NEW

It would be hard to count how many times the word “new” has been used to sell you a product or service.  Advertisers know there is something in our human make-up that is attracted to what is new.

Likewise, the human heart yearns for a new approach to God.  Our humanity is beaten down by the law and attempts by religions and philosophies that “help us” to try harder.

 

Newness is what being a Christian is all about.  Jesus came to inaugurate a new kingdom for the people of God which could be entered through a new covenant or new testament with Him.  Jesus himself said “Behold, I make all things new!”  [Rev. 21:5], which is not difficult to believe if you accept that He is risen from the dead.  Those who believe in Christ are told in II Corinthians 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;  the old has gone, the new has come!”

 The book of Hebrews has been our study together this Autumn.  This book is all about the new and better approach to God through Jesus Christ.  In fact, the words “new”, “better”, and “superior” are used of Jesus Christ over and over.  Today we hear read in Hebrews 9:15, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

Thank God for newness and the new life we receive in His Son Jesus!

 

Christopher

The Rev. Christopher P. Leighton

Rector