Food For Your Soul
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A New Year – A New DNA
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) [KJV]
It happened to me lately, as the new year was drawing near, to hear people express their wishes in a way that somewhat annoyed me at first: “Happy New You!” I heard them say – an obvious parody of “Happy New Year!” I asked myself: “Why jest about one of the last marks of civility and courtesy we have left in a world where people are becoming more and more self-absorbed?” But when I took the time to turn it over in my mind, I found that it is the best wish one could express to somebody, especially to someone who has not yet experimented the new life in Jesus Christ. What could be more desirable indeed than to see loved ones (or simply people you care about) make the decision to begin the new year with a new life that only Christ can give them?
Speaking of the new life, the apostle Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17) Some people whose life is ruined by sex, drug, alcohol and several other vices would give up everything to start a new life, to make a fresh start, to rewrite their life story on the pages of a new book. Now they are given the opportunity in Jesus Christ to become a new creature, to receive freely a new life.
But what is the new life in Christ? To fully understand what it is, we must refer to the concept of genetic code in biology. The genetic code is the set of instructions or information that are written in each cell of our body. These instructions determine for example the color and type of one’s hair, the color of one’s skin, the timbre of the voice, the demeanor, the state of health, some character traits, etc. – so many things one’s parents have passed on to them and that constitute their biological heritage. In the cell it is the genes that carry these instructions or information; they are responsible for transmitting heredity.
Thus, every human being receives from his/her genitor a biological heritage. But the Bible teaches that there is also a spiritual heritage our parents transmit to us. Unfortunately this heritage happens to be marred by sin introduced into the world by the disobedience of our first parents. The apostle Peter is extremely clear on that point, when he reminds the recipients of his first letter that their fathers “handed down” to them “an empty way of life” from which they have been redeemed, “not with perishable things, such as silver and gold, but the precious blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:18) The “empty way of life” is a periphrasis for the word “sin” that the apostle Paul uses in Romans 5:12, where he says: “…Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men.” (He could have said, “death was transmitted to all man.”)
In many passages in the New Testament, the “empty way of life” we have inherited from Adam via our parents is contrasted with the new life we receive from the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:1-5; 4:17-24; Gal. 5:16-24, etc.) This new life consists in the implantation in the believer of a new genetic code. From being a child of Adam with respect to the natural birth, the believer becomes a child of God with respect to the spiritual birth (John 1:12). Just as he carried in himself the genetic heritage of the first Adam, so also he carries in himself the genetic heritage of the second Adam, once he is born to the new life. “In this world we are like him,” says the apostle John (1 John 4:17)
This experience is called regeneration. The word “re-generation” shows clearly that it’s all about the introduction of a new genetic code. The prefix “re” is indicative of a new beginning, and the remaining of the word generation has the same etymology as the word gene or genetic. Thus regeneration means that a new genetic code – a new DNA – is implanted in the believer allowing him henceforth to live a life that is pleasing to God; a new being is created in him. It is, according to Ephesians 4:24, the “new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” versus the “old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.” (Eph. 4:22)
The genetic code of the new man is divine. The apostle Peter went so far as to say that we “participate in the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4). What a glorious privilege God grants to men! There would be enough reason to arouse the jealousy of the angels, if that were possible. They indeed “long to look into these things,” which concern our glorious destiny in Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:12) They are stupefied before the incommensurable riches of His love and grace God has unfolded in behalf of the children of men.
This privilege is also for you who are reading this message. God is no respecter of persons. Whoever you are, no matter what you did wrong, Christ is willing and able to give you a new life. He did the same for millions before you. He has broken the shackles of people enslaved by drug and alcohol; he has set free those who were addicted to carnal pleasures, living a dissolute sexual life, practicing orgies and all kinds of perversions. He was sent “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Year 2008 can be the year of the Lord’s favor for you. All you have to do is to claim what he has already proclaimed. Grace has this particularity: it must be received, accepted, in order for it to release its liberating power. The year of the Lord’s favor will be of no use to you, if you don’t receive His grace. He promises in His Word to give you a new heart: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” (Ezekiel 36:26) It’s yours for the asking. Why don’t you ask Him even now? Tell Him:
I want…
A new heart, a regenerated heart.
A heart eager to do your will,
A heart real, upright, ready to serve;
A humble heart, a loving heart, an enduring heart;
A patient, humble and joyful heart,
A heart just like Yours,
A heart always content, always happy,
A heart that loves what’s good.
“HAPPY NEW YOU!”
Truly, sincerely from Redemption Baptist Church.
Hubermann Larose
Associate Pastor
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