical Theory views the world in terms of oppressive social structures that support the reigning oppressors and allow for continued oppression of various people groups. Expressive Individualism allows individuals to identify themselves in ways that express their inner “authentic self”. We will take a look at Critical Expressive Individualism and compare it to Christianity by asking a few basic but big questions. (Note there is a spectrum of beliefs so this will be a broad overview of CEI and Christianity, and may not match individual beliefs.)

Where did we come from?

The Christian Faith believes that God created the world. He created human beings in his own image. We are valuable to God. We were made to be in a relationship with him. CEI believes that humankind evolved by random chance. There was no intentional design. Humans just exist.

Who has the authority?

In the Christian Faith, God, the Creator, has the authority. Out of love, he has set up good and healthy moral laws for us to live by. We are to trust in him and live the good life by obeying his commands. The CEI worldview has each and every one acting as their own authority. They look inside themselves at their feelings and desires and decide who they are (usually sexually) and how they will behave. They are then free to express their individual authentic selves.

What is our problem?

Just about everyone agrees that there is a problem with life. Things are not as we expect them to be. We seek a utopia where the problem is fixed. The Christian Faith sees the problem existing in each one of us. We are broken, selfish and self-centered. We disobey the good and healthy standards that God has for us and in doing so we hurt ourselves and others. CEI sees humankind as naturally good and the problem is that there are these societal structures that allow oppression to occur and restrict the expressive freedom of each individual.

What is the solution?

CEI believes that each person has total authority and the right to express themselves as they see fit. Even though there is technically no right or wrong, CEI attempts to influence society in order to dismantle oppressive societal structures and bring about positive change. This is a reason for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officers in companies and organizations. They are there to move people to help dismantle oppressive structures and to promote those considered to be oppressed. They believe that the people of this world will solve the problem once they have been trained to think correctly.

Christians realize there is no human solution because everyone is corrupt and broken. We are self-centered and selfish. Because of our broken nature, everything we try will be corrupted. Fortunately, God sent Jesus into the world to provide the solution. He went to the cross to pay for the price we could not pay. By trusting in Jesus we are changed. With the Holy Spirit, we can be enabled to overcome our broken nature. The Holy Spirit transforms the inner self and works to change us from the inside out. Christians, out of gratitude for what Jesus did, also work for the good of society and oppose oppression and wrong behaviors.

How will things end for us?

With CEI they believe they can create utopia on earth by training and guiding people. So through proper laws, training, destroying of oppressive structures, and the lifting up of the oppressed peoples, they believe utopia can come. Christians believe that God will at the right time end this world and make everything right for all those who believe in him. Then our brokenness will be fixed, and we will be restored to a harmonious loving relationship with God and each other.

These different ways to view the world have caused conflict in America. Because of the different worldviews, very different solutions end up being promoted, causing conflict and misunderstanding.

Relativism

If I place my water glass on the table, and say “my water glass is on the table”. Is that statement true? Everyone in the room would agree that it is true, because you can see the glass there on the table. But if you are not in the room and you can not see it, is the statement still true? You may believe that the statement is true or you may believe that the statement is false, but the truth is, the water glass is on the table. That is the fact and it is external and separate from what you think. That is reality. This is called objective truth. Unfortunately, today we tend to look inside of ourselves to find the truth. We decide what is true. It is a subjective truth and it is also known as relativism. This is a big lie and it has been around since the Fall.

Adam and Eve listened to Satan and decided themselves to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). They were deceived and ignored the external truth of God’s love and command and decided to follow their own desires. They became focused on themselves instead of God. Ever since then we have been dealing with this internal self-centered god complex in each one of us.

What does the Devil do? He lies (John 8:44). He deceives (Revelation 12:9). He blinds people (2 Corinthians 4:4) and takes them captive (2 Timothy 2:26). And thus, the world is in his power (1 John 5:19).

This is spiritual warfare, and not just a battle of opinions. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but … against spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). We need to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). With the first piece is “the belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14) along with the last piece “the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) we can take on the lies of the Devil (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We do this with patience and gentleness, while praying for their salvation (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

When we are learning about what a person believes, look for a big spiritual lie that is obvious to you, but they are blind to. We respond by countering the lies with the truth. And I believe a very good way to do that is by asking questions. You first ask questions to discover what they believe. Then ask questions to learn why they believe what they believe. And lastly ask questions that guide them to expose some areas where they have been blinded from the truth.

