Redecorated or Regenerated

Our son moved his family to a cute little town just north of Atlanta, Georgia. They live in a nice neighborhood with great neighbors; and their house is seriously beautiful. It has hardwood floors, crown moldings, lots of brick, plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, very nice appliances, and tons of storage space. Everything about it looks wonderful.

At first glance, one would think they’d found a perfect house that didn’t need anything done to it. However, as beautiful as it is, the interior colors simply don’t reflect their personalities; they reflect the previous owner. It’s time to paint and they’re currently working on color selections!

Paint is a wonderful thing – it renews rooms, covers imperfections, removes reminders of the past, brightens up dingy baseboards, lightens up dark corners, and brings a fresh new look to living spaces. It also reflects the taste and personality of the owner.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just throw a coat of paint over our imperfections and hide the sins of our past? It would be fantastic… until the paint started to peel.

God has a much better plan. When Jesus moves into the heart of a saved sinner, He does something more radical than just cover up the sins and ugliness of our old life — He creates a whole new life!

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ as become a new person. The old life is gone a new life has begun!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Our sins are not merely whitewashed with a fresh coat of paint to brighten us up; our sins are removed. Our sins are gone. Torn down. Hauled away. Thrown into the sea. Unretrievable.

“…for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him.” – Colossians 3:9-10

We are a whole new house, built on a new foundation that is Jesus! God is at work in every room of our house to make us more like Him. As we learn more and more about our loving, living God and as we submit to His plan for us, we begin to reflect His personality more and more.

How would you describe the walls of your life? Are you trying to cover up the dingy, drab, marked-up walls of sin with the whitewash of religious activities? You can’t. We can’t cover our sin any more than a house can paint its own walls. Only God can remove the old life of sin and create the new life of freedom that you desire.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” – Philippians 1:6

Would you describe yourself as a new house, with new walls, still under construction? It is only by the grace of God that you are who you are. What will you do today to reflect the grace of God that has been poured out on you?

“But whatever I am now, it is because God poured out his special favor on me.” – 1 Corinthians 15:10

When God moves in, He makes all things new!