“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
Jim had an old beat up truck that he worked on constantly…it seemed like he worked on it more than he drove it. Jim had this truck for years, it was old and worn out when he got it, and seemed destined to stay that way, no matter how much time he poured into it.
Jim took this old truck touched it up with some paint, put new seat covers on the old ripped up seats, replaced the tires and rims…but the motor was shot and Jim just didn’t have the money to replace it. No matter how much Jim fixed it up on the outside, the truck was still a problem and he had to keep on spending most of his Saturdays as a shade tree mechanic.
One Saturday morning Jim woke up to find his truck under the shade tree where he had left it the day before, planning to do some more patch work on the motor, but today the truck had some other parts sticking out from underneath the front end…it was the legs of his father who had just finished installing the new motor that Jim couldn’t afford to buy.
“Dad, I’m going to do everything I can to pay you back for that motor.” Jim said. His father just smiled and said, “Son I didn’t purchase this motor expecting you to pay me back, I purchased this motor as a gift because I love you and because I could.” Jim hopped in the truck started it up, he and his father took her for a test drive, the truck was just like new.
When we come to Christ, we can’t fix and repair our old nature…but it does become just that…our old nature. No matter how much we fix ourselves up on the outside we can’t be new until our spirit, is replaced with a new one, the Holy Spirit, then and only then can we become a “new creature” in Jesus Christ.
It’s not improving on the old nature, but living in the new one.
One Saturday morning Jim woke up to find his truck under the shade tree where he had left it the day before, planning to do some more patch work on the motor, but today the truck had some other parts sticking out from underneath the front end…it was the legs of his father who had just finished installing the new motor that Jim couldn’t afford to buy.
“Dad, I’m going to do everything I can to pay you back for that motor.” Jim said. His father just smiled and said, “Son I didn’t purchase this motor expecting you to pay me back, I purchased this motor as a gift because I love you and because I could.” Jim hopped in the truck started it up, he and his father took her for a test drive, the truck was just like new.
When we come to Christ, we can’t fix and repair our old nature…but it does become just that…our old nature. No matter how much we fix ourselves up on the outside we can’t be new until our spirit, is replaced with a new one, the Holy Spirit, then and only then can we become a “new creature” in Jesus Christ.
It’s not improving on the old nature, but living in the new one.
Vern
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