I have painted a lot of things; walls (inside and outside,) furniture, ceilings and floors. I am not a professional painter. I’m more like- I want to get this done today- so… if I can skip priming or scraping- I will. But I have lived long enough to see what happens when I’ve done that! I love how a fresh coat of paint makes everything look new and clean- even over dirt, chipped paint and other blemishes- like old wallpaper I couldn’t get off my bathroom walls. I am not a perfectionist!
There’s a technique to painting and re-painting that is way more complicated than just applying a quick coat of color. First you need to clean the service. Once it’s clean, if it’s a “refinishing job” the old paint, or finish will need to be removed- strip off all the old… (scrape, apply a stripping solution, or sandpaper).
Once it’s down to bare bones- all the old is removed- repair any blemish, sand everything down smoother and then prime it. Many paint brands now advertise that they need no priming. I know from experience- that just means you will have to paint 2 or more coats! So instead of not priming – prime- it makes everything go so much better. And finally, you can apply the final finish!
It’s a lot of work- but it is always worth it to do it right the first time.
God wants that for you and me too. He isn’t only interested in slapping a new coat of paint over your past- over your life- make you look good for others- He desires to make you a new person- new in Christ!
So why not just slap on a coat of paint? Paul tells us in Ephesians 4: "I want to go on record as a representative of the Lord" This isn’t just an idle suggestion - an optional route, this is God’s Word to you. Live no longer like you are/were doing!
Many people think that once you become a Jesus follower then pretty much anything goes. (Nothing really changes.) You’ve got your "get out of hell free card. And it doesn’t matter what you do or how you live, you’ll get into heaven so you can pretty much sin all you want. That’s crazy! If you truly know Jesus you will want to become like Him.
That doesn’t mean you will be perfectly holy immediately, but the desire in your heart has changed. When you choose to follow Jesus- you want to follow Jesus!
Jesus said, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life." John 14:6. Without God there is no real truth. Instead of seeking the truth and wanting to be totally made over- we have hardened hearts, leading to ignorance. Jesus died for us to become new in Him, not just recycled and refinished on the outside with all the same ole stuff on the inside
Paul says: Ephesian believers! Ephesian church! —you did not come to know Christ that way.” Christ desires people whose lives are fully committed to Him. He desires followers willing to follow no matter the cost and direction! He desires that you are:
2. Made New: coming to Christ makes you new through and through. “old things have passed away, behold all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17. So instead of relying on man’s empty thinking, we rely on the truth of Christ’s thinking to change our lives into His image.
Paul puts it very plain- throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.” Throw it off! Throw it off! This is a forceful motion- it isn’t only shrugging your shoulders and letting something drop- it is a violent shedding of your old sinful nature- your former way of life.
Because of Christ’s work on the cross- we can be made new- Jesus doesn’t only want to give us good habits, and good philosophies- He desires a new birth- He died so that we could be made new- not made over!
We are to throw off our sinful nature and former way of life-the inward life- we are to be made new from the inside out and that will change us on the outside-eventually! Our former way of life is corrupt- we lived for ourselves, we were deceived into thinking that we were on the right road, that we would have success, that we could be ‘happy’ without God. But now we have heard and received the truth and now we know- we know that all those things that we once thought so wonderful- were only idols that got in the way of our faith in Jesus Christ.
Put on—action again- put on your new nature! Throw off the old-- strip it down to the bare bones, the new paint, that is Jesus Christ’s nature living in you. Through faith you received His nature- His spirit lives in you. You are a new creation- live like it!
Our Lord’s Resurrection destiny is to bring “many sons and daughters unto glory.” The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God. We are never in the relationship to God that the Son of God is in; but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship. When Our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life, to a life He did not live before He was incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before; and His resurrection means for us that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life.
So, scrape and strip away, (throw off) the old life and put on your new life in Christ!
That same power that raised Jesus from the dead – for you followers of Jesus- that same power lives IN YOU!
You are Made NEW!!! Go and Live your New Life!