In this age of relativism, we find people have their own internal individual truth, their own subjective truth, and yet they tend to live with some external objective truth. They may consider all moral truth to be relative, however they have their moral standard that they expect others to follow, especially when it affects them. They tend to be blind to the inconsistencies of their beliefs.

I believe Satan is in the shadows deceiving the world. Because of relativism, many historical stories are being rewritten (e.g. The 1619 Project), and many words are being redefined to fit the narrative of their beliefs. This is being done to control the culture and individuals. This does not lead to the freedom of expressive individualism that their narrative is supposed to create, but instead the truth is lost. It reminds me of the newspaper Pravda of the Soviet Union. In Russian, Pravda means truth, but the newspaper was full of lies. I find that words of virtue like tolerance, diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and love are being used to cover vices, and words describing evil (intolerance, bigotry, inequity, exclusion, injustice, and hate) are being used to subvert the good. It bothers me to have these words and stories redefined. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).

Satan has blinded and deceived this world and has taken it captive. Christians have the truth, the true story of reality. We need to share the truth of God’s love and gently point out the spots of blindness that prevent them from having that good full life in Jesus Christ.

This post was inspired by chapter 6 of “Street Smarts” and lesson 3 of the video series “Street Smarts”. Both are by Gregory Koukl.

Marriage

Marriage is found in all cultures. It is nearly universal. It is foundational to human society. Marriage has a positive effect on health and wellbeing. In marriage, families are formed and children are raised. And yet today, I find that in Western culture marriage and families are considered to be not very important. Instead the individual is considered to be much more important. Below I will describe marriage with a few insights I have learned. It will be a Biblical view of marriage.

God instituted marriage from the very beginning. Jesus summarizes it well when he said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5; Genesis 1:27, 2:24) God designed marriage for us. It is a gift to us. (Note some are called to be single and marriage is not for them (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).)

Marriage is a public covenant and a commitment you make in love. You promise and bind yourselves only to each other for life. Because of that commitment, marriage creates a safe place where intimacy rules. It is not just physical or sexual intimacy, but it is all the other types of intimacy too. You can safely share your concerns, your faults, your mistakes, your sins and everything else, because your spouse is there for you and will not run away. You can be vulnerable. They love you and want the best for you. They will listen to you as you share. They will forgive you. They will help you restore what has been broken.

Also marriage is a safe and stable place to raise children. The family is the building block of society. Studies have shown that children do better when both parents are a part of the family. Fathers are especially needed. The cornerstone of a Christian marriage is Jesus Christ. He is first in the marriage with your spouse as second, and the children are third. Children learn by watching how the husband and wife love and serve each other. And they also learn to serve God by watching their parents.

A Christian marriage is a witness to the world of God’s faithful love for us, his sacrificial service of love to us, and his loving commitment and pursuit of us. A Christian marriage displays the relationship between God and his people. God has been faithful in his love for us. Unfortunately, we have put ourselves, others, and things above God. We have not submitted ourselves to his loving guidance, and yet he still loves us and pursues us. He is so committed to us that Jesus came and died for us to allow that intimate relationship with us to be restored. Jesus is our bridegroom and we are the bride.

There is no such thing as a perfect marriage. A marriage joins two sinful people, so there will be problems and issues you have to deal with, but because of that covenantal commitment you both can work though those problems and issues. You need to talk with each other and especially listen to each other. You need to forgive each other. Great marriages require that commitment and for both of you to work at making the marriage great. It is worth the effort.

Be Intentional and Disciplined

Another year is coming to an end. People make resolutions this time of year. Last year I set up a “rule of life” for me to live by, instead of having New Year’s resolutions. I like the idea of creating a pattern of habits to live by, and I think it has worked out well for me this past year. I did fail this last month in the habit of “Limit the eating of sweets and fats”. I ate way too many cookies and now I have a couple pounds I need to lose. I was not intentional and disciplined in my eating this last month.

I think in today’s culture of comfort and convenience we need to be intentional and disciplined in how we live. The strong siren call of today’s culture is to live for oneself and to fulfill one’s desires. The goal of many people is to live a life of ease, one of comfort and convenience, where they can always be happy by having all their desires met. This last month I let my desire for sweet cookies rule my eating. It was not healthy. I was not intentional in my eating, and I was not at all disciplined. I gained a couple of pounds. Now I have to deal with the consequences of that lack of discipline.

