New Beginnings

 

As we end this week with a new year, Michael writes: According to 2 Corinthians 5, If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. As we walk with Jesus and progress through the way He has prepared for us, we become new day by day. Then In retrospect we can look back on the road we’ve travelled with the Lord, we can see the progress we have made and the growth we have enjoyed in His presence. God is a God of new beginnings. Our old reputation, our old habits, our old man nature has passed away ... in our work, in our relationships, in our marriage, in our immediate family and in our extended family ... especially within the family of God. The grace of God has no expiration date ... for Jesus said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The devil will accuse us of having fallen short of God’s righteous standard. He will tell us that we have failed to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He’ll make us beat ourselves up for our unworthiness in our own works and in our own behavior. If we look to the world, we’ll be distressed, if we look to others we’ll be stressed, and if we look in the mirror we will be depressed. But if we look to the Lord, we’ll be blessed. Proverbs 20:6 asks, who can find a faithful and trustworthy man? According to Ephesians 4, What matters is that a man be found faithful; faithful to follow the Lord, walking worthy of the calling wherewith He has called us according to His Word and according to His will. Faithfulness is in walking in the light as He is in the light, then the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  

In Matthew 26, after Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room, He said to them, “You will all fall away from me this night for it is written I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep from the flock shall be scattered.” This was the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. Peter responded that he would follow Jesus even to death. Then Jesus said, to Peter... “Before the cock crows twice, you shall deny me three times.” Peter needed to learn a difficult lesson ... a lesson in humility. He needed to understand that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. In my own power, I am powerless to follow faithfully from a heart of love and grace.

A wise man said, I cannot keep my vows, but my vows keep me. When a person is committed to his vows, the decision has already been made. Keeping vows means to burn the bridges so that you cannot return the way you came. You can only move forward. As Jesus said, abide in me and I will abide in you. I am the vine and ye are the branches, apart from me you cannot bear fruit. The apostle Peter’s sin was not premeditated. He was impetuous and lived in the moment. As he warmed himself by the fire of the courtyard outside of Chiaphas’ house, a girl approached him and said, I recognize from your accent that you are a Galilean, one of Jesus’ followers. Peter denied Jesus, he said, “I know not the man.” Then the cock crowed and Jesus locked eyes with Peter. Peter went away and wept bitterly. Peter was broken of his pride and his self sufficiency... Thank God for breaking our hearts for what breaks His.

After the resurrection, Jesus had said to His disciples, I will meet you all in Galilee. The disciples were offended when Jesus said that they would fall away. They were offended because they trusted in their own prideful ability. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. As Jesus said, apart from me you can do nothing. The problem with the Apostles is that they did not know their own hearts. According to Timothy, the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. There was only one traitor among the disciples, but they were all deserters. When Jesus was arrested, Jesus said to the Roman soldiers, Take me but let these others go. Then disciples ran off into the night.

Without the grace of God, the fallen nature of man is judgementalism and a critical spirit. We especially judge ourselves unto self-condemnation. However, according to 1 John 3, even though our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. God knows that His love and grace covers a multitude of sins. The people of Jesus’ time were astonished that Jesus met with publicans (tax collectors), prostitutes, known sinners, and those of questionable reputation. Jesus said, I have not come to minister to the healthy but to the sick. When the people asked Jesus, What’s your plan?, He pointed to a disposed tax collector and lowly Galilean fishermen and said, those guys over there, they are the plan.

God takes the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. This applies to the people He chooses and also to the trials and tribulations of life. Jesus called and is calling men and women of God. What is a man or woman of God and how are they different from people of the world? What is God’s value and purpose of a child of God? When you call a man or woman, a “Person of God,” most people will look down and look away. They feel unworthy of such a title. They think a person of God is one who serves enough, gives enough, studies the Bible enough, loves enough and teaches enough. When is enough, enough? There are three characteristics of a person of God. The first is that they love Jesus. After the resurrection, the disciples went back to the Sea of Galilee to fish. Jesus came to the shore and asked the men, have you caught anything? They said, we’ve fished all night but have caught nothing. Then John realized that it was Jesus who was speaking to them. Then Peter jumped out of the boat and swam and then ran to Jesus on the shore. Peter knew that Jesus was a Lord of grace and reconciliation, not of judgement and condemnation. When Jesus cooked the fish on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he restored them into fellowship with him. Then Jesus asked Peter, “do you love me?” Loving Jesus Chrsit is the first quality of a man of God.

The second question of a person of God is, have you given your heart to Christ? The third question to determine if a person is a man of God is, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life learning to become just like Jesus?” A person of God answers yes to each of these questions. Discipleship training is learning to become like Jesus. Many people in church today do not have the opportunity to say yes to discipleship because it’s not popular in many churches. However, when the student is ready, the teacher will come. The teacher is the Holy Spirit. According to John 14, Jesus said, I need to leave so that the comforter can come. The comforter is the Holy Spirit who comes alongside to help us and to teach us all things. The WSavior of the world came into this fallen world to set the captive free. The Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death. For Jesus Christ, who was without sin, was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. For He hath shown thee o man what is good. And what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God that we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Your brother in Christ, Michael