God calls us to a life centered around him and not centered around us. That is very different from what today’s culture says. Culture today pulls us toward a self-centered life based on our desires. This is why we can not coast through life. If we do, we will not be living for God and we will have to deal with the consequences of the short term thinking of our desires. We need to be intentional and disciplined in life’s activities so that we can have that good and full life centered on God.

One good way of being intentional is to have a plan. We can not try to fit God into our lives. Instead we need to start with God and build our lives around him. That is why I created a “rule of life” document for myself, so that I would be consistent in how I live my life for God. I created the document by looking at what I was already doing and what I wanted to do. I did not get very specific (e.g. Every morning at 6:00am I will read the Bible), instead I kept my habits more general (e.g. Daily read Scripture). I am not that structured, but you may be. It does take some prayerful consideration to put together a plan or a “rule of life”. It is not something you should write up in a few hours. Spend some time praying about it while putting it together. Once it is done you will want to revisit it from time to time to see how well it still fits. For me this is the time of year when I think of such things. (I first started thinking about the idea of a “rule of life” around New Years 2022 and I put it into practice around New Years 2023 and now I am evaluating it around New Years 2024.)

Having a plan and wanting to be intentional is not enough. You need commitment and discipline to put your intentionality into action. This is the hard part but this is something we need to strive for. It is not easy and I have also many times failed to live up to the “habits” or “rules” that I have set (let alone God’s good standards), but fortunately, we have a God who is merciful and gracious. He desires that intimate relationship between us and him. I think my “rule of life” document helps me to pursue that relationship. Our focus should be centered on God, especially on Jesus. It is out of gratitude for God’s amazing love and for all Jesus has done for me that I want to live my life to his glory. He inspires and enables me to have the discipline to live life for him.

PS To find out some of what Gail and I did in 2022 and 2023, read our Christmas letter.

A Christmas Story

A long long time ago, there was a young woman, Miriam, who was engaged to be married to a man named Yosef. She had a visit from a messenger from God. The messenger said, “Hello, highly favored one. God is with you.” This very unusual event naturally troubled her. The messenger said, “Do not be afraid, Miriam, because God is going to bless you. You will bear a son and name him Yehoshua. He will become a great person, and he will be called the Son of God. God will restore the kingdom of your ancestor David and he will reign over the People of God forever. His kingdom will be eternal.”

Miriam responded to the messenger, “I am a virgin. Virgins do not bear children. Is there something I must do?”

The messenger replied, “No, you need to do nothing. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and by God’s power you will bear the child. And here is a sign, your relative, Elisheba, who was unable to have children, is pregnant in her old age. She is six months into her pregnancy. Nothing is impossible with God.” Miriam responded and said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done as you have said.” Then the messenger left, and Miriam became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Miriam was going to become the talk of the town. The good girl was pregnant. Yosef, Miriam’s fiance, upon hearing the news debated what he should do. After all he was not the father. Being a good man, he did not want to publicly humiliate her and have her stoned. He decided to break off the engagement quietly. That night he had a dream, where a messenger from God said, “Yosef, descendent of David, do not be afraid to take Miriam as your wife, for the child that is in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall name him Yehoshua, for he will save his people from their sins.” Yosef took her as his wife.

Miriam left town and went to visit Elisheba. Miriam greeted Elisheba, and Elisheba doubled over. But instead of crying out in pain, being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elisheba loudly proclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your child! Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your voice, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Miriam responded in song:

“I praise the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty God has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their thoughts.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and he has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel
remembering to be merciful
Because of this promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Miriam stayed with Elisheba for about three months and then returned home.

Now it so happened that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman Empire. And everyone returned to their own ancestral town to register. So Yosef left Nazareth in Galilee and went to Bethlehem in Judea, taking Miriam with him because he was a descendant of King David (and Miriam too).

While there Miriam gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no lodging (inn or guest room) available for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, a messenger of the Lord appeared among them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the messenger said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. You will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” And suddenly with the messenger, appeared a heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the heavenly host had left them and returned into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Miriam and Yosef, and the baby, who was lying in the feeding trough. They then went out and spread the word about this baby, and those who heard it wondered at the news. Miriam treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The real accounts of the birth of Jesus can be found in Luke 1:39-56, 2:1-21; Matthew 1:18-25. I used Hebrew names for Elizabeth (Elisheba), Mary (Miriam), Joseph (Yosef) and Jesus/Joshua (Yehoshua). Jesus is the English version of the Latin version of the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, whereas Joshua is the English version of Yehoshua. Mary was likely called by the Aramaic version of Miriam, which is Maryam, but I wanted to keep all the names in Hebrew